The DOCTOR YOURSELF (SM) NEWSLETTER Vol 1, How can I get thinner? Give up lunch

[Guest guest]

" How can I get thinner? Give up lunch and dinner. "

(Alan Sherman, Sarah Jackman, 1964 version)

 

The DOCTOR YOURSELF (SM) NEWSLETTER Vol 1, No 16

June 10, 2001 " Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the

A.M.A. "

Written by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a

free online library of more than 200 natural healing articles with

over 3,000 scientific references.

 

 

When I was a little kid… ( " Oh, no! There he goes again with one of

his Abe Lincoln stories! " )

 

Back in the 50's, comedians got a lot of mileage from jokes like the

one that told of the person having a heart attack who manages to get

a call in to their doctor. The doctor says, " Take two aspirin and

call me in the morning. " Everybody laughed at a doctor like that.

 

Now TV commercials for " Bayer " aspirin actually tell you to take

aspirin DURING a heart attack. Incredible.

 

But TV has said not a word about how taking 400 to 800 I.U. vitamin

E a day can prevent heart attack.

 

 

No mention of how magnesium orotate can stop a heart attack.

No word about how near-vegetarian diet, stress reduction and

exercise can virtually eliminate heart attacks.

 

And certainly no word about the physicians who made the above

discoveries. In order, they were Evan Shute, M.D. and Wilfrid Shute,

M.D., Hans Neiper, M.D., and Dean Ornish, M.D. Read about all of

them at http://doctoryourself.com , and start laughing again at

those who still think that myocardial

infarction is due to a drug deficiency.

 

The Miracle Drug: PLACEBO!

 

" The placebo should not be given on demand or for unduly prolonged

periods of time. " (Jonothan G. Solomon, M.D. (1982) Placebo

revisited: An update on a very useful agent. The Consultant.

December.)

 

Don't you just love that statement? Exactly how many patients abuse

their placebo prescriptions? And just how many people die from

placebo overdose?

 

Ever since I first watched comedian Steve Martin do a Saturday Night

Live routine about being " high on a new drug called Pla-cee-bo, "

I've questioned the scientific method a lot more often. The great

majority of all illnesses are self limiting.

 

About ninety percent of all sick people will either get better

anyway or die anyway, no matter what the doctor does.

 

So why have doctors? For the ten percent who need intervention,

common sense would tell us. Just how much bias enters into

medical practice? In so-called double blind studies, where neither

experimenter nor subject know who got the active medicine and who

got the sugar pill, there can be little doubt.

 

Yet only about twenty percent of all medical and surgical

procedures have ever been double-blind,

placebo tested. Let's see if we've got this straight: Only ten

percent can be helped, and only twenty percent of what will be tried

is known to help. I haltingly say that twenty percent of ten percent

is..., ah, is... is a small number.

 

As a visiting student at the Canberra Hospital in Australia, I

attended a physician's seminar on a brand new treatment for migraine

headache.

The seminar was paid for by the drug company that, surprise

surprise, made the very drug being reported on. Research on this

particular medicine showed that it worked better than placebo. About

55 to 65% of patients taking it had relief, whereas only about 45%

taking the placebo had relief.

 

Consider the wonder of the real difference: 45 of one

hundred had relief from thinking that they might possibly be taking

an effective medication, whereas only 20 out of a hundred more

actually got relief from definitely ingesting the active chemical.

 

When we do placebo controlled, double blind studies, the pony to bet

on is the sugar pill:

it will be infinitely safer, unbelievably cheaper, and darn near as

effective as the drug du jour.

 

Why, then don't we just go whole hog and just use placebos? Well, we

have. In a little-publicized (and downright embarrassing) chapter of

19th century medical history, there was a movement among some

physicians

who had good reason to believe that the cures of the day were worse

than the diseases.

 

The very term " quack " was in fact first applied to

medical doctors who gave their drug of choice, mercury, for almost

anything.

 

They were called " quicks, " actually, for using " quicksilver, "

mercury's nickname. Some doctors rebelled against what we today

would consider to be bona fide medical barbarism, such as bleeding

by the pint, uterus removals for female hysteria, lower rib removals

in woman so they could fit into corsets better, arsenic treatments

for syphilis, and so forth.

 

So along come some dissident doctors who choose to give no medicines

at all, just placebos. Their cure rate was high, their death rate

unusually low, their popularity with patients very strong, their

names today very much unsung. Just try to find information about

them at you

local medical library or museum. If you come across anything on this

subject, please email links, articles, and especially references to

drsaul

 

TODAY'S REASON TO BECOME (MORE OF) A VEGETARIAN: SOY

Isn't it amazing that there has been some recent media hoopla

against soy foods… during a European epidemic of both Hoof and Mouth

and Mad Cow Disease?

 

I think moderate soy intake is healthful. My kids were

raised with regular (but certainly not excessive) tofu (which they

lovingly called " Toad Food " ) plus soy " hot dogs " and local Chinese

restaurant bean curd. What follows is an interesting Doctor Yourself

GUEST ARTICLE:

 

SIX WAYS SOY BENEFITS YOUR HEALTH

by Monique N. Gilbert

 

Soybeans are the only plant food that has all of the essential amino

acids our body requires, making it a complete protein. Soy foods do

not

have any cholesterol, and most are high in fiber. Soy also has many

vitamins, minerals, and phytochemical compounds (like isoflavones)

that work together to create numerous health benefits.

 

1. Soy's protein and isoflavones lower LDL (the bad) cholesterol and

decrease blood clotting (thrombosis), which reduces the risk of

heart

attack and stroke.

 

2. Soy's protein and isoflavones provide antioxidants, reduce artery

clogging plaque, improve blood pressure and promote healthy blood

vessels, which protects the body from free radical damage, boosts

the

immune system, and lowers the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of

the

arteries), heart disease, and hypertension (high blood pressure).

 

3. Soy's soluble fiber protects the body from many digestive related

cancers, such as colon and rectal cancer. Isoflavones may protect

the

body from many hormone-related cancers, like breast, endometrial

(uterine) and prostate cancer.

 

4. Soy's protein enhances the body's ability to retain and better

absorb calcium in the bones, while its isoflavones slow bone loss

and inhibit bone breakdown, which helps prevent osteoporosis.

 

5. Soy's isoflavones help the body regulate estrogen when this

hormone

is declining or fluctuating, which helps alleviate many menopausal

and

PMS symptoms.

 

6. Soy's protein and soluble fiber help regulate glucose levels and

kidney filtration, which helps control diabetic conditions and

kidney

disease.

 

I personally believe that anti-soy claims are largely exaggerated

and

erroneous. Many claims are based on one or two poorly conducted

studies

that make major leaps in their conclusions. Soy has been eaten by

humans

for thousands of years. These two articles address the questions and

concerns many people are having about soy:

http://www.vegsource.com/articles/soy_update.htm

http://www.soybean.com/assault1.htm

 

Don't avoid soy just because of scare tactics used by journalists

that

just want to sensationalize a story, or are actually biased about

soy

from the start.

 

(Monique N. Gilbert is the author of Virtues of Soy: A Practical

Health Guide and Cookbook

E-mail: monique .Her informational website is

http://www.virtuesofsoy.com )

 

ASTHMA

Taking a drug for asthma? You may want to look up your medication in

the

Physician's Desk Reference to read about their side effects,

contraindications and drug-nutrient interactions. Your doctor's

office,

or any library, has a copy. Hold onto your inhaler, because it will

not

be pleasant reading.

 

For a natural, safer alternative, seriously consider the

antihistamine

properties of vitamin C at saturation doses. Try a search at

http://doctoryourself.com using the keyword " antihistamine " and read

what natural-minded doctors have to say. This you will like.

 

GETTING THE LEAD OUT

What a beautiful animal the angelfish is. I killed a whole tankful

of them with lead, and never knew it.

 

A Fish Story

I always wanted to breed angelfish. I had a number of really fine

angels

which I moved to a private tank furnished with some beautiful

plants.

The plants were held down with some metal " plant weights " that I

bought

at the local pet shop. Plants, you see, often get uprooted and float

to

the surface. So when I saw the package of nice, easily bendable,

made-to-order soft metal strips, I bought it.

 

The weights held the plants down admirably.

 

All the angelfish died.

 

It was pretty awful. I woke up one morning bright and early to check

on

them, and half of the angelfish were dead. The rest were swimming

erratically, in an unbalanced circling movement. It is sad to see

sparkling silver angelfish swimming on their sides, upside down, and

writhing in their death throes, and not being able to do anything

about

it.

 

It was not until I had taken chemistry at college that I realized

what

had happened. Those plant weights were made of lead. The lead

leached

into the aquarium water, and the angelfish died of lead poisoning.

 

Vitamin C

Over the years, we have all heard about the hazards of lead. These

include lead paint injestion by children, lead dust inhalation by

miners and metalworkers, lead in solder used in plumbing, and

leaded gasoline contaminating cattle. We know that lead poisoning

can cause severe mental retardation. Lead has been clearly linked

with Alzheimer's disease.

 

We have been told to avoid lead in the home and to stop lead

pollution

of our environment. But we have not been told how to remove it from

our bodies at home. No drugs are needed; vitamin C megadoses will do

the job efficiently. Saturation, or " bowel tolerence " doses of

vitamin C will chelate lead right out of a person. That is good news

for everybody.

 

Hair Analysis

I am a critic of hair analysis, as it is too often employed

unscientifically (and for profit) by vitamin salespeople to

prescribe

supplements. Hair analysis is NOT a reliable method to determine

your

body's levels of nutrients. It is, however, a very good way to

determine your body's levels of heavy metals. Forensic pathologists

use hair analysis to measure lead, cadmium, mercury and other

toxins.

A " before " and a few " after " readings can be most useful for

diagnosis

and also most encouraging as they indicate improvement with vitamin

C

treatment.

 

Lead-Avoidance Checklist

Not using, and actively removing, lead remain the best ways to avoid

problems with it. The good news is that enviromental lead pollution

is way, way down, making it one of the great hippie Eco-freak

contributions to world health. I was there, and saw it happen. The

EPA and our much tighter envirnmontal laws are largely 1970's

products

of `60s activists. There is still more to do, though.

Here's what is directly in your power:

 

1. Do not use lead solder for plumbing projects. Make sure your

plumber

doesn't, either.

 

2. Have lead paint and lead products taken away by your community's

Hazardous Waste Disposal Unit. And you do have one; check the phone

book's Government Listings, or call the EPA, toll-free, or hit their

website, for help.

 

3. When a lead-painted room, house or barn is repainted, require

that

the contractor use all precautions, including collection and removal

of all paint scrapings.

 

4. This next suggestion is pretty cool: plant Sunflowers. Yes,

sunflowers, those giant yellow smiley-faces of the farm, will

efficiently suck up lead from contaminated soil. Their roots

silently

clean the dirt as their huge blossoms follow the sun across the sky.

I make it a policy to border house, garden, garage and barn with

sunflowers. This is all the more vital if that barn is an old one,

and

most wood barns are.

 

When I was a kid, my Dad used lead-based barn paint on our house

because it was a buck cheaper per gallon and, he believed, longer

lasting than regular house paints. We had the only barn-red house

in the neighborhood, and maybe even the city. Pop also made a large

wood and metal star to display on our front door at Christmas time.

He painted that with the red barn paint, too. Imagine, if you will,

the overall patriotic effect of a bright-red house, with a bright

red star on the white front door, during the McCarthy era. Dad

(who was fortunately well-known as a very American WWII veteran)

finally realized the humor of the whole thing, and painted a

one-inch green border around the star. The house stayed red until

I was old enough to paint it brown. I learned to paint at an

early age. With latex paint.

 

But I digress, as usual. Back to the sunflowers. Each autumn,

after the sunflowers dry and die, be sure to throw them out in

the trash. Do not burn them or compost them; lead-laced sunflowers

can be safely landfilled.

 

When in Rome…

The ancient Romans used rot-proof, rustproof, cheap-to-make,

easy-to-use lead pipe for their plumbing. In fact, " plumber " comes

from the Latin word plumbum, and the chemical symbol for lead is

Pb to this day. There is speculation as to whether the decline

of the Roman Empire, complete with its civil wars, corruption

and mad emperors, was the result of chronic lead poisoning.

 

Geologic cores in the arctic and elsewhere have shown that the

ancient Romans polluted as much as half of the globe with lead

many centuries ago. Smelting metal ores often drives off lead

fumes, and they travel with the weather. And autopsies of the

corpses of ancient Romans have revealed unusually high quantities

of lead in their bodies.

 

They, like my angelfish, never knew what made them sick. Now

we know, and we know what to do to get the lead out.

 

 

COMING NEXT ISSUE:

Medical Self Care Made Easy

New BOOK REVIEWS

A Thought or Two on " Wretched Excess "

AND MORE, OF COURSE!

 

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prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness,

infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or

alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's

acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons

needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult

your doctor before making any health decision.

 

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DietaryTipsForHBP

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