DOCTOR YOURSELF Newsletter (Vol. 4, No. 21, for October 5, 2004)

[Guest guest]

To for free: dynewsletter-

 

" People's minds are changed through observation and not through

argument. "

(Will Rogers)

 

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER (Vol. 4, No. 21, for October 5, 2004)

 

" Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A. "

 

Written and copyright 2004 by Andrew W. Saul of

http://www.doctoryourself.com , which welcomes 1.5 million visitors

annually. Commercial use of the website or the contents of this

Newsletter is strictly prohibited.

 

MEDLINE UPDATE

 

Your tax-supported National Library of Medicine still does not see fit

to index the peer-reviewed Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. But

look here and marvel at what they DO choose to index:

 

Time magazine.

 

Yes, Time. Hardly a peer-reviewed medical journal, now, is it?

 

Believe it or not, there are no fewer than 1,260 indexed articles on

Medline just from Time Magazine. Here: see for yourself what your

taxes pay for. Go to Medline

 

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi) and do your own

two-second search for " time magazine news " (but when you do so, leave

out the quotation marks).

 

That was fun, now, wasn't it?

 

Are your ready? Let's try NEWSWEEK!

 

I got 1,136 Medline responses for Newsweek. How about you?

 

Ah, Newsweek: the very epitome of biomedical truth.

 

How do Time and Newsweek get indexed by Medline? Well, that's easy: by

meeting the standards of their Technical Review Committee, whose

members were all named in a previous Doctor Yourself Newsletter

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v4n17.txt ).

 

My readers have been told, by Medline Executive Editor Sheldon Kotzin

or one of his assistants, that the standards for inclusion in Medline

are quite exacting and are posted at

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/jsel.html .

 

Let's look at them. Hmm.

 

There seem to be eight " Critical Elements " for Medline indexing:

 

1) Scope and coverage: " Articles predominantly on core biomedical

subjects. "

(Time and Newsweek, who cover everything from Michael Moore to

Madonna, hardly fit this criterion.

 

 

2) Quality of content: " Scientific merit of a journal's content is the

primary consideration. " (Nor do they meet this requirement.)

 

 

3) Quality of editorial work: " External peer review. " (I am unaware

that Time and Newsweek are peer-reviewed, but then I confess that I

did let my subscriptions lapse once . . . )

 

4) Production quality: " Should be printed on acid-free paper. " (OK, I

concede that Time and Newsweek do use wonderful, really wonderful

paper.)

 

5) Audience: " MEDLINE and Index Medicus are intended primarily for

those in the health professions: researchers, practitioners,

educators, administrators, and students. " (I've seen Time and Newsweek

in airports, Social Security offices, locker rooms, buses and bars.)

 

 

6) Types of content: " Reports of original research. Original clinical

observations. Statistical compilations. " (Time and Newsweek contain

precious little academic research material. I taught biology,

nutrition and health science at the university level for nine years.

None of my colleagues ever spoke of submitting their original papers

to either Time or Newsweek. I wonder why not?

 

7) Foreign language journals; and 8) Geographic coverage: Time and

Newsweek certainly meet those requirements.

 

So do Cosmo and Playboy.

 

CATEGORICALLY SPEAKING

 

The National Library of Medicine/MEDLINE allows for " four broad

categories of journals " :

 

1. Research journals

 

2. Clinical or practice journals

 

3. Review journals

 

4. General or all-purpose journals

 

But neither Time or Newsweek are journals at all.

 

I furthermore submit that neither Time nor Newsweek meet the standards

set

by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) or

the

Council of Science Editors (CSE).

 

(http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/services/draft_approved.cfm ).

 

It appears that at the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE, the

rules

they apply to others evidently do not apply to themselves.

 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

 

I decided to file a formal complaint with my Senator (who I trust is

not too miffed at me from our previous correspondence on S. 722,

further below in the Newsletter).

 

Dear Hon. Senator Clinton,

 

I would very much appreciate your assistance in obtaining some real

answers to specific questions I have directed in writing to a Federal

agency, but without a satisfactory response.

 

I am interested in finding out why the National Library of Medicine

has not responded adequately to my inquiry as to why it has not chosen

to index a particular medical journal. To me, this seems like a

reasonable inquiry.

 

Because I and many other citizens are interested in nutrition therapy,

I think the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (which has been

published for 36 consecutive years) should be included in the NLM's

MEDLINE electronic index. However, it is not.

 

I wrote to MEDLINE, specifically to the Executive Editor, Mr. Sheldon

Kotzin. I received a nonspecific reply, which I think is an

unsatisfactory response.

 

I already know that the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine has been

excluded from MEDLINE's index by a NLM " Literature Selection Technical

Review Committee, " and that the committee characteristically does not

make its reasons public. There is also no public hearing.

 

However, as a taxpayer, whose taxes help fund NLM and help pay Mr.

Kotzins' salary, I wish to know why, exactly, this particular Journal

was excluded.

In other words, which individual itemized standards were not met? And,

which ones were in fact met? I do not want to be referred to a list of

standards and left to guess what a committee decided behind closed

doors; I wish to see a scoresheet, so to speak.

 

I also do not wish to be told that this process is all some sort of a

secret. The NLM says of itself, " The National Library of Medicine

(NLM) is the largest medical library in the world. The goal of the NLM

is to collect, organize and make available biomedical literature to

advance medical science and improve public health. "

 

 

That includes my family's health. I think detailed, individual reasons

for Medline's excluding a particular journal should be public

information.

I have asked a senior member of a federal office for information and

that information has so far been denied to me.

 

Your assistance would mean a great deal to me.

 

(end of letter)

 

No response from the Senator yet. No response from MEDLINE, either.

 

Don't you love it when your taxes have to be paid on time, but it

takes forever to get a response from the people whose salaries your

taxes pay for?

 

GERSON THERAPY: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

 

by Tony Jackson

 

United Kingdom

 

Diagnosed with advanced cancer in February 2002, I was told that I

would probably not have as long as five weeks to live unless I

followed the orthodox methods. I did not altogether reject

conventional treatment, eventually having surgery for which I was

extremely grateful. The biopsy was Dukes C3 staging meant the tumour

had burst the colon and had been found extensively in my lymph. My

situation was further complicated when blood tests showed I was also

Hepatitis B & C positive.

 

The devastating effects of chemotherapy on friends as well as my

sister's suffering as she was subjected to one session after another

of experimental chemotherapy to no avail following spread of breast

cancer, was instrumental in me choosing against all the pressure, to

take an holistic approach combining Gerson treatment with high dose

supplementation designed to boost the immune system and create an

internal bio-environment detrimental to cancer. Treatment included

detoxification procedures such as three coffee enemas a day.

 

This was an informed choice based on well-documented developments in

nutrition and Orthomolecular Oncology, which provides ample evidence

and clinical records of people being cured of even late stage cancers

by alternative, if controversial methods. I have lost, as I am sure we

all have, only too many good friends and family to cancer to realize

that conventional answers are not forthcoming. Tumours may be shrunk

but Metastasis is the killer. If conventional treatment were so

successful why on earth should I and others like me seek elsewhere?

 

In response to some of the comments made by the medical profession, I

would like to set the record straight. The American Cancer Society

tells us that there is no reason for coffee enemas to work, that they

are dangerous and in extreme circumstances can cause death. Does that

mean that cancer is less dangerous and that chemotherapy is a benign

treatment, which is always 100% efficacious? As for why they work;

coffee contains choleretics, substances that increase the flow of

toxin-rich bile from the gall bladder. The coffee enema is among the

only pharmaceutically effective cholorectics noted in medical

literature that can be safely used many times without toxic effects.

Coffee enemas are no less bizarre that mustard gas, which is the

origination of chemotherapy.

 

Costs of the Gerson treatment, we are told, can be high. How much does

conventional treatment cost the taxpayer and groaning NHS per patient

per annum? According to the Wall St. Journal, 16 October, 2002, over

$2 trillion has been spent on cancer research and treatments. Numbers

dying from the disease are soaring to plague proportions with one in

two projected within the next twenty years. In the developed world it

is already one in three.

Yet we are constantly being informed that 'the magic bullet is just

around the corner.'

 

" Rather than narrow the research spectrum we have a duty to humanity

to throw the door open and explore every single avenue yet alternative

treatments are continuously vilified without any honest research into

their efficacy. Moves are afoot through current EU

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v3n21.txt) and Codex Alimentarius

directives (http://www.doctoryourself.com/supplement_limit.html and

http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v2n12.txt), eventually intended for

global implementation, to ban every nutrient that I and others take to

deal with cancer as well as many other degenerative conditions on the

basis of being 'unproven,' even though these same supplements have

papers published in respectable scientific journals for peer review

showing much to recommend them. It is a scandal that this choice is to

be removed from mature adults by legislation. Good nutrition is our

Common Wealth but modern, chemically saturated, farming techniques,

has stripped the soil of essential nutrients, which can only be

replaced by nutritional supplementation. Cancer kills its host and the

plundering of the earth's resources by the few will do the same.

 

Dr. Max Gerson was, as Albert Schweitzer said, a genius. As a fellow

human being Prince Charles has every right to state an opinion as much

as the next man. If his detractors have the answer, then where is it? "

 

(Doctor Yourself editor's note: Another article by Mr. Jackson on the

benefits of the Gerson therapy appeared in the UK newspaper The

Guardian, and is posted at

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1115514,00.html.

His email is tjaxon .

 

A search for " Gerson " at http://www.doctoryourself.com will bring you

much more information on this important therapy.

 

DOCTOR YOURSELF DUTCH WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

 

http://www.orthoeurope.com/ is a store house of several thousand

vitamin research papers, all in the Dutch language at present. No

translation is yet available, but we look forward to more websites

like this in all languages for all the world.

 

" S.722 " IS NOW " DOA "

 

Remember S. 722, one of the US government's recent attempts to keep

supplements away from you?

 

Specifically, it was " A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and

Cosmetic Act to require that manufacturers of dietary supplements

submit to the Food and Drug Administration reports on adverse

experiences with dietary supplements, and for other purposes. "

Sponsored by Senator Richard J. Durbin [iL], the highly-restrictive,

anti-vitamin bill was introduced 3/26/2003.

 

The good news is that, after more than a year, it still has only four

cosponsors. That is very few. Generally, a bill needs dozens of

cosponsors to succeed on the floor of Congress.

 

As a New York resident, I am embarrassed to say that two (half!) of

the cosponsors are from my state.

 

They are:

 

Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY]

 

Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA]

 

Sen McCain, John [AZ]

 

Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY]

 

This is one bad bill, one that outraged Doctor Yourself Newsletter

readers have written to their elected officials to stop. I have, too.

My exchange with Senator Clinton is at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v4n3.txt

 

At least Senator Clinton had the cahunas to reply. I received NO

response whatsoever from Senator Schumer.

 

Here's an update on S. 722:

 

" Latest Major Action: 3/26/2003 Referred to Senate committee. Status:

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,

and Pensions. "

 

And there it has rightly stayed.

 

I say, we have been in large part successful. A big " thank you! " to

all my activist readers.

 

 

(Updated information about this bill:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.00722: )

 

IS THE FDA SAFE AND EFFECTIVE?

 

Although this website is about drug safety and efficacy, I really love

that title.

 

http://www.fdareview.org/fda.pdf

 

DRUG ADVERTISING IS 94% QUACKERY

 

BMJ 2004;328:485 (28 February 2004)

 

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7438/485-a

 

A German study of pharmaceutical advertising literature sent to

doctors " has shown that about 94% of the information in them has no

basis in scientific evidence. "

 

The study looked at 175 brochures describing the supposed benefits of

some 520 drugs, and was published in Arznei Telegramm (2004;35:21-3).

" Only 6% of the brochures contained statements that were

scientifically supported by identifiable literature. "

 

You can read all about it at www.di-em.de/data/at_2004_35_21.pdf .

 

195,000 DEATHS PER YEAR DUE TO HOSPITAL ERRORS

 

Reuters (July 27, 2004) reported that, with up-to-date data from all

50 states, a study indicates that previous reports " have

underestimated the number of deaths due to medical errors, and,

moreover, that there is little evidence that patient safety has

improved in the last five years. " The research revealed 1.14 million

" patient-safety incidents. " " Of the total 323,993 deaths among

Medicare patients in those years who developed one or more

patient-safety incidents, 263,864, or 81 percent, of these deaths

were directly attributable to the incidents. " In other words, " One in

every four Medicare patients who were hospitalized from 2000 to 2002

and experienced a patient-safety incident died. "

 

" As many as 195,000 people a year could be dying in U.S. hospitals

because of easily prevented errors. "

 

Full story posted at

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews & storyID=5790535 & secti\

on=news

 

and also at:

http://news./news?tmpl=story & cid=571 & u=/nm/20040727/hl_nm/health_mistak\

es_dc & printer=1

 

READERS SAY:

 

" I love your website, and I've just ordered your book

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html).

 

A friend recommended your site to me when I found I had

hypercholesterolemia. My dad, who has the same thing, said I should

take niacin ( http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_cardio.html ), and

your site gave the best information on not only how

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/niacin.html) but why

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_niacin.html).

 

" I'm still making my way through your many pages of information, but

one in particular caught my eye: Dr. Rinse's breakfast drink

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulslurry.html ). I've started making

my own version of the drink, to kick-start me into bringing down my

high LDL cholesterol.

 

" In a blender:

 

1 banana

 

a handful of other fruit, for additional antioxidants and fiber)

 

2 scoops soy protein powder

 

2 tablespoons of oat bran, or 1 Tbl oat bran and 1 Tbl ground fresh

flax

seeds

 

1 tablespoon almond butter (peanut or cashew butter are good too)

 

1 teaspoon bee pollen powder

 

1 Tbl flax oil

 

1 to 2 cups soy milk, plain or vanilla

 

" I'm drinking this with a piece of wheat toast and popping a niacin

pill at the same time. "

 

 

Sounds like a very good plan to me. Your addition of the omega-3 rich

flax and flax oil is interesting. More flax facts, from an admittedly

one-sided source, are posted at http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/flaxnutT.htm

with free downloads. http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/resindex.htm has a

bibliography that is well worth a look.

 

READERS ASK:

 

FORMS OF NIACIN?

 

" What's the difference between niacin, niacinamide, and inositol

hexaniacinate? "

 

Let's let Abram Hoffer, M.D., the pioneer of high-dose niacin therapy,

answer this one:

 

" Niacin lowers cholesterol, elevates high density lipoprotein (HDL)

cholesterol and reduces the ravages of heart disease, but causes

flushing when it is first taken. The flushing reaction dissipates in

time and in most cases is gone or very minor within a matter of weeks.

Niacinamide, which is not a vasodilator, does not produce a flush, but

it has no effect on blood fats (lipids). Inositol hexaniacinate will

lower cholesterol without the flushing side effect, but does not do so

as well as plain niacin. "

 

NIACIN AND LIVER FUNCTION TESTS

 

K. L. writes:

 

" I am megadosing on niacin and my liver function tests are elevated.

So now, my doctor has told me to stop taking niacin. Just how

significant are these liver function changes, anyway? "

 

I am going to again refer to what Dr. Hoffer has written, which is

here reprinted with permission from the Journal of Orthomolecular

Medicine.

 

 

" Dr. William Parsons treated this problem extremely well in his book

on niacin and cholesterol (Parsons WB Jr. Cholesterol Control Without

Diet. The Niacin Solution. Second Edition, Lilac Press, Scottsdale

Arizona 85252-1356. Paperback 278 pages, 2003. www.cholesterolnodiet.com )

 

" Dr. Parsons is the most knowledgeable physician alive when it come to

treating patients with lipid problems using drugs and niacin and it is

clear that he favors the use of niacin, not the drugs. He was the

first physician outside of Saskatchewan to use niacin. He instigated

the first niacin cholesterol studies and with his associates

corroborated the claims Dr Alshul, Dr Stephen and I had made in 1955

that niacin lowered cholesterol.

Had we not had this corroboration from the prestigious Mayo Clinic,

where he was chief resident, this discovery might have languished and

never been rediscovered.

 

" Dr Parsons provides the evidence based upon his own studies and the

vast literature that using niacin to lower elevated cholesterol levels

is the only practical, effective, safe and cost effective method for

restoring lipid levels to normal. It does more than decrease levels of

low-density cholesterol. It elevate HDL, decreases LpA and lowers

triglycerides. In comparison with the statins it is the clear winner.

And it decreases mortality and extends life even after patients have

already suffered their first coronary.

 

" Niacin is a vitamin, not a drug and in addition to its effect on the

lipid blood profile it has the usual positive vitamin properties of

mega dose vitamin B-3. Most physicians do not really know niacin since

it is not patented, has no solicitous parent to promote it and is not

advertised.

It is difficult to pick up a medical journal with out seeing some

statin ads. I still have not seen one ad extolling the virtues of

niacin. Since they do not know niacin they are down on it. I find

exasperating the total ignorance of niacin and the fear it generates.

The medical profession is so afraid that niacin is liver hepatotoxic,

which it is not. Dr. Parsons Jr. points out that increase in the liver

function tests, unless they are very substantial, i.e. over three

fold, usually does not indicate liver pathology. There are many

compounds that elevate liver enzymes, including all the statins, as

well as acetaminophen (Tylenol), and ibuprofen (Advil).

 

" A second problem was the flush that accompanies niacin when one first

starts to use it. Physicians who understood this and know who to work

with it seldom had a problem and their patients got along well with it.

However physicians who do not know anything about it imparted their

lack of skill to their patients, and they too would soon stop using

it. According to Parsons inositol niacinate, the usual no-flush niacin

in health food stores it is not nearly as good for lowering

cholesterol, although it is as good for other conditions (psychoses,

schizophrenia, anxiety) in which niacin is helpful.

 

WHAT ABOUT STATINS vs. NIACIN?

 

P. N. writes:

 

" Almost every day I read or see an article on statins and how good

they are for you, and how more people should be taking them. I wonder.

I was put on Zocor to lower cholesterol and after some time I

experienced pain in shoulders, I was told to take warm showers. But

no, I wanted to stop taking Zocor. So, I was put on Pravachol, and

after a time every joint (and I mean every joint) in my body was in

agony. I was told I wasn't getting younger, and the doctor wanted to

prescribe pain pills. I said no. I refused to take Pravachol any more.

Lo and behold, in a matter of months gradually my joints stopped

hurting. For the most part I have returned to my old self. However I

did lose muscle tone to a great degree. When I was going through this,

I know my doctor thought, 'This one is paranoid,' but I know what I felt.

 

" Well then: can you please tell me more about statins? "

 

To me, Pravachol sounds like a street near the Kremlin and Zocor

sounds like a Klingon. In other words, as I am not a physician, I am

not qualified to answer your question. But guess what: Dr. Hoffer has,

in the rest of his article. He writes:

 

" I would love to see a double blind controlled study comparing niacin

against any one of the modern statins to be run at least ten years. It

would win the battle hands down. And it can be combined with the

statins if this is necessary. Diet by itself is relatively

ineffective, difficult to follow and according to Parsons not very

practical as it is so difficult to alter people ways of eating. I agree.

 

" In his book, Cholesterol Control Without Diet: The Niacin Solution,

Dr Parsons reviews the role of the statins and the drug companies that

got them approved and placed upon the market. I think this is an

important section.

And it is not a pretty picture. If your doctor tells you that you have

a cholesterol problem, or if you suspect that you might have it, be

sure and talk to him about niacin rather than take the statins and

refer him to this excellent book. It will answer all his questions and

reassure him that niacin is the right one. You will be better for

having done so. "

 

HIV-AIDS and NUTRITIONAL TREATMENT

 

by Bradford McIntyre

 

" We may have jumped the gun and put all our efforts into

pharmaceuticals when it came to fighting AIDS. Recognizing the ability

of the body to heal has prompted many to choose to combat HIV in a

non-medical direction.

Often, people are effective in preventing illness for years before

drug intervention is ever necessary, or not necessary at all. Others

have continued to live without any sign of HIV/AIDS-related

opportunistic infections or disease. For some who have tested

positive, there has never been any virus replicated in their body.

Equally so, many people who are on drug treatments have learned to

address the importance of diet, exercise, alternative therapies and

supplements, mind, body and spirit. Let's not close our minds to what

is right in front of us.

 

 

" In both Canada and the United States, health care systems are being

affected by the strains from use and rising costs. Billions are being

spent, while people look to the medical profession to care for their

illness.

We must not allow ourselves to fall prey to the belief that science

and the medical profession have all the answers, nor can we find all

our answers in pharmaceuticals. Science, medicine and the use of

pharmaceuticals play key roles, but so does the greatest disease

fighter on the planet, our immune system.

 

" Proper nutrition is necessary for HIV infected individuals, as those

who eat well feel better compared to those who consume a less than

adequate diet. Malnutrition can compromise their ability to fight off

infection.

We should be making good nutrition a high priority in AIDS treatment.

 

" Since many people infected with HIV have neither the health nor

energy to work towards creating awareness and change, it is my

intention to speak through my experience for those whom I hope will

benefit. "

 

Bradford McIntyre, HIV+ for 20 years

 

Vancouver, Canada

 

www.PositivelyPositive.ca

 

HIV/AIDS and the FOSTER NUTRITIONAL PROTOCOL: Reference List

 

(as discussed in the Doctor Yourself Newsletter in issues

http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v4n12.txt and

http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v4n19.txt , and also posted at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/aids.html

 

2000 " Aids and the 'Selenium - CD4T cell Tailspin' :The Geography of a

Pandemic, " Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. No. 209, pp 94-99.

 

2002 " How HIV-1 Kills: Implications for the Treatment and Prevention of

AIDS, " Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. No. 255, pp 76-7.

 

2002 What Really Causes Aids, Victoria: Trafford Publishing, 198 pp.

(This

book is a free download at http://www.hdfoster.com)

 

2003 " Why HIV-1 Has Diffused So Much More Rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa

than

in North America. " Medical Hypothesis, Vol. 60(4), pp. 611-614.

 

2003 " AIDS: The Selenoenzyme Solution: Part I, " Nexus, Vol. 11(1), pp.

27-31.

 

2004 " AIDS: The Selenoenzyme Solution: Part II, " Nexus, Vol. 11(2), pp.

41-44, 81.

 

2004 " Halting the AIDS Pandemic " in Janelle,D G,Warf,B and Hansen,K

(eds)

WorldMinds:Geographical Perspectives on 100 Problems. Kluwer Academic

Publishers: Dordrecht, pp.67-73.

 

2004 " How HIV-1 Causes AIDS:Implications for Prevention and Treatment. "

Medical Hypotheses Vol 62 (4), pp.549-553.

 

SUPERSIZE ME!

 

Can you swallow THIS?

 

" Even an unrelenting diet of McDonald's food is not necessarily bad for

you.

As Dr. Ruth Kava of the American Council on Science and Health notes,

such a diet may be low in one or two minerals and vitamins, and higher

in saturated fat than is usually recommended. But actually, on most

measures, such a diet would be entirely satisfactory. "

 

http://www.spiked-online.com/sections/central/panic/index.htm

 

OR HOW ABOUT THIS?

 

" Even chocolate milk gets a thumbs-up from dentists, who would rather

see a child drink flavored milk than none at all, " says Jane Brody (NY

Times, September 7, 2004. Dental Advice: Start Early. Very Early.)

 

Feel like writing a letter to the NY Times?

 

letters

 

IS WINE HEALTHY or DO WINE DRINKERS HAVE A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE THAT

HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WINE?

 

by June Russell

 

" When compared to beer or liquor drinkers, and even non-drinkers,

those who happen to drink wine typically have lifestyles that are

healthier. Wine drinkers are thinner and have more normal weights,

they exercise more, smoke less, have a higher intake of fruits,

vegetables and salads, have a higher education and socio-economic

status, eat less saturated fat (fewer servings of red or fried meats)

and more fiber. They tend to have normal cholesterol, drink less

alcohol, often work in white collar jobs and are generally in

better health than the rest of the population. These many lifestyle

factors that account for improved health make the use of wine no

longer significant (1).

 

The Copenhagen City Heart Study, which looked at Danes' drinking

habits in the late 1970s, may have been particularly vulnerable to

socio-economic skewing. At the time, wine drinking was just starting

to catch on in a traditionally beer-drinking nation, and was probably

limited to the upper classes even more than now, argues Dr. Erik

Mortensen of the Institute of Preventive Medicine of Copenhagen,

leader of the Danish study (2).

 

Nutrition experts at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical

Center at Dallas say that red wine is associated with the

Mediterranean diet, a diet that is recommended for lowering heart

disease and some forms of cancer.

However, this diet is rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, the

primary fat is olive oil, and meat is used sparingly, protein often

coming from fish.

Although wine may be served with meals, the real benefit is from the

overall diet itself, not necessarily the wine that may go along with

it (3).

 

 

Dr. June Reinisch, from the Danish Epidemiology Science Center in

Copenhagen, was the author of a Danish study that showed wine drinkers

were greatly associated with other factors beside the wine. " It's not

a cause-and-effect situation; it is a correlation of lifestyle and

intelligence with healthy behavior. If you are upper class, it usually

means that not only did your mother have good nutrition, but your

grandmother had good nutrition, and we have data that shows that I.Q.

is related to your mother's and grandmother's nutrition as well " (4).

Even though the " sick-quitter " phenomenon can bias results in favor of

current drinkers ( " sick-quitters " being those who previously used

alcohol but quit because of health problems), abstainers had been

shown in previous studies to have higher disease and death rates than

moderate drinkers (5). But the negative health and lifestyle factors

among the abstaining subjects include a lower intake of fruits and

vegetables and vitamin E, higher rates of smoking and more red meat

consumption, contributing to making their trans- and saturated fat

intake greater than alcohol consuming groups. This research is not

new, as more than 10 years ago, Arthur Klatsky, M.D., a researcher

with Kaiser Permanente's cardiology division in Oakland, California,

and a pioneer in studies on how alcohol can help the heart, found that

those who preferred wine as opposed to beer or hard liquor are likely

to be women, young or middle-aged, nonsmokers, better educated and

healthier. However, Dr. Klatsky made the comment in a JAMA editorial

that moderate drinking may not be so good for the rest of the body,

and 'unresolved issues' include its effects on breast cancer, fetal

defects and colon cancer (6).

 

Dr. Ira Goldberg, a member of the American Heart Association's

Nutrition Committee, stated in the New England Journal of Medicine,

that without data from clinical trials it is unclear how to advise the

public about the use of alcohol, but that the toxicity of alcohol is

well established. We do know alcohol (red wine) does not reliably

reduce atherosclerosis in animals, he added (7). On the American Heart

Association web site, we are told that the heart protective benefits

of red wine remain uncertain. Several years ago the 'French Paradox'

was disproved by the World Health Organization (and others) because of

faulty data (8), and the media press releases regularly maximize any

supposed benefit of drinking wine, and minimize, or omit, the

dangers mentioned by the researchers or other medical experts (9, 10).

 

 

The harm from the alcohol in wine is dose related - that is, higher

amounts cause more damage, but light and moderate amounts also have

risks (11).

Alcohol is a tumor promoter and any amount increases the risk of

cancer, says the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

(12). In 2000, our government declared alcoholic beverages to be a

class " A " human carcinogen, along with arsenic, asbestos, benzene, and

even tobacco

(13).

Even in smaller amounts, alcohol can compromise brain functioning

(increasing the risk of accidents), interfere with medications,

increase stress (alcohol does not produce true relaxation, it

tranquilizes or drugs the drinker), cause the body to store more

calories as fat, interfere with sleep, increase the risk of

hemorrhagic stroke, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, high blood

pressure, triglycerides, and is a risk to the fetus of a pregnant

woman. Alcohol is toxic to the liver, aggravates allergies,

worsens fatigue, can negate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and

the presence of alcohol hastens the breakdown of antioxidants in the

blood, speeding their elimination from the body. The medical

literature advises the public to avoid alcohol for almost every health

problem - and as a way to prevent health problems (14).

 

The best way to protect yourself from alcohol-related cancers is not

to drink. Cancers of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus and larynx develop

when sensitive tissues are directly exposed to alcohol in beverages (15).

The consumption of alcohol, mainly wine, was shown to be a significant

risk factor for developing cancers of the mouth and pharynx (16).

 

The alcohol's presence in wine increases free radicals, which cause

damage to blood vessels tissues, dampening any of the benefits that

red wine's antioxidants may offer, says Dr. John Foltz, researcher at

the University of Wisconsin. Purple grape juice can give the benefits

without the intoxicating effects (17). Grape juice contains more

resveratrol, a supposed cholesterol lowering substance, than most red

wine (18). Grape juice improves the function of the cells in blood

vessel linings more efficiently than wine (17). Andrew Weil, M.D.,

suggests that grape juice may prove to be healthier than wine because

a study found that after drinking nonalcoholic wine, the

catechin, an antioxidant flavonoid, remained for almost an hour longer

in the blood than when drinking the alcoholic wine. His added comment

was that although grape juice doesn't appear to boost your HDL,

regular aerobic exercise can be added. Exercise, diet (including

fruits and vegetables), and meditation are safer ways to improve one's

health without the added risks when drinking wine (19).

 

(Doctor Yourself News editor's note: June Russell is a retired health

educator and journalist. E-mail: russells . Her very fine

noncommercial website is www.jrussellshealth.com)

 

References:

 

1. " Wine Drinkers Have Healthier Lifestyles, " American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, 2002; Circulation, Reuters Health, on

Healthcentral.com,

2001;

Neurology, 2002; MSNBC.com, 2002; Washington Post, 2002; " The key to

gracious living, drinkers, it seems often lead healthier lifestyles

than the teetotal, " Alcohol and Health, on www.economist.com, 2003;

" Wine Not, " nature.com; " Wine Drinkers Smarter, Richer and Healthier,

Danish Study Finds, " winespectator.com, 2001.

 

2. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2001.

 

3. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2002.

 

4. " Red Wine's a Sign of a Refined Mind, " HealthScout.com, 2001.

 

5. nutrition.org - abstract copy of a study from State University of

New York, 2003.

 

6. MDNews; Sciencedaily.com; Idahowine.org (all 2002).

 

7. New England Journal of Medicine, 2002.

 

8. Washington Post, October 8, 1994.

 

9. " Vintage Deception: the Wine Institute's Manipulation of Scientific

Research to Promote Wine Consumption, " 1997. The Center for Science in

the Public Interest.

 

10. The topic " Wine " on www.jrussellshealth.com, 2004.

 

11. NIAAA, 2003.

 

12. Book, " Stopping Cancer Before it Starts " by the IARC, 1999.

 

13. IARC and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the U.S.

Department of

Health and Human Services in the Ninth Report on Carcinogens, in the

" Nutrition Action Healthletter " Center for Science in the Public

Interest, 2000.

 

14. www.jrussellshealth.com has many references for each individual

topic under " Alcohol. "

 

15. " Alcohol/Cancer Link is Solid, " American Institute for Cancer

Research (AIRC) newsletter 2001.

 

16. " Alcohol May Be Linked to Increased Risk for Cancers of the Mouth

and pharynx, " Head and Neck Cancer News, CancerConsultants, Oncology

Resource Center, 2004.

 

17. " Wine or Welch's? Grape juice provides health benefits without

alcohol, " CNN.com, 2000.

 

18. Science News 1992.

 

19. " Grape Juice for a Healthy Heart, " Andrew Weil, M.D.,

pathfinder.com, 2000 (Andrew Weil, M.D., graduate of Harvard, is best

selling author, internationally recognized expert on health, and

director of a program in Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona).

 

COLITIS AND VITAMIN E

 

by Sheldon Gesensway

 

I cured my severe condition of ulcerative colitis with a vitamin E

enema you can prepare yourself, and with diet. No other medication. No

problems since.

Results within one week! In 1964, my doctor diagnosed my ulcerative

colitis, and tried every drug then used, but my condition persisted.

Through the intervening years the condition subsided but remained.

 

When the bleeding increased, I checked into a hospital where I was

given a blood transfusion and corticoid enemas. I then transferred to

the Veterans Hospital because my condition became intolerable. I was

given further transfusions and advised to have a subtotal colectomy.

 

 

After leaving the hospital, my previous condition continued. I took

this opportunity to try something. Since vitamin E is a powerful

antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, I tried an enema made with the

contents of three capsules of 400 IU vitamin E emptied into a small

amount of distilled water.

Over a period of four days I gradually increased the mixture until I

reached 10 capsules. At that level the change was dramatic. However,

if I did not take the enema once a day the bleeding would start on the

third day. These phenomena were reported to the doctors at the

hospital and duly noted in my records. This was continued for a very

long time and nothing was done to investigate the matter. At the

hospital, a barium enema showed a positive change in my colon. They

believed it was a placebo effect. Twenty years is a long placebo effect.

 

I tried increasing the amount of vitamin E until I reached 8000 IU (20

capsules). It worked for me. After reaching the increased dose, there

was no need for further vitamin E enemas. There as been no problems

with colitis for twenty years (since my first vitamin E enema), so I

consider myself cured. My colonoscopy and biopsy results have always

been satisfactory.

 

The vitamin E mixture used should be all-natural and be labeled

" D-alpha, and not the synthetic " DL " form. My doctor sent this

information to a pharmaceutical research company. So far no reply. I

am beginning to believe its either too simple a cure or too unprofitable.

 

I have posted more about the details of this approach, including diet

recommendations, at http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=63 & i=151 and at

 

http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=63 & i=148 .

 

(Doctor Yourself News editor's note: Readers should know that medical

research (listed further below) does indeed offer a basis for Mr.

Gesensway's experience. Antioxidants such as vitamin E (and also

cabbage juice http://www.doctoryourself.com/rectal.html, and the

carotenes in carrot

juice http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicing_2.html ) all definitely

help win the battle against colitis.

 

Additional material is posted at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/colitis.html )

 

Ademoglu E, Erbil Y, Tam B, Barbaros U, Ilhan E, Olgac V,

Mutlu-Turkoglu U.

Do vitamin E and selenium have beneficial effects on

trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced experimental colitis. Dig Dis

Sci. 2004 Jan;49(1):102-8.

 

D'Odorico A, Bortolan S, Cardin R, D'Inca' R, Martines D, Ferronato A,

Sturniolo GC. Reduced plasma antioxidant concentrations and increased

oxidative DNA damage in inflammatory bowel disease. Scand J

Gastroenterol. 2001 Dec;36(12):1289-94.

 

Gonzalez R, Sanchez de Medina F, Galvez J, Rodriguez-Cabezas ME,

Duarte J, Zarzuelo A. Dietary vitamin E supplementation protects the

rat large intestine from experimental inflammation. Int J Vitam Nutr

Res. 2001 Jul;71(4):243-50.

 

Yoshida N, Yoshikawa T, Yamaguchi T, Naito Y, Tanigawa T, Murase H,

Kondo M. A novel water-soluble vitamin E derivative protects against

experimental colitis in rats. Antioxid Redox Signal. 1999

Winter;1(4):555-62.

 

Bousvaros A, Zurakowski D, Duggan C, Law T, Rifai N, Goldberg NE,

Leichtner AM. Vitamins A and E serum levels in children and young

adults with inflammatory bowel disease: effect of disease activity. J

Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1998 Feb;26(2):129-35.

 

Buffinton GD, Doe WF. Depleted mucosal antioxidant defences in

inflammatory bowel disease. Free Radic Biol Med. 1995 Dec;19(6):911-8.

 

Guthy E. Use of alpha-tocopherylquinone in ulcerative colitis. Gut.

1986 Nov;27(11):1400.

 

Bennet JD. Use of alpha-tocopherylquinone in the treatment of

ulcerative colitis. Gut. 1986 Jun;27(6):695-7.

 

 

 

Privacy Statement:

 

We do not sell, and we do not share, our mailing list or your email

address with anyone. We never send out advertisements of any kind. You

may notice that there is no advertising at http://doctoryourself.com

and no advertising in this newsletter. We have no financial connection

with the supplement industry. We do not sell vitamins or other health

products, except for Dr. Saul's books, which help fund these free

public services.

 

FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR ALL to this newsletter are available with a

blank email to

 

dynewsletter-

 

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way offered as

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.

 

" DOCTOR YOURSELF " " DoctorYourself.com " and " Doctor Yourself

Newsletter " are service marks of Andrew W. Saul. All rights reserved.

 

Copyright c 2004 and prior years Andrew W. Saul

drsaul .

Permission to reproduce single copies of this newsletter FOR

NON-COMMERCIAL, PERSONAL USE ONLY is hereby granted providing no

alteration of content is made and authorship credit is given.

Additional single copies will be sent by postal mail to a practitioner

or patient, free of charge, upon receipt of a self addressed envelope

with THREE first-class stamps on it (offer good in the USA only), to

Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, NY 14470 USA. (585)638-5357.

 

For information about my book, " DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that

Works " please go to http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html .

 

" Don't feel you owe me any respect; you can listen or not, as you

please. "

(Benjamin Franklin)