DO YOU SUFFER FROM INFORMATION OVERLOAD ON IRON OVERLOAD?

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DO YOU SUFFER FROM INFORMATION OVERLOAD ON IRON OVERLOAD? JoAnn Guest Dec

12, 2004 12:41 PST

for free: dyn- )

 

" The test to which all methods of treatment are finally

brought is whether they are lucrative to doctors or not. "

(George Bernard Shaw)

 

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER (Vol 3, No 11)

April 20, 2003

 

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

Written and copyright 2003 by Andrew Saul, PhD. of

http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of over

350 natural healing articles with nearly 4,000 scientific

references.

 

DO YOU SUFFER FROM INFORMATION OVERLOAD ON

IRON OVERLOAD?

 

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine

(Sempos, CT, et al, Body iron stores and the risk of coronary

heart disease. NEJM 1994; 330:1119-24) by the National

Center for Health Statistics and Centers for Disease Control

" reported that high transferrin saturation levels are not

associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular heart

disease or myocardial infarction. On the contrary, it was

found that there is an inverse association of iron stores with

overall mortality and with mortality from cardiovascular

disease. " (from Iron status and cardiovascular heart disease,

by Carl Germano, M.A., R.D.)

 

In other words, high iron does not cause cardiovascular

disease, but low iron might.

 

Over ten years ago, always a shameless promoter of

vegetarianism, I taught my clinical nutrition students that

there were two types of dietary iron: heme, and non-heme.

That basically means " blood, " and " non-blood. " Heme iron is

from meat. Too much blood iron IS associated with an

increase in heart disease. (Ascherio, A, et al, Dietary iron

intake and risk of coronary heart disease among men.

Circulation 1994; 89:969-74) Your body can soak up and

accumulate excessive heme iron even if it already has plenty

of iron on hand.

 

But the really good news is that your body has an automatic

shut-off system to limit its absorption of non-heme, or

vegetarian, iron. Yes, this includes practically all iron

supplements on Earth (and those that may someday be

made from meteors as well).

 

Do I think you should take an iron supplement, or a multiple

vitamin containing iron? If you are a child, yes. Iron

deficiency remains a major public health problem for kids,

because they are making lots of blood as they grow. If you

are a reproductive aged female, yes again. Women lose

about a half a cup of blood in every menstrual cycle. That's

like giving a unit of blood three times a year, ladies.

 

But this is no reason to stuff women and children with the

muscles of dead animals. A simple, cheap multivitamin with

iron will do the trick and save a cow.

 

For men, iron supplementation is generally unnecessary. For

heme-heavy " meat and potatoes men, " it is positively a bad

idea. Guys, if you give blood a lot, persistently do

excessively heavy exercise, or lose blood from injury, take

any average-dose iron supplement for while.

 

Caution: These above comments, while valid for the great

majority of people, do not apply to persons with hereditary

hemochromatosis, which is a severe iron-buildup problem.

Next time you have your blood checked, you can bring this

up with your doctor of choice.

 

Vegetarianism (or in my personal opinion, what I call " near-

vegetarianism " ) has always been a good idea. Now it is

better than ever.

 

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)

 

It's just another virus.

 

Maybe it's a mean one, or maybe it's just a new strain of one

of hundreds of common cold viruses, whooping it up in a

person with a low immune system. But it cannot be worse

than, say, polio. Polio can be whipped by megadoses of

vitamin C. I think we can all take confidence in that.

 

If vitamin C megadosing for polio and other viral diseases is

a new concept to you, please look at

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

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

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

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

 

and especially at the excellent website of Robert F. Cathcart,

M.D.

http://www.orthomed.com

 

A " new " opportunistic virus is a big surprise to no one.

History is full of them.

 

About 10 million soldiers were killed in World War I, charging

machine guns and getting mowed down month after month.

There were nearly a million casualties at the Somme and

another million at Verdun. A terrible slaughter went on for

four years. Yet, in just the two years following the war, over

20 million people died from influenza. That is more than

twice as many deaths from the flu in one-half the time it took

the machine guns.

 

PNEUMONIA

Preventing is obviously easier than treating severe illness.

Immediate use of half-hourly gram (1,000 mg) doses of

Vitamin C, up to saturation, will usually stop a cold from

escalating to pneumonia. But if it has, treat serious illness

seriously: in the very young or the very old, pneumonia can

kill. Do not hesitate to seek medical attention.

 

Here is a second opinion. Dr. Cathcart advocates treating

pneumonia with up to 200,000 milligrams of Vitamin C daily,

often intravenously. You and I can simulate a 24 hour IV of

Vitamin C by taking it by mouth very, very often. When I had

pneumonia, it took 2,000 mg of Vitamin C every six minutes,

by the clock, to get me to saturation. My oral daily dose was

over 100,000 mg. Fever, cough and other symptoms were

reduced in hours; complete recovery took just a few days.

Bronchitis clears up even faster. That is performance at least

as good as any pharmaceutical will give, and the vitamin is

both safer and cheaper.

 

I suggest consulting The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine

for additional support for mega-vitamin therapies. The

research is done, the write-ups are out there, and your

librarian will help you tap into them easily. More on the

Journal at http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_JOM.html .

The Journal's own website is

http://www.orthomed.org

 

Treating respiratory infections with massive amounts of

Vitamin C is not a new idea at all. Frederick R. Klenner, M.D.

and William J. McCormick, M.D. used this approach

successfully for decades beginning back in the 1940's. You

will want to consult their works, which you can quickly find

with a site search from the top of the main page at

http://www.doctoryourself.com . All who think that, though

vitamin C generally has merit, that massive doses are

ineffective or somehow harmful will do well to read the

original papers for themselves. Clinical evidence confirms

the powerful antiviral-antibiotic effect of Vitamin C when

used in sufficient quantity.

Speaking as a parent, I can confirm that Vitamin C works as

well as antibiotics since our children have never needed

antibiotics, not even once. That is NOT because we did

nothing; we used vitamin C instead.

 

Vitamin C can be used alone or right along with medicines if

one so chooses. Prescription drugs are not doing the job.

75,000 Americans die from pneumonia each year (Vital

Statistics of the U.S., Department of Health and Human

Services, Vol. 2, 1989). That is over 200 deaths a day.

 

As of April 3, 2003, Johns Hopkins University reported that

60 people have died from SARS. In total. Worldwide.

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/04/3e8e038cec7b

 

6

 

There is no question that aggressive use of Vitamin C would

lower that figure a great deal. There is no excuse for

excluding it.

 

FIBROIDS

While I think that optimum vegetarian nutrition, and

supplementation (especially with vitamin E) is the best way

to prevent fibroids, I am yet to learn of a good non-surgical

cure for them. Please send me your experiences with this

illness, and what has, or has not, worked for you. My readers

all know that I am not interested in individual company or

specific brand recommendations. And while I am indeed very

interested in pain relief, what I am especially keen on are

accounts of doctor-confirmed cure. Please correspond to

drs-

 

DEPRESSION

This is one of the most frequent search topics at my website.

Let me help save you some time.

 

TO BEGIN WITH:

Stop eating sugar. Eat whole natural foods instead. Knock

off the caffeine.

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

Cost? Zilch.

 

And try this nutritional protocol:

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

 

Be sure to rule out thyroid insufficiency.

 

DON'T BE A THYROID ANDROID

 

I have personally seen what thyroid, or a lack of it, can do. In

her early fifties, my mother suffered from arthritis,

depression, skin problems, fatigue, unexplained weight gain

and assorted other miserable symptoms. Nothing seemed to

help, until she got a new, younger family physician. He

promptly put her on thyroid medication, and she was a new

woman. Her singing voice came back, along with her get-up-

and-go. Her weight came down, her joy of living came up,

and her skin looked great. No more bags under the eyes; no

more three-hour daily naps. If this is you, then perhaps a

thyroid supplement (by prescription) is for you. More on

thyroid at

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

 

The homeopathic Bach flower remedies can be of profound

help with depression and related troubled states of mind.

 

THE " OTHER " WORLD-FAMOUS BACH

Dr. Edward Bach, a graduate of London's University College

Hospital, was a bacteriologist with a successful practice on

Harley Street. That is the English equivalent to having a Fifth

Avenue professional address in New York City. In 1930, he

left medicine irretrievably far behind when he ran off to the

country to study, and heal with, flower blossoms of all things.

He floated them in spring water (but never in " dead " tap or

distilled water) in glass containers, placed in the sun. The

energy from the flowers was thus collected, then diluted

hundreds of times to make it stronger, and dropped onto

patients' tongues and wrists. Somewhere, anywhere, in here

you can find enough nuttiness to begin snickering.

 

The eccentric Dr. Bach believed that disease was, at its root,

a matter of diseased temperament. He researched a dozen

common flowers known as The Twelve Healers (also the title

of his first book). Over two dozen more were to follow,

bringing the total to 38. Impatiens seemed to cure

impatience, Mustard ended black depression " like a dark

cloud has overshadowed life, blotting out all enjoyment. " A

combination of remedies, known as Rescue Remedy, was a

first aid preparation for shock and trauma to the mind.

Clematis relieved suicidal tendencies and Holly dissipated

hatred. Honeysuckle dissipated excess nostalgia, and there

were several remedies for fear, classified as to whether fear

was from known or unknown causes, worldly or unfounded,

or otherwise. http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/drbach.htm

 

Dr. Bach is especially easy to dismiss. First, he was British,

so to many an arrogant Yankee, he was not a real scientist,

like, say, Michael Faraday, or Isaac Newton, or Kelvin, or

Robert Boyle, or Alan Turing, or Charles Darwin. . .

Secondly, flowers, especially common blossoms like

impatiens and holly that served as their very names would

suggest, offer no satisfaction to the scientific-spectacle-

seeking patient.

 

Thirdly, the idea that dilution increases potency is a

homeopathic one, utterly in opposition to orthodox medical

thought. The works of historian Harris Coulter, especially the

three volume masterwork Divided Legacy, will provide

readers with very ample, very rational support for

homeopathy and there is no need to try to justify it here.

Homeopathy, itself regarded as quackery by many, is

practiced by a large minority of licensed medical doctors

worldwide. It is at least close enough to reason that over-the-

counter homeopathic remedies are sold in Wal-Marts and

the federal government both codifies and approves the

manufacture of such remedies in the Homeopathic

Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Double-blind, tightly

controlled studies of homeopathic remedies have indeed

verified their statistical significance to a very high degree,

and their record of safety is unassailable even by the Food

and Drug Administration. (More on homeopathy is posted at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/homeopathy.html and all over the

Internet. A single Google search for " homeopathy " (549,000

listings) will keep you busy for days. My Internet-surfing

cautions and hints will follow at the end of this article.)

 

Back to Bach: his flower remedies seemed to work. Medical

doctors would follow him, leaving a broad trail of case notes,

published articles, and textbooks in their wake. It is a bold

move to dismiss all these physicians as quacks without at

least trying the remedies first. I have seen first hand how

they help the people who've come to see me.

 

BUT THIS IS CHEAPER:

My favorite book on the subject is Bach, Edward and

Wheeler, F. J. " The Bach Flower Remedies " (New Canaan,

CT: Keats, 1979). This volume is a compilation is three short

books in one: Heal Thyself and The Twelve Healers by E.

Bach and The Bach Remedies Repertory by Wheeler. Both

were medical doctors. Wheeler's repertory (an index of

symptoms and appropriate remedies for each) is simplicity

itself to use. This is the best introductory volume available.

Ask your librarian to help you get a copy.

 

SAUL'S GUIDE TO SURFING THE 'NET FOR HEALTH

INFORMATION

 

A.) Beware of websites that have a product for sale. Such

sites have an essential, inescapable vested interest in selling

that particular product. How can you expect otherwise? You

may have to look very carefully to find the product affiliation

within a website, but it is worth the look nonetheless.

 

B.) Beware of so-called consumer-protection sites that

conclude such things as " you can get all the nutrients you

need from your balanced daily diet " or " natural healing is

unscientific. " Such misinformation is 50 years out of date and

will not stand up to experience. If a site tells you to NOT read

something, you should make a point to go and read it

immediately. Use negative websites backwards: do the

opposite of what they say. It is not just in mathematics that

two negatives can often make a positive.

 

C.) Be cautious of sites run by private physicians or other

individuals who make their money through consultation

services. Such professionals have an interest in offering you

some promising free information, and then charging you for

the real service. If a physician puts up a large quantity of

freely-available information for you to read, such as the

complete text of their book, or a lot of articles, the site must

be weighed in as useful. But don't sign on the dotted line just

yet.

 

D.) For that matter, be cautious of ANY site run by ANYONE.

This includes http://www.doctoryourself.com . Use my

CELERY system:

 

*Check *Every *Literature reference and personal

*Experience, and *Read for *Yourself.

 

E.) When in doubt, follow the money. I think it is a good idea

to ask the website where its funding comes from. While a

complete financial disclosure cannot be expected of

everyone, it certainly can be a powerful recommendation.

(Incidentally, DoctorYourself.com's only source of funding is

through the sale of my books. Ordering information will be

found at the end of this Newsletter.)

 

If this all sounds like work, well, of course it is. Life is work.

You have to eat anyway; you might as well eat right. You

have to spend time on your health; it might as well be at the

library as in a doctor's waiting room. We spend plenty of time

in front of the TV; we might as well exercise while we do it.

Time in front of the computer screen can teach us a lot more

than time in front of a movie screen.

 

Health information on the Internet? Hasn't that been

described as the very motherlode of all quackery? Of course

it has. But as you learned in kindergarten, calling names

does not make it so. Use your noodle and see for yourself.

 

SO WHO ARE THE QUACKS?

Let's ask George Bernard Shaw. In his great preface to an

otherwise unremarkable play, The Doctor's Dilemma (1906),

he wrote:

 

" The distinction between a quack doctor and a qualified one

is mainly that only the qualified one is authorized to sign

death certificates, for which both sorts seem to have about

equal occasion. "

 

Ouch. Of course, Mr. Shaw was not about to hold it at that.

No, sir, not him:

 

" Nobody supposes that doctors are less virtuous than

judges; but a judge whose salary and reputation depended

on whether the verdict was for plaintiff or defendant,

prosecutor or prisoner, would be as little trusted as a general

in the pay of the enemy. To offer me a doctor as my judge,

and then weight his decision with a bribe of a large sum of

money and a virtual guarantee that if he makes a mistake it

can never be proved against him, is to go wildly beyond the

ascertained strain with human nature can bear.

 

" But just as the best carpenter or mason will resist the

introduction of a machine that is likely to throw him out of

work, ... so the doctor will resist with all his powers of

persecution every advance of science that threatens his

income... . It unluckily happens that the organization of

private practitioners which we call the medical profession is

coming more and more to represent, not science, but

desperate and embittered anti-science: a state of things

which is likely to get worse until the average doctor either

depends upon or hopes for an appointment in the public

health service for his livelihood.

 

" The only evidence that can decide a case of malpractice is

expert evidence: that is, the evidence of other doctors; and

every doctor will allow a colleague to decimate a whole

countryside sooner that violate the bond of professional

etiquette by giving him away.

 

" ... The effect of this state of things is to make the medical

profession a conspiracy to hide its own shortcomings. No

doubt the same may be said of all professions. They are all

conspiracies against the laity.

 

" And the healthier the world becomes, the more they are

compelled to live by imposture and the less by that really

helpful activity of which all doctors get enough to preserve

them from utter corruption.

 

" All that can be said for medical popularity is that until there

is a practicable alternative to blind trust in the doctor, the

truth about the doctor is so terrible that we dare not face it. "

 

Mr. Shaw was right on all counts save one: there IS a

practical alternative, and always has been: learn to do it

yourself. Be your own doctor. Manage your own case.

Change your life and live healthier, today.

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Shaw was a vegetarian,

hated vaccination, and lived to be 94.

 

YOUR FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS

(Not to be confused with one of my favorite books, My

Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell)

 

We've all heard that " you can lead a horse to water, but you

can't make it drink. " You might, however, be able to make

the horse WANT to drink.

 

While most people need a jump-start, a strongly motivated

person will do all they can to improve their health without

you, me, or any doctor telling them to. The very sick person

may work harder to heal than almost anyone, and desperate

people are often the most motivated of all. Such people need

plenty of practical information, but almost no persuasion.

 

From what I've seen, it is your own family members that may

need a boost the most, and accept it the least.

 

In a hurry? Peeved because your relations, who should

know better, don't listen to your healthy advice? Don't feel

bad: surgeon James Lind published his citrus-fruit cure of

scurvy 1753. It was not until 1795 that the British Royal Navy

mandated the treatment. Believe it or not, it was not until

1865 that the British merchant navy began to require a daily

lemon or lime juice ration! During the intervening 112 years,

countless tens of thousands of sailors died unnecessarily.

Nah, they thought, nutrition can't possibly be the cure for a

REAL disease!

 

Sound familiar?

 

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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way

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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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Yourself Newsletter " are service marks of Andrew W. Saul.

All rights reserved.

 

Copyright c 2003 and prior years Andrew W. Saul

drs- Permission to reproduce single

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_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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