I want to share something about headaches with you, but first I’ve got to point out that I’m no expert on the subject. I’m not a doctor and I really don’t know any more about it than you do.

*****

Garden Variety Headaches

Everyone gets the occasional headache and the usual OTC treatments are normally all that’s required to make it go away. A couple of aspirin or ibuprofen a year aren’t going to harm your health as long as you aren’t allergic or otherwise have adverse reactions to them.

I almost never take anything for anything… I always look for a natural cure first… but I no longer buy into the alternative health idea that medicines are toxic or bad for you.

Used in moderation, they are perfectly safe. They’re eliminated from your body quite rapidly and don’t hang around “poisoning your system” as some would have you believe.

*****

Unusual Headaches

If you’re suffering from frequent headaches, especially ones so severe that they require large doses of medication to manage, the only real solution is to discover the underlying cause and correct it. (Something I hope you and your doctor are already working on.)

Some possible causes of headaches (by no means all inclusive):
1. dehydration (64 oz of water/day is ideal)
2. constipation (see below)
3. stress
4. skipping meals
5. neck problems (sleeping wrong, muscle strain, pinched nerves)
6. vision problems (eyestrain)
7. neurological problems (including brain tumor)
8. various illnesses
9. getting hit on the head (obviously)

*****

Alternative Headache Treatments

As far as alternatives, I have heard that Peppermint can relieve headaches. I’ve never had occasion to try this myself, and it could just be “altie-woo,” but it is a harmless (and inexpensive) herbal treatment that would be interesting to look into. I believe all that’s involved is sucking on a Peppermint candy (providing it’s made from the real thing and not just artificial flavoring). I promise to do more research on this treatment time permitting.

I doubt that Peppermint would be strong enough to work on headaches that require large doses of medication, however.

*****

An Anecdotal Story

I had a friend that complained of severe migraine headaches that plagued her for months and months. (She was a bit of a hypochondriac and was convinced she had a brain tumor.) Took her to a neurologist (her idea). Nothing wrong.

Neurologist sent her to get glasses. Helped her vision, not the headaches.

Finally, one day she was complaining of severe abdominal pain… took her to the ER… found out that she had an impacted colon. She never mentioned the fact that she often went for days without a normal bowel movement. (A bit indelicate for polite conversation.)

Long story short; one enema cured her brain tumor.

*****

Now, I don’t advocate “colon cleansing” like some of the nut-jobs out there who are trying to convince you that you’re packed full of rotting debris, but an impacted colon is not a healthy situation and can cause migraine headaches.

Before you embark on any treatment program, see a real medical doctor (not a Naturopath) and find out if you have the condition you’re going to be treating.

If you suspect you need colon cleansing, a simple colonoscopy can tell you for sure. (Besides, it’s a highly recommended cancer screening that everyone over age 40 should get anyway.)

You will be able to see the inside of your colon on TV while they perform the test. If it’s packed full of rotting debris, you’ll be able to see it.

– Dean

***********

However, what was also interesting was a comment about rebound headaches left on the post by A Bohemian Road Nurse that reads as follows:

I’ve also found a lot of people with constant “migraine” headaches whereby Immitrex, narcotics and NSAIDS are not working are really having “rebound headaches”. My sister, who suffered from just such a headache merry-go-round didn’t believe me about the existence of rebound headaches. But she reluctantly tried my suggestion of weaning herself from pain meds. After three days of misery, she was headache free. It worked. Now, she only gets the ocasional “real” migraine, around her menstrual cycle, for which Immitrex DOES now work. (I know this doesn’t cover everybody, but it is a thought to consider for some people with lots of headaches….)

I first heard of rebound headaches a few years back from (I believe it was) Dateline NBC. The gist of the story was that constant use of NSAIDS like Ibuprofen can actually lead to worse headaches once the medication wears off.

It eventually turns into a vicious cycle.

I can’t help but wonder if there might not be a similar “rebound back pain” associated with over-reliance on pain meds for the treatment of back and neck problems. It would explain why a lot of minor injuries develop into chronic problems.

I’m sure there is a flaw in my logic somewhere… I’m just thinking out loud.

Dean

When taken with antibiotics, an herbal extract sold in
health food stores and promoted as an allergy and fat loss aid may
improve treatment of bladder infections, research suggests.

Some 90% of bladder infections are caused by E. coli bacteria. They
affect women four times more often than men, sometimes recurring over
and over.

According to an a recent study in the Journal of Antimicrobial Therapy, urinary tract infection recurs in 12-16% of patients treated, regardless of the antibiotic chosen.

The bladder is lined with small pouches that allow it to
stretch as it fills. Researchers at Duke University reported in
Sunday’s online edition of Nature Medicine that some bacteria were able
to hide in those pouches, escaping the antibiotics used to treat the
infection.

In tests in mice, an extract derived from the Indian coleus plant
can cause the pouches to kick out the bacteria, allowing antibiotics to
kill them, said the lead researcher, microbiologist Soman N. Abraham.

Medical blogger, Dr. Charles cautions that we shouldn’t read too much into this story. He points out that these
small pouches in the bladder are not the only reason urinary tract
infections recur. Among the other factors impacting urinary tract infection:

The largest group of patients with UTI is
adult women. The incidence increases with age and sexual activity.
Rates of infection are high in postmenopausal women because of bladder
or uterine prolapse causing incomplete bladder emptying; loss of
estrogen with attendant changes in vaginal flora; loss of lactobacilli,
which allows periurethral colonization with gram-negative aerobes, such
as E coli; and higher likelihood of concomitant medical illness, such
as diabetes.

Dr Charles goes on to quote more from Dr. Abraham, the lead researcher in this study:

“If we combine this with antibiotics we would be in a very
good position to eradicate urinary tract infection,” he said in a
telephone interview.

In the experiments, the extract forskolin was injected into some
mice and placed directly into the bladders in others, Abraham said.

The extract is available in health food stores and some people take
it by mouth as a supplement, he said. It is promoted as a treatment for
allergies, breathing problems and even fat loss.

That availability does “absolutely not” mean people should attempt to treat themselves for bladder infections,” Abraham said.

Dr. Charles then proceeds to make some very good points:

Much more study is needed to determine whether the addition of
forskolin to antibiotic therapy will make a difference in human UTIs.
It is also a big leap from injecting mice or catheterizing their
bladders to the convenience of a pill (with proven efficacy,
tolerability, safety, etc). It will be interesting to see what
proportion of UTI recurrence is due to these “pouches” and what
proportion is due to other factors such as antimicrobial resistance,
uterine prolapse, diabetes, etc… I would guess more is due to the
combined latter, but maybe I’m just being too hard on this study…

I think Dr. Charle’s conclusions are correct. More study needs to be done into this supplement before anyone decides to rush out and start buying it. Quite often the news media will run with a story just because they need to fill space and give you something to read. It doesn’t mean the item really works.

We consumers need to be very skeptical of any new “health breakthroughs” reported in the media. Investigate everything — gather all the facts — and finally, check with your doctor before adding any of these designer supplements to your diet.

One last note I want to add… there are some interesting comments on Dr. Charles post including this one:

Don’t laugh but I use a supplement called Cranactin, it’s the
concentrate of cranberries. I once ended up in the hospital with a
bladder infection so I’m really careful. As soon as I feel bad, I take
some Cranactin. It works for me so I recommend it. I don’t think it
would hurt you even if it doesn’t work for you.

I’ve also heard of cranberry juice and related products being used for urinary tract infections although I’ve never had the occasion to try them. Just something else to look into.

This quote is from his response to the question, Why Do You Blog?

Our culture is suffused with messages telling parents that their children are sick, or potentially sick: one sniffle away from certain doom. Flea’s message is that American children are the healthiest children that ever lived on planet Earth. We should celebrate our good fortune.

The culture tells us the children are defined by series of capital letters: ADD, ADHD, ASD, PDD-NOS, OCD. Flea wants children to be called by the names their parents gave them.

Pediatrics today consists of daily exercises in over-testing, over-diagnosing, over-treating, and over-admiting to hospital. Flea wants the folks to know that often the best thing to do for a child is to keep him or her the hell out of the pediatrician’s office!

Pediatricians who write for newspapers and magazines produce icky, squishy pap that bears only the faintest resemblance to expository writing, and that is astonishingly void of original points of view.

Flea is trying to keep it real.

Although herb use was higher among the Latinos (48.4 percent),
over one-third (31.4 percent) of the non-Latino WIC clients surveyed
also used medicinal herbs for childhood illness. The herbs most
commonly used were those with relatively low risk for adverse effects,
including aloe vera, chamomile, garlic, peppermint, lavender,
cranberry, ginger, Echinacea and lemon.

The study is the first to report on herbal use by participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). WIC helps low-income women, infants and children up to age five by providing vouchers to purchase food, education about
healthful eating and referrals to health-care providers.

Dr. Barbara Lohse, associate professor of nutritional sciences
who led the study, says, “Nutrition professionals and WIC educators
have hesitated to talk about herbs for children because they feared
that it would encourage acceptance and, perhaps, cause people to start using them. Our study has shown that more WIC clients than we thought are already using them, mostly in moderate and appropriate ways. However, because some herbal use has the potential to do harm, we urge herbal education in WIC clinics.”

The study is detailed in the current (February) issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in a paper, “Survey of Herbal Use by Kansas and Wisconsin WIC Participants Reveals Moderate, Appropriate Use and Identifies Herbal Education Needs.”

Lohse began the study when she was an associate professor of
food and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and continued
it when she joined the faculty at Kansas State University. Her
co-authors are Jodi L. Stotts, Penn State research assistant and former
instructor at Kansas State, and Jennifer R. Priebe, a clinical
dietitian with San Luis Medical and Rehabilitation, Green Bay, Wis. At
the time of the study, Priebe was a graduate student at the University
of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wis.

The researchers surveyed 2,562 caregivers with children living
in Kansas and Wisconsin who were attending a WIC clinic. Child herbal
use was reported for 1,363 of the children ranging in age from 1 week
to 17 years. The majority of the children treated with herbs were
younger than age 5.

The caregivers who participated in the survey consulted a
variety of sources about the use of herbs to treat their children
including family and friends, the news media, the Internet, medical
doctors and other allied health professionals. However, family was, by
far, the most popular source of information and was the only source for
46.9 percent of non-Latinos and 73.2 percent of Latinos.

The reasons cited by the caregivers for use of specific herbs
varied. For example, aloe vera was used for burns, cuts, and rashes as
well as gastrointestinal problems, asthma, colds, ear infections,
fatigue and urinary symptoms.

Although most of the herbs that the participants reported
giving to children were those with relatively low risk, the effects of
long term use and interactions with prescription and over-the-counter
medications are unknown. In addition, ten herbs with known safety
issues, including St John’s wort, kava and red clover, were also given
to children and taken by the caregivers themselves.

The researchers write, “Although it may be tempting to say
that, ‘because little data exist on the safety of herbals during
pregnancy, when breastfeeding, and in children, use of these products
should be discouraged,’ the reality is that herbals are widely used in
these populations. Likewise, recent findings such as the inefficacy and
adverse reactions from Echinacea use illustrate the need to provide an
educational venue and to conduct educational research to formalize
herbal education within the WIC clinic culture.”

However, the herb has been the subject of growing
concern about its interaction with birth control pills, the blood
thinner warfarin, and cyclosporin, a medication used with those who
have received organ transplants. A new study examining its effect on
pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding contributes to the
evidence that the product should be used with caution.

A New Study

The new study, entitled “St. John’s Wort (hypericum perforatum):
Is It Safe During Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and With Prescription
Medications? A Systematic Review,” will soon be published in the
Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. It is one in a series that
systematically reviews the evidence relating to the safety of herbs
commonly used during pregnancy and lactation.

The study was conducted by a team of Canadian researchers consisting of
the principal investigator Jean Jacques Dugoua, ND, MSc (Cand.),
University of Toronto, Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital,
Truestar Health and Wellness Clinic, and the Canadian College of
Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto, CN; and co-investigators Edward Mills,
DPH, MSc., PhD (Cand.), Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
McMaster University, Ontario, CN; Dan Perri, MD, BscPharm, FRCP(C),
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of
Toronto, Toronto, CN; and Gideon Koren, MD, The Motherisk Program,
Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, CN.

Dr. Dugoua is presenting the team’s findings at the 21st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (http://www.Naturopathic.org), being held August 9-12, 2006 at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR.

Methodology

The aim of the study was to systematically review the literature for
evidence on the use, safety, and pharmacology of St. John’s wort
focusing on issues pertaining to pregnancy and lactation. The
investigators searched seven databases for reports relating to the
herb. The databases included AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Cochrane
Library, MedLine, Natural Database, and Natural Standard. Each database
was examined in duplicate for data from its inception. Unpublished
research and bibliographies were also included. Data were compiled
according to the grade of evidence found.

Results

The researchers found varying levels of scientific evidence on the
efficacy of use for different conditions; low-level evidence of harm
during pregnancy; and strong evidence of side effects during lactation.
As St. John’s wort interacts with a number of medications due to its
effect on cytochrome P450 enzymes, this may account for some of the
findings.

Conclusions

The researchers concluded:

– Caution is warranted when using St. John’s wort during pregnancy and lactation.

– St. John’s wort may interact with medications prescribed during pregnancy.

– During pregnancy, a case study and some animal studies reported lower birth weights with use of St. John’s wort.

– Strong scientific evidence showed that St. John’s wort consumption
during lactation did not affect maternal milk production nor affect
infant weight, but may cause colic, drowsiness or lethargy.

– St. John’s wort showed strong scientific evidence of being an
effective aid in combating mild to moderate depression and low-level
evidence for other conditions.

Recommendations

The authors urge women not to assume that because herbs are labeled
“natural” that they are safe. They recommend all pregnant and lactating
women consult a licensed, health care professional before consuming any
herb or medicine in general, and St. John’s wort in particular.
Finally, they recommend that any woman experiencing depression let
their physician know immediately.

Breast milk has a compound that destroys skin warts and could protect against cancers

Swedish scientists have found that breast milk contains a compound that destroys skin warts, it could also protect against cervical cancer and an array of fatal diseases. The human papilloma virus causes skin warts. It is a very common virus.

The scientists tried applying human breast-milk to the skin and found that the human papilloma virus was killed as a result (the virus in the warts). The virus, in these cases, had been resistant to traditional medical treatment.

Scientists are calling the compound Hamlet. You can read about this discovery in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Catharina Svanborg, Prof. Clinical Immunology, Lund University, Sweden, said that this discovery could have relevance for the treatment of cervical cancer. She said the virus found in warts is quite similar to the virus found in cervical cancer.

They plan to carry out a small trial on women who have cervical cancer.

The human papilloma virus comes in many forms – in fact there are at least 130 types of them. In the case of cervical cancer, it is caused by the sexual transmission of two of them.

Millions of people have the virus in their bodies, but not all become ill as a result.

The scientists found that when they applied the breast milk to patients with warts, some of them quite unpleasant ones – plantar warts that attack your feet – they found that the warts shrank by over 75% within three weeks. 75% of the patients got rid of their warts after the second treatment.

Stroke: Remember the 1st three letters… S.T.R.

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (They offered to call paramedics, but she declined.)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke… totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions… so read and learn:

• S … Ask the individual to SMILE.
• T … Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e., It is sunny out today)
• R … Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

NOTE: Another ’sign’ of a stroke is this: Ask the person to ’stick’ out their tongue. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher!

Thank God for the sense to remember the “3″ steps, STR … Smile, Talk, Raise… Smile, Talk, Raise… Smile, Talk, Raise.

Take care,
Dean

Chelation therapy is a method used by physicians to remove calcium deposits from the arteries in an attempt to combat heart disease. It involves intravenous injections of a chemical known as EDTA (or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) directly into the bloodstream where it apparently dissolves the calcium.

When medical researchers first began to investigate heart disease it was believed that calcium deposits caused hardening of the arteries. However, as knowledge in this area increased, it eventually became clear that the calcium deposits lining the damaged arteries was merely a symptom of the disease and not the cause, after all.

A few proponents of chelation still believe that there are health benefits of removing the calcium deposits and that EDTA is a viable alternative to heart surgery. Unfortunately, there are only anecdotal stories to support this theory. All of the research indicates that chelation therapy is not effective for reversing or preventing atherosclerosis.

The Research

There has been very little research done on chelation therapy probably because most scientists are satisfied by the findings of the initial tests and have since moved on to other areas. So far, I’ve been able to find only two studies worthy of mention.

One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association involving 84 people with coronary artery disease compared chelation therapy to an identical sham treatment where they omitted the EDTA. In this study, both groups improved equally whether they received the placebo or the real chelation treatment. [2]

As one author I read pointed out; if they hadn’t used a double-blind test involving a control group and a placebo, it would have been easy to mistakenly conclude that chelation actually worked.

Instead, the fact that the placebo worked just as well as chelation indicates that some other factor played a part in the improvements.

The second study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology was conducted to see if chelation was advantageous when used along with conventional treatment for coronary artery disease. The results of that study didn’t find any benefit to suggest the use of EDTA. [3]

The Answer Clearly Lies Elsewhere

The general consensus among medical experts is that chelation is not effective for the treatment of coronary heart disease or what we laymen would call “hardening of the arteries.”

It’s not a matter of conventional medicine being opposed to “alternative” treatments because conventional medicine developed the theory in the first place.

By the way, chelation therapy is not a “natural” treatment modality.

EDTA is a conventional drug — manufactured by mainstream pharmaceutical companies — and, therefore, any argument that chelation is being suppressed by “the establishment” is simply groundless.

This process is still commonly used by conventional medicine to remove heavy metals such as lead from the body and, if it were effective for atherosclerosis, they would be the first to utilize it.

Instead, most doctors recognize that removing the calcium deposits is simply not an effective treatment for coronary artery disease. It is nothing more than a futile attempt to treat the symptom rather than the cause. They have chosen instead to focus their efforts on finding a cure.

Bibliography:

1. Ernst E. Chelation therapy for coronary heart disease: An overview of all clinical investigations. Am Heart J. 2000;140:4-5.
2. Knudtson ML, Wyse DG, Galbraith PD, et al. Chelation therapy for ischemic heart disease: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002;287:481-486.
3. Anderson TJ, Hubacek J, Wyse DG, et al. Effect of chelation therapy on endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease: PATCH substudy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;41:420-425.

I’ve been a “health nut” my entire life. In fact, I have a whole cupboard full of vitamins, minerals, herbs, essential oils and other products from the health food store to prove it. (Most of which I know I don’t really need.)

I quite literally can’t remember a time when I wasn’t aware of, steeped in, fed upon or indoctrinated with all the latest natural health trends.

But you know what? After years of taking all this stuff for this, that and the other thing… usually with no visible results… it finally started to dawn on me that taking a pill really wasn’t natural.

After all, these pills don’t grow on trees. They’re manufactured in some processing plant by a huge corporation that is no different than any other business except for the fact that they’ve decided to tap into the highly profitable and highly gullible “natural health” marketplace.

Time to Rethink Things

I think it’s time we health nuts stopped kidding ourselves.

I think it’s time we stop letting the multi-billion dollar health food industry pull the wool over our eyes. It’s time we quit swallowing all the hype and publicity found in the books and magazines and TV talk shows… and start to demand real scientific evidence to back up product claims.

It’s time we stopped falling for all the miracle pills and potions that they are literally trying to shove down our throats at $30.00 a bottle.

If we can’t (and I definitely don’t) trust the big drug companies… why do we turn right around and trust the big supplement makers?

After all, the so-called “natural” vitamin manufacturers are huge corporations run by the same type of people who run the giant drug companies. There isn’t a nickels worth of difference between them. They would sell you a worthless bottle of empty promises faster than you can say, “How much?”

And don’t think they wouldn’t.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Make no mistake… I’m still a health nut and a strong advocate for nutrition, exercise and natural, healthy living.

I still get a few products from the health food store — not because they’re “natural” — but simply because it’s the only place I know of to get certain items.

But I’m not as pill crazy as I used to be. I want to see scientific evidence before I shell out my hard-earned money for the latest wonder product. And when I do take something, I do so with the full knowledge that I’m taking a refined, processed chemical… NOT a natural food.

Now I’m not saying you should never take any kind of nutritional supplement… I’ll leave that decision up to you and your doctor.

However, for the most part, instead of pills to supplement my diet, I’ve chosen to do things like juicing and just making sure I eat a well-balanced diet of whole, unprocessed foods.

So far, I seem to be getting along just fine.

Don’t take any wooden nickels,
Dean