Trapped in the medical model

The following letter by Ed Jones was sent to the Chattanooga Free Press recently. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Jones.

I guess I know that I live in my own little bubble of my world and this again became apparent to me as I looked at the front page picture on the September 11, 2008 Chattanooga Free Press and saw the [accompanying photograph].

I tend to forget that the average Tennessean takes 18 prescription drugs per year since I deal with so many individuals who use natural therapies to maintain health instead of drugs; I was again stunned to see the reality of pharmaceutical prescribing. This is an article written by Free Press writer Emily Bregel about an 81-year old lady from Cleveland, Tennessee and what you see on her table is by my estimate 26 prescription drugs that she must take every day.

The article was entitled "Trapped in Medicare Gap." The focus of the article was on the high cost of prescription drugs on seniors but my focus is very different. The picture above represents an absolute crime when you consider the followings facts:

(1) 100,000 patients die every year from properly prescribed, properly taken prescription drugs.

(2) No one can determine the true interactions of drugs when you combine three or more at one time.

(3) The majority of drugs are not studied on elderly people.

(4) Most patients, such as this lady, probably have several physicians and each one has given her their choice of drugs without anyone ever removing an old drug.

(5) You know that she has to feel horrible each day with the use of this many drugs, not counting being financially destroyed.

This is sheer madness to me and yet the system endorses this type of medical prescribing. What I also found so fascinating is that in the same A section of the Free Press is an article on page A7 that talks about the medical community becoming more critical of drug companies. The following is the first paragraph of this article and I could not have said it better myself.

Just about every segment of the medical community is piling on the pharmaceutical industry these days, accusing drug makers of deceiving the public, manipulating doctors and putting profits before patients. Three top editors of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine last month publically sided against the drug industry. The influence that the pharmaceutical companies, the for-profits, are having on every aspect of medicine... is so blatant now you'd have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to see it," said Journal of the American Medical Association editor Dr. Catherine DeAngelis.

Dr. DeAngelis said we should all get together and say, "Enough!"

My final thought on this the following: Health professionals practicing today have almost zero concept of true healing and the absolute effectiveness of safe nutritional therapies and diet change, especially on the elderly. They can dismiss nutritional supplements as untested, unsafe, not approved or any other wording they want but the truth is that research now bears out that nutrition therapy is truly safe, effective and low cost.

Anyone who doubts the research on nutrition and disease, simply go to www.vitasearch.com and you will find thousands of peer reviewed double blind studies to support every aspect of disease with nutrients. Lack of knowledge is no excuse for poorly managing people's chronic health conditions with excessive drugs when safe and effective nutritional therapies and dietary recommendations are available.

— Ed Jones

Complementary Medicine | Natural Health | Nutrition | Herbal Supplements | Nutritional Supplements | Dr. David Ross, ND, CNHP | DrDavidRoss.com

Improving diet 'could cut crime by a third'

It has been known for well over a decade that the lack of certain minerals, such as zinc and iron, as well as an overabundance of copper, can lead to acts of aggression and violence (see bibliography of research).

Now researchers in England and Scotland are going to prove it once again, this time in a prison setting. A three-year study is about to be launched to examine whether young criminals, including murderers, behave better in prison if they are given vitamins and other nutritional supplements.

Researchers believe that the results of the study, which will follow 1,000 youthful prisoners in three different facilities for the next three years.

Scientists think the results will have a profound impact on the criminal justice system, in the U.K. and elsewhere.

John Stein, a neurophysiologist from the University of Oxford, said, "We are not saying that nutrition is the only influence on behavior, but we seem to have seriously underestimated its importance."

Bernard Gesch, honorary director of the charity Natural Justice, said, "It may seem a little strange that what we eat has got anything to do with criminal justice. The law tends to assume that criminal behavior is entirely a matter of free will.

"I wonder if that is entirely true? I wonder how you can exercise free will without involving your brain and how your brain functions properly without a good nutrient supply?

"In that sense, this is potentially something that is very simple, very humane. It is likely to be very cheap and it has been largely overlooked."

Smaller studies have been done in the past, but this is the largest study of its kind. A previous study at Aylesbury young offenders' institution in 1998 found that prisoners who consumed vitamins and other supplements committed 25% fewer disciplinary offenses and 37 per cent fewer violent offenses.

Don't wait for the outcomes of this and future studies. If you have your own little droogies who occasionally get out of hand, try vitamins and minerals and other supplements — before they commit offenses that may hurt themselves or others, and get them locked up.

Complementary Medicine | Natural Health | Nutrition | Herbal Supplements | Nutritional Supplements | Dr. David Ross, ND, CNHP | DrDavidRoss.com

Nutritional supplements teach old dogs new tricks: Acetyl-l-carnitine and alpha lipolic acid improve memory in dogs

Exciting new research shows that two nutritional supplements, acetyl-l-carnitine and alpha lipoic acid, can improve the memory, ability to learn and cognitive function of old dogs, and might be able to do the same thing with humans.

Acetyl-l-carnitine and alpha lipoic acid may provide a new approach to the neurodegeneration and cognitive decline common with aging, scientists say.

The study was recently published in FASEB Journal, produced by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, by researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the University of Toronto, University of California/Berkeley, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, and Juvenon, Inc.

The study found these two antioxidant compounds, which are believed to play a role in slowing mitochondrial decay in the cell, significantly increased the ability of aged beagle dogs to learn a new task.

"The prospects for cognitive improvement from use of these supplements is both fascinating and exciting," said Tory Hagen, an associate professor in OSU's Linus Pauling Institute, and recognized expert on the biological processes of aging.

"This is the first time these two compounds, by themselves, have been tested in canines, which have brains that are more biologically similar to humans than some other animal models," Hagen said. "The results should be relevant to what we could expect with humans, and are very encouraging."

The research suggests that long-term supplementation "may be effective in attenuating age-associated cognitive decline by slowing the rate of mitochondrial decay and cellular aging."

Enhancing the function of mitochondria — which provide almost all of a cell's energy — could literally be providing animals with more "mental energy," leading to improved memory and learning, the study indicated.

The compounds may also cause increased synthesis of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.

Source: Oregon State University news release via Salem-News.com

Complementary Medicine | Natural Health | Nutrition | Herbal Supplements | Nutritional Supplements | Dr. David Ross, ND, CNHP | DrDavidRoss.com

Air Force to fly high on protein supplementation

The U.S. Air Force is currently conducting studies into the benefits of whey protein for their pilots and commandos, reports the Daily American.

After an initial study led by Col. Breck Lebegue faltered for lack of participants, a new study is taking off, led by Maj. Thomas Walker.

Participation in the research is open to both military personnel and civilians, and seeks to find out if protein supplementation will prevent combat fatigue.

Walker said he hopes to study between 70 and 80 people between the ages of 19 and 44 by the end of the year and issue a report early next year, he said.

Image: Tom Cruise in "Top Gun"

Complementary Medicine | Natural Health | Nutrition | Herbal Supplements | Nutritional Supplements | Dr. David Ross, ND, CNHP | DrDavidRoss.com