“Fibrofog” is More Likely Due to Yeast Toxins than a Prelude to Alzheimer’s Disease

Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue patients often have mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction that they readily label as “brain fog”. The American College of Rheumatology has found that this is not a harbinger of Alzheimer’s disease, but they are mystified as to why it occurs. Any integrative physician or health food store proprietor will tell you that “brain fog” is due to yeast toxins and/or food allergies that often cause or make fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue worse. Treatment is available if the problem is recognized. See International College of Integrative Medicine to find an integrative physician who gets very good results for these conditions. Celebration of Health Association website

Fibromyalgia Responds to Naltrexone and Hyperbaric Oxygen

Speakers at the American College of Rheumatology meeting were disappointed in the “inadequate” results of the FDA-approved drugs for fibromyalgia (Cymbalta, Lyrica, Savella) but were encouraged by results seen with low-dose naltrexone and hyperbaric oxygen treatments. These novel treatments are often available from alternative physicians. Sometimes oxygen generators can be combined with exercise to get similar results to hyperbaric treatments at a much reduced cost. Se Family Practice News, December, 2013 issue, p. 6 or contact International College of Integrative Medicine to find an integrative doctor near you. Celebration of Health Association website

Computerized Risk Calculators are Overcalling the Actual Risk

Risk calculations recently released by the American Heart Association and others have created “confusion, dismay, and protest”, according to a panel at the AHA meeting in November, 2013. According to the new calculations, 33 million more Americans will be asked to take statin drugs when their risks for heart attacks are minimal. We can get a much better assessment of risk by asking if there is a strong family history, doing lab such as a CRP sensitive, Lp(a), homocysteine, and toxic metal screen. A cardiorisk test for arterial plaque, a calcium score with a CAT scan, and/or an ankle/brachial blood pressure test for peripheral circulation can tell us if plaque is developing. Lifestyle changes, nutritional support, and chelation if indicated can be much more effective than a massive use of statin drugs. See Family Practice News, December, 2013, page 1, 13 or contact International College of Integrative Medicine to find an integrative doctor near you. Celebration of Health Association website

Innovative Treatments for Neuropathies

Neuropathies, whether peripheral or triggered by the central nervous system, can be very difficult to treat with conventional drugs and surgery. Steve Kaufman’s pain neutralization techniques can often be very helpful with his light touch procedure. Neural prolotherapy is a series of injections along cutaneous nerves with a simple sugar that often relieves neuropathic pain. Soft lasers can be equally effective. Low dose naltrexone is a very low dose of an oral preparation that is often helpful. Lately, reports suggesting that HCG, natural progesterone, or Oxytoxin are hormones that can possibly help with pain syndromes. Different patients respond to different approaches. Google the med to get more information about effectiveness and safety. Celebration of Health Association website

Thermography Better than Mammograms if You are Taking Bio-Identical Hormones

The Women’s Health Study tells us that women who have been taking hormone replacement therapy, especially the natural kind, have denser breasts. This makes it more difficult to detect breast abnormalities by X-rays. Dense breasts are better followed with thermograms, which assesses the circulation patterns in the breast tissue. Blood flow and circulation are not affected by dense breasts. See WomensHealthResearch.org and ThermaScan.com Celebration of Health Association website

CDC States that Flu shots are Ineffective, but Take Them Anyway

According to Robert Rowen’s excellent newsletter, the Center for Disease Control tells us that flu shots are estimated to be about 9% effective in the elderly this year. But we should encourage everyone to take them anyway. Dr. R suggests 5000iu of vitamin D3 daily as a much better preventative. I agree. But homeopathics like mucococcinium and colds and flu drops also work well, and oral vitamin C is not bad either. If you are at high risk, a monthly IV of intravenous vitamin C, plus other nutrients would be great. We call it a Meyer’s cocktail. See Second Opinion, December 2013, p. 1. Celebration of Health Association website

An Integrative Approach Does Much Better than Drug Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes

Treating type 2 Diabetes with metformin appears OK but if you add a common second drug (usually a sulfonylurea) you increase the death rate from 14 per 1000 patient years to 45 per 1000 patient years, according to a British study. On the other hand if you treat diabetic patients with vascular disease with chelation therapy, as in the TACT study, you decrease cardiac events over a three-year period by 50%. It sure seems to me that doctors should be recommending chelation therapy for their diabetic patients, but they rarely do, probably as a result of a long-standing prejudice against alternative medicine. See Diabetes Care 2012;35:1364-1379 and JAMA 2013;309:1241-1250. Celebration of Health Association website