Americans are in Worse Health and Die Younger then Citizens of Other Countries

A new study by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council compared U.S. health markers and death rates for people of all ages to those of 17 other developed countries. American men ranked last in the study and women were next to the last. Car accidents, gun violence, and drug overdoses were major contributors for those less than 50 y.o. We had more than twice as many homicide deaths related to guns than any other country. Chronic diseases, especially heart disease, were also more prevalent in the U.S. We need a lot more emphasis on prevention, and a greater utilization of safer, more natural medicine. See January 10 issue of New York Times and report from the Institutes of Medicine. www.healthcelebration.com

Concentrated Dark Chocolate Can Help Your Heart if You Can Stand the Taste

Dr. Roger Corder of Queen Mary University of London reported from a randomized, double-blind study that daily consumption of a 50 Gm dark chocolate bar with 1094 mg of flavonoids lowered the diastolic blood pressure by 5 mg and reduced the brain natriuretic peptide marker for congestive heart failure by 39% over 4 weeks of treatment. The bad news was that the average dark chocolate bar contains only 312 mg of flavonoids per 50 Gm. And the worse news was that even the patients that finished the study complained about the taste. The company that sponsored the study is working on that. See Family Practice News, December, 2012, p. 9. www.healthcelebration.com

Hypertension a Missed Diagnosis in Young Adults

Dr. Heather Johnson opened eyes at the American Heart Association meeting this fall by finding that 65% of patients in the age groups of 18-31 y.o. who had hypertension documented in patient records over a 4 year period remained undiagnosed and untreated. Many others in all age groups are classified as untreated prehypertension (BP between 130/80 and 140/90). Hypertension leads to heart disease and strokes. Weight loss, low salt diet, and exercise are initial treatments. But nutritional supplements and/or medications are often needed as well. See Family Practice News, December, 2012, p. 1,8. www.healthcelebration.com

If You Have Diabetes, Would You Rather Have Bypass Surgery or Chelation Therapy?

The New England Journal of Medicine had a recent article comparing angioplasty with stents to bypass surgery (CABG) for patients with diabetes and vascular disease. The end points were a composite of death from any cause, nonfatal heart attack, and nonfatal stroke. Conventional medical therapy was continued as well. The study showed that CABG had fewer deaths and heart attacks but more strokes. These end points were included in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), and those patients who were given EDTA chelation therapy had significantly fewer cardiac events. Diabetic patients with vascular disease did better than the rest of the patients. I believe it would save lives and improve the quality of life for patients at risk if the TACT results were promptly put into the accepted practice of medicine. The experience of our clinic over the last 30 years has shown that all vascular patients, including diabetics, do very well with chelation therapy, even when other therapies have not been effective. See ME Farhouh and associates. N Engl J Med 2012; 367:2375-2384. Contact Dr. Chappell's office healthcelebration.com for more info on chelation therapy.

Toxic Metals and Cardiovascular Disease

Peter Jennrich has written and distributed an insightful article showing how arsenic, lead, and mercury influence the development of cardiovascular disease. These toxic metals are commonly found in our environment. They increase free radicals, which leads to lipid peroxidation and other mechanisms that damage vascular endothelium, raise blood pressure, and increase mortality from cardiovascular disease. Jennrich cites 132 references that document this connection, and yet conventional medicine refuses to recognize, detect, or treat this emerging epidemic. I believe that all adult patients and selected children should be screening with a metals challenge test to see if they are collecting toxic metals. If these metals are found, various chelating procedures are available to remove them from the body. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) showed a reduction in cardiac events for patients with known heart disease treated with EDTA chelation therapy. See P Jennrich. The Influence of Arsenic, Lead, and Mercury on the Development of Cardiovascular Disease. ISRN Hypertension, Vol 2013, article ID 234034. Contact healthcelebration.com for more info on EDTA chelation therapy.

The Benefits of Mammograms Questioned

In order to reduce mortality, a procedure must detect a tendency towards a life-threatening illness early enough so that the treatment alters the course of the disease. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine put mammograms to that test over the last 30 years. The surprising conclusion was that “screening (mammograms) is having, at best, only a small effect on the death rate from cancer.” It was found that 122 excess cases of early breast cancer were detected for every 100,000 screened, but only 8 of those were expected to progress to advanced disease that was life-threatening. On the other hand 1.3 million women were incorrectly diagnosed with breast cancer in those 30 years due to mammography. Not mentioned by the authors was that thermography is an alternative way to screen for the tendency to develop breast cancer before a cancer has a chance to form. Aggressive nutritional management might then prevent breast cancer. Thermography does not utilize radiation or compression, and is the preferred screening option for most women at our clinic. See A Bleyer and HG Welch, N Engl J Med 2012;367:1998-2005 or healthcelebration.com for more information on thermography or ThermaScan.com

Expensive Drugs are Driving the Health Care Cost Crisis

Commonly used name-brand prescription drugs increased in cost at twice the rate of inflation between 2005 and 2010, according to a report by AARP. This means an average increase of $1000 per year for a single drug. The biggest increase was in 2009. An important factor in reducing health care costs should be a switch to natural therapies whenever possible. Nutrient, homeopathic, and herbal therapies are often just as effective, much safer, and less costly than prescription drugs. Work with your holistic practitioner to get good results at less cost. See our web site www.healthcelebration.com