The Risk from Air Pollution Increases

Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that women who gave birth in areas where air pollution and smog were high are twice as likely to have autistic children. There are multiple risk factors and genetic factors that cause autism. Exposure to toxic chemicals through the mom’s placenta is one of these factors. Another study from Canada documented an increase in appendicitis in areas that are polluted. A third study found that there has been an increase in the long-lasting trails of smoke that jet engines leave behind them in the sky. International weather modification programs have been linked to this increase. The program can involve spraying with aluminum, barium, strontium and other toxic metals that slowly fall to the ground after being carried by wind from their targeted areas. See Andrea Roberts of the Harvard School of Public Health, Gilaad Kaplan at the University of Calgary, and Kimberly Foster of the THRIVE Movement for more information. Celebration of Health Association website

A Potentially Big Problem With Chemotherapy

A year ago, there was an important article published in Nature Medicine by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that showed a marked (30-fold) increase in a substance called WNT 16B in cancer patients treated with chemo. High levels of this substance decrease the resistance to cancer in previously unaffected cells. This might explain why chemo often helps initially, but if the cancer comes back it is more difficult to treat the second time. On the positive side, the spice turmeric in large doses was shown to decrease tumor size and activity in 82% of animals with breast cancer compared to 0% in patients treated with placebo. A more natural approach continues to show promise in the treatment of cancer. See Dr. Peter Nelson at www.fhcrc.org/en/news/center-news/2012/08/peter-nelson-lab-chemotherapy-resistance-mechanism.html (the article was quoted in JAMA) and Cancer Prev Research, October 1, 2008, p. 385-391. Celebration of Health Association website

Weight Lifting for Parkinson’s Disease

Conventional treatment for Parkinson’s is physical therapy to achieve strengthening, flexibility and balance. It shows initial improvement but a return to baseline over a 2 year program. However, progressive resistance and increasing speed with weight lifting maintained a significant improvement over the entire 2 years. This study should change the conventional treatment for a stubborn disease. See the New England Journal of Medicine 2012;366:511-9. Celebration of Health website

Overdiagnosis—Incidentalomas

This is a series of key points from the 2013 book, Overdiagnosis, Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, by H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy. With the sophisticated CT scans, MRIs, Ultrasounds and other screening devices we are finding more and more incidental lesions that need follow-up testing and sometimes surgeries that are not only unnecessary but also might lead to considerable expense, anxiety, and even complications. Many cancers discovered before symptoms begin might have no impact on health or lifespan because they grow so slowly. They might not otherwise be discovered before you die of something else. PSA for prostate screening and CA-125 for ovarian cancer are markers that have been shown to have little or no benefit as far as extending life. There are a few screening tests that discover abnormalities that can be modified and thus make a difference. CardioRisk for carotid plaque, colonoscopy, and breast thermography are ones that I find very helpful, but the search for “incidentalomas” can do more harm than good. CardioRisk testing at Celebration of Health on September 30th Celebration of Health Association website

Over diagnosis—Hypertension

This is a series of key points from the 2013 book, Overdiagnosis, Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, by H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy. There is no doubt that treatment of severe hypertension is effective in preventing heart attacks and strokes. But you should be aware that you have to treat 18 people to prevent one of these bad events if they have only mild hypertension (diastolic 90-100). That means that there is only a 6% chance of benefit. That 6% might be important for you if you are one of the victims. However, this relatively low level of risk might make you consider more natural ways to control the blood pressure, such as weight loss, stress reduction, herbs and vitamins instead of the drugs, which are more likely to cause side effects. Celebration of Health Association website

Over diagnosis—Diabetes

This is a series of key points from the 2013 book, Overdiagnosis, Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, by H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy. A few years back, medical authorities lowered the definition of diabetes from a fasting blood sugar of 140 to 126. That instantly created 1.7 million new cases of diabetes. Subsequent studies tried to show that strict control of the HBA1C level that measures the glucose level over a 3-month period would reduce the incidence of complications from diabetes. However, those who had HBA1C levels of 6.5 actually had an increase in certain complications over those with levels of 7.0. The logical reason (not yet proven) is that the drugs used to “over treat” these newly classified patients cause more problems than they prevent. By the way, the TACT trial on EDTA chelation therapy showed a dramatic decrease in future heart attacks for diabetic patients. Celebration of Health Association website

Over diagnosis—Osteoporosis

This is a series of key points from the 2013 book, Overdiagnosis, Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, by H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy. In 2003 the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommended that women should be treated with meds with a dexascan T-score of -2.0 instead of the previous recommendation of -2.5. That instantly made 6.7 million new “patients” that will be treated for a lifetime. Only 5 % of those patients will turn out to be winners because the treatment will prevent them from getting a fracture that is unless they get a severe side effect from the medicine such as bone degeneration of the jaw. 44% of patients will get a fracture despite treatment, and 51% will get no benefit because they were never going to get a fracture anyway. Celebration of Health Association website