Start Focusing on Known Processes for Improved Health

Written By June Milligan, M.Ed., CCHt |

This is the first of three articles having to do with self-empowerment in the areas of health, finances and relationships.

Currently Americans are suffering from a health care crisis of tragic proportions. Over one hundred thousand deaths each year are caused by prescription medications. That’s 270 every minute, more than twice as many as are killed in car accidents each year. The book Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs by Melody Petersen explains how the pharmaceutical industry has taken over our faltering health care system by cleverly hawking every kind of drug imaginable. Even the American Medical Association, in a 2000 study, found that one third of all deaths in America are caused by medical errors made by doctors in diagnosis, surgery or prescriptions.

Our Daily Meds explains how the prescription med industry is in bed with doctors by paying physicians to be their so-called consultants, to sit on corporate advisory boards and to lecture other physicians. The prescription med industry pays for up to 80 percent of the continuing medical education doctors need to maintain their licenses. Doctors are no longer independent gatekeepers who keep us safe from drugs we don’t need, because far too many of them are financially tied to the industry.

We are the only country that doesn’t control prescription drug prices. We are one of only two countries in the world that allow the drug companies to market directly to the public. So is it any wonder that we have such a huge illegal drug problem in this country, with prescription drugs being hawked in print advertisements and constantly on TV? Children grow up with this programming, hearing from a very young age how you need this or that pill to feel good and be happy.

More drugs are prescribed for children in this country every year, even though we know little about the long-term effects of prescription meds on kids. More drugs are being prescribed for conditions unrelated to what they were originally designed to “help,” although this is illegal. Ms. Petersen’s book covers many more current topics and is well researched and documented, a real wake-up call for Americans who do no research regarding their meds.

As a result of drug companies being able to market directly to the consumer, we are bombarded daily with programming to use drugs or to actually tell our doctor which drugs we need. They try to frighten us by implying that, “One in three people will get the flu this winter and you’re the one.” They try to appeal to our conditioned fear and resultant need for instant advice on every little twinge; they try to convince us that we need to go in for checkups for every body part. The idea is promoted as “prevention,” which really is an effort to find something wrong with us, which financially aids the local specialist receiving the referral, the rest of the medical profession down the line, as well as “Big Pharma.”

Allopathic (conventional) medicine is very big business. As a result, our conditioning is to run to a doctor for every symptom. We have not been taught to believe that our own bodies actually do the healing. Instead, we’ve been programmed to believe that doctors and drugs are the answer. Actually most drugs simply affect the symptom, not the cause. That’s like erasing the skid marks after a traffic accident, or repairing the crashed cars, thinking that the auto repair and removal of the skid marks will stop future accidents. Go to www.mercola.com, the most popular natural health website in America, and watch the video entitled The Town of Allopath.

We are in this mess because we didn’t grow up with the idea that our thoughts and emotions have any effect at all on our bodies. However, the new biology of epigenetics shows that our thoughts, beliefs and expectations have everything to do with our health. If we engage in chronic negative thoughts about anything, or suffer constant stress, those anxieties affect all 50 trillion of our cells. Each thought has a vibrational frequency, like a radio signal, and as we send out toxic thoughts, we damage our cells and get breakdown results.

We each have our own pharmaceutical company in our body, which knows exactly how much of each chemical and hormone we need in order to be healthy. Working in concert with our positive thoughts, beliefs and expectations, that pharmacy creates what we need when we need it. But it cannot override negative, fearful or worried thoughts forever. It can repair the damage caused by toxic thoughts, beliefs and stress for many years, but finally the barrage is too much, and the cells begin to break down or begin multiplying in an unnatural way.

The genius of our system is that if we start changing our thoughts right now, even after years of negative thinking, our bodies can begin to heal. Every organ and tissue in our body has its own vibrational frequency. After many years of vibrational abuse, those frequencies may have changed from normal healthy frequencies to dysfunctional frequencies. Scientists in Germany have developed a machine called Ondamed (pronounced on-da-med), which beams healthy frequencies into the body; thereby entraining the dysfunctional frequencies back to healthy ones. Professionals in sports medicine were the first to see the value in this therapy because of the need of fast healing for professional athletes. It is now being used for all kinds of ailments, and serves as proof of the effectiveness of vibrational medicine.  To learn more and to find a professional in your area who understands vibrational healing, go to www.ondamed.net

To watch an informative video of Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Belief, and Dr. Wayne Dyer explaining the science behind vibrational medicine and giving pertinent examples, go to www.youtube.com and type in their names. The videos entitled “You Can Heal Yourself” parts 1 and 2 will pop up. This is important information for anyone wanting to know the latest research. I recently learned from Dr. John Veltheim, the developer of the BodyTalk System, that it takes 22 years for new facts to be included in college textbooks. That’s a whole generation! With the pharmaceutical industry standing guard at the elbows of conventional medical school decision makers, why would they allow books that explain the power of thoughts and beliefs to be included in the curriculum? There’s no money in it for them if people learn to heal themselves.

This new science shows that the vibrational frequencies from our thoughts, beliefs and expectations, as well as the electromagnetic frequencies from our hearts, affects not only our own bodies but things that are happening around us. See www.heartmath.com for more info on this. Millions of people are waking up, and will no longer be interested in the old ways of looking at things. Nor will we continue to be willing to give away our power to outdated ideas of healing, nor be financial or life-style victims of greedy multi-national corporations who have a vested interest in keeping us ignorant.

References:

1. Petersen, Melody. Our Daily Meds. Farrar, Strauss and Girous Publishing. 2008.

2. Lipton, PhD., Bruce. The Biology of Belief. Mountain of Love Publishing. 2009.

3. www.mercola.com

4. www.heartmath.com

5. www.ondamed.net

For more info, contact June Milligan, specializing in helping people learn how to let go of dysfunctional thinking, at (775) 786-9111 or visit online at www.joyfulchanges.com

Written by Robert Rand, MD |

Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (B-HRT) is a “new hot subject” thanks to coverage by Oprah Winfrey and Suzanne Somers. There is a lot of excitement and controversy about this subject.

B-HRT is exactly what it sounds like. Bio-Identical hormones are hormones identical to those the body produces on its own, unlike the synthetic hormones developed by pharmaceutical companies. The main reason for this difference between B-HRT and pharmaceutically developed hormones is very simple. It is impossible to get a patent on a hormone exactly identical to what the body makes. If the pharmaceutical companies cannot get a patent there is no real reason for them to produce these hormones. As a matter of fact this is why these companies are fighting against these hormones being more readily available!

The hormones identical to what your body produces can easily be made in a local compounding pharmacy. They have less deleterious effects, are in many ways safer, more effective, and easier to use than the pharmaceutical alternatives, which have been chemically altered and may not even be recognized by the body in the way that they should be; hence some of the dangerous side effects.

B-HRT   has been around for years but most practitioners of medicine have not yet adopted them into their practice of medicine. Hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are used in “aging” patients for any number of medical conditions. These hormones are administered in such a way as to return the patient’s levels to normal “physiologic” levels. In other words these hormone levels often drop as we age and we simply endeavor to maintain a level of hormones considered to be “healthy” in a younger population.

Another advantage of the bio-identical hormones is that we can test the levels and monitor them to ensure optimal hormone levels for health. For women any number of hormonal, menopausal symptoms and syndromes can be safely treated. For men, there are numerous advantages to incorporating B-HRT into a health regimen. Many studies suggest that the bio-identical hormones are much safer in most cases than the synthetic alternatives, and offer a much better therapeutic solution.

All medications have risks as well as benefits, and it is advisable to discuss the option of B-HRT with your physician or find a physician who is comfortable with this type of treatment.

References:

1. Nieschlag E. Testosterone treatment comes of age: new options for hypogonadal men. Clin Endocrinol.(Oxf). 2006 Sep;65(3):275-81.

2. L’Hermite et al, “Could transdermal estradiol+progesterone be a safer postmenopausal HRT? A review,” Maturitas 2008 Vol 60, Issue 3, Pages 185-201.

3. Fournier et al, “Breast cancer risk in relation to different types of hormone replacement therapy in the E3N-EPIC cohort,” Int J Cancer 2005 Apr 10;114(3):448-54.

4. Eskelinen SI, Vahlberg TJ, Isoaho RE, Kivela SL, Irjala KM. Associations of sex hormone concentrations with health and life satisfaction in elderly men. Endocr Pract. 2007 Nov;13

For more info, contact Dr. Robert Rand, Board Certified Family Medicine, Medical Acupuncturist at (775) 826-7263.

NEW DOCUMENTARY TAKES THE LID OFF THE PILLBOX

Review written by Michael Braunstein |

Michael Moore bailed from taking on Big Pharma. In his new vehicle for Moore-notony, Sicko, he appears to be more interested in a smackdown with the gamut of the healthcare industry than in taking a swipe at the drug dealers who fuel the machine. Although he announced the drug company theme several years ago, something dissuaded him.

Fortunately for us, a real documentary has emerged that concisely and powerfully asks the question: Is it wise for the American medical system to rely on a profit-motivated industry for our health and well-being? The question is especially apt when we consider how poorly the performance of our medical system compares to that of other countries.

The Media Education Foundation, a non-profit corporation that produces and distributes educational material observing the impact and ethics of the media industry has released a new film, Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs. Among other topics, it examines direct to consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals.

MEF, mediaed.org, was founded by University of Massachusetts communications professor Sut Jhally. Its board of advisors includes media critic and activist Noam Chomsky, consumerism observer Juliet Schor and African-American social activist bell hooks among several other literati.

Pharmaceutical drugs are powerful chemicals. Prescribing them is limited to medical doctors. Every country in the world bans pharmaceutical companies from advertising drugs directly to the consumer; every country except the United States and New Zealand.

TEN YEARS AFTER

This year marks the 10th anniversary of one of the darkest hours in our nation’s healthcare history. In 1997, the United States lifted the ban on Direct to Consumer Marketing (DTCM) of drugs. Obviously, pharmaceutical company profits have soared. Industry spending on advertising drugs to the public increased 296.4 percent from 1997 to 2005, up to $4.2 billion.

Since the United States and New Zealand are the only countries in the world that allow drug companies to advertise prescription drugs directly to the consumer via television, print and other media, studying the effect of that is a worthy task for MEF. This documentary shows that they have stepped up big time in bringing a suspect practice to inspection.

HOOKED ON TONICS

Marketing is marketing. Its purpose is to sell something: a product, an image, idea or political viewpoint. When the major drug companies spend their billions of dollars each year on advertising, it isn’t to inform. It’s to sell.

In a concise and pointed headshot documentary, industry insiders, medical experts, media gurus and consumer watchdog advocates explain exactly what price the public is paying to allow being sold drugs in the media.

Powerful messages are swathed in lifestyle images just as cigarette ads did years ago. Everybody wanted to look as healthy and cool as the Marlboro Man, remember? Now everyone wants to be as smiling and rested as the guy who takes Lunesta or as composed and unflappable as the happy housewife who takes Paxil or as hot and ready as the hunk who takes Levitra.

Marcia Angell, M.D. is one of the star interviewees in Big Bucks, Big Pharma. She is the former editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, now at Harvard Medical School. Her own book, The Truth About Drug Companies, was published in 2004 after she had already cleaned house at the NEJM by requiring that any peer-reviewed articles include transparency about drug company affiliations of the author.

Other experts appearing in the documentary are Bob Goodman, M.D. of Columbia University, Larry Sasich, Pharm.D., of Public Citizen Health Research Group, journalist Katherine Greider and communications professor Elizabeth Preston, Ph.D.

One particularly enlightening commentator is former Merck sales rep, Gene Carbona. He gives an insider’s look at how the money spent on golf outings, lavish gifts and trips for doctors — influencing them to sell more drugs — is covered up by calling it “education.”

“It’s self-evidently absurd to look to a company for impartial, critical education about a product it sells,” Angell points out.

Angell goes on to describe the collusion between medical oversight and recommending bodies and their influence over healthcare policy. The documentary points out that a nine-doctor panel was charged with evaluating and recommending the new, lower range for cholesterol. Of the nine doctors, six had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.

DISEASE MONGERING

The DVD is divided into six sections. The flow and editing easily captures the viewer’s interest. There is nothing dry about what might be seen as a scientific case. When it comes to drugs in America, every viewer has an interest. After all, half of all Americans take a prescription drug every day.

In the section “Disease Mongering,” the documentary questions whether some diseases are “invented” just to sell drugs. Comments by medical experts are inter-cut with network news pieces that stress how current these issues are. Actual drug industry ads are shown, complete with the rapid-fire disclaimers and list of side effects that trill off so easily during the last five seconds of the spot.

Preston, the communications professor, tells how limiting the image presented in ads for drugs can be.

“We don’t look at environmental problems that might cause asthma or allergies. We don’t look at lifestyle issues that might be causing depression or indigestion or erectile dysfunction,” she observes.

Drug ads make it seem like there is only one answer for things like hay fever, sleeplessness, shyness, twitchy legs, sadness and so on — and that is a trip to the doctor and a pocket full of pills. That isn’t so.

The sum total of the information presented in Big Bucks, Big Pharma, describes that the responsibility to correct this overuse of advertising to sell America drugs lies with the media, the medical community and the consumer/voter. That message comes across clearly, intelligently and dispassionately. Any laughter from the audience comes from the obvious absurdity that Angell alluded to, not from a Moore-ish mocking of issues or people. This is a documentary that should be seen by anyone who ever considers taking a pharmaceutical drug — or sees advertising, for that matter.

MOVIE REVIEW/Opinion by Mike Adams, Newstarget.com |

Whether you hate Michael Moore or love him, you owe it to yourself to read these excerpts from this review:

America’s disastrous health care system is heaving the country head-first into near-certain economic collapse. Just about everybody’s either financially strained or going broke due to spiraling health care costs: the people, the employers, state governments and even the federal government. Multinational corporations are fleeing the United States due to health care costs, taking jobs and economic productivity with them. Meanwhile, 50 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses.

But not everybody’s doing badly. The drug companies, surgeons, medical specialists, health insurance companies and private hospitals are making out like bandits, raking in multi-million dollar CEO salaries and — I’m not making this up — greater than 500,000% markups on prescription drugs. And while the American people get sicker, the drug companies, insurance companies and many health “care” providers (it’s really more like “sick care providers”) are rolling in cash. Drug companies are now among the richest corporations in the world, and they got there by inventing fictitious diseases, then selling drugs to people who mostly don’t need them. See my CounterThink cartoon, Disease Mongers, Inc. to learn more about this topic.

Meanwhile, the American people are the most diseased people in the world among advanced nations. We spend more on health care than anyone, we pay the highest prices for medications, and we’re constantly told that we have the best medical technology in the world. But if our health care system is really so good, why do 50 million Americans have no health insurance? Why are hospitals literally dumping uninsured patients on the street, abandoning the sick to protect profits while our politicians actually negotiate on behalf of Big Pharma to make sure Americans keep paying the highest prices in the world for medications?….

…At the same time, I realize that most people simply don’t take care of their own health, and I could argue for days about the need for more patient responsibility alongside corporate responsibility. However, the fact is that relentless advertising from drug companies and food manufacturers has bred a mindset of disease, junk food consumption, pharmaceutical dependence and patient victimization. We have a health crisis in this country, and it’s going to take genuinely radical reforms to turn this around and save America from a financial wipeout exacerbated by runaway health care spending…

What’s missing from SiCKO

The material that’s in SiCKO is hard-hitting, and it accomplishes what it sets out to do. But there’s something missing from the film: A serious discussion about how a nation can prevent disease using nutrition, medicinal herbs, sunshine, clean water, avoidance of toxic chemicals, smart dietary choices, banning the advertising of junk foods and pharmaceuticals, and so on. Of course, that’s not really what SiCKO set out to do, and this topic would require another film all by itself, but personally I wouldn’t have minded a stronger nod towards solving our nation’s health care problems through genuine prevention (rather than the current policy which is basically centered around waiting for everybody to get sick and then treating their symptoms while ignoring the true causes of their disease).

Tuesday, June 19, 2007; for the complete article, please go to: http://www.newstarget.com/021906.html