Natural Health Articles on Dr. Mercola’s Members Only Blog

Stupid In America: What's Wrong with the U.S. Education System?

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

This video should be required viewing for every member in Congress, every teacher in the United States, and every parent with children in public education. The video compares the U.S. public education system with that in Europe, and with magnet and charter schools vs. districts where there is no competition. The results are shocking.

7 Drugs That Can Kill Children with a Single Pill

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

Even parents who keep medicines out of their children's reach are at risk of an emergency; the Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America notes that in 50 percent of all childhood accidental poisonings, the medication bottle was only "out" for a short amount of time as it was being used.

Here are some of the more common medicines that can lead to emergencies when accidentally ingested by kids:

Heart Pills -- In children, they can cause dangerously low blood pressure and heart rate, and even lead to shock.

Muscle Rubs -- Camphor is especially dangerous because ingesting it works so quickly; symptoms occur within 10-20 minutes, and often children can go into seizures without any warning.

Prescription Pain Medications -- For an infant, even half of a tablet of hydrocodone can be lethal.

Aspirin and Oil of Wintergreen -- Oil of wintergreen is particularly hazardous because its pleasant smell tempts toddlers to ingest it, but one teaspoon of oil of wintergreen is the equivalent of nearly 90 baby aspirins -- a life-threatening dose for a toddler or child.

Antidepressants -- After pain medications, antidepressants are the second highest cause of accidental death from poisoning in children younger than 6.

Blood Pressure Patches, Eye Drops, and Nasal Sprays -- These medications, designed to be absorbed over time through the skin, can lead to serious consequences when ingested by a toddler. As little as 6 ml can lead to a coma.

Diabetes Drugs -- As these medications are more commonly prescribed, the incidence of pediatric poisonings has also increased, with over 2,500 occurrences in the United States in 2001.

Shocking Reasons to Go Organic

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

Eating organic foods has lots of benefits, from protecting the environment to helping you stay slim and healthier.

Now, Rodale Inc. CEO and Chairman Maria Rodale is out with a book called "Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe." Men's Health magazine, which is published by Rodale, Inc., is spotlighting those benefits, especially the ones for men.

Matt Bean, a senior editor of the magazine, says, "We discovered ... some pretty shocking and convincing arguments" for going organic:

More Nutrients: Studies show that organic foods may have increased levels of nutrients like antioxidants than conventionally grown foods
Fertility Health: Pesticides found in conventionally grown foods have been shown to reduce fertility
Immune System Protection: The chemicals in non-organic foods may also harm your immune system, leaving you more susceptible to illness and some forms of cancer
Hormones and weight gain: New research has shown that some agricultural chemicals could actually be making you fat by interfering with your hormone levels
Unknown effects of GMOs: Many people are concerned about genetically modified foods, especially since many of them have never been tested on humans. Organic foods are never genetically modified

6 Percent of Kids Are Extremely Obese

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

Six percent of U.S. children still in grade school now qualify as extremely obese, according to an extensive new survey of kids in California.

A 10-year-old boy is supposed to weigh 70 pounds, and an extremely obese 10-year-old weighs 114 pounds. There's growing evidence that being obese in childhood raises the risk of a host of serious health problems in adulthood, including heart disease and diabetes.

Not only are kids getting very fat, but it’s occurring a young age, with boys' weight peaking at age 10 and girls' weight spiking at age 12 and again at age 18. Overall, 37 percent of the children studied were overweight, 19 percent were obese, and 6 percent were extremely obese.

Omega 3 Curbs Precancerous Growths

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

A purified form of an omega 3 fat cuts the number and size of precancerous bowel growths (polyps) in people who are predisposed bowel cancer.

Furthermore, this particular omega 3 (eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA) seems to be as effective as the prescription medicine used to treat familial bowel polyps, but without the associated cardiovascular side effects.

The researchers base their findings on 55 patients, all of whom had previously undergone surgery and were being monitored by endoscopy -- a procedure involving a camera on the end of a flexible tube passed through the rectum.

Twenty eight of the patients were randomly assigned to six months of treatment with a highly purified form of EPA. The other 27 were given the same amount of a placebo. The number of polyps increased by almost 10 percent among those treated with the placebo, but instead fell by more than 12 percent among those treated with the EPA capsules.

Low Levels of Vitamin D Linked to Higher Rates of Asthma

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

Researchers have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy children.

This study supports recent research that suggests vitamin D plays a greater role in the body than just keeping bones healthy. Vitamin D deficiency has been recently linked to a variety of non-bone related diseases including depression, autoimmune disorders, and now asthma.

The study took a one-time measurement of vitamin D in the blood of 85 children with asthma. Additionally, the researchers measured the vitamin D levels of 21 healthy children. The research team found that 86 percent of the children in the study with asthma had insufficient levels of vitamin D, while only 19 percent of non-asthmatics had these low levels.

Indian Spices and Powders Linked to Lead Poisoning

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

A study shows that young children who regularly ingest some imported Indian spices may be exposed to lead -- a dangerous neurotoxin.

The study followed patients from the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Children's Hospital in Boston who had ingested or been exposed to Indian spices and powders.

One 12-month-old boy in the case study was found to have lead poisoning after regularly eating spices such as turmeric, black mustard seed and asafetida. When the family discontinued use of the spices, his blood lead levels went down within six months.

But of greater concern to researchers are religious powders like cherry-colored "sindoor" -- which is applied cosmetically on the skin. Some of these ritual powders comprise 47 to 64 percent lead, , and can be particularly dangerous when applied on young children.

Cigarette Ad Targeted Teen Girls

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

A Camel cigarette ad may have targeted teenage girls, an antismoking group claims.

In a national survey of teens conducted soon after ads for the R.J. Reynolds brand Camel No. 9 appeared in leading women's magazines, 44 percent of the girls could name a favorite brand, based on advertising. Their average age was 15.

In previous surveys, about 10 percent fewer girls named a favorite cigarette advertisement. The increase in the latest survey was almost exclusively for the Camel brand.

The landmark 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) between states' attorneys general and the tobacco industry prohibits all tobacco marketing aimed at children and teens.

The ads for Camel No. 9 began soon after the brand was launched early in 2007. One shows a classic little black dress surrounded by high-fashion accessories. Another ad shows the magenta-regular and teal-menthol cigarette packs surrounded by flowers, with the tag line reading "light and luscious."

According to the antismoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the brand's launch also included special-event giveaways including berry-flavored lip balm, cell phone jewelry and Rocker Girl wristbands.

Hypnotherapy Eases Irritable Bowel Syndrome

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

Hypnotherapy seems to be very effective for easing the distressing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and in a good proportion of cases, clears up symptoms altogether.

Excluding certain foodstuffs may help alleviate symptoms, but usually only for a while,. That's because dietary measures don't tackle the root cause of the symptoms -- an overly sensitized gut.

Another option for patients is probiotics, which can be very effective.

Could the U.S. Surgeon General be the Real cause of Massive 1918 Flu Deaths?

2010-03-19T06:00:59Z

A researcher who authored one of the first articles connecting aspirin to Reye’s Syndrome, a lethal disease that attacks the liver and brain, is suggesting that aspirin also could be to blame for a significant portion of deaths in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.

In an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases, California internist Dr. Karen M. Starko talks about the high doses of aspirin that were used to treat fever and the aches and pains of the early 20^th century flu. The symptoms of aspirin overdoses, she says, may have been difficult to distinguish from those of the flu, especially among those who died shortly after they became ill.

This information is particularly relevant today, not only because CDC officials are pushing for people to get the H1N1 shot before they go on spring break, but also because they have now decided that H1N1 will be part of the seasonal flu shot scheduled for the 2010-11 flu season.

They also have expanded the flu shot schedule to include the elderly and infants 6 months of age and older.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

No one will ever know whether aspirin therapy was actually a culprit in the deaths of the 1918 pandemic. But the history lesson is important, especially since the 1918 pandemic is being used as a benchmark to fuel flu fears today.

Even as world health officials sit with egg on their faces, pondering why the 2009 H1N1 swine flu proved not to be the pandemic they predicted, they still insist people get vaccinated, even though the flu season is mostly over. And in a sky-is-falling move, they’ve also decided to include H1N1 in the seasonal flu vaccines for 2010-2011.

I have already commented on the hyped-up H1N1 numbers that the US was reporting during the “height” of this non-pandemic. The lid was blown off by CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who revealed that the vast majority of “swine flu” cases were not H1N1 at all -- but, rather, some sort of respiratory infection.

In other words, it was flu-like-symptoms -- not flu of ANY kind -- that was making people sick during the so-called H1n1 “pandemic.” The reason H1N1 numbers were so high was because the CDC had instructed health care officials to stop testing for H1N1, and just presume that everyone who showed up with flu-like symptoms was infected with H1N1.

It was a great game plan. Only it didn’t work because some health officials tested anyway, and found out the truth.

Finally, a few weeks ago in February, after months of waiting for the hundreds of thousands of H1N1 deaths that didn’t come, the World Health Organization admitted to Business Week magazine that "the overwhelming expression of [H1N1] was mild," and that they were going to use the pandemic-that-wasn’t as a learning tool.

Apparently, what they learned is that, like it or not, H1N1 is going to be part of your flu shot package from now on.

History, Big Pharma, and the Flu

Before I talk about what the new flu shot recommendations mean let’s go back to that 1918 flu, and look at how a pharmaceutical company may have contributed to countless deaths.

As Dr. Starko’s research shows, some doubts about the causes of the 1918 flu deaths that were raised at the time. At least one pathologist thought that the amount of lung damage seen during autopsies was too little to attribute to viral pneumonia (a complication of the flu), and that the large amounts of bloody, watery liquid in the lungs must have had some other cause.

Without autopsy reports or other documents, Dr. Starko cannot definitively prove that aspirin was that other cause, but aspirin overdose stands out because the symptoms of aspirin overdose are similar to what that turn-of-the-century pathologist observed, she writes.

It also fits historically. Back then, aspirin was a fairly new drug, and its maker, Bayer, was advertising it heavily. Since aspirin packages had no warnings on them, and came with little or no instructions on dosages. All people really knew was that they could take this drug and feel better quickly.

As an interesting aside, many may not realize that 20 years prior to that, in 1895, Bayer actually introduced heroin as on over the counter drug. Bayer is also the same company that sold HIV contaminated blood products to hemophiliacs over a century later killing many thousands. Definitely not one of our favorite companies.

So at the time people were taking large doses of Bayer aspirin. As Dr. Starko notes, when the flu popped up in late 1917 in Europe, the US Surgeon General and the US Navy began recommending aspirin to help alleviate flu symptoms for soldiers. Then, as the flu moved to the US, civilians followed suit.

With encouragement from the respected Journal of the American Medical Association, people downed 1,000-milligram doses of the drug every three hours, which today is the equivalent of downing 25 standard 325 milligram tablets in a 24-hour period.

The recommendations for this aspirin flu therapy came from government and health officials just before the October 1918 flu death spike, Dr. Starko says.

This level of high aspirin dosage is now known to, in some cases, cause toxicity and build-up of fluid in the lungs, which Dr. Starko theorizes may have contributed to the incidence and severity of symptoms, bacterial infections, and mortality, back then.

History Repeating Itself?

Anyone who has a child probably already knows that you’re not supposed to give aspirin to sick children, because of the possible risk of Reyes Syndrome, a serious disease that can cause swelling in the liver and brain.

Reyes Syndrome most often affects children and teenagers, but it also can affect adults -- and when was the last time your health care provider told you not to give aspirin to your teenager, or not to take aspirin yourself when you are sick?

Since many people grab the aspirin bottle first when they’re not feeling up to par, it’s possible that more than a few people this past fall and winter did just that when they felt a cold or flu symptoms coming on.

It just makes me wonder if, like the 1918 flu, aspirin could have been partly to blame for all the “flu-like symptoms” reported to health officials during this past flu season?

Like the 1918 flu, it’s a question that we’ll never know the answer to. But it is a good reminder not to take aspirin for cold or flu symptoms.

Spring Break and Next Fall: Recycling the Leftovers

In the meantime, with flu season mostly over, and with plenty of unused H1N1 vaccine left on their shelves, the CDC has partnered with the American College Health Association to encourage students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities to get vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus for spring break.

Saying that the 2009 H1N1”pandemic” will continue for weeks, the CDC is urging the college crowd to get vaccinated right away.

At the same time the college letters came out, the CDC began predicting “a wave of flu activity” yet to come nationwide, and possibly even worldwide, even though the flu season is mostly over. On its website, it also warned that additional flu waves may come as late as May, with sporadic cases throughout the summer.

Anticipating that maybe this time the CDC and the WHO are correct -- that H1N1 will hang around to become a pandemic later -- the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) announced a provisional, updated recommendation regarding H1N1 vaccination on its website.

For the upcoming 2010-2011 flu season, the ACIP says, H1N1 will be part of a trivalent shot that includes two regular flu viruses, along with H1N1.

Another important change for the coming year is that no one older than 6 months is exempt from flu shots anymore -- the new rules state that everyone, including all children ages 6 months and up, as well as the elderly, should get flu shots from now on.

And watch out, senior citizens, because if you get this vaccine you’ll be getting a quadruple hit. Posted March 2, the ACIP says:

A higher dose formulation of an inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine (Fluzone High-Dose, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, licensed by FDA on December 23, 2009) for use in people age 65 years and older will be available in the 2010-11 influenza season.

Fluzone High-Dose contains four times the amount of influenza antigen compared to other inactivated seasonal influenza vaccines.

Fluzone High-Dose vaccine in one study of people age 65 years and older produced higher antibody levels, but slightly higher frequency of local reactions.

Studies are underway to assess the relative effectiveness of Fluzone High-Dose compared to standard dose inactivated influenza vaccine, but results from those studies will not be available before the 2010-11 influenza season.

I added the boldface type to the ACIP’s notice, to call attention to what our government health officials are recommending for senior citizens, some of whom may be in fragile health already: FOUR times the amount of antigen, of which the studies WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE before the vaccines are given.

This means that, once again, the public is being asked to be the guinea pig for a drug company’s final clinical trial.

One More Time, the Evidence Shows Flu Shots Don’t Work

Aside from the fact that a new Cochrane Systematic Review says that there is poor evidence that influenza vaccines work in the elderly, and that there is little or no evidence that they even work at all, a different study shows that flu vaccines don’t work in children either.

This study, published in the October 2008 issues of JAMA and JAMA’s Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, looked at children younger than age 5 who were seen in hospitals, emergency rooms or physicians’ offices during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 flu seasons.

It found that use of the influenza vaccine was NOT associated with preventing hospitalizations or reducing visits to their pediatricians. I commented on this study when it first came out. But in case you missed it, here’s what the study showed:

“Significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated for any season, age or setting after adjusting for county, sex, insurance, chronic conditions recommended for influenza vaccination and timing of influenza.”

The authors speculated that vaccinated children in this study got the flu anyway, because the vaccines for those years did not contain the actual flu virus that was going around – something that can happen in any year, since world health officials and manufacturers have to guess ahead of time which flu might be the predominant one in an upcoming year.

And finally, for more proof that there’s no evidence that flu vaccines work, then why not hear it straight from the horse’s mouth – the vaccine manufacturers themselves. For example, here are excerpts from the actual package inserts of the four flu vaccines that the CDC and ACIP are recommending for this coming fall:

Fluzone High-Dose: There have been no controlled clinical studies demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with Fluzone High-Dose.
Agriflu: No controlled efficacy trials have been performed to indicate a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with AGRIFLU.
Afluria: There have been no controlled clinical studies demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with AFLURIA.
Fluarix: Specific levels of hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody titer post-vaccination with inactivated influenza virus vaccines have not been correlated with protection from influenza illness but the HI antibody titers have been used as a measure of vaccine activity.

While Fluarix’s wording is technical, it essentially is saying the same thing as the others: no clinical trials have been done to prove that these vaccines will keep you from getting the flu -- the only thing they have to go on is a measurement of antibodies to the specific flu virus in the blood of trial subjects.

And even then, it’s anybody’s guess whether the vaccine actually will protect you from the flu – just like that children’s trial published in JAMA proved.

Compelling Evidence Not to Opt for the H1N1 Shot

If that’s not enough to make you wonder why the CDC continues to come out almost daily with more flu warnings, more flu advisories, and more flu shot recommendations, then consider this little tidbit that came out just a couple weeks ago:

According to Science Daily:

“New research from Tel Aviv University bacteria expert Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, grounded in the study of bacteria, presents compelling evidence to suggest there may be good reasons why most people should not automatically opt for the swine flu H1N1 shot.”

The scientists used the mannerisms of the bacteria themselves to explain why people should not be so eager to jump on a new vaccine bandwagon.

"The simple rule we learned from bacteria is that anybody who has to make an important decision -- especially one of life and death at times of stress -- should wait to see the trend of changes, process the risks and odds in depth, and only then decide," says Prof. Ben-Jacob.

Proof that Vitamin D is the Best Flu ‘Vaccine’ Around

I couldn’t have said it better myself. But I saved the best for last. For years now, I’ve been talking about how important vitamin D is to your overall good health, and how it can help you in warding off illnesses like the flu.

I’ve cited numerous studies supporting my stand on vitamin D, but this one, published March 10, 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is a new one that reinforces everything I’ve ever said about what vitamin D can do.

In this first-ever, rigorously designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on the topic, researchers investigated the effect of Vitamin D₃ supplements on the incidence of seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.

The study is recent, done from December 2008 to March 2009. What these researchers found was astounding, but not surprising: that vitamin D₃ supplementationduring the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especiallyin specific subgroups of schoolchildren.

It was particularly noticeable in children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, the researchers said. In the children taking the supplements, asthma attacks as a secondary outcome of the flu were one-sixth of what they were in children not taking the supplements.

I’m thrilled that, finally, a clinical trial proves what I’ve been saying all along -- that it’s better to take a natural nutrient in the form of vitamin D, rather than taking vaccines manufactured with destructive chemicals, preservatives and adjuvants.

I’m sure this is something that the flu vaccine makers aren’t going to like.

I’m also certain you’re not going to read about it on the CDC’s website, even though, as I wrote about in this previous article, they should have already noticed that a majority of children who died this season of H1N1 had diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency.

The good news is, the information is out there, and more and more health officials are beginning to take notice, including the Canadian government which, as I wrote about last year, is also studying vitamin D’s effect on the flu.

Baldness Could Actually be Good for Your Health

2010-03-18T06:00:59Z

A receding hairline can be a good thing -- men who go bald by 30 appear to be less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Researchers studied 2,000 men aged between 40 and 47. They were able to link high levels of the male hormone testosterone in those who lose their hair earlier with a lower risk of tumors.

Men who had started to develop bald spots on the top of their heads as well as receding hairlines had a 29 to 45 percent reduction in the risk of prostate cancer.

Baldness is caused when hair follicles become exposed to too much dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This is a chemical produced by the male hormone testosterone. Prostate cancer sufferers are often given drugs to reduce testosterone levels, because testosterone can accelerate the growth of some tumors once they develop.

Obesity and Passive Smoking Reduce Oxygen Supply to Your Unborn Baby

2010-03-18T06:00:59Z

Babies born to mothers with obesity and exposed to passive smoking are more likely to have health problems than others. This conclusion is based on evidence of elevated levels of nucleated red blood cells in the umbilical cord.

Researchers have found that obesity and passive smoking are risk factors for elevated umbilical cord neonatal immature, or nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs). Raised levels of NRBCs are indicative of a degraded oxygen supply to the baby during the pregnancy.

Obesity in young and women is on the increase and is a known risk factor for a range of health problems. Maternal obesity at conception affects gestational metabolic adjustments, the placenta, and fetal growth and development.

Tobacco smoke inhalation, whether direct or indirect, may affect the amount of oxygen reaching the unborn child, because hemoglobin is poorly oxygenated. Nicotine can also cause narrowing of blood vessels, vasoconstriction, and so reduce oxygen supply through that mechanism as well.

Smoking is Worse for Your Mind Than Alcohol

2010-03-18T06:00:59Z

Men and women with a history of alcohol abuse may not see long-term negative effects on their memory and thinking, but female smokers do, a new study suggests.

In a study of nearly 300 men and women ages 31 to 60, researchers found that those with past alcohol-use disorders performed similarly on standard tests of cognitive function as those with no past drinking problems. The findings were not as positive when it came to tobacco, however.

In general, women who had ever been addicted to smoking had lower scores on certain cognitive tests than their nonsmoking counterparts.

Too Few People Exercise, and Too Many Smoke

2010-03-17T06:00:59Z

The U.S. is not a nation of teetotalers or regular exercisers, new government data show. The National Health Interview Survey, based on telephone interviews with 79,000 adults over three years, has found that:

61 percent of people in the USA drink alcohol
31 percent of people do enough regular leisure-time physical activity to get health benefits
40 percent do no regular leisure-time physical activity of any kind
20 percent smoke, and only 58.5 percent have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their life

Anti-Obesity Drugs are Unlikely to Provide Any Lasting Benefit

2010-03-17T06:00:59Z

Scientists are saying that anti-obesity drugs fail to provide lasting benefits for health because they tackle the biological consequences of obesity, and not the important psychological causes of overconsumption and weight gain.

Anti-obesity drug developers focus primarily on weight loss as their end goal, and do not take into consideration the motivational and behavioral factors that most commonly cause obesity.

Obesity typically results from eating too much food combined with too sedentary a lifestyle. However, obese people may also have a complicated psychological relationship with food that makes it difficult for them to control their appetite sufficiently to manage their weight.