Share ideas for healthy eating, living and thinking. Accident, illness, and sleep discussions are also to be found here!http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/list.php?118Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:03:11 -0800 Phorum 5.2.7 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117475,117475#msg-117475 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117475,117475#msg-117475Lavender Oil an essential oil, it contains essence of the lavender plant. Lavender pure essential oil is cultivated and harvested in the Mediterranean today. More specifically, lavender is grown in Provence, France. Lavender is the most popular essential oil in aromatherapy; this is probably due to the fact that it is the most versatile of all essential oils as it can be used for a large variety of ailments ranging from insect repellent to sedative. Lavender’s balancing effect calms uncontrolled emotions, removes indecisiveness and emotional conflict, and helps to bring the feelings under conscious control. It brings a sense of rationality to the conscious mind. Its effect is antibacterial, pain-relieving, healing for wounds, soothing for skin diseases, deodorizing, antiseptic, fungicidal, insect-repelling, rejuvenating, and anti-inflammatory.]]> Woolmer Health, Recipes & SleepThu, 19 Nov 2009 02:21:24 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117472,117472#msg-117472 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117472,117472#msg-117472 blandinevisha Health, Recipes & SleepTue, 17 Nov 2009 10:50:39 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117470,117470#msg-117470 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117470,117470#msg-117470, would greatly appreciate it.

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water damage mold removal portland or ]]> rickystim5 Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 16 Nov 2009 08:35:46 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117466,117466#msg-117466 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117466,117466#msg-117466
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mold removal portland or]]> Mariyameggy Health, Recipes & SleepWed, 11 Nov 2009 07:26:16 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117418,117418#msg-117418 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117418,117418#msg-117418Ripped Fuel Twinlab:
Twinlab’s Ripped Fuel Extreme Ephedra Free is for people who are looking for an extreme way to fight fat and enhance lean muscle mass. Ephedra Free Ripped Fuel Extreme provides even greater benefits with a Proprietary Thermogenic Blend PLUS CYCLOBURN - a proprietary herbal blend to further enhance results.]]> Woolmer Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 26 Oct 2009 22:30:48 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117417,117417#msg-117417 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117417,117417#msg-117417Ripped Fuel 5X:
Twinlab Ripped Fuel 5X is a super-concentrated professional strength formula that uses five distinct nutritional mechanisms to fuel your weight loss program: burning calories faster, preserving lean muscle, enhancing nutrient absorption, helping to reduce body fat, and fueling increased energy levels. Research shows that these ingredients stimulate fat loss.]]> Woolmer Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 26 Oct 2009 22:29:40 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117352,117352#msg-117352 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117352,117352#msg-117352
After I got through the Effexor withdrawal, the Ativan worked very well.. usually instantly. As the months have gone on, Ativan has begun to work less and less which brings me to where I am now.

I am having full fledged panic attacks again. The hot sweats, tingling in my arms, heart palps and the feeling like I'm going to pass out. I went back to the doctor and he once again put me on Effexor XR 75 mg. It has just been over three weeks since I was put on it and it really hasn't done anything at all, plus with my ativan nothing providing any relief I feel completely exasperated. I recently was laid off from work (not because of my condition, but low work) and would like to get my head sorted out before starting a new job.

I'm just looking for some advice, personal experience with Effexor XR... and other options other than Ativan.. I've heard of Xanax.. it's like ativan correct?

Those that are on Effexor or have been, once it's 'fully' in your system, does it work?





Panic Attacks Cure]]> devid.mike Health, Recipes & SleepSun, 18 Oct 2009 01:50:49 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117344,117344#msg-117344 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117344,117344#msg-117344
Just wondering if anyone has had any luck with natural remedies? I was using Bach Flower Remedy, but it's a pretty quick helper at reducing immediate anxiety, but doesn't last very long?









Stop A Panic Attack]]> jameshudson45 Health, Recipes & SleepSun, 18 Oct 2009 01:06:11 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117334,117334#msg-117334 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117334,117334#msg-117334
1. To avoid diseases like hepatitis and Typhoid, eat 5 basil leaves everyday.

2. For tooth ache, keep a clove on the affected area.

3. Have a mixture of gingelly oil and egg, for 3 days, for menstrual disorders.

4. You will get a great relief from menstrual pain , if you have a gooseberry daily.

5. Boil the leaf of Malabar nut, squeeze its juice and add egg white. It subsides cough.

6. Eat the powder of dried ginger and cumin with sugar for relief from cough.

7. Have the mixture of mustard paste and honey for good relief from cough.

8. For a good relief from cough, mix equal quantities of basil juice, honey and ajwain juice and drink on an empty stomach.

9. Are you suffering from urinary infection? Drink a glassful of water with a pinch of cardamom powder.

10. Have a mixture of lemon juice and honey when you are suffering from cold.

How To Stop A Panic Attack]]> danielclark Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 16 Oct 2009 20:54:28 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117324,117324#msg-117324 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117324,117324#msg-117324to 'face your fears' Well that's a load of crap. The reason you feel
panic is that a young part of you is terrified and doesn't trust the
older parts of you to look after it. Forcing that young part to do
something it clearly doesn't want to do will make the panic worse.

Try this: Next time you panic, remove yourself from whatever it is
that's causing it. I panic on buses and trains, I don't force myself
to take trains, if I take a bus, I say to that part, "If you want to
get off, we will get off". When I go to the cinema/theatre, I pre-book
an aisle seat, I find out where the exit is and I say to myself "If
you want to leave, we'll leave" I have been doing this for several
years now and it really works. I can sit in waiting rooms now,
something I could never do before, because that young part of me knows
that if it wants to get up and go, we will, without hesitation. It has
learned to trust me. In turn, I can reason with it sometimes when I
really want to stay and I can be really kind to it and even ask it to
try and be OK (this mostly works, but I still have work to do on
this). I never take medication for panic, I think that this is really
disrespectful to the parts of you that are trying to communicate, you
just have to listen to them and eventually they will be less
terrified, learn to trust you and panic attacks do get much less. I
know that one day, I wont need to have them at all any more.

Good Luck!
Treatment Of Panic Attacks]]> ston5 Health, Recipes & SleepThu, 15 Oct 2009 08:44:25 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117293,117293#msg-117293 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117293,117293#msg-117293 Moe Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 19 Oct 2009 15:59:35 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117234,117234#msg-117234 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117234,117234#msg-117234 Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepTue, 22 Sep 2009 10:05:57 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117069,117069#msg-117069 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,117069,117069#msg-117069
As we age, we all know about the medicine cabinet, and the need for diet, and excercise. But how bout mental health? I do believe, that mental health is the procurer for longevity. Perhaps there's a message there for whiskey and wild wild women, if it made them happy. If you can say what Alfred Neuman used to, "what me worry?" and mean it, perhaps?]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 16 Oct 2009 20:56:50 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116845,116845#msg-116845 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116845,116845#msg-116845Dentist San Francisco]]> devidmike Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 16 Oct 2009 04:46:10 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116803,116803#msg-116803 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116803,116803#msg-116803I told my family doctor what she had recommended and he gave me this article to read while I waited in the examining room)

"Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through." - Jonathan Swift

After reading "The Neurontin Legacy -- Marketing through Misinformation and Manipulation" in the January 8, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, one may conclude that (1) America's prisons would be put to better use incarcerating drug company executives instead of pot smokers, and (2) society may need a return of public scorn via the pillory for those doctors who are essentially drug-company shills.

Drug-company corruption of American medicine is of course not news. What is news is that such corruption has become so egregious, so transparent, and so embarrassing that the New England Journal of Medicine, perhaps the most influential American medical journal, is now stating that "drastic action is essential to preserve the integrity of medical science and practice and to justify public trust."

Neurontin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 in doses of up to 1800 mg per day as adjunctive therapy for partial complex seizures. How did U.S. annual sales of Neurontin increase from $98 million in 1995 to nearly $3 billion in 2004? The answer is "off-label" marketing, in which Neurontin manufacturer Parke-Davis (a division of Warner-Lambert purchased by Pfizer in 2000) marketed Neurontin to doctors for uses not approved by the FDA (because doctors can legally prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA).

While aggressive off-label marketing to doctors is standard among drug companies, it is routinely kept quiet. But thanks to a Parke-Davis whistle blower, we have first-hand evidence of off-label marketing -- and how the Neurontin financial bonanza was created.

In 1996, David Franklin, a young biologist, took a sales representative position for Parke-Davis. But shortly after beginning the job, Franklin grew concerned that he was participating in the illegal marketing of Neurontin. Franklin reports that a Parke-Davis executive informed him and his fellow sales reps:

"I want you out there every day selling Neurontin. . . .We all know Neurontin's not growing for adjunctive therapy, besides that's not where the money is. Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy [for epilepsy], that's money. . . . We can't wait for [physicians] to ask, we need [to] get out there and tell them up front. Dinner programs, CME [continuing medical education] programs, consultantships all work great but don't forget the one-on-one. That's where we need to be, holding their hand and whispering in their ear, Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for bipolar, Neurontin for everything. I don't want to see a single patient coming off Neurontin before they've been up to at least 4800 mg/day. I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing, it's a great drug."
Franklin left Parke-Davis and filed suit (ultimately, United States of America ex rel. David Franklin vs. Pfizer, Inc., and Parke-Davis Division of Warner-Lambert Company) alleging that off-label marketing of Neurontin constituted false claims designed to elicit payments from the federal government. In 2004, Warner-Lambert resolved criminal charges and civil liabilities by agreeing to plead guilty and pay $430 million -- less than 15 percent of the $3 billion the drug company had grossed on Neurontin in 2004.

The current New England Journal of Medicine article concluded that the marketing of Neurontin involved "the systematic use of deception and misinformation to create a biased evidence base and manipulate physicians' beliefs and prescribing behaviors." This is one of many examples:

"In a recently unsealed 318-page analysis of research sponsored by Parke-Davis, epidemiologist Kay Dickersin concluded that available documents demonstrate 'a remarkable assemblage of evidence of reporting biases that amount to outright deception of the biomedical community, and suppression of scientific truth concerning the effectiveness of Neurontin for migraine, bipolar disorders, and pain.' For example, publication was delayed for a report on a multi-center, placebo-controlled study that found no effect of Neurontin on the primary outcome measure for neuropathic pain because 'we [Parke-Davis employees] should take care not to publish anything that damages neurontin's marketing success.'"
Exactly what does it take for drug executives to do jail time?

And let's not kid ourselves about the innocence of doctors. The tactics used by Parke-Davis and other drug companies to manipulate doctors make it clear that too many doctors have been willing participants in the corruption of their profession.

The New England Journal of Medicine discusses some of the practices used by Park-Davis (and commonly used by other drug companies): recruit local physicians who are then trained and paid to serve as speakers in "peer-to-peer selling" programs; financially cultivate renowned professionals, so-called "thought leaders;" financially influence academics with educational grants, research grants, and speaking opportunities worth hundreds of thousands of dollars; create drug "advisory boards" to launder pay offs to "friendly" physicians; provide doctors employed by medical-education companies with "unrestricted educational grants" to produce programs that promote off-label (unapproved) uses of drug; fund doctors' "research" that in fact is designed and commissioned to promote a specific drug; and credit doctors as authors for ghost-written research articles that downplay drug ineffectiveness or lack of safety.

The New England Journal of Medicine is now warning physicians that medicine's corruption by drug companies has threatened public confidence in their profession. If those physicians who are not drug-company shills want to save their profession, they might want to start taking aggressive actions against their colleagues who are on the take. Perhaps it will help motivate clean physicians to be reminded that history shows that any institution -- no matter how large and powerful -- can arrogantly cross those lines leading to its demise.

Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and author of Surviving America's Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007).]]> lizzie61 Health, Recipes & SleepSun, 07 Jun 2009 13:06:46 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116652,116652#msg-116652 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116652,116652#msg-116652
Foods to avoid: Salt, (yeah, whatz new), Excess Carbs, (don't pig out on the french fries), Bulky Raw Foods, eat only cooked veges, (you telling me I can't have my celery sticks, carrot sticks, broccoli with ranch dressing?), Gassy Foods, brussel sprouts, cabbage, onions and peppers, (they left out garlic, and there goes my st pattys day meal, and leaving out onions?)

Sugar alcohols, (no boilermakers or kentucky whiskey I guess), no prob), Fried Foods, (there goes my reason for living), Spicy Foods, (you take away mexican food and I'll starve, and chili is another reason for living, with onions and catsup), Carb drinks, (guess this means water and tea only), High Acid Drinks and Chewing Gum (ok, they didn't mention chewing tobacco).

Is there anything left we can eat? Why didn't they just say, "starve yourself," graze with the sheep. It's this type of stuff people burn the midnite oil to come up with, and no one pays attn. You can't tell me all those hotties in bikinis, and triple packed ab guys don't eat fast burgers and fries.]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 29 May 2009 05:54:38 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116561,116561#msg-116561 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116561,116561#msg-116561
American health officials declared a public health emergency as cases of swine flu were confirmed in the U.S. Health officials across the world fear this could be the leading edge of a global pandemic emerging from Mexico, where seven people are confirmed dead as a result of the new virus.

On Monday April 27th, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert level to four on its six-level threat scale,1 which means they've determined that the virus is capable of human-to-human transmission. The initial outbreaks across North America reveal an infection already travelling at higher velocity than did the last official pandemic strain, the 1968 Hong Kong flu.

The number of fatalities, and suspected and confirmed cases across the world change depending on the source, so your best bet -- if you want the latest numbers -- is to use Google Maps' Swine Flu Tracker.

Several nations have imposed travel bans, or made plans to quarantine air travelers2 that present symptoms of the swine flu, such as:

Fever of more than 100
Coughing
Runny nose and/or sore throat
Joint aches
Severe headache
Vomiting and/or diarrhea
Lethargy
Lack of appetite
Top global flu experts are trying to predict how dangerous the new swine flu strain will be, as it became clear that they had little information about Mexico's outbreak. It is as yet unclear how many cases occurred in the month or so before the outbreak was detected. It's also unknown whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less.

Much Fear Mongering Being Promoted

I suspect you have likely been alarmed by the media's coverage of the swine flu scare. It has a noticeable subplot - preparing you for draconian measures to combat a future pandemic as well as forcing you to accept the idea of mandatory vaccinations.

On April 27 Time magazine published an article which discusses how dozens died and hundreds were injured from vaccines as a result of the 1976 swine flu fiasco, when the Ford administration attempted to use the infection of soldiers at Fort Dix as a pretext for a mass vaccination of the entire country.

Despite acknowledging that the 1976 farce was an example of “how not to handle a flu outbreak,” the article still introduces the notion that officials “may soon have to consider whether to institute draconian measures to combat the disease.”

WHO and CDC Pandemic Preparedness Seriously Broken


The pandemic warning system has failed as it simply doesn't exist, even in North America and Europe. To improve the system massive new investments in surveillance, scientific and regulatory infrastructure, basic public health, and global access to common sense interventions like vitamin D optimization are required.

According to the Washington Post, the CDC did not learn about the outbreak until six days after Mexico had begun to impose emergency measures. There should be no excuses. The paradox of this swine flu panic is that, while totally unexpected, it was accurately predicted. Six years ago, Science dedicated a major story to evidence that "after years of stability, the North American swine flu virus has jumped onto an evolutionary fasttrack".

However, maybe this is precisely what public health authorities desire.

This is NOT the First Swine Flu Panic


My guess is that you can expect to see a lot of panic over this issue in the near future. But the key is to remain calm -- this isn't the first time the public has been warned about swine flu. The last time was in 1976, right before I entered medical school and I remember it very clearly. It resulted in the massive swine flu vaccine campaign.

Do you happen to recall the result of this massive campaign?

Within a few months, claims totaling $1.3 billion had been filed by victims who had suffered paralysis from the vaccine. The vaccine was also blamed for 25 deaths.

However, several hundred people developed crippling Guillain-Barré Syndrome after they were injected with the swine flu vaccine. Even healthy 20-year-olds ended up as paraplegics.

And the swine flu pandemic itself? It never materialized.

More People Died From the Swine Flu Vaccine than Swine Flu!

It is very difficult to forecast a pandemic, and a rash response can be extremely damaging.

As of Monday April 27, the worldwide total number of confirmed cases was 82, according to WHO, which included 40 cases in the U.S., confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control. But does that truly warrant the feverish news headlines?

To put things into perspective, malaria kills 3,000 people EVERY DAY, and it's considered "a health problem"... But of course, there are no fancy vaccines for malaria that can rake in billions of dollars in a short amount of time.

One Australian news source,3 for example, states that even a mild swine flu epidemic could lead to the deaths of 1.4 million people and would reduce economic growth by nearly $5 trillion dollars.

Give me a break, if this doesn't sound like the outlandish cries of the pandemic bird-flu I don't know what does. Do you remember when President Bush said two million Americans would die as a result of the bird flu?

In 2005, in 2006, 2007, and again in 2008, those fears were exposed as little more than a cruel hoax, designed to instill fear, and line the pocketbooks of various individuals and industry. I became so convinced by the evidence AGAINST the possibility of a bird flu pandemic that I wrote a New York Times bestselling book, The Bird Flu Hoax, all about the massive fraud involved with the epidemic that never happened..

What is the Swine Flu?

Regular swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease, caused by a type-A influenza virus that affects pigs. The current strain, A(H1N1), is a new variation of an H1N1 virus -- which causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans -- that also contains genetic material of bird and pig versions of the flu.

Interestingly enough, this version has never before been seen in neither human nor animal, which I will discuss a bit later.

This does sound bad. But not so fast. There are a few reasons to not rush to conclusions that this is the deadly pandemic we've been told would occur in the near future (as if anyone could predict it without having some sort of inside knowledge).

Why a True Bird- or Swine Flu Pandemic is HIGHLY Unlikely
While in my opinion it is highly likely factory farming is responsible for producing this viral strain, I believe there is still no cause for concern.


You may not know this, but all H1N1 flu's are descendants of the 1918 pandemic strain. The reason why the flu shot may or may not work, however, from year to year, is due to mutations. Therefore, there's no vaccine available for this current hybrid flu strain, and naturally, this is feeding the fear that millions of people will die before a vaccine can be made.

However, let me remind you of one very important fact here.

Just a couple of months ago, scientists concluded that the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between 50-100 million people worldwide in a matter of 18 months -- which all these worst case scenarios are built upon -- was NOT due to the flu itself!4

Instead, they discovered the real culprit was strep infections.

People with influenza often get what is known as a "superinfection" with a bacterial agent. In 1918 it appears to have been Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Since strep is much easier to treat than the flu using modern medicine, a new pandemic would likely be much less dire than it was in the early 20th century, the researchers concluded.

Others, such as evolutionary biologist Paul Ewald,5 claim that a pandemic of this sort simply cannot happen, because in order for it to occur, the world has to change. Not the virus itself, but the world.

In a previous interview for Esquire magazine, in which he discusses the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, he states:

"They think that if a virus mutates, it's an evolutionary event. Well, the virus is mutating because that is what viruses and other pathogens do. But evolution is not just random mutation. It is random mutation coupled with natural selection; it is a battle for competitive advantage among different strains generated by random mutation.

For bird flu to evolve into a human pandemic, the strain that finds a home in humanity has to be a strain that is both highly virulent and highly transmissible. Deadliness has to translate somehow into popularity; H5N1 has to find a way to kill or immobilize its human hosts, and still find other hosts to infect. Usually that doesn't happen."

Ewald goes on to explain that evolution in general is all about trade-offs, and in the evolution of infections the trade-off is between virulence and transmissibility.

What this means is that in order for a "bird flu" or "swine flu" to turn into a human pandemic, it has to find an environment that favors both deadly virulence and ease of transmission.

People living in squalor on the Western Front at the end of World War I generated such an environment, from which the epidemic of 1918 could arise.

Likewise, crowded chicken farms, slaughterhouses, and jam-packed markets of eastern Asia provide another such environment, and that environment gave rise to the bird flu -- a pathogen that both kills and spreads, in birds, but not in humans.

Says Ewald:

"We know that H5N1 is well adapted to birds. We also know that it has a hard time becoming a virus that can move from person to person. It has a hard time without our doing anything. But we can make it harder. We can make sure it has no human population in which to evolve transmissibility. There is no need to rely on the mass extermination of chickens. There is no need to stockpile vaccines for everyone.

By vaccinating just the people most at risk -- the people who work with chickens and the caregivers -- we can prevent it from becoming transmissible among humans. Then it doesn't matter what it does in chickens."

Please remember that, despite the fantastic headlines and projections of MILLIONS of deaths, the H5N1 bird flu virus killed a mere 257 people worldwide since late 2003. As unfortunate as those deaths are, 257 deaths worldwide from any disease, over the course of five years, simply does not constitute an emergency worthy of much attention, let alone fear!

Honestly, your risk of being killed by a lightning strike in the last five years was about 2,300 percent higher than your risk of contracting and dying from the bird flu.6 I'm not kidding! In just one year (2004), more than 1,170 people died from lighting strikes, worldwide.7

So please, as the numbers of confirmed swine flu cases are released, keep a level head and don't let fear run away with your brains.

So is the Swine Flu Getting More or Less Dangerous?

On Sunday, April 26, The Independent reported that more than 1,000 people had contracted the swine flu virus in Mexico, 8 but by the afternoon that same day, Mexican President Calderon declared that more than two-thirds of the 1,300 thought to have contracted the disease had been given a clean bill of health and sent home.9

Additionally, the number of actual confirmed cases appears to be far lower than reported in many media outlets, leading me to believe that many reporters are interchanging the terms "suspected cases" and "confirmed cases."

Interestingly Mexico is the ONLY country in the world where someone has actually died from this disease.Mexico has actually reported 152 fatalities in flu-like cases in recent days, seven of which have been confirmed as swine flu. Another 19 patients have been confirmed as having swine flu but surviving. About 2,000 people have been hospitalized with symptoms.

By contrast, the United States has had 64 confirmed cases, five hospitalizations and no deaths
According to the World Health Organization's Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response site; as of April 27, there are:

64 laboratory confirmed cases in U.S. -- 0 deaths (reported by CDC as of April 29)
26 confirmed cases in Mexico -- 7 deaths
6 confirmed cases in Canada -- 0 deaths
1 confirmed case in Spain -- 0 deaths
Additionally, nearly all suspected new cases have been reported as mild.

Personally, I am highly skeptical. It simply doesn't add up to a real pandemic.

But it does raise serious questions about where this brand new, never before seen virus came from, especially since it cannot be contracted from eating pork products, and has never before been seen in pigs, and contain traits from the bird flu -- and which, so far, only seems to respond to Tamiflu. Are we just that lucky, or... what?

Your Fear Will Make Some People VERY Rich in Today's Crumbling Economy

According to the Associated Press at least one financial analyst estimates up to $388 million worth of Tamiflu sales in the near future10 -- and that's without a pandemic outbreak.

More than half a dozen pharmaceutical companies, including Gilead Sciences Inc., Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and other companies with a stake in flu treatments and detection, have seen a rise in their shares in a matter of days, and will likely see revenue boosts if the swine flu outbreak continues to spread.

As soon as Homeland Security declared a health emergency, 25 percent -- about 12 million doses -- of Tamiflu and Relenza treatment courses were released from the nation's stockpile. However, beware that the declaration also allows unapproved tests and drugs to be administered to children. Many health- and government officials are more than willing to take that chance with your life, and the life of your child. But are you?

Remember, Tamiflu went through some rough times not too long ago, as the dangers of this drug came to light when, in 2007, the FDA finally began investigating some 1,800 adverse event reports related to the drug. Common side effects of Tamiflu include:


Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Headache
Dizziness
Fatigue
Cough
All in all, the very symptoms you're trying to avoid.

More serious symptoms included convulsions, delirium or delusions, and 14 deaths in children and teens as a result of neuropsychiatric problems and brain infections (which led Japan to ban Tamiflu for children in 2007). And that's for a drug that, when used as directed, only reduces the duration of influenza symptoms by 1 to 1 ½ days, according to the official data.

But making matters worse, some patients with influenza are at HIGHER risk for secondary bacterial infections when on Tamiflu. And secondary bacterial infections, as I mentioned earlier, was likely the REAL cause of the mass fatalities during the 1918 pandemic!

Where did This Mysterious New Animal-Human Flu Strain Come From?

Alongside the fear-mongering headlines, I've also seen increasing numbers of reports questioning the true nature of this virus. And rightfully so.

Could a mixed animal-human mutant like this occur naturally? And if not, who made it, and how was it released?

Not one to dabble too deep in conspiracy theories, I don't have to strain very hard to find actual facts to support the notion that this may not be a natural mutation, and that those who stand to gain have the wherewithal to pull off such a stunt.

Just last month I reported on the story that the American pharmaceutical company Baxter was under investigation for distributing the deadly avian flu virus to 18 different countries as part of a seasonal flu vaccine shipment. Czech reporters were probing to see if it may have been part of a deliberate attempt to start a pandemic; as such a "mistake" would be virtually impossible under the security protocols of that virus.

The H5N1 virus on its own is not very airborne. However, when combined with seasonal flu viruses, which are more easily spread, the effect could be a potent, airborne, deadly biological weapon. If this batch of live bird flu and seasonal flu viruses had reached the public, it could have resulted in dire consequences.

There is a name for this mixing of viruses; it's called "reassortment," and it is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created in the lab. Some scientists say the most recent global outbreak -- the 1977 Russian flu -- was started by a virus created and leaked from a laboratory.

Another example of the less sterling integrity of Big Pharma is the case of Bayer, who sold millions of dollars worth of an injectable blood-clotting medicine to Asian, Latin American, and some European countries in the mid-1980s, even though they knew it was tainted with the AIDS virus.

So while it is morally unthinkable that a drug company would knowingly contaminate flu vaccines with a deadly flu virus such as the bird- or swine flu, it is certainly not impossible. It has already happened more than once.

But there seems to be no repercussions or hard feelings when industry oversteps the boundaries of morality and integrity and enters the arena of obscenity. Because, lo and behold, which company has been chosen to head up efforts, along with WHO, to produce a vaccine against the Mexican swine flu?

Baxter!11 Despite the fact that ink has barely dried on the investigative reports from their should-be-criminal "mistake" against humanity.

According to other sources,12 a top scientist for the United Nations, who has examined the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa, as well as HIV/AIDS victims, has concluded that the current swine flu virus possesses certain transmission "vectors" that suggest the new strain has been genetically-manufactured as a military biological warfare weapon.

The UN expert believes that Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and the current A-H1N1 swine flu virus are biological warfare agents.

In addition, Army criminal investigators are looking into the possibility that disease samples are missing from biolabs at Fort Detrick -- the same Army research lab from which the 2001 anthrax strain was released, according to a recent article in the Fredrick News Post.13 In February, the top biodefense lab halted all its research into Ebola, anthrax, plague, and other diseases known as "select agents," after they discovered virus samples that weren't listed in its inventory and might have been switched with something else.


Factory Farming Maybe Source of Swine Flu

Another theory as to the cause of Swine Flu might be factory farming. In the United States, pigs travel coast to coast. They can be bred in North Carolina, fattened in the corn belt of Iowa, and slaughtered in California.

While this may reduce short-term costs for the pork industry, the highly contagious nature of diseases like influenza (perhaps made further infectious by the stresses of transport) needs to be considered when calculating the true cost of long-distance live animal transport.

The majority of U.S. pig farms now confine more than 5,000 animals each. With a group of 5,000 animals, if a novel virus shows up it will have more opportunity to replicate and potentially spread than in a group of 100 pigs on a small farm.

With massive concentrations of farm animals within which to mutate, these new swine flu viruses in North America seem to be on an evolutionary fast track, jumping and reassorting between species at an unprecedented rate.

Should You Accept a Flu Vaccine -- Just to be Safe?

As stated in the New York Times14 and elsewhere, flu experts have no idea whether the current seasonal flu vaccine would offer any protection whatsoever against this exotic mutant, and it will take months to create a new one.

But let me tell you, getting vaccinated now would not only offer no protection and potentially cause great harm, it would most likely be loaded with toxic mercury which is used as a preservative in most flu vaccines..

I've written extensively about the numerous dangers (and ineffectiveness) of flu vaccines, and why I do not recommend them to anyone. So no matter what you hear -- even if it comes from your doctor -- don't get a regular flu shot. They rarely work against seasonal flu...and certainly can't offer protection against a never-before- seen strain.

Currently, the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza are the only drugs that appear effective against the (human flu) H1N1 virus, and I strongly believe taking Tamiflu to protect yourself against this new virus could be a serious mistake -- for all the reasons I already mentioned above.

But in addition to the dangerous side effects of Tamiflu, there is also growing evidence of resistance against the drug. In February, the pre-publication and preliminary findings journal called Nature Precedings published a paper on this concern, stating15:

The dramatic rise of oseltamivir [Tamiflu] resistance in the H1N1 serotype in the 2007/2008 season and the fixing of H274Y in the 2008/2009 season has raised concerns regarding individuals at risk for seasonal influenza, as well as development of similar resistance in the H5N1 serotype [bird flu].

Previously, oseltamivir resistance produced changes in H1N1 and H3N2 at multiple positions in treated patients. In contrast, the recently reported resistance involved patients who had not recently taken oseltamivir.

It's one more reason not to bother with this potentially dangerous drug.

And, once a specific swine flu drug is created, you can be sure that it has not had the time to be tested in clinical trials to determine safety and effectiveness, which puts us right back where I started this article -- with a potential repeat of the last dangerous swine flu vaccine, which destroyed the lives of hundreds of people.

Topping the whole mess off, of course, is the fact that if the new vaccine turns out to be a killer, the pharmaceutical companies responsible are immune from lawsuits -- something I've also warned about before on numerous occasions.

Unfortunately, those prospects won't stop the governments of the world from mandating the vaccine -- a scenario I hope we can all avoid.

How to Protect Yourself Without Dangerous Drugs and Vaccinations

For now, my point is that there are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or created, and there will always be potentially toxic vaccines that are peddled as the solution. But you can break free of that whole drug-solution trap by following some natural health principles.

I have not caught a flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too, without getting vaccinated, by following these simple guidelines, which will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.

Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I've previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE culprit behind the seasonality of the flu -- not the flu virus itself.
This is probably the single most important and least expensive action you can take.


If you are coming down with flu like symptoms and have not been on vitamin D you can take doses of 50,000 units a day for three days to treat the acute infection. Some researchers like Dr. Cannell, believe the dose could even be as high as 1000 units per pound of body weight for three days.


Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods. Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a strong immune system is key to fighting off viruses and other illness. Be aware that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.


Get Enough Rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you're tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.


Have Effective Tools to Address Stress . We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.


Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. You can review my exercise guidelines for some great tips on how to get started.


Take a good source of animal based omega-3 fats like Krill Oil. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response.


Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap for this -- antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.


Eat Garlic Regularly. Garlic works like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. And unlike with antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use. However, if you are allergic or don't enjoy garlic it would be best to avoid as it will likely cause more harm than good.

Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines In this particular case, I'd also recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you're having an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to this new bug. Vaccines will not be available for six months at the minimum but when available they will be ineffective and can lead to crippling paralysis like Guillain-Barré Syndrome just as it did in the 70s.]]> lizzie61 Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 01 May 2009 20:49:56 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116283,116283#msg-116283 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,116283,116283#msg-116283 Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepSat, 02 May 2009 12:49:40 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115342,115342#msg-115342 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115342,115342#msg-115342
The other ? Dental implants. Have you seen Tony Curtis and his dental implant commercial? What teeth do they implant you with? This is quite amazing.

Ggg]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepSat, 17 Oct 2009 14:36:00 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115291,115291#msg-115291 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115291,115291#msg-115291
Her doc said she's at high risk for a stroke so they are giving her daily injections of heparin for right now, and hope to get her on a more natural product as soon as it comes in from the pharmacy. It is called COAG Clear.

Has anyone here dealt with this problem?]]> Lily Health, Recipes & SleepTue, 14 Apr 2009 10:58:47 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115177,115177#msg-115177 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115177,115177#msg-115177
Ggg]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 05 Jan 2009 22:27:02 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115094,115094#msg-115094 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,115094,115094#msg-115094 Monique Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 05 Jan 2009 22:32:09 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114916,114916#msg-114916 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114916,114916#msg-114916what was the outcome of it? What do you think about mammograms and are they 100%?

Does anyone currently have breast cancer and can they share their story with me?]]> Miss Mary Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 05 Jan 2009 22:33:56 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114361,114361#msg-114361 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114361,114361#msg-114361
Here's the deal. You know that tube where food passes into your stomach. Mine has grown smaller with age. Was a time I could swallow an apple and it would pass. No more. I have to cut steak into small pieces, very small pieces because it has a tendency to hang up if I dont. I was munching on dry chicken and it hung up. So I got up and began to walk and then darkness. I woke up seconds later after my spill. It was like lightening struck me down. Scary stuff because I'm one of those in control of body and mind guys. Tough as nails and almost impossible to tackle in football or move around in basketball. But there Gregg be, sprawled out and done in by a piece of chicken.

If could have died there and no one the wiser because it was in the dark hallway. Does the swallowing tube become smaller with age? Or what is it? I've addressed this with the doc but forgot what she said about it.

Ggg]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepSun, 11 Jan 2009 05:32:36 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114254,114254#msg-114254 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114254,114254#msg-114254
Stress is the no. one killer and ager. When doctors tell their patients that stress ages them, they are not referring to just an aging appearance. Stress ages our organs and produces deadly inflammation in our bodies leading to all sorts of diseases like cancer and diabetes. People live with so much stress today that they simply adapt, go into denial and tolerate their suffering or they take a medication to mask the symptoms which can be even more deadly since drugs prevent the body from responding appropriately to the stress.

A great Christmas present to yourself!]]> lizzie61 Health, Recipes & SleepSun, 12 Apr 2009 15:27:49 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114112,114112#msg-114112 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,114112,114112#msg-114112
Thanks!!]]> katrinakat Health, Recipes & SleepThu, 16 Oct 2008 10:31:58 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113914,113914#msg-113914 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113914,113914#msg-113914
Ran across this in the archives and thought of you on the "eastern estuary." Learned this from one of my dads and had friends ask me about it enough times over the years that I finally wrote it down.

HOME STYLE NEW ENGLAND
CLAM AND/OR FISH CHOWDER

The basic principle to bear in mind in making a home-style New England clam and or fish chowder (properly pronounced “chowda”) is that it is the clam/fish broth which flavors the brew. It is of paramount importance to reserve the broth in which the clams/fish were cooked as it is the entire basis of the proceeding. Manhattan clam chowder is a blasphemous heresy which is nothing more than vegetable soup masquerading as a chowder, and thick, creamy, overly potatoey and gooey “clam chowder” is undoubtedly the brainchild of a Midwestern marketing executive for Campbell’s Soup. Neither substance remotely resembles anything a New Englander born prior to 1960 would recognize as real home made clam/fish chowder.

As with most home recipes there are variations, but the common key is the use of the broth. This particular version is basic and authentic. It was taught to me by Jim S (1912-1987), a wonderful man, New Englander to the core, and a soup and chowda man without peer. At the age of 11 and 12 I would go clamming at low tide and fishing at high, returning with numerous quahogs and various porgy (known to New Englanders as scup). The state of our waters at that time was such that one didn’t need to be noticeably talented or particularly well equipped to bring home a decent catch – clam necks on a hand-line would quite often do the job. My job was to clean and fillet the fish and then assist and observe in making a clam/fish chowda, fried scup, and baked stuffed clams (although I caught sight of most of the recipe for this, several “secret ingredients” were never divulged during Jim’s lifetime and were rendered unrecognizeable in the hand-crank meat-grinder. This was also true of his turkey stuffing). The means of instruction involved a combination of the Socratic method (his favorite method of teaching), osmosis and laughter (which he always highly encouraged and caused to occur often).



INGREDIENTS

Clams – Preferably “little necks” or “steamers” if you can get them. Otherwise larger quahogs or the smaller “manila” clams will do. Razor clams will work though the broth is not as good and they are more difficult to deal with. If you happen to be in Seattle, don’t even think about a geoduck.

Fish – Any good flaky white meat fish will do – flounder, haddock, cod, rock cod, perch, etc.).

All of the following ingredients are to taste and consistency desired. Bear in mind that the more potatoes and cream (half and half) the thicker the chowda will become. I use very little taters, but that's my personal taste. Other vegetable matter may also be added as desired.

Onions
Celery
Potatoes
Fresh Dill
Salt & Pepper
Butter
Half & Half or Cream (I use half and half - if you use milk you would have to use more)

1. Clean clams of any dirt and beards. A pot scrubber brush works nicely.

2. Par-boil taters. Dice and set aside.

3. Clean, fillet fish as necessary. Cut into decent size chunks. Set aside.

4. Take large pot and fill with clams. Add water to top level of clams. Boil to cook clams (ONLY until clams JUST open – and they do not have to be wide open – just so the shell parts. Do not continue past this point – it only makes them rubbery). Take off heat. Pour off broth to another large container. Let sit.

5. Remove clams from shell and set aside. (Do not place in frig – they will get too rubbery).

6. Take diced onions and celery (and any other veggies you desire) and braise in butter lightly.

7. Pour clam broth back into original large pot taking care not to pour in the bottom portion (it will contain the silt which will have settled to the bottom). If you have more than you need for the chowda, drink up, it tastes great. NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DISCARD ANY BROTH. TO DO SO IS HERESY PUNISHABLE BY A FORCED DIET OF MACDONALD’S PRODUCTS FOR LIFE. Heat broth to simmer but do not boil.

8. When broth is warm add fish. Do not boil.

9. When fish is cooked add clams, potatoes, onions and celery and a touch of FRESH dill. Do not boil.

10. Add half and half, salt and pepper and butter to taste. Did I say do not boil?

11. Serve warm.

ENJOY.]]> Dini Health, Recipes & SleepMon, 05 Jan 2009 22:36:03 -0800 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113875,113875#msg-113875 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113875,113875#msg-113875New Study of Splenda and Sucralose Reveals Shocking New Information About Potential Harmful Effect on Humans
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 22, 2008 -- James Turner, chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health expressed shock and outrage after reading a new report from scientists at Duke University. "The report makes it clear that the artificial sweetener Splenda and its key component sucralose pose a threat to the people who consume the product. Hundreds of consumers have complained to us about side effects from using Splenda and this study, published this past week in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A, confirms that the chemicals in the little yellow package should carry a big red warning label," said Turner.


Among the results in the study by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman is evidence that, in the animals studied, Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%, increases the pH level in the intestines, contributes to increases in body weight and affects the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected. Turner noted that the P-gp effect "could result in crucial medications used in chemotherapy for cancer patients, AIDS treatment and drugs for heart conditions being shunted back into the intestines rather than being absorbed by the body as intended."

The study was conducted using male rats over a period of twelve weeks. The manufacturers of Splenda also used a rat study when they applied for and received approval to market the product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the time, the findings from their rat studies were extrapolated as to possible effects on humans. This is standard FDA practice and this study is consistent with that practice.

Turner said, "This report followed accepted policies and procedures and the results make clear the potential for disturbing side effects from the ingestion of Splenda. It is like putting a pesticide in your body. And this is at levels of intake erroneously approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A person eating two slices of cake and drinking two cups of coffee containing Splenda would ingest enough sucralose to affect the P-glycoprotein, while consuming just seven little Splenda packages reduces good bacteria." Although the effect of consuming Splenda does not result from a one time use, the side effects do occur after accumulated use. Turner also noted unmistakable evidence that Splenda is absorbed by fat, contrary to the claims of Johnson & Johnson.

Turner announced, "We are calling today on the FDA to immediately accept our petition filed over a year ago and initiate a review of its approval of sucralose and to require a warning label on Splenda packaging cautioning that people who take medications and/or have gastrointestinal problems avoid using Splenda. The new study makes it clear that Splenda can cause you to gain weight and lose the benefits of medications designed to improve and protect your health. The FDA should not continue to turn a blind eye to this health threat."

Citizens for Health will testify in Sacramento, CA, on October 3, 2008, before the California Assembly Committee on Health which is examining the use of deceptive advertising to promote sales of potentially unhealthy food additives, particularly artificial sweeteners.

About Citizens for Health

Citizens for Health (www.citizens.org) is an international non-profit consumer advocacy group working to broaden healthcare options, create an integrative health system based on wellness, and advance the freedom to make health choices. The group promotes the fundamental policies needed to improve health choices and information in the U.S. and internationally. The group works with grassroots and education organizations and partners to ensure consumer access to dietary supplements, safe foods, a healthy environment and a wide range of healing therapies. Citizens for Health fosters active citizen leadership and organizes natural health consumers to create political and legislative solutions that support those rights.]]> lizzie61 Health, Recipes & SleepFri, 10 Oct 2008 14:50:37 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113824,113824#msg-113824 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113824,113824#msg-113824
Here's the article from Scientific American:

Does the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have access to the data it needs to make informed decisions on approving drugs, or are drug companies cherry-picking the studies they publish to make their drugs look better than they actually are?

A new report in Monday's PLoS Medicine questions whether doctors and patients are getting objective information about whether a medicine works. That's because more than half of studies on government-approved medications—presumably the ones that show a drug doesn't work—are never published, and those that are show disproportionately positive results.

Just 43 percent of trials behind 90 drugs approved by the FDA were published in the medical journals most commonly consulted by doctors, according to the report by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Of those, 66 percent show the drugs are beneficial. The results are based on 909 clinical trials of medicines approved between 1998 and 2000.

"When trials are selectively published … it will skew the efficacy of the drug and make it look like it works better than it does," says Erick Turner, who co-authored another study on the issue published in January. "It's going to create a lot more enthusiasm among consumers of that information or in the words of Alan Greenspan, 'irrational exuberance.'"

So-called "positive publication bias" has been described before. Why this happens is unclear—optimism is a natural human instinct, so perhaps the desire to publish good news may be innate. (Except among us journalists, of course.) The theory is that drug company funding can ramp up that bias significantly. And previous findings by Turner—notably an analysis of information submitted to the FDA for approval of antidepressants—suggests there may be something to the theory.

His analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, found that 69 percent of studies of commercially available antidepressants were published; of those, 94 percent conveyed positive results, compared to half of the trials the FDA considered in green-lighting the drugs for marketing. A third of the negative or questionable results of those trials were never published, that analysis found.

The researchers didn't identify the 90 drugs whose data they looked at in the current study. One of the authors, Ida Sim, says the selective publication practice is likely to be just as common for today's drugs as it was for those approved by a decade ago.

There may be hope for transparency on the horizon, says FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan: A 1-year-old law, the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA). The law, signed by President Bush last year, requires that all trials backing FDA-approved drugs and devices be registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, a Web site of the National Institutes of Health. Information including the demographics of trial participants, the number of people who drop out and outcomes of the measurements scientists say at registration that they'll be looking for in the study also must be made public on the site starting Saturday.

FDAAA was a Congressional response to hearings in which it became clear that companies were less likely to make results of studies that showed significant side effects public. The idea is that the public, and the FDA, can go back and check how many studies were started, the assumption being that if a given one wasn't published, the findings might have been negative, arguing against approving the drug.

But while the FDA releases a summary of information it uses in approving new drugs, it doesn't specify the trials it considered, notes Sim, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco. FDAAA doesn't affect what information the agency releases when it gives its stamp of approval to the meds.

"It's critically important that we know trials exist and that we get the summary results, positive and negative, into the public domain—that's a huge step and more than any country is doing now," says Sim, citing the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform that suggests guidelines for transparency in drug studies.

______________

Don't you think it's time that you write your legislators and demand that the FDA return to it's original purpose and position ( to protect consumers from unsafe foods and medications and monitor independent research studies) prior to the Bush Admin, quit working for pharma interests and start working for us? The FDA should NEVER allow any business to conduct it's own research on the products it is marketing and selling.]]> lizzie61 Health, Recipes & SleepWed, 24 Sep 2008 12:50:57 -0700 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113237,113237#msg-113237 http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/phorum/read.php?118,113237,113237#msg-113237
I'm cooking pork chops and black eyed peas today. I fry the chops in flour, thin cut chops fry faster and are crispier. This goes away from my normal diet, which I don't like (normal diet). I grew up on these things and they taste good to me. I've been strong as an ox most of my life, good athlete with rhythm, so maybe soul food is the right name for it?

I have given up the Cobblers for desert, pies, etc for fruit salads and jello. So I do try! My physician asked recently if I had the planned diet on my fridge? I ask, "do you want to know the truth?" She laughed, "no, not today."

Ggg]]> Gregg Health, Recipes & SleepTue, 07 Jul 2009 08:51:13 -0700