Flu is still here -- but don't trust the CDC to protect you!
Talk about lipstick on a pig!
Right now, the medical mainstream is CELEBRATING the flu
shot.
You read that right. The very shot blamed for this year's
massive flu outbreak due to its failure is getting PRAISED for being far more
effective than estimated.
Now, the mainstream is saying that it's a full two and a
half times better than what it had thought.
And it's URGING people to rush out and get it, saying that
the flu is still here and you still need protection.
Well, part of that's right.
Flu IS still here. And you DO need protection.
But don't roll up your sleeve just yet -- because when you
hear what counts as "two and half times more effective," you're going
to laugh that sleeve right off.
See, members of the mainstream THOUGHT that the shot was
shaping up to be only 10 percent effective against this year's dominant flu
strain, the H3N2 virus that's been blamed for a wave of illness and tens of
thousands of deaths.
As it turns out, they think it might actually be 25 percent
effective.
The numbers are even worse for seniors and the elderly --
the vaccine has little to no effectiveness at all on them, studies show.
There are far better, safer, and more effective ways to
slash your risk of flu this year and every year. Vitamin D alone was once
proven to be eight times more effective than the shot.
Throw in other natural immune-boosters like vitamins C and
E, NAC, omega-3 fatty acids, and more, and you've got yourself the makings of a
vaccine-free flu plan that can wipe out the virus in even the toughest of
seasons.
And don't forget about the pure power of soap: Wash your
hands. Wash 'em often. And especially wash them before you eat.
The best way to prevent Heart Disease
If you ask your doctor about ways to prevent -- or treat --
heart disease, you're going to hear the usual. Don't smoke, watch your diet, keep your blood pressure and
weight down, and make sure to get enough exercise.
Oh, and, of course, take your drugs -- especially those
statins!
But what if instead of a Lipitor Rx (or any other drug), he
gave you a prescription that said "Sunshine, apply directly to skin,
repeat daily"? You might think that he had gone bonkers!
That may sound like a crazy way to heal your heart, but
according to some just-out findings from Ohio University, sunshine - more
specifically, the vitamin D your body converts UV rays into -- is exactly what
you need to keep your heart healthy.
And that's true even if your ticker has already suffered
damage from a host of diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure.
You could say that this research has discovered one of the
most effective (and simple!) ways yet to protect and mend you heart. "We
don't need to develop a new drug. We already have it."
That stunning statement about vitamin D3 (the natural form
of vitamin D that most supplements contain) comes from Ohio University
researcher Dr. Tadeusz Malinski, and, no doubt, it will set off alarm bells in
Pharmaland!
But if you thought that was a blow to Big Pharma's boatload
of meds, Dr. Malinski goes further, saying that vitamin D3 is "a very inexpensive solution to repair
the cardiovascular system."
Forgetting for a moment that he used the word
"inexpensive" (a word that's not even in a drugmaker's vocabulary),
the finding that vitamin D3 can "repair" some very special heart
cells is, in itself, unbelievably unique.
What he's referring to are the "endothelial" cells
that line your blood vessels, including your coronary arteries. And they not
only serve some very important functions in keeping your heart healthy, such as
producing nitric oxide (more on that in a minute), but they can suffer damage due
to diseases such as diabetes... and especially from a heart attack or stroke.
Until now, injuries to those cells were thought to be
permanent. However, Dr. Malinski and his team have found that vitamin D3 can do
what all of those pharmaceutical concoctions can't -- and that's heal them!
"We don't know of many,
if any, ways to restore endothelial cells that have been damaged, Dr. Malinski
said -- that is, with the exception of vitamin D3!"
And as I just told you, those special cells also produce
nitric oxide, or NO. And you never want to say "No" to NO! This
molecule is well known for making sure that your blood vessels are open wide
and your blood is flowing smoothly.
Without enough NO, you can be in big trouble. Your blood
pressure can go off the charts... your cholesterol can oxidize... and your risk
of forming a blood clot can skyrocket.
Of course, good news about vitamin D3 is nothing new. Over
the years, we've told you how research has shown that having subpar levels can
put you at risk for not only heart disease but multiple sclerosis, cancer, and
even the Big A -- Alzheimer's.
There's absolutely no doubt that taking a few simple
measures to make sure that you're not deficient in this vital nutrient is not
just a good idea.. but absolutely mandatory.
HSI advisory panel member Dr. Allan Spreen recommends that
you ask your doctor to check your blood levels of D, which should optimally be
between 50-70 ng/mL.
And, he says, you can take up to 5,000 IU of D3 daily,
especially during the winter.
Another way to make sure you're not deficient in D is to add
more whole eggs to your diet (not just egg whites, because it's in the yolks),
along with fatty fish such as sardines, tuna, and wild-caught salmon.
During the warmer months, of course, don't shun the very
best way to get your vitamin D. Go out in the sun (without sunscreen) for
at least 10 minutes a day.
My Comment:
My other favorite recommendation for a healthy heart is to
take a supplement made by Standard Process called Cardio-Plus. It is a whole
food supplement that also contains vitamin B-4 which is critical to rebuilding
your heart, but in my experience Cardio-Plus is the only supplement that has B-4. I highly recommend adding Cardio-Plus (3-6 per day) to your daily vitamins if you are 30
or older. Let me know if you need information on where to buy it or any other
questions I can help with.
Your heart will thank you!
New Pill Kills The Flu?
By Melissa Young at HSI
"New pill kills the flu virus in 24 hours"...
"Flu gone in a day"...
Last week, it seemed as if headlines like
those were everywhere I looked. ABC World News covered the story for three
nights in a row!
And there was one common thread running through all of these
glowing news reports: They don't really tell us very much at all, except that
some kind of miracle drug will magically be appearing in the U.S. next year to
make flu history!
Honestly, the pharma-run media will feed us whatever drug
makers want them to!
But if there's anything we've learned about Big Pharma, it's
that the meds it puts out to fight influenza are never quite as safe or
effective as it wants us to think.
And there's no reason to believe that this flu
"cure" will be any different. To hear the initial media reporting,
you would think that this latest development will soon make all concern about
the flu a thing of the past.
But what exactly is the magical new flu-fighter that a CBS
story says can kill the influenza virus "faster than any drug out
there"? Most of these "reports" -- which sound more like press
releases -- don't even name this experimental elixir!
But I did some sleuthing... and I found that it's called
"baloxavir marboxil" (try saying that one three times fast!), also
known as S-0331188. Baloxavir comes from Japanese drug maker Shionogi, which
anticipates receiving approval for it in Japan any day now.
Of course, Shionogi, whose past blockbusters include
developing the statin Crestor and the antidepressant Cymbalta, has set its
sights on the FDA as well -- which is likely what's behind all of the
propaganda we've been hearing about this flu "cure."
But what about the claim that sounds so promising...
baloxavir will "kill the flu" in a mere day?
Here's the lowdown on that -- once again, something you
won't be hearing about anywhere else.
Killing the flu in 24 hours doesn't mean that if you get the
flu on a Monday, you're back to normal by Tuesday. What that has to do with is
something called "viral load," the measurement of how much of the
virus is in your body.
In baloxavir trials, the drugmaker reported that for 200
people -- around half of the study volunteers -- the med reduced their
influenza viral load to undetectable levels in one day.
But as far as feeling back to normal -- or, returning to
"pre-influenza health status," as it's called, it took at least five
days, on average.
So much for that "24-hour" promise.
Now, that is an improvement -- those taking the placebo
weren't fully back on their feet until seven days later. Getting out of sick
bay two days faster sounds good... but what price will you pay for that? And I
don't mean in dollars.
The media are handling this drug with such kid gloves that's
it's almost as if no one dares to even bring up the question of side effects...
but as I said, I did some digging for you.
And this is what I found: In trials, baloxavir caused
"slightly less side effects" than what it was tested against, the
current hot-selling anti-viral Tamiflu.
And that's saying a whole lot. Because when it comes to side
effects, Tamiflu has a list as long as your arm.
And if this new med runs the risk of only slightly fewer
adverse events, which ones do we still have to worry about?
Might this new med cause "abnormal behavior" or
"neuropsychiatric events"? I recently told you about a 16-year-old
boy who took his life soon after starting up on Tamiflu, an incident that came
on the heels of numerous reports linking the drug to kids hallucinations (as
well as a Texas girl who attempted suicide).
What about nausea, vomiting, headache, and pain... or even a
horrific condition that can cause your skin to literally peel off?
Could baloxavir cause those adverse reactions as well?
These are things we just don't know yet... and won't be
finding out until after the "flu pill" has been unleashed on
millions.
Yes, it would be great to be able to pop a pill and
immediately stop the flu in its tracks. However, you already have the best
flu-fighter available -- it's called your immune system. And whatever you can
do to keep it running well is the best way of all to stay healthy.
So, make sure to take a daily vitamin D3 supplement (around
2,000 IU), vitamin C, olive leaf extract, zinc, and some black elderberry syrup
if you feel any symptoms coming on.
And once again, there's the old standby that's better for
flu prevention than anything Big Pharma has to offer: Wash your hands often and
like you really mean it!
Kidney Stones Rising
It's described as "unforgettable agony" or even
"male childbirth." And if you've ever had a kidney stone on the move,
you don't need me to tell you about the excruciating pain!
You'd do anything to avoid another one... and if you've been
lucky enough to dodge this agonizing ailment so far, it's definitely not
something you want to risk.
Plus that, with the way people cart around water bottles
(drinking water is considered the No. 1 way to prevent stones), you would think
the problem would be on the decline.
But a new study from Mayo Clinic doctors has found that over
the last few decades, the number of people suffering from kidney stones has
gone through the roof.
But why?
While Mayo Clinic researchers name a few suspects, they
conveniently forgot to mention what could be the smoking gun behind this
epidemic -- a risky drug we've been warning you about for years now.
It's a classic example of that old cliché about not being
able to see the forest for the trees.
Mayo Clinic scientists have found that the number of people
suffering from stones that form in the kidneys, bladder, or ureters (the tubes
that connect the kidneys to the bladder) is mysteriously on the rise.
From 1984 to 2012, reported cases of kidney stones in women
quadrupled, while cases in men doubled.
And if you ask these doctors why that is, you'll probably
hear responses like those from lead author Dr. John Lieske, who called it: an
"interesting combination of things" like increased numbers of CT
scans (in which stones may be discovered), genetics, and diets high in oxalates
(found in veggies such as beets and Swiss chard).
Unfortunately, researchers somehow managed to overlook a
large group of some of the best-selling meds in the United States: those
acid-suppressing drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).
Study after study has come out over the years connecting
these billion-dollar drugs to such a wide variety of ills that it doesn't even
make sense that they're still being sold.
And along with all the conditions to which they're now
linked, including a horrible and persistent gut infection called C. diff,
deadly esophageal cancer, a higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke
and a lowering of your immune function, there's also kidney disease and kidney
stones.
That last little problem was discovered by an Italian
research team a couple of years ago.
After following close to 190,000 volunteers -- all who had
no prior history of kidney stones -- they not only found a definite link
between PPI drugs and that painful condition, but implicated another group of
acid reducers called H2 blockers (such as Zantac) in promoting it as well.
Unfortunately, the new Mayo Clinic study failed to mention
that at all. And considering the fact that PPIs such as Prevacid and Prilosec
are said to be among the best-selling meds in the U.S., just think of how many
people could be putting themselves in jeopardy for agonizing attacks without even
realizing it.
In 2012 alone, just one of these drugs, Nexium, took in
close to $6 billion!
Yes, there's no doubt that acid reflux can be hard to live
with. I even know someone who says that they pop a PPI med before their feet
hit the floor in the morning! But despite how unpleasant that can be, it's not
worth risking your kidneys over or putting yourself in jeopardy for the worst
pain you could ever imagine -- all from from kidney stones.
So, if stomach acid is a big problem for you, and you're
currently using a PPI or H2 blocker, now is the time to slowly wean yourself
off of it. Stopping these meds too fast can cause a rebound of acid that's even
worse than why you started up on them in the first place!
And consider going to see a naturopath doctor to find out
what is really causing your symptoms. Often times it is too little acid being
generated by your digestive system resulting in undigested foods fermenting in
your stomach which causes the acid-reflux. A naturopath will take the time to
find the actual cause instead of just prescribing a PPI medicine to cover the
symptoms.
And while you're doing that, cut back on high-acid foods and
drinks as well, sip on a glass of water with an added tablespoon of apple cider
vinegar, and avoid eating too late or lying down immediately after eating.
And remember, there's something you can do to help beat back
an acid-reflux attack and prevent kidney stones: Drink lots of water!
Until next time, stay healthy and happy
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational
purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and
medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you
have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a Naturopath).
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