Friday, October 30, 2009

Interpreting lab results.

So many folks bring in their lab results, I thought it might be a good idea to help explain what some of the results mean so you can have a better idea of what you are looking at.

A CBC (complete blood count) report will include the following:

Platelet count and wat it means:
Platelets or thrombocytes help stop bleeding. They look like little pieces of torn paper under the microscope. The measurement in a CBC should be in the range of 150 to 400. Problems can signal thrombocytopenia (too few platelets), leukemia, or drug side effects.

HGB (hemoglobin value):
Hemoglobin is the protein that carried oxygen and you will see this way; g/dl or grams per decaliter. The range for men is 13.5 to 17.5 and 12 to 16 for women. When hemoglobin is low the body cannot carry oxygen and may result in fatigue.

HCT (hematocrit value):
This number is the percentage of your blood that consists of red blood cells (RBC's). A decrease in HCT indicates anemia, bleeding, some cancers, and chemotherapy side effcts. (This also applies to HGB)

RBC count (red blood cells):
In men a normal RBC count in men is 4.5 to 6 for men and 4.2 to 5.4 for women. It may sound simplistic but the function of RBC's is to carry oxygen to the tissues and carry off carbon dioxide. Too few and blood gases like CO2 are not carried off properly.

WBC count (white blood cells or leukocytes):
WBC's are your body's army that fight off invaders. Normal in a CBC is 4 to 11. There are differential counts and absolute counts. A decrease in any of these can signal serious problems like bone marrow failure or infections. However, it is important to differentiate which WBC's are being counted. For example, eosinophils signal a parasitic infection and/or allergies or both.

You should know these simple few abbreviations because too often your PCP may not have the time to devote to interpreting these for you. Also, since these tests are performed by automated equipment, ask your doctor if the lab is reliable. It can be a huge difference in your treatment.

Above all....ALWAYS ASK!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Is Botox safe? YIKES!

One of my dear ladies called today and asked me what I thought of Botox. My response was somewhere between incredulity and utter horror! I still find it incredible to believe that this "treatment" was actually approved by our friends at the FDA. I am further amazed that people actually allow this to be done. Oh, please dear God preserve us from ourselves.

I should mention that this lady wasn't asking because she wanted to do it. She was asking because her "friends" said she should do it! With friends like this you really don't need enemies. So let me explain first what it is.

It is the most acutely toxic substance known to man, with a median lethal dose of about 1 ng/kg when introduced intravenously[10] and 3 ng/kg when inhaled. This means that, depending on the method of introduction into the body, a mere 90–270 nanograms of botulinum toxin could be enough to kill an average 90 kg (200 lb) person.

Just to explain that a bit. A nanogram is a billionth of a gram! It takes 32 grams to make an ounce!

Food-borne botulism usually results from ingestion of food that has become contaminated with spores (such as a perforated can) in an anaerobic environment, allowing the spores to germinate and grow. Remember when your mom wouldn't but dented cans? That was a huge "NO NO."

The growing (vegetative) bacteria produce toxin. It is the ingestion of preformed toxin that causes botulism, not the ingestion of the spores or the vegetative bacteria. Infant and wound botulism both result from infection with spores which subsequently germinate, resulting in production of toxin and the symptoms of botulism.

Researchers "discovered" in the 1950s that injecting overactive muscles with minute quantities of botulinum toxin type-A would result in decreased muscle activity by blocking the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby rendering the muscle unable to contract for up to a period of 3 to 4 months. In other words, your muscle tissue is rendered useless. It is paralyzed! Why not simply hire an Amazonian Indian to shoot you with curare?

Alan Scott, a San Francisco ophthalmologist, first applied tiny doses of the toxin in a medicinal sense to treat 'crossed eyes' (strabismus) and 'uncontrollable blinking' (blepharospasm), but needed a partner to gain regulatory approval to market his discovery as a drug. Allergan renamed the drug Botox.

As of 2007, Botox injection is the most common cosmetic operation, with 4.6 million procedures in the United States, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Qualifications for Botox injectors vary by county, state and country. Botox Cosmetic providers include dermatologists, plastic surgeons, cosmetic physicians, nurses practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, and medical spas.

No one has looked at the long term effects of being continually shot up with a poison. No one has researched the effects of this "safe neutralized" deadly poison over any period of time. As long as we can seek the Holy Grail of beauty, the gloves are off and safety be damned.

Do you realize that one 32 gram dose of botulinum dropped into a city water supply could literally wipe out an entire population of a major city in a few days? But, at least you'll be wrinkle free when you die.

C'mon folks. How far have we gone in the search for beauty? If we spent this kind of time on cancer "cures" we would all be healthy...wrinkled maybe but healthy. Are we really this depraved that we put poison in our bodies without question?

Friday, October 16, 2009

This is a must read!

HR - 615


On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment, courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn which would require all Members of Congress and their staff members to enroll in any new government-run health plan.

Congressman John Fleming has proposed an amendment that would require Congressmen and Senators to take the same health care plan that they would force on us. (Under proposed legislation they are exempt.)

Congressman Fleming is encouraging people to go to his Website and sign his petition. The process is very simple. I have done just that at:


http://fleming.house.gov/index.html


Senator Coburn and Congressman Fleming are both physicians...
Regardless of your political beliefs, it sure seems reasonable that Congress should have exactly the same medical coverage that they impose on the rest of us.
Please urge as many people as you can to do the same!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Parasite Paradigm

I can't count the times that people have come to me with "issues" such as digestion problems, skin eruptions like acne and psoriasis, asthma, rashes and other "undiagnosed" conditions. Yet, their doctors just scratch their heads because we all "know" that we don't have parasites in the U.S.

Seeing parasites in the blood is also dismissed as "silly science" and "pseudo science" by doctors who have not been trained in even the most elementary studies of parasitology. Parasitology has been historically relegated to the study of "tropical" disease.

I am so tired of trying to "educate" the medical field, I thought it high time I give you some basic information that you can take to your doctor. Well, you can lead a horse to water but yada yada yada. But, at least you will be informed and can pass along the information to your family and friends.

Yes, Margaret, there are parasites in the U.S. There are even some pretty exotic ones to boot.
So take a look at this long but educational video by a very well known parasitologist.

If you suspect you have conditions such as "acid reflux", chronic diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, migraine headaches, asthma, ad infinitum, please check out the video and be amazed.

By the way, McKerrow, MD, PhD, UCSF professor of pathology, espouses pharmaceuticals for parasites and (obviously) I do not. There are many many natural treatments that you can find on our website.

Here's the video for your viewing "pleasure."




Here is a good book written in layman's terms for those that want to read more.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Chronic Disease and Root Canals

Sometimes there is little difference between an epiphany and a simple "Duh!" I had a "duh" yesterday! So, for those who may think I am infallible, I am about to throw that one out the window (but without the baby.)

A gentleman had come to see me last year and was suffering with a "neurological" problem of unknown origin. He had been a fit mountain climbing, hiking and golfing individual who was suddenly unable to walk. We checked for Lyme. We checked for parasites. We checked pretty much everything we could. Nothing! Well, we did see heavy metal toxins.

It was so exasperating this man even did the Aruyvedic thing in India! No help.

Yesterday, heavy metals showed again and I asked about root canals and/or amalgam fillings. "Oh my mercury levels are off the chart. I do have three root canals."

My response? "Duh!"

We had been looking in all the wrong places. If you know of anyone that has been diagnosed with neurological disorders of unknown cause then you need to pass this along!

According to many scientists and doctors, especially Dr. James Howensteine, M.D. "Many chronic diseases, perhaps most, are a result of root canal surgery. Approximately 20,000,000 root canal operations are performed annually in the United States."

Now I know, I'm going to tick off a lot of my dentist friends, but the truth is the truth.

Dr. Price Pottinger learned after thousands of animal studies that a root canal tooth is always infected regardless of it’s appearance and lack of symptoms. When Dr. Price took a root canal tooth out of a patient who had a chronic disease and placed this tooth in an animal the patient became well and the animal developed the same illness the patient had previously suffered from. If the patient had rheumatoid arthritis the animal became afflicted with RA. When the patient had heart disease the animal developed heart disease. The tooth from a patient with kidney disease produced an animal with kidney disease!

Dr. Meining's book Root Canal Cover-up is a must read!

I am also fortunate enough to have done some video work with Dr. David Kennedy, the producer of the YouTube video "Smoking teeth -poison gas." We have produced a soon to be released YouTube video about spirochetes (Lyme disease) and infected teeth. Dr. Kennedy and I videotaped a series of one patient with spirochetes and the video is absolutely eye popping.

The point of all this is two fold...well maybe four fold. Always look for the obvious (Listen up Hugh!); hopefully others will be healed by removing these dangerous mercury laden procedures;
read, read, read!; and warn others.

Until next time. I have to go brush my un mercury filled mouth.



Wednesday, October 7, 2009

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder)

I have been seeing many more COPD sufferers lately. I am amazed at the numbers who are non-smokers. But, before I get too far, let me define COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), often called "smoker's lung," is mainly a smoking-related lung disease characterized by airflow obstruction, and includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Symptoms of COPD range from slight breathlessness to severe breathlessness that limits activities of daily living, such as getting dressed, walking up stairs, and going shopping.

It is absolutely scary!

I have a great deal of success with COPD sufferers using anti-oxidants and such. With the increased numbers of people I have been seeing, I decided that it was time to finally come out with a product that directly addresses the issue of COPD. I am in the process right now of getting quotes from my lab and the product will be available (hopefully) by January 2010.

The product (whose name I haven't settled on as yet) is the culmination of not only my research, but that of several herbal labs. If it does as I expect, it may turn out to be the best thing I've done since TrimaZyme.

Another option for COPD would also be the BioWave Generator with the Asthma Chip. This inexpensive device from Germany has proved to be invaluable for COPD sufferers. With these two products I believe we may be on the road to reversing another "incurable" disease.

Stay tuned. This is going to be a wild ride.

Friday, October 2, 2009

MRSA

I have written quite a lot about MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) but it is still a relatively misunderstood and seriously misdiagnosed infection. It is estimated that more than 10% of the U.S. population is infected with MRSA or are carriers. We are seeing a huge increase in infections that people do not even realize they have.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.

The symptoms of MRSA depend on where you're infected. Most often, it causes mild infections on the skin, causing pimples or boils. But it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract.

MRSA is also showing up in healthy people who have not been living in the hospital. This type of MRSA is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. The CDC reports that in 2007, 14% of people with MRSA infections had CA-MRSA.

Studies have shown that rates of CA-MRSA infection are growing fast. One study of children in south Texas found that cases of CA-MRSA had a 14-fold increase between 1999 and 2001.

Part of the problem is that we refuse to look at the fact that as we continue to overuse antibiotics, MRSA and other bacteria will continue to morph and feed on antibiotics.

One can be infected by simply touching an area such as doorknobs, gym equipment, towels, etc. If you are using a gym, please wipe down the equipment before you use it with a sterile towelette. Always use the wipes at supermarkets for the carts. Keep an eye on your kids for signs of infection which can be something as simple as what appears to be a red "bite" mark, rashes, etc.

Prevention is always better than treatment, but historically the best treatment has always been something staph cannot adapt to...high quality and safe silver hydrosol. Our favorite that we keep around the house is Sovereign Silver. It is effective and absolutely safe.

Keep your eyes open.