Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Adventure Race for Cancer
On April 16th, Dr. John Wilkins and 2 of his friends will be competing in The Savage Adventure Sprint Race at Marsh Creek State Park: Downingtown, PA.
The Race will consist of 5+ miles of wilderness running, 10+ miles of mountain biking and 5+/- miles of Canoeing.
The Savage Adventure Race requires that the participants navigate by map through the State Park to find specifically marked points or landmarks. The race can take up to 6 hours to complete and may cover as much as 20 miles. Wilderness survival gear is required.
If you would like to donate to the cause, you can make your tax deductible donation to the American Cancer Society through us. You can drop off a check or mail one in made out to American Cancer Society.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Drug-Related Poisonings Flood Emergency Rooms across America
"Some 700,000 Americans are taken to the hospital each year after ingesting drugs, both legal and illegal, a new study reports. And the care costs nearly $1.4 billion in emergency room charges alone." (NY Times Online March 3, 2011)
Wow! I am always looking for info regarding health care spending. This article in the New York Times caught my eye. Go to the NY Times Online by clicking the title to check it out.
JW
Wow! I am always looking for info regarding health care spending. This article in the New York Times caught my eye. Go to the NY Times Online by clicking the title to check it out.
JW
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Is it time for your child to start exercising...Mayo Clinic says YES!
Strength & Fitness training for kids is not about pumping iron or how much you can bench. Today's young athletes can enjoy greater success if they are instructed in proper movement patterns and the acquisition of speed, agility and quickness. Let's not forget about Power. Improving a child's Power is all about their athletic ability.
Parents generally do not understand what personal training for children is all about. Below is an article from the Mayo Clinic about this very important topic. Enjoy.
From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
For kids, what are the benefits of strength training?
Done properly, strength training can:
* Increase your child's muscle strength and endurance
* Help protect your child's muscles and joints from injury
* Improve your child's performance in nearly any sport, from dancing and figure skating to football and soccer
And strength training isn't only for athletes. Even if your child isn't interested in sports, strength training can:
* Strengthen your child's bones
* Help promote healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels
* Boost your child's metabolism
* Help your child maintain a healthy weight
* Improve your child's self-esteem
What's the best way to start a strength training program for kids?
A child's strength training program isn't necessarily a scaled-down version of what an adult would do. Keep these general principles in mind:
* Seek instruction. Start with a coach or personal trainer who has experience with youth strength training. The coach or trainer can create a safe, effective strength training program based on your child's age, size, skills and sports interests. Or enroll your child in a strength training class designed for kids.
* Warm up and cool down. Encourage your child to begin each strength training session with five to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity, such as walking, jogging in place or jumping rope. This warms the muscles and helps reduce the risk of injury. Gentle stretching after each session is a good idea, too.
* Keep it light. Kids can safely lift adult-size weights, as long as the weight is light enough. In most cases, one set of 12 to 15 repetitions is all it takes. The resistance doesn't have to come from weights, either. Resistance tubing and body-weight exercises, such as push-ups, can be just as effective.
* Stress proper technique. Rather than focusing on the amount of weight your child lifts, stress proper form and technique during each exercise. Your child can gradually increase the resistance or number of repetitions as he or she gets older.
* Supervise. Adult supervision is an important part of youth strength training. Don't let your child go it alone.
* Rest between workouts. Make sure your child rests at least one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. Two or three strength training sessions a week are plenty.
* Keep it fun. Help your child vary the routine to prevent boredom.
Results won't come overnight. But eventually, your child will notice a difference in muscle strength and endurance — which may fuel a fitness habit that lasts a lifetime.
From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
Call Advanced Fitness (610-444-1711) to discuss our youth programs. You will be amazed at what youth fitness training has evolved to over the last several years. Once you see how our Assessment and Programming model works, you will understand why every major health organization is touting the benefits of strength training for kids.
Parents generally do not understand what personal training for children is all about. Below is an article from the Mayo Clinic about this very important topic. Enjoy.
From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
For kids, what are the benefits of strength training?
Done properly, strength training can:
* Increase your child's muscle strength and endurance
* Help protect your child's muscles and joints from injury
* Improve your child's performance in nearly any sport, from dancing and figure skating to football and soccer
And strength training isn't only for athletes. Even if your child isn't interested in sports, strength training can:
* Strengthen your child's bones
* Help promote healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels
* Boost your child's metabolism
* Help your child maintain a healthy weight
* Improve your child's self-esteem
What's the best way to start a strength training program for kids?
A child's strength training program isn't necessarily a scaled-down version of what an adult would do. Keep these general principles in mind:
* Seek instruction. Start with a coach or personal trainer who has experience with youth strength training. The coach or trainer can create a safe, effective strength training program based on your child's age, size, skills and sports interests. Or enroll your child in a strength training class designed for kids.
* Warm up and cool down. Encourage your child to begin each strength training session with five to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity, such as walking, jogging in place or jumping rope. This warms the muscles and helps reduce the risk of injury. Gentle stretching after each session is a good idea, too.
* Keep it light. Kids can safely lift adult-size weights, as long as the weight is light enough. In most cases, one set of 12 to 15 repetitions is all it takes. The resistance doesn't have to come from weights, either. Resistance tubing and body-weight exercises, such as push-ups, can be just as effective.
* Stress proper technique. Rather than focusing on the amount of weight your child lifts, stress proper form and technique during each exercise. Your child can gradually increase the resistance or number of repetitions as he or she gets older.
* Supervise. Adult supervision is an important part of youth strength training. Don't let your child go it alone.
* Rest between workouts. Make sure your child rests at least one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. Two or three strength training sessions a week are plenty.
* Keep it fun. Help your child vary the routine to prevent boredom.
Results won't come overnight. But eventually, your child will notice a difference in muscle strength and endurance — which may fuel a fitness habit that lasts a lifetime.
From: Strength training: OK for kids? (Mayoclinic.com)
Call Advanced Fitness (610-444-1711) to discuss our youth programs. You will be amazed at what youth fitness training has evolved to over the last several years. Once you see how our Assessment and Programming model works, you will understand why every major health organization is touting the benefits of strength training for kids.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
5 Triathlon Training Mistakes
Check out this article to find out about common triathlon training mistakes.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Antibiotics on the verge of becoming completely useless
by Jonathan Benson(NaturalNews) The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases recently published a sobering piece about how antibiotics are becoming wholly ineffective as treatments for infection. According to the report, even the most powerful antibiotics available are largely inadequate at tackling the emerging forms of new and powerful "super" bacteria.
Antibiotic overuse has become a pandemic problem. They are used in animal feed to make animals grow more quickly and they are handed out like candy by many doctors to people with almost any ailment. And they are simply not working anymore to fight infection.
Published by Professor Tim Walsh and his colleagues, the paper explains how a new gene called NDM 1 is changing the way infectious bacteria survive. The NDM 1 gene passes among bacteria like E. Coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and makes them resistant to antibiotics. Even carbapenems, the most powerful antibiotics available, are no match for these new bacteria.
"This is potentially the end. There are no antibiotics in the pipeline that have activity against NDM 1-producing enterobacteriaceae. We have a bleak window of maybe ten years where we are going to have to use the antibiotics we have very wisely, but also grapple with the reality that we have nothing to treat these infections with," explained Walsh in a recent Guardian piece.
According to Dr. Livermore, director of the antibiotic resistance monitoring and reference laboratory at the U.K. Health Protection Agency, the entirety of modern medicine could collapse as a result of antibiotics becoming useless.
"A lot of modern medicine would become impossible if we lost our ability to treat infections," he emphasized.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
THIS Asthma Solution Costs No Money...
Courtesy: www.mercola.com
Asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels may have a greater risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
A study followed more than 1,000 children with asthma for four years, and found those with vitamin-D insufficiency at the outset were more likely to have an asthma attack that required a trip to the hospital.
Reuters reports:
“When the researchers considered other factors -- including the severity of the children's asthma at the study's start, their weight and their family income -- vitamin D insufficiency itself was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.”
Vitamin D never ceases to amaze, and research into its impact on non-bone related diseases continues to yield positive results.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health conditions, from depression to autoimmune disorders, to colds and flu, to cancer, and now asthma, and even cognitive function.
This is good news.
Asthma has increased by more than 300 percent over the last two decades, now affecting some 20 million Americans, and if vitamin D is even partially responsible for this meteoric rise in prevalence, then the answer is literally right outside your door.
Millions of people are needlessly exposing themselves to the dangers inherent with the standard drug treatments for asthma. Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which can actually increase the severity of an asthma attack.
Researchers estimate that salmeterol may contribute to as many as 5,000 asthma-related deaths in the United States each year. Conventional asthma treatments can also increase your risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, just to name a few.
This is why it’s so important to start focusing our attention on simple, effective, and infinitely safer methods, such as increasing vitamin D levels, to combat the underlying cause of this growing health problem.
Vitamin D Deficiency and Asthma at All Time Highs
Right now, only 5 to 37 percent of American infants meet the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which will make them prime candidates for a slew of future health problems related to vitamin D deficiency – one of them being asthma.
At the end of 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics doubled its recommended dose of vitamin D for infants, children and adolescents, raising it from 200 to 400 units per day. But research published earlier that same year revealed children may need ten times that amount in order to receive the health benefits that optimal vitamin D levels have to offer.
Many mothers also are vitamin D-deficient, which is another contributor to asthma. A 2007 study showed that poor diet and lack of vitamin D during pregnancy were the determining factors in whether their children suffered from asthma by the age of five.
In addition, this latest study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology confirms previous findings, showing that asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels also have an increased risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
According to this study, vitamin D insufficiency itself was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.
This makes sense, as a number of other studies have confirmed that there’s an inverse association between respiratory infections and vitamin D levels in children. This is likely because vitamin D upregulates a specific gene that produces over 200 anti-microbial peptides, some of which work like a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
In addition, optimizing your overall immune function is an essential part of treating asthma, and vitamin D is proven to be an incredibly powerful immune modulator, which is why optimizing your vitamin D levels is so essential.
Beware: Conventional Vitamin D Recommendations are Still Too Low
Based on the latest research, many experts now agree you need about 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. This recommendation also includes children, the elderly and pregnant women.
This is a far cry from the 200-600 IU’s currently recommended by our health agencies.
Remember, however, that vitamin D requirements are highly individual.
Your vitamin D status is dependent on several factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis. So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the level of what most people likely need, it is virtually impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone.
The only accurate way to determine your optimal dose is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a vitamin D level of at least 50ng/ml and perhaps as high as 80-90 ng/ml year-round.
For in-depth information about safe sun exposure, dosing and other recommendations to safely and effectively optimize your vitamin D levels, please review this previous article.
Additional Safe and Effective Strategies to Treat Asthma
Although asthma is a serious disease, safely treating your asthma is not complicated.
Optimizing your vitamin D levels is the first step, but there are other simple strategies that can help treat the root of the problem as well.
In my experience, the following strategies are highly effective when treating asthma:
•Increase your intake of animal-based omega 3 fats and reduce your intake of processed omega 6 fats
•Consider the hygiene hypothesis – There’s a tendency in our modern culture to be obsessive about cleanliness, but this may not be as healthy as initially thought. It appears that being exposed to common bacterial and viral infections as a child can be instrumental in providing the stimulus to your immune system to prevent asthma naturally.
•Get regular exercise – Exercise (especially out in fresh air if you’re an asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate insulin levels. It increases your insulin receptor sensitivity, and as a result your body produces less insulin, which tends to optimize it.
•Purify your indoor air
•Avoid all commercial milk products. They are notorious for making asthma worse. If you consume milk at all, use only raw milk products from grass-fed cows, but even then be careful and take note of whether or not the raw milk is making your asthma better or worse.
•Eat foods rich in vitamin E. Much like vitamin D, higher vitamin E intake has also been associated with lower serum IgE concentrations and a lower frequency of allergen sensitization.
•Hydrate well. You will want to make sure you drink enough clean pure water to turn your urine a light color of yellow, as dehydration will clearly worsen asthma.
•Try some Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). This perennial shrub has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs, asthma, and skin wounds. Researchers have since identified the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma. In one study, 40 percent of patients taking a butterbur root extract were able to reduce their intake of traditional asthma medications.
•Build your immune system with allergy testing. In my experience, conventional testing does not work very effectively and there is a fair amount of risk. A far better intradermal skin test is the provocation neutralization testing. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has a list of physicians who are trained in this highly effective technique.
The Link Between Asthma and Allergies
In addition to the 20 million Americans suffering from asthma, another 60 million are affected by allergic rhinitis, or ‘hay fever.’
The hidden link between asthma and allergies?
Again, vitamin D deficiency!
So whether you’re an asthmatic or suffer from allergies, optimizing your vitamin D levels should be at the top of your list.
For natural allergy relief, another recent study found that Pycnogenol®, an antioxidant plant extract derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree can offer significant relief.
Although it won’t treat the root cause of the problem, it may be worth a try to get relief from the symptoms, which can be quite debilitating for some, such as itchy rashes, swelling, hives, and excessive mucous.
Vitamin D is Important for Thinking Clearly Too
As I mentioned at the beginning, scientists have also found more evidence linking vitamin D and cognitive function, by studying seniors receiving home care. Cognitive function is the level at which your brain is able to manage and use available information for daily activities.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, vitamin D receptors have been identified throughout the human body, and scientists have shown that vitamin D influences at least 3,000 different genes. So it is no surprise that metabolic pathways for vitamin D also exist in your brain. In this case, researchers located pathways in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the brain.
These are the areas of your brain that are involved in planning, processing of information, and the formation of new memories.
Of the 1,000 participants, only 35 percent had sufficient vitamin D levels.
Keep in mind that “sufficient levels” in this case are based on the conventional recommendation, which states that 15 ng/ml is sufficient for bone- and overall health.
We now know this is woefully inadequate for most.
Experts now believe the optimal level for general health lies between 50-70 ng/ml.
Still, participants with higher vitamin D levels performed better on cognitive tests than those who were deficient.
Other studies have also provided evidence that vitamin D is involved in brain function by promoting detoxification of damaging heavy metals. One such study showed that vitamin D helps remove mercury by radically increasing intracellular glutathione.
As you can see, there’s plenty of reasons to check your vitamin D levels, if you haven’t done so already, to make sure you’re within the optimal range.
Asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels may have a greater risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
A study followed more than 1,000 children with asthma for four years, and found those with vitamin-D insufficiency at the outset were more likely to have an asthma attack that required a trip to the hospital.
Reuters reports:
“When the researchers considered other factors -- including the severity of the children's asthma at the study's start, their weight and their family income -- vitamin D insufficiency itself was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.”
Vitamin D never ceases to amaze, and research into its impact on non-bone related diseases continues to yield positive results.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health conditions, from depression to autoimmune disorders, to colds and flu, to cancer, and now asthma, and even cognitive function.
This is good news.
Asthma has increased by more than 300 percent over the last two decades, now affecting some 20 million Americans, and if vitamin D is even partially responsible for this meteoric rise in prevalence, then the answer is literally right outside your door.
Millions of people are needlessly exposing themselves to the dangers inherent with the standard drug treatments for asthma. Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which can actually increase the severity of an asthma attack.
Researchers estimate that salmeterol may contribute to as many as 5,000 asthma-related deaths in the United States each year. Conventional asthma treatments can also increase your risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, just to name a few.
This is why it’s so important to start focusing our attention on simple, effective, and infinitely safer methods, such as increasing vitamin D levels, to combat the underlying cause of this growing health problem.
Vitamin D Deficiency and Asthma at All Time Highs
Right now, only 5 to 37 percent of American infants meet the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which will make them prime candidates for a slew of future health problems related to vitamin D deficiency – one of them being asthma.
At the end of 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics doubled its recommended dose of vitamin D for infants, children and adolescents, raising it from 200 to 400 units per day. But research published earlier that same year revealed children may need ten times that amount in order to receive the health benefits that optimal vitamin D levels have to offer.
Many mothers also are vitamin D-deficient, which is another contributor to asthma. A 2007 study showed that poor diet and lack of vitamin D during pregnancy were the determining factors in whether their children suffered from asthma by the age of five.
In addition, this latest study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology confirms previous findings, showing that asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels also have an increased risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
According to this study, vitamin D insufficiency itself was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.
This makes sense, as a number of other studies have confirmed that there’s an inverse association between respiratory infections and vitamin D levels in children. This is likely because vitamin D upregulates a specific gene that produces over 200 anti-microbial peptides, some of which work like a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
In addition, optimizing your overall immune function is an essential part of treating asthma, and vitamin D is proven to be an incredibly powerful immune modulator, which is why optimizing your vitamin D levels is so essential.
Beware: Conventional Vitamin D Recommendations are Still Too Low
Based on the latest research, many experts now agree you need about 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. This recommendation also includes children, the elderly and pregnant women.
This is a far cry from the 200-600 IU’s currently recommended by our health agencies.
Remember, however, that vitamin D requirements are highly individual.
Your vitamin D status is dependent on several factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis. So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the level of what most people likely need, it is virtually impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone.
The only accurate way to determine your optimal dose is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a vitamin D level of at least 50ng/ml and perhaps as high as 80-90 ng/ml year-round.
For in-depth information about safe sun exposure, dosing and other recommendations to safely and effectively optimize your vitamin D levels, please review this previous article.
Additional Safe and Effective Strategies to Treat Asthma
Although asthma is a serious disease, safely treating your asthma is not complicated.
Optimizing your vitamin D levels is the first step, but there are other simple strategies that can help treat the root of the problem as well.
In my experience, the following strategies are highly effective when treating asthma:
•Increase your intake of animal-based omega 3 fats and reduce your intake of processed omega 6 fats
•Consider the hygiene hypothesis – There’s a tendency in our modern culture to be obsessive about cleanliness, but this may not be as healthy as initially thought. It appears that being exposed to common bacterial and viral infections as a child can be instrumental in providing the stimulus to your immune system to prevent asthma naturally.
•Get regular exercise – Exercise (especially out in fresh air if you’re an asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate insulin levels. It increases your insulin receptor sensitivity, and as a result your body produces less insulin, which tends to optimize it.
•Purify your indoor air
•Avoid all commercial milk products. They are notorious for making asthma worse. If you consume milk at all, use only raw milk products from grass-fed cows, but even then be careful and take note of whether or not the raw milk is making your asthma better or worse.
•Eat foods rich in vitamin E. Much like vitamin D, higher vitamin E intake has also been associated with lower serum IgE concentrations and a lower frequency of allergen sensitization.
•Hydrate well. You will want to make sure you drink enough clean pure water to turn your urine a light color of yellow, as dehydration will clearly worsen asthma.
•Try some Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). This perennial shrub has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs, asthma, and skin wounds. Researchers have since identified the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma. In one study, 40 percent of patients taking a butterbur root extract were able to reduce their intake of traditional asthma medications.
•Build your immune system with allergy testing. In my experience, conventional testing does not work very effectively and there is a fair amount of risk. A far better intradermal skin test is the provocation neutralization testing. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has a list of physicians who are trained in this highly effective technique.
The Link Between Asthma and Allergies
In addition to the 20 million Americans suffering from asthma, another 60 million are affected by allergic rhinitis, or ‘hay fever.’
The hidden link between asthma and allergies?
Again, vitamin D deficiency!
So whether you’re an asthmatic or suffer from allergies, optimizing your vitamin D levels should be at the top of your list.
For natural allergy relief, another recent study found that Pycnogenol®, an antioxidant plant extract derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree can offer significant relief.
Although it won’t treat the root cause of the problem, it may be worth a try to get relief from the symptoms, which can be quite debilitating for some, such as itchy rashes, swelling, hives, and excessive mucous.
Vitamin D is Important for Thinking Clearly Too
As I mentioned at the beginning, scientists have also found more evidence linking vitamin D and cognitive function, by studying seniors receiving home care. Cognitive function is the level at which your brain is able to manage and use available information for daily activities.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, vitamin D receptors have been identified throughout the human body, and scientists have shown that vitamin D influences at least 3,000 different genes. So it is no surprise that metabolic pathways for vitamin D also exist in your brain. In this case, researchers located pathways in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the brain.
These are the areas of your brain that are involved in planning, processing of information, and the formation of new memories.
Of the 1,000 participants, only 35 percent had sufficient vitamin D levels.
Keep in mind that “sufficient levels” in this case are based on the conventional recommendation, which states that 15 ng/ml is sufficient for bone- and overall health.
We now know this is woefully inadequate for most.
Experts now believe the optimal level for general health lies between 50-70 ng/ml.
Still, participants with higher vitamin D levels performed better on cognitive tests than those who were deficient.
Other studies have also provided evidence that vitamin D is involved in brain function by promoting detoxification of damaging heavy metals. One such study showed that vitamin D helps remove mercury by radically increasing intracellular glutathione.
As you can see, there’s plenty of reasons to check your vitamin D levels, if you haven’t done so already, to make sure you’re within the optimal range.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Is There Cancer in Your Food?
Presidential Cancer Advisors Find Courage to Warn About Environmental Risks of Cancer Chemicals
When a government panel of experts finds the courage to tell the truth about cancer, it's an event so rare that it becomes newsworthy. Late last week, a report from the President's Cancer Panel (PCP) broke ranks with the sick-care cancer establishment and dared to say something that natural health advocates have been warning about for decades: That Americans are "bombarded" with cancer-causing chemicals and radiation, and if we hope to reduce cancer rates, we must eliminate cancer-causing chemicals in foods, medicines, personal care products and our work and home environments.
In a directive to President Obama, the report states, "The panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase healthcare costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives."
When I first read that, I just about fell out of my chair. Government-appointed experts are really saying that there are cancer-causing chemicals in our food and water? That simple fact has been vehemently denied by the cancer industry, processed food giants, personal care product companies and of course the fluoride lobby -- all of which insist their chemicals are perfectly safe.
In a directive to President Obama, the report states, "The panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase healthcare costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives."
When I first read that, I just about fell out of my chair. Government-appointed experts are really saying that there are cancer-causing chemicals in our food and water? That simple fact has been vehemently denied by the cancer industry, processed food giants, personal care product companies and of course the fluoride lobby -- all of which insist their chemicals are perfectly safe.
• In 2009 alone, approximately 1.5 million American men, women, and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died from the disease. Approximately 41 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and about 21 percent will die from cancer. The incidence of some cancers, including some most common among children, is increasing for unexplained reasons.
• The Panel was particularly concerned to find that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread. One such ubiquitous chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), is still found in many consumer products and remains unregulated in the United States, despite the growing link between BPA and several diseases, including various cancers.
• However, the grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed adequately by the National Cancer Program. The American people -- even before they are born -- are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures.
• Some scientists maintain that current toxicity testing and exposure limit-setting methods fail to accurately represent the nature of human exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. Current toxicity testing relies heavily on animal studies that utilize doses substantially higher than those likely to be encountered by humans. These data -- and the exposure limits extrapolated from them -- fail to take into account harmful effects that may occur only at very low doses.
• Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the United States have been tested for safety.
• While all Americans now carry many foreign chemicals in their bodies, women often have higher levels of many toxic and hormone-disrupting substances than do men. Some of these chemicals have been found in maternal blood, placental tissue, and breast milk samples from pregnant women and mothers who recently gave birth. Thus, chemical contaminants are being passed on to the next generation, both prenatally and during breastfeeding.
• The entire U.S. population is exposed on a daily basis to numerous agricultural chemicals, some of which also are used in residential and commercial landscaping. Many of these chemicals have known or suspected carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting properties. Pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain nearly 900 active ingredients, many of which are toxic.
• Many of the solvents, fillers, and other chemicals listed as inert ingredients on pesticide labels also are toxic, but are not required to be tested for their potential to cause chronic diseases such as cancer. In addition to pesticides, agricultural fertilizers and veterinary pharmaceuticals are major contributors to water pollution, both directly and as a result of chemical processes that form toxic by-products when these substances enter the water supply.
• The use of cell phones and other wireless technology is of great concern, particularly since these devices are being used regularly by ever larger and younger segments of the population.
• Americans now are estimated to receive nearly half of their total radiation exposure from medical imaging and other medical sources, compared with only 15 percent in the early 1980s. The increase in medical radiation has nearly doubled the total average effective radiation dose per individual in the United States. Computed tomography (CT) and nuclear medicine tests alone now contribute 36 percent of the total radiation exposure and 75 percent of the medical radiation exposure of the U.S. population.
• Many referring physicians, radiology professionals, and the public are unaware of the radiation dose associated with various tests or the total radiation dose and related increased cancer risk individuals may accumulate over a lifetime. People who receive multiple scans or other tests that require radiation may accumulate doses equal to or exceeding that of Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors.
• Hundreds of thousands of military personnel and civilians in the United States received significant radiation doses as a result of their participation in nuclear weapons testing and supporting occupations and industries, including nuclear fuel and weapons production, and uranium mining, milling, and ore transport. Hundreds of thousands more were irradiated at levels sufficient to cause cancer and other diseases.
• Numerous environmental contaminants can cross the placental barrier; to a disturbing extent, babies are born "pre-polluted." There is a critical lack of knowledge and appreciation of environmental threats to children's health and a severe shortage of researchers and clinicians trained in children's environmental health.
• Single-agent toxicity testing and reliance on animal testing are inadequate to address the backlog of untested chemicals already in use and the plethora of new chemicals introduced every year.
• Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated. Enforcement of most existing regulations is poor. In virtually all cases, regulations fail to take multiple exposures and exposure interactions into account.
• Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated. Enforcement of most existing regulations is poor. In virtually all cases, regulations fail to take multiple exposures and exposure interactions into account. [Editor's note: In other words, people should read NaturalNews! We've been doing this for years!]
Sources
Read the report yourself right here:http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory...
Monday, May 3, 2010
Who is a ToughMudder?
Dr. Wilkins and seven of his closest exercise crazed friends completed the ToughMudder yesterday at Bear Creek Ski Resort. The ToughMudder is described as:
"the TOUGHEST one day event on the planet. This is not your average mud run or boring, spirit-crushing road race. Our 7 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around toughness, strength, stamina, fitness, camaraderie, and mental grit"
-ToughMudder website
Please check back to our blog to find out more.
JW
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Neuroplasticity
This term refers to the discovery in recent years that the brain is actually malleable throughout the lifespan and we have the ability to grow new neural connections.
This has tremendous implications for our mental health and anything that has to do with human training, both hopeful and detrimental.
The research is becoming more and more clear but has been finding that the brain is not static and will respond to new learning.
A Mayo Clinic study of 487 healthy adults aged 65 and older demonstrated that with cognitive fitness training, older adults more than doubled their auditory processing speed (a 131% gain.) This translated to improved memory and attention. NaturalNews.com
Below is a great video briefly describing the concept of neuroplasticity.
So what does this mean for you?
Anything that you would like to improve upon in your life, you can!! The only requirement is that you may have to search for the right coach, chiropractor, doctor, and/or other quality of life professionals.
This has tremendous implications for our mental health and anything that has to do with human training, both hopeful and detrimental.
The research is becoming more and more clear but has been finding that the brain is not static and will respond to new learning.
A Mayo Clinic study of 487 healthy adults aged 65 and older demonstrated that with cognitive fitness training, older adults more than doubled their auditory processing speed (a 131% gain.) This translated to improved memory and attention. NaturalNews.com
Below is a great video briefly describing the concept of neuroplasticity.
So what does this mean for you?
Anything that you would like to improve upon in your life, you can!! The only requirement is that you may have to search for the right coach, chiropractor, doctor, and/or other quality of life professionals.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Swine Flu Pandemic a Fraud
The original article, released by a German Magazine Der Spiegel and re-released by Digital Journal describes a detailed account of the happenings of the development of the swine flu pandemic and the following vaccination hysteria.
The Opening Paragraph from Der Spiegel
World Health Organization officials estimated that between 2 and 7.4 million could die. As the German magazine reports, the swine flu pandemic of 2009 may have been engineered by the drug companies:
Der Spiegel
Digital Journal
Mercola.com
Additionally, read this article from Natural News reviewing 'The 10 biggest health care lies in America'.
If you would like to know more about how to take your health into your own hands read the collection of articles, Heal Yourself in 15 Days, these articles describe the factors the truly compliment chiropractic care.
Happy reading!
The Opening Paragraph from Der Spiegel
Swine flu kept the world in suspense for almost a year. A massive vaccination campaign was mounted to put a stop to the anticipated pandemic. But, as it turned out, it was a relatively harmless strain of the flu virus. How, and why, did the world overreact? A reconstruction.Those who suspected a money- and greed-driven conspiracy behind the 2009 swine flu outbreak - declared a pandemic by overzealous WHO officials and their advisers from within the industry - are being proven right by recent revelations. Digital Journal
World Health Organization officials estimated that between 2 and 7.4 million could die. As the German magazine reports, the swine flu pandemic of 2009 may have been engineered by the drug companies:
The pharmaceutical industry did not influence any of our decisions," says Fukuda. But in mid-May, about three weeks before the swine flu was declared a pandemic, 30 senior representatives of pharmaceutical companies met with WHO Director-General Chan and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at WHO headquarters. The official reason for the meeting was to discuss ways to ensure that developing countries would be provided with pandemic vaccine. But at this point in time the vaccine industry was mainly interested in one question: the decision to declare phase 6.Below is the information for todays post, I highly recommend reading more into how the wool was pulled over a vast majority of peoples eyes.
Everything hung on this decision. At stake was nothing less than a move to supply large segments of the world's population with flu vaccine. Phase 6 acted as a switch that would allow bells on the industry's cash registers to ring, risk-free. That's because many pandemic vaccine contracts had already been signed. Germany, for example, signed an agreement with the British firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2007 to buy its pandemic vaccine -- as soon as phase 6 was declared. This agreement could explain why Professor Roy Anderson, one key scientific advisor to the British government, declared the swine flu a pandemic on May 1. What he neglected to say was that GSK was paying him an annual salary of more than €130,000 ($177,000).
Der Spiegel
Digital Journal
Mercola.com
Additionally, read this article from Natural News reviewing 'The 10 biggest health care lies in America'.
If you would like to know more about how to take your health into your own hands read the collection of articles, Heal Yourself in 15 Days, these articles describe the factors the truly compliment chiropractic care.
Happy reading!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
This Diet Is So Easy, Even You Can Do It
Have you ever heard of an overweight caveman?
Exactly.
I first wanted to put together a post about healthy snacking after looking at a Good Housekeeping The Best 100 Calorie Snacks article. Within this very popular magazine article you will find many apparent good ideas for eating healthy. But a closer inspection left me feeling disgusted at the recommendations. So I changed my focus to something that I am doing.
The Paleolithic, or Cavemen, diet.
Besides Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, most portrayals of the people who lived 12,000 years ago depict slender folks baring rock-hard abs. What's their secret? Surely it's great exercise to be out chasing woolly mammoths and foraging for berries all day. And it helped that there were no Fruity Pebbles or venti white chocolate mocha's hundreds of generations ago. The Washington Post.
There is a scientific premise to all of this; our dietary needs were formed 500 generations ago and are nearly identical to those of Stone Agers. This was first proposed in the 1980s, but popularized with 2002's "The Paleo Diet," by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University.
Calories are important when eating, but what is more important is what makes up those calories. You can read more about the importance of the source of the calorie on this informative blog, The Fit Dad Says.
But, seriously, what if we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors? That would be lots of lean meats, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables; no grains, salt, sugar, legumes or dairy products. Some people do, and it's called the Paleo diet -- short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era before agriculture took hold, a movement away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that resulted in settled societies, and, eventually, Twinkies and couch potatoes.
If you'd like to learn more about what the Paleolithic diet is all about follow these links below
The Paleo Diet
The Healing Crow
The combination of Chiropractic and these eating principles will reward your body, and your body will reward you!
Exactly.
I first wanted to put together a post about healthy snacking after looking at a Good Housekeeping The Best 100 Calorie Snacks article. Within this very popular magazine article you will find many apparent good ideas for eating healthy. But a closer inspection left me feeling disgusted at the recommendations. So I changed my focus to something that I am doing.
The Paleolithic, or Cavemen, diet.
Besides Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, most portrayals of the people who lived 12,000 years ago depict slender folks baring rock-hard abs. What's their secret? Surely it's great exercise to be out chasing woolly mammoths and foraging for berries all day. And it helped that there were no Fruity Pebbles or venti white chocolate mocha's hundreds of generations ago. The Washington Post.
There is a scientific premise to all of this; our dietary needs were formed 500 generations ago and are nearly identical to those of Stone Agers. This was first proposed in the 1980s, but popularized with 2002's "The Paleo Diet," by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University.
Calories are important when eating, but what is more important is what makes up those calories. You can read more about the importance of the source of the calorie on this informative blog, The Fit Dad Says.
But, seriously, what if we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors? That would be lots of lean meats, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables; no grains, salt, sugar, legumes or dairy products. Some people do, and it's called the Paleo diet -- short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era before agriculture took hold, a movement away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that resulted in settled societies, and, eventually, Twinkies and couch potatoes.
If you'd like to learn more about what the Paleolithic diet is all about follow these links below
The Paleo Diet
The Healing Crow
The combination of Chiropractic and these eating principles will reward your body, and your body will reward you!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
That Something
The post this week is to direct you towards one of the most famous chiropractic stories, "That Something".
The story of "That Something," it would seem, is thought to be intended to be an autobiographical sketch from the developer of chiropractic, BJ Palmer, and how he achieved success in his life .
How much of it is true and how much is part of the author's fertile imagination is unknown, probably to everyone except BJ himself.
It seems to me that it is not really important whether it is true, wholly, partly or not at all.
It is the message that is important. It is the message that everyone from Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone to Jim Rhone and Zig Ziglar have conveyed, which is, the key to success.
I believe the key lies in the two little words "I will."
"I" means taking responsibility for your life success or failure.
BJ realized very early in life that he was not a prisoner of his childhood or his cruel stepmother. He was responsible for his own life, to make it a success or failure. He knew he could not blame his faults or his problems on anyone else. I certainly would agree that one is success or failure in a matter of choice.
The second word, "will." demonstrates why one is responsible.
"Will" implies volition. Volition implies free choice. We are free to choose success or failure, right or wrong, good or evil. That seems to be the message of the story and how BJ chose to be successful in his life.
Of course, I would claim that those choices come from an educated brain, for that is why we have one! Innate intelligence does not make choices in the sense of good and bad decisions. It acts as a law or principle. Therefore it is up to our educated intelligence to make those choices which make for life what it is to be, for better or worse.
I would like to thank Joe Strauss' and his Green Book Club commentaries for much of the insight and commentary above.
You can read the entire story of "That Something" by clicking here.
The story of "That Something," it would seem, is thought to be intended to be an autobiographical sketch from the developer of chiropractic, BJ Palmer, and how he achieved success in his life .
How much of it is true and how much is part of the author's fertile imagination is unknown, probably to everyone except BJ himself.
It seems to me that it is not really important whether it is true, wholly, partly or not at all.
It is the message that is important. It is the message that everyone from Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone to Jim Rhone and Zig Ziglar have conveyed, which is, the key to success.
I believe the key lies in the two little words "I will."
"I" means taking responsibility for your life success or failure.
BJ realized very early in life that he was not a prisoner of his childhood or his cruel stepmother. He was responsible for his own life, to make it a success or failure. He knew he could not blame his faults or his problems on anyone else. I certainly would agree that one is success or failure in a matter of choice.
The second word, "will." demonstrates why one is responsible.
"Will" implies volition. Volition implies free choice. We are free to choose success or failure, right or wrong, good or evil. That seems to be the message of the story and how BJ chose to be successful in his life.
Of course, I would claim that those choices come from an educated brain, for that is why we have one! Innate intelligence does not make choices in the sense of good and bad decisions. It acts as a law or principle. Therefore it is up to our educated intelligence to make those choices which make for life what it is to be, for better or worse.
I would like to thank Joe Strauss' and his Green Book Club commentaries for much of the insight and commentary above.
You can read the entire story of "That Something" by clicking here.
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