How To Appeal A Health Insurance Denial

Getting your health insurance claim denied can feel like insult added to injury, but if you take these steps you can get your claim "rehabbed," and get your money.

The NY Times Bucks blog interviewed Martin Rosen, whose business, Health Advocate, helps employees negotiate the tricky waters of their employer insurance. He offered these tips:

1. Double-check all the rules of your insurer's appeals process, especially deadlines.
2. Get all your documents ready and organized.
3. Call HR if you get insurance through your employer. They might become your advocate.
4. Ask your doc to write a "letter of medical necessity" and send it to the insurance company.
5. Make a log of all your calls when you contact the insurance company, including dates, times, whom you spoke to, what you talked about, and the length of the conversation.
6. Write down and refine your logical argument for why your claim should go through and refer to it when necessary throughout the process.
7. Keep checking on the status of your claim with the insurance company.

Have you ever had to dispute a health insurance denial? What methods did you use?

7 Steps in Appealing a Health Insurance Denial [bucks.blogs.nytimes]

From ConsumerReports.org:

Teflon Chemical Linked to Arthritis

High blood levels of a man-made chemical used in non-stick coatings were associated with a raised risk of arthritis in a large new study of adults exposed to tainted drinking water.

Researchers found that people with the highest levels of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in their blood were up to 40 percent more likely to develop arthritis than people with lower blood levels more typical of the general U.S. population.

Dr. Kim Innes of the School of Medicine at West Virginia University and colleagues used data on nearly 50,000 adults living in areas of Ohio and West Virginia where a chemical plant had contaminated water supplies with PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), both chemicals widely used in non-stick and stain-resistant coatings.

Read more: Teflon Chemical Linked to Arthritis
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.

Nanotechnology: Tracking food from farm to fork…and you right along with it

image source

Marti Oakley, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

I had come across an article in the Dairy Reporter last year, about the coming plans to insert nano-technology into food. In the article from DR: Nanotechnology in food: What’s the big idea? By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 26-Jul-2010 this observation was made:

“At IFT’s nanoscience conference last week, major industry players discussed how to avoid a rerun of the GMO debacle with consumers – with some saying that one solution could be to say nothing about introducing nanotechnology in foods and to do it anyway.”

We all have enough experience with today’s bio-pirates who are openly colluding with the USDA, FDA and anyone else in government, like “Dirty Harry” Reid NV (D), who single-handedly and unanimously cast the one vote needed to pass the fake food safety bill, to know that food safety and longer shelf life is most likely not what this technology is actually intended to do. As it is, most products on the shelves of stores now are so chemically laden and contain so much GMO that I doubt spoilage is an option. After all…can chemicals, pesticides and herbicides actually rot?

Most of what sits in our stores is not really food as we have known it. It is a stew of sorts; chemicals, additives, flavorings, colorings, enhancers, preservatives, aspartame, neotame, and stuff we can’t even identify along with residual hormones, vaccines, antibiotics, herbicides and pesticides. It has been irradiated, sprayed with viruses and now covered in ammonia. Reading any label for content makes one think you would be just as well off if you drank floor cleaner and it most likely might be a lot tastier although just as empty of nutrition.

Type 2 diabetes in newly diagnosed 'can be reversed'

An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study.

Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal.

Seven out of 11 people studied were free of diabetes three months later, say findings published in the journal. Read More>>>>

Mother's milk: A secret weapon for everything

Motherhood in the Fatherland Photo: DPA

Mother's milk: A secret weapon for everything

Yes, to cure all that ails that tiny tummy (and other mini body parts), mum's boobs have the answer.

To say that nursing is encouraged here in the Fatherland would be an understatement. Even the makers of formula acknowledge on their packaging that, “Breastfeeding is the best way to feed your baby.”

There is even the government-funded German National Breastfeeding Institute (Nationale Stillkommission) whose responsibility is to ensure that all mothers have the facts and resources they need to successfully breastfeed.

Could you imagine if US First Lady Michelle Obama tried to implement something like that in America? She had enough troubles merely promoting the idea of breastfeeding. So many US blogs I read often talk about breastfeeding, but always with the caveat that “breastfeeding is the best choice for me and my family.”

But in Germany I have learned that breast milk cures more than just baby hunger. Six months in, I wouldn’t be surprised if I were told my chest contained the proverbial fountain of youth.

As Luisa went through her first growth spurt, she went through her first gas pains. Not to worry, my midwife said, and told me to offer her the breast. As the milk goes through her system, it would literally push the gas out the other end. Breastfeeding also relieves me of worrying about Luisa’s, ahem, “output”. As long as she was solely breastfed, anything was normal and I wasn’t to worry about it.

At four weeks, Luisa came down with a case of baby acne. I wasn’t about to swab her face with Clearasil, but I was concerned about this pile of bumps appearing on her smooth cheeks. What does my midwife recommend? Simply use Muttermilch as a cream and dab it on the worst spots as often as I liked. I’m not actually sure if it was the breast milk, but the acne cleared up within a week.

Breast milk also has healing properties. “Toe-curling pain,” was what one friend warned me to expect during the first 10 days of baby latching on to very sensitive spots to nurse. And as my nipples cracked, my toes curled.

But as we left the hospital, a doctor had reminded me that breast milk was an excellent nipple cream and “it’s safe for baby too,” she said with a smile.

Canadian Sara Read even discovered that breast milk could help with a stubborn umbilical chord. “My midwife told me to apply breast milk to Annika’s umbilical chord stub to help it come off,” she said, adding that she was sceptical at first.

“I only did it half-heartedly and when it wasn’t gone after a couple weeks, my midwife grabbed my boob, squeezed out some milk onto a q-tip, applied it to the umbilical stub and — pop! — within a matter of seconds she had worked it off with the milk-soaked swab.”

English mum Rachel Fox was told breast milk would help clear up her eldest child’s gooey eye.

“He had a sticky eye infection and [the midwife] had us squirting breast milk directly into his poorly eye," she told me. "I was quite shocked initially, but it did the trick. A few days later the infection was gone. Not a chemist in sight!”

Not just eyes, but ear infections can also be cured with a good squirt of the white stuff. In fact, breast milk is a great substitute for antibiotic ointment. Cuts and scrapes heal much faster with a little bit of Muttermilch applied to them. And when a baby’s sensitive bum goes red, there is no need to reach for creams with all sorts of chemicals; just rub on some breast milk, allow to air dry and carry on.

Adults with scrapes, cuts, burns, dry skin, acne and cold sores can also benefit from the application of breast milk. Allegedly warts, insect bites, chicken pox and eczema too.

But back to Luisa’s runny nose. I’ve used my Muttermilch many times to clear up her little nose. While it’s effective, there is one problem: The application. I’ll leave you to think about the mechanics.

http://www.thelocal.de/lifestyle/20110708-36147.html

Low Testosterone Associated With Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome Contributes to Sexual Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Men With Type

+ Author Affiliations

¹Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, California
²London Bridge Hospital, London, U.K.
³Robert Hague Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Barnsley Hospital, and the Department of Metabolism, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, U.K.
⁴Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, V.A. Puget Sound Health Care System, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
⁵Department of Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
⁶Departments of Psychiatry, Reproductive Medicine, and Urology, NY Weill Cornell College of Medicine, New York, New York
⁷Department of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
⁸Clinical Andrology/Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University Clinics of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
⁹Departments of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, St. Luke’s–Baylor Diabetes Program, Houston, Texas

Corresponding author: Christina Wang, wang@labiomed.org.

Men with obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes have low total and free testosterone and low sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG). Conversely, the presence of low testosterone and/or SHBG predicts the development of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Visceral adiposity present in men with low testosterone, the metabolic syndrome, and/or type 2 diabetes acts through proinflammatory factors. These inflammatory markers contribute to vascular endothelial dysfunction with adverse sequelae such as increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and erectile dysfunction. This review focuses on the multidirectional impact of low testosterone associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome and its effects on erectile dysfunction and CVD risk in men with type 2 diabetes. Whenever possible in this review, we will cite recent reports (after 2005) and meta-analyses.

Epidemiological studies of low testosterone, obesity, metabolic status, and erectile dysfunction

Epidemiological studies support a bidirectional relationship between serum testosterone and obesity as well as between testosterone and the metabolic syndrome. Low serum total testosterone predicts the development of central obesity and accumulation of intra-abdominal fat ( 1– 3). Also, low total and free testosterone and SHBG levels are associated with an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, independent of age and obesity ( 1– 3). Lowering serum T levels in older men with prostate cancer treated with androgen deprivation therapy increases body fat mass ( 4). Conversely, high BMI, central adiposity, and the metabolic syndrome are associated with and predict low serum total and to a lesser extent free testosterone and SHBG levels ( 1– 3, 5). Because obesity suppresses SHBG and as a result total testosterone concentrations, alterations in SHBG confound the relationship between testosterone and obesity.

Low total testosterone or SHBG levels are associated with type 2 diabetes, independent of age, race, obesity, and criteria for diagnosis of diabetes ( 6, 7). In longitudinal studies, low serum total and free testosterone …

[Full Text of this Article]

Calorie Signs Not Improving Diners' Habits

Are calorie counts posted at your favorite eatery making you think twice about ordering an especially high-calorie dish?

If not, you apparently are not alone. Research conducted in areas of the United States where menu labeling has become law is showing that the calorie postings are not influencing healthier dining-out decisions by consumers, according to the Washington Post.

Read more: Calorie Signs Not Improving Diners' Habits
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.

Diabetes rate 'doubles' - Imperial College and Harvard research suggests

The number of adults with diabetes in the world has more than doubled since 1980, a study in the Lancet says.

Researchers from Imperial College London and Harvard University in the US analysed data from 2.7m people across the world, using statistical techniques to project a worldwide figure.

The total number of people with all forms of the disease - which can be fatal - has risen from 153m to 347m.

MORE>>

Do Government Health Mandates Intrude on Individual Rights? Read more: Do Government Health Mandates Intrude on Individual Rights?

Are the government’s efforts to enforce healthier health habits among its citizens a matter of nanny government run amok or common sense approaches to public health issues?

In recent months federal health officials have issued an array of warnings and mandates designed to encourage the public to quit smoking, eat less salt, read menu calorie counts, and consume more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This, officials say, is all in an effort to save lives and cut skyrocketing healthcare costs related to combating heart disease, obesity, diabetes, lung cancer, and other ailments resulting from diet and lifestyle choices.

BPA Makes Male Mice Act Like Females

Male mice who were exposed as babies to BPA, a chemical common in canned foods and plastic containers, act more like females and are seen as less desirable mates, a U.S. study showed Monday.

7 surprising things you're not supposed to know about sunscreen and sunlight exposure

Celestial Sun - Wikimedia Commons Image

Mike Adams
Natural News

Ask somebody about sunscreen and you're likely to receive an earful of disinformation from a person who has been repeatedly misinformed by health authorities and the mainstream media. Almost nothing you hear about sunscreen from traditional media channels is accurate. So here's a quick guide to the 7 most important things you need to know about sunscreen, sunlight and vitamin D:

#1) The FDA refuses to allow natural sunscreen ingredients to be used in sunblock / sunscreen products

It's true: If you create a truly natural sunscreen product using exotic botanicals with powerful sunscreen properties, you will never be able to market it as a "sunscreen" product. That's because the FDA decides what can be used as sunscreen and what can't, regardless of what really works in the real world. And there are really only two natural ingredients the FDA has allowed to be sold as sunscreen: Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Flavonoid Rutin May Help Obesity and Diabetes

news

An Australian researcher who deliberately fed his lab rats a high-sugar/high-fat diet says that a flavonoid called rutin helped block the growth of fat cells in their abdomens and kept them from putting on weight despite their bad diet. Flavonoids are plant pigments that researchers are finding have beneficial metabolic effects because of their antioxidant capabilities.

Professor Lindsay Brown, of the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia, tested a range of foods on the rats he was feeding unhealthily. They included onions, green tea, olive leaf extract, purple carrots, and chia seeds. The onions and olive leaf extract contained a flavonoid called rutin (also found in buckwheat, apple peels, red wine, noni , and citrus fruits) that Brown believes prevented-or even reversed-certain metabolic changes in the rats.

Brown reported that his rutin-fed rats not only had a decreased number of abdominal fat cells by the end of the study, but lost weight as well. His research may point a way to addressing obesity and such related diseases as diabetes, fatty liver, and heart disease in humans. The hope is that even if obese persons continue to eat poorly, the addition of rutin to their intake could help offset their diets' negative effects. Read more...

People With Diabetes Protected From Discrimination

People with diabetes can breath a sigh of relief: New rules now protect them from workplace discrimination. The Obama administration has widened the definition of disability to include cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes, among other conditions.

The government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was told to revamp its rules after Congress voted to broaden federal disability law in 2008. It did so last month.

While you might expect businesses to take issue with such a change, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomed the rules. (The chamber has three million companies across the country as members.) Read more...

New Study Finds Direct Link Between Vaccines and Infant Mortality

Dees Illustration

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars

A shocking new study published in a prestigious medical journal has found a direct statistical link between higher vaccine doses and infant mortality rates in the developed world, suggesting that the increasing number of inoculations being forced upon children by medical authorities, particularly in the United States which administers the highest number of vaccines and also has the highest number of infant deaths, is in fact having a detrimental impact on health.

The study, entitled Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?, was conducted by Neil Z. Miller and Gary S. Goldman. It was published in the reputable Human and Experimental Toxicology journal, which is indexed by the National Library of Medicine.

According to his biography, “Goldman has served as a reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Vaccine, AJMC, ERV, ERD, JEADV,and British Medical Journal (BMJ). He is included on the Editorial Board of Research and Reviews in BioSciences.”

Miller, a medical research journalist and the Director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute, has been studying the dangers of vaccines for 25 years.

Acid Reflux? Eat an Apple!

By Bob Barney:
I like many people have acid reflux. Being overweight and eating too much food at one time are major triggers for the disease to occur. However, I think that like many other ailments that affect us, genetics probably also plays a role, as well as the modern "factory" foods that we consume. I read some tips on stopping the pain of acid reflux and want to share them. Try them, and let me know how you make out.

An Apple a day?
We have all heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. That may be true, as apples seems to be one of God's most nutritious foods one can consume. However, after meals or even after the first signs of acid reflex- eat an apple! There are a lot of over-the-counter and prescription options available for treatment of acid reflux, but apples are easy to find, incredibly inexpensive, and for some individuals---an easy fix. Acid reflux generally produces a burning sensation in the individual's upper abdomen, chest and/or throat areas. At one time, this condition was called acid indigestion. Apples work because they help neutralize the stomach acids, which in turn, help strengthen the LES valve. (Read more: Acid-Reflux Cure Using Apples | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5329848_acidreflux-cure-using-apples.html#ixzz1PjcLbE6Q)

Curing acid reflux with apples is simple. Just eat one-to-two apples a day. Try eating apple slices before going to bed and in-between meals. That being said, the old-time saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," is starting to sound more valid for many individuals experiencing acid reflux. You can also try adding apple slices or pieces to unflavored yogurt. Yogurt also naturally fights acid reflux. Eating this mixture once or twice a day should produce results in just a few days. Many individuals find that eating the mixture with dinner is particularly beneficial.
According to Dr. Brian Fennerty, who is a gastroenterologist, stick with organic apples, as they tend to be more easily digested.

Apple Cider too?
Apple cider vinegar can also be extremely helpful when it comes to fighting acid reflux. It's sort of like fighting a hangover with "hair of the dog." In other words, using acid to fight acid. Some individuals find that drinking two teaspoons of organic apple cider vinegar three times a day is very helpful with acid reflux. Other tips to remember include watching and maintaining a healthy weight and eating smaller meals. Make sure your final meal is at least three or more hours before bed. Avoid lying down after a meal or eating. Raising the head of your bed may also be beneficial if you experience acid reflux during sleep. This can be accomplished by placing wooden or cement blocks under the feet of the head of your bed. You can also raise the head of your bed by inserting a foam wedge between the mattress and the box spring in order to elevate your body during sleep from the waist up.

Other remedies:
Ginger also helps with acid reflux, and stewing ginger to make a tea works great just before bedtime. Chewing gun (with Xylitol) during the day works wonder in aiding digestion. Most do not understand that digestion is a process where enzymes and bacteria in your body, along with your own "stomach juices" breaks down food into a form of energy that your body can use to fuel itself. These juices, enzymes and bacteria are not only found in the stomach, but much are produced in your mouth! Chewing food slowly, or chewing gum, produces enzyme rich saliva that aides you stomach and makes it work a lot less refining your food into energy!

Why Organic?
Have you ever cut an apple and watched it turn brown? We all have! That natural process is a foe to the food industry! People don't want to eat what looks to be rotten apples! People cut apples, serve them and within minutes they are brown, un-appealing and thrown away. Food companies have spent a fortune to stop this from happening. From genetically modified apples, to radiation and other ways to stop the process. The reason why the browning occurs is that the apple supplies it's own unique enzyme to help your body turn it into fuel! Without this enzyme (which you do not produce) the apple can't be digested! Eating such apples are no better for you than eating a Big Mac! Organic apples (or for that matter any apple that turns brown within minutes) are what you must consume to fix acid reflux. So eat apples and foods in general as close to the state God made them for the best results.

Burzynski, The Movie

A much watch video in your education on cancer research and treatments that your government is trying to suppress:

How Much Sun Exposure Do I Need for Vitamin D?

I like to go out in the sun, but I don't want a sun burn so I use lots of sunblock. How much time in the sun do I need to get enough vitamin D? Can I get enough vitamin D from my diet or do I need to take supplements?

Answer: Your body makes vitamin D when you are exposed to the ultraviolet B (UVB) rays in sunlight. You probably need from 15 to 30 minutes of exposure to the skin on your face, arms, back or legs (without sunscreen) three times per week. The older you are the longer it takes the sunlight to do the work. BE CAREFUL not to allow yourself to burn, as it has been associated with skin cancer, but sunscreen SHOULD NOT be used when you are trying to get enough Vitamin D from the sun.

The amount of exposure also depends on the time of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the UVB is more intense during the summer months and less intense during the winter months. In fact, if you live north of the 42-degrees latitude, you will have a difficult time getting enough vitamin D from the sun from November through February. If you live north of a line drawn on a map from the northern border of California to Boston, Massachusetts, you will probably need additional vitamin D from the foods you eat during the winter.

The intensity of UVB rays is also reduced by clouds, pollution and UVB will not travel through glass, so sitting next to a window will not give you enough sunlight to make vitamin D.

Vitamin D is found in oily fish like tuna and salmon and vitamin D supplements. Most people can easily tolerate 1-4,000 Units per day of the vitamin, but the more sun you expose yourself to safely, the lees vitamins you will need. Ideally, we should try to get all of our nutrients from our food and from our environment - not pills!

Vitamin D is necessary for absorption and utilization of calcium, so you need adequate amounts of vitamin D for healthy bones. A deficiency of vitamin D in children will cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Research studies also suggest that getting enough vitamin D may help to prevent high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, and some forms of cancer.

Cannabis use 'damages the brain in early teens', frightening new study reveals

Children who smoke cannabis before their 15th birthday perform much worse in mental tests than those who start at a later age, warn researchers.

A study of chronic cannabis users found those who started in their early teens struggled with a range of neuropsychological tasks.

But those who started later did not have the same difficulties, says a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The findings add to growing evidence that the drug damages the developing brain, with greater harm caused by early exposure.

Marijuana is the most common illicit drug among adolescents in the UK with more than four in ten admitting having taken it.

Research carried out at the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil looked at the mental functioning of 100 cannabis users after around ten years of consistent use, and almost 50 non-users.

They found 49 ‘early’ users whose habit began before the age of 15 were much worse at sustained attention, impulse control and executive functioning.

We should all have a beef with factory farming

Antibiotics are widely used on livestock, and humans are paying the price, says Geoffrey Lean

It is the stuff of nightmares. What if the antibiotics that we have for so long taken for granted were to lose their power to fight infections, throwing us largely back on folk remedies and the body’s own defences?

Back in 1900, just two infectious diseases, pneumonia and tuberculosis, accounted for a quarter of all deaths in America. By 1990, they caused just four per cent – thanks largely to antibiotics. These apparently miraculous medicines have also beaten back a host of other plagues, from meningitis to syphilis, and revolutionised recovery from surgery and burns. Few of us do not have cause to be deeply grateful: only this week, one of my family was rushed to hospital with an infection that could well have proved fatal a century ago, only be to be safely discharged after two days of intravenous antibiotic treatment. MORE>>>>

See What the Bible says: Is all Foods Fit to Eat?

Magnesium Offers Strong Radiation Protection

(NaturalNews) One would not normally think that magnesium deficiency can increase the risk of cancer yet we will find that just as severe dehydration or asphyxiation can cause death, magnesium deficiency can lead directly to cancer. It is known that carcinogenesis induces magnesium distribution disturbances, causing magnesium mobilization through blood cells and magnesium depletion in non-neoplastic tissues. Magnesium deficiency is carcinogenic, and in the case of solid tumors, a high level of supplemented magnesium inhibits carcinogenesis.

Researchers from Japan's National Cancer Center in Tokyo have found that an increased intake of magnesium reduces a man's risk of colon cancer by over 50 percent. Several studies have shown an increased cancer rate in regions with low magnesium levels in soil and drinking water. In Egypt the cancer rate was only about 10 percent of that in Europe and America. In the rural fellah it was practically non-existent. The main difference was an extremely high magnesium intake of 2.5-3g in these cancer-free populations, ten times more than in most western countries.

For all of these reasons and a hundred more, magnesium oil remains the number one item in my cancer protocol and thus number one for radiation exposure. Magnesium is our first line of defense against both.

It is in a list of medicinals that prevent and treat
cancer that we find helpful substances that treat
and strengthen us against radiation contamination.

"In the years leading up to Chernobyl, some dairy farmers in Austria were using remineralization as a part of their operations. They added rock dust to liquid manure as well as combining it with compost, thereby removing odors and greatly increasing soil biota. As a result, cows had twice the normal lifespan and produced much more milk. Amazingly enough, after Chernobyl, the cheeses that were remineralized (as well as biodynamic cheeses) measured no radioactivity whatsoever. Austrians would stand in long lines in order to buy these safe, remineralized products," writes Joanna Campe.

Iodine is obviously not the only substance that we should run to in the face of increasing radiation threats. Magnesium is a vital mineral whose lack leaves us open to not only radioactive damages but also those from heavy metals and thousands of chemicals, which we are commonly exposed to. Mercury and now a long list of radioactive particles are floating in the environment like invisible clouds that have spread out everywhere. They are raining down on us, damaging and damning our future. We can no longer be passive about building our defenses against the toxic onslaught.

Without sufficient magnesium, the body accumulates toxins and acid residues, degenerates rapidly, and ages prematurely.

Just about everyone who is writing protocols for radiation toxicity is forgetting about the importance of magnesium salts. Worse still are governments and the entire institution of medicine that are purposely ignorant about magnesium, so they cannot possibly be trusted for valuable health and medical information that will help us in our time of dire need. The need was dire before Fukushima but they did not want to admit that; they let the public get obsessed with CO2 emissions and said nothing about the mercury. Now with radioactive nuclides steadily building up in the background, we are in trouble than any of us care to admit. Today the situation has gone nuclear and there has never before been a need so great for detoxification and chelation.

Magnesium is a crucial factor in the natural self-cleansing and detoxification responses of the body. Magnesium is also necessary for effective chelation. It stimulates the sodium potassium pump on the cell wall and this initiates the cleansing process in part because the sodium-potassium-ATPase pump regulates intracellular and extracellular potassium levels. The healthy cell wall favors intake of nutrients and elimination of waste products.

The involvement of free radicals in tissue injury induced by magnesium deficiency causes an accumulation of oxidative products in heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle tissues and in red blood cells, leaving them more vulnerable to oxidative stress caused by radiation exposure. Both radiation exposure and heavy metals produce oxidative stress through the creation of increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS -- oxygen free radicals, peroxides, and singlet oxygen). It is known that these increased levels of intracellular ROS are sufficient to trigger apoptosis (cell death).

Glutathione is Magnesium-Dependent

Glutathione protects the cells from oxidative-stress-induced apoptosis and glutathione levels are magnesium dependent! "Glutathione is a very important detoxifying agent, enabling the body to get rid of undesirable toxins and pollutants. It forms a soluble compound with the toxin that can then be excreted through the urine or the gut. The liver and kidneys contain high levels of glutathione as they have the greatest exposure to toxins. The lungs are also rich in glutathione partly for the same reason. Many cancer-producing chemicals, heavy metals, drug metabolites etc. are disposed of in this way," says Dr. Patricia Kongshavn, former professor, department of medicine at McGill University.

Glutathione is a polypeptide,
C10H17N3O6S, of glycine, cysteine, and glutamic acid.

Glutathione synthetase requires γ-glutamyl cysteine, glycine, ATP, and magnesium ions to form glutathione. In magnesium deficiency, the ss y-glutamyltranspeptidase is lowered. There is a direct relationship between cellular magnesium, GSH/GSSG ratios, and tissue glucose metabolism. Magnesium deficiency causes glutathione loss and this is unwelcome as the clouds of radiation are touching down across the northern hemisphere. Magnesium deficiency causes glutathione loss, which is not at all healthy because glutathione helps to defend the body against damage from cigarette smoking, exposure to radiation, cancer chemotherapy, and toxins such as alcohol and just about everything else.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, low magnesium is associated with dramatic increases in free radical generation as well as glutathione depletion and this is vital since glutathione is one of the few antioxidant molecules known to neutralize mercury. "For every molecule of pesticide that your body detoxifies, you throw away or use up forever a molecule of glutathione, magnesium and more," says Dr. Sherry Rogers who goes on to say that, "Your body uses nutrients to make this glutathione and it uses up energy as well. Every time we detoxify a chemical, we use up, lose, throw away forever, a certain amount of nutrients."

Mineral Deficiencies

Deficiencies in basic minerals like magnesium and selenium can make all the difference between health and disease, between being able to withstand chemical, heavy metal and radiation exposure. Dr. Rogers has indicated that there is as much as a 500-fold difference in the ability of individuals to detoxify the same chemicals and much of that will be true for radiation as well. A key marker of this difference is each individual's magnesium level. Deficiencies in magnesium will wreak havoc with our body's ability to detoxify and chelate heavy radioactive particles and explains much of the difference between one person withstanding radiation exposures and another person falling to radiation sickness.

Dr. Leslie Fisher has treated in excess of 35,000 patients where mineral therapy was prescribed as the sole form of medication. He has conducted research within his own clinics and the Department of Psychiatry, Austin Hospital, Melbourne. Mineral therapy is the foundation upon which chelation treatments and protocols are built. Magnesium does protect cells from aluminum, mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium and nickel, which explains why re-mineralization is so essential for heavy metal detoxification and chelation as well as radiation protection. Magnesium is essential for the survival of our cells but takes on further importance now where our bodies are being bombarded on a daily basis with heavy metals and radiation.

Radiation and Diabetes

Read More : http://www.naturalnews.com/032596_magnesium_radiation.html#ixzz1OPiWQ4ER

Does Psoriasis Put Me at Risk for Heart Disease?

The risk to your heart from psoriasis may be greater than you think. Here's how to lower your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

Scientists Discover 'Ultra-Bad' Cholesterol

FRIDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) — A new, "ultra-bad" form of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been discovered in people with a high risk for heart disease, according to British researchers.

They found that the cholesterol, called MGmin-LDL, is super-sticky, making it more likely to attach to the walls of arteries and form fatty plaques, which could lead to heart attacks and stroke.

The discovery provides a possible explanation for the increased risk of coronary heart disease in diabetics and could help researchers develop new anti-cholesterol treatments, the researchers suggested.

In the study, which was funded by the British Heart Foundation, University of Warwick researchers created MGmin-LDL in a lab through glycation, which is the adding of sugar groups to normal LDL cholesterol, commonly referred to as "bad" cholesterol. The process changed the cholesterol's shape, making it stickier and more likely to build fatty plaques, narrow arteries and reduce blood flow and turning it into what they called "ultra-bad" cholesterol.

The findings, released online May 26 in Diabetes, could have significant implications for the treatment of coronary heart disease, particularly in older people and those with type 2 diabetes. Specifically, the researchers said, the results of their study shed light on how a common type 2 diabetes drug, metformin, fights heart disease by blocking the transformation of normal LDL into the super-sticky LDL.

"We're excited to see our research leading to a greater understanding of this type of cholesterol, which seems to contribute to heart disease in diabetics and elderly people," the study's lead researcher, Naila Rabbani, an associate professor of experimental systems biology at Warwick Medical School, said in a university news release.

"The next challenge is to tackle this more dangerous type of cholesterol with treatments that could help neutralize its harmful effects on patients' arteries," she said.

SOURCE

Is Your Sunscreen More Harmful Than Being in the Sun?

Martha Rosenberg
AlterNet

Most people have enough fear of skin cancer and photo-aging to give tanning salons wide berth, pun intended. But how safe are sunscreens themselves? Weeks after the New York Times exposed the caprice in assignment of sun protection factors (SPF) last year, Sen. Charles Schumer (D- New York) called on the FDA to investigate reports that an ingredient in most sunscreens — retinyl palmitate – actually causes cancer.

In one FDA study on animals, dismissed by a dermatologist consultant to sunscreen companies as “very premature to even cast doubt about the safety of this chemical,” retinyl palmitate accelerated tumors and lesions in the sun by 21 percent! (Similar studies on humans not animals would be “unethical” say scientists)

Hospitals hunt substitutes as drug shortages rise

A growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses - from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest - has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment.

"It's just a matter of time now before we call for a drug that we need to save a patient's life and we find out there isn't any," says Dr. Eric Lavonas of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

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Exercise and Erectile Dysfunction

To avoid ED problems before they start, regular exercise is essential. Find out what you need to add to your routine.

Exercise may be the ticket to a more active sex life, but we’re talking about regular cardio and strength workouts, not targeted “penis exercises.” Research shows that even a little bit of physical activity — the equivalent of walking 30 minutes a day a few times a week — may lower the risk of erectile dysfunction.

Why is exercise such an effective remedy for preventing erectile dysfunction?

“For men who have failing erections, the penis is a barometer of what’s happening in the rest of the body,” explains urologist Wayne Hellstrom, MD, professor of urology at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.

The key to all of this is the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels that helps blood flow smoothly. Regular exercise has been shown to improve the way the endothelium works. The endothelium lines the blood vessels in the heart and the penis, explains Dr. Hellstrom, but the blood vessels in the penis are about one-third the size of those in the heart. So if you fail to have erections due to vascular problems, that indicates that you’re at risk for heart problems as well.

The bottom line is that taking steps to keep your endothelium healthy will help you prevent or reduce your erectile dysfunction risk. Being more physically active is important to the health of your endothelium and, therefore, to the health of your heart and your penis.

Building Your Exercise Program

The benefits of exercise for your blood vessels last only as long as you keep exercising on a regular basis. Experts recommend that men who want to prevent impotence make a long-term commitment to exercise. Here are some tips to remember:

Choose activities you enjoy. Your exercise program doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, studies have shown that just walking briskly every day for at least three months significantly improves the health of your blood vessels. Aim to be active most days of the week. If you prefer basketball, that’s fine — just keep up the full-court press.
Spice it up with weight training. Aerobic exercise such as walking, swimming, and jogging, is good for your blood vessels, but resistance training has been shown to improve endothelial function as well. A mix of both can help improve your overall health and keep you interested in your workout routine.
Don’t let your age stop you. Erectile dysfunction is more common as men get older, but at the same time, habitual exercise has been shown to fight the effects of age on blood vessels.
Check in with your doctor if you haven’t been physically active in a while. It’s a good idea to get your doctor’s approval — and maybe some additional exercise tips — if you’re starting an exercise program from scratch.

The Dubious Claims of So-Called Penis Exercise

As you seek solutions to impotence, you will undoubtedly run into male enhancement recommendations, possibly suggesting penis exercise to improve your erections.

Penis exercise “may sound good,” says Hellstrom, “but I don’t think there are data to support it.”

The phrase “penis exercise” actually refers to exercises known as pelvic floor or Kegel exercises, in which a man focuses on strengthening the muscles that control the flow of urine and ejaculation. These exercises are often recommended to men who are recovering from prostate cancer treatment, have problems with ejaculation, or have a hard time holding their urine, but they do not appear to help erectile dysfunction.

SOURCE

Scientists find "master switch" gene for obesity

Scientists have found that a gene linked to diabetes and cholesterol is a "master switch" that controls other genes found in fat in the body, and say it should help in the search for treatments for obesity-related diseases.

In a study published in the journal Nature Genetics, the British researchers said that since fat plays an important role in peoples' susceptibility to metabolic diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes, the regulating gene could be target for drugs to treat such illnesses.

"This is the first major study that shows how small changes in one master regulator gene can cause a cascade of other metabolic effects in other genes," said Tim Spector of King's College London, who led the study.

More than half a billion people, or one in 10 adults worldwide, are obese and the numbers have doubled since the 1980s as the obesity epidemic has spilled over from wealthy into poorer nations.

In the United States, obesity-related diseases already account for nearly 10 percent of medical spending -- an estimated $147 billion a year.

Type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to poor diet and lack of exercise, is also reaching epidemic levels worldwide as rates of obesity rise.

Scientists have already identified a gene called KLF14 as being linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels, but until now they did know what role it played.

Spector's team analyzed more than 20,000 genes in fat samples taken from under the skin of 800 British female twin volunteers. They found a link between the KLF14 gene and the levels of many other distant genes found in fat tissue, showing that KLF14 acts as a master switch to control these genes.

They then confirmed their findings in 600 fat samples from a separate group of people from Iceland.

In a report of their study, the researchers explained that other genes found to be controlled by KLF14 are linked to a range of metabolic traits, including body mass index, obesity, cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels.

"KLF14 seems to act as a master switch controlling processes that connect changes in the behavior of subcutaneous fat to disturbances in muscle and liver that contribute to diabetes and other conditions," said Mark McCarthy from Britain's Oxford University, who also worked on the study.

"We are working hard...to understand these processes and how we can use this information to improve treatment of these conditions."

LINK

New test that tells you how long you'll live

DNA breakthrough heralds new medical era – and opens ethical Pandora's box

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

A blood test that can show how fast someone is ageing – and offers the tantalising possibility of estimating how long they have left to live – is to go on sale to the general public in Britain later this year.

How the test works: Click here to upload graphic (120kb)

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Substance in Tangerines Blocks Diabetes in Mice Fed High-Sugar, High-Fat Diets

Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes in lab mice. The researchers at the University of Western Ontario fed the mice a high-sugar, high-fat diet that mimicked the diet of many people in Western societies. One group of animals became obese, developing fatty livers and elevated levels of cholesterol and insulin-typical precursors to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But a second group of mice, given the flavonoid nobiletin, did not develop the symptoms of the first group. The nobiletin prevented fatty buildup in the liver by blocking the genes that control the production of fat.

Flavonoids are compounds found in plants, often as pigments, that are highly anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory. Nobiletin, which is found in citrus fruits, occurs in its highest concentration in tangerines. The Canadian scientists also found that nobiletin protected the lab mice from atherosclerosis, arterial plaque build-up that can lead to heart attack or stroke.

The research leader, Murray Huff, a vascular biologist at the university, had previously found a flavonoid in grapefruits, naringenin, that offered lab mice protection against obesity. Huff said, however, that nobiletin offers 10 times the level of protection against obesity that naringenin does.

Results of the Canadian study, published in the medical journal Diabetes, open the door for studies on nobiletin's effects on human test subjects.

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What you need to know about GMO "Franken-Foods" and where to get more information

Dees Illustration

Dr. Debra F. Hobbins

Unfiltered News

Genetically-modified foods (GMOs) have been commercially available since the first transgenic tomato was approved in 1994. It’s estimated that 70-75% of supermarket processed foods—soda, soup, corn chips, veggie burgers, pizza, baby food and infant formula—contain GMO ingredients of which we are completely unaware. GMOs approved for human consumption include: corn, rice, soy, wheat, alfalfa, flax, barley, apples, papaya, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, sweet peppers, peanuts, canola oil, cow, pig, cow’s milk. A cow was recently developed to produce human breast milk.

The WHO stated that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally." Genetic engineering, biotechnology or recombinant DNA technology are other GMO terms. This technology consists of randomly inserting genetic fragments of DNA from one organism to another, usually from a different species, to modify plants, grains, and animals. These different species have included viruses, bacteria, parasites, grains, flowers, animals, and humans.

Bed Bugs Wikimedia Commons image

Mike Stobbe, Medical Writer
AP/USA Today

Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant MRSA bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood.

Bedbugs have not been known to spread disease, and there's no clear evidence that the five bedbugs found on the patients or their belongings had spread MRSA or a second less dangerous drug-resistant germ.

However, bedbugs can cause itching that can lead to excessive scratching. That can cause breaks in the skin that make people more susceptible to these bacteria, noted Dr. Marc Romney, one of the study's authors.

The study is small and very preliminary, "But it's an intriguing finding" that needs to be further researched, said Romney, medical microbiologist at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.

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5 Simple Ways to Eat Like a Human

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Wiki image

Activist Post

What could be more important than what we put into our bodies? Yeah, yeah that's how all these preachy "health" posts begin. But really, stop and think about what you eat and absorb, and ask yourself on the most basic level if it is fit for a human being.

How many levels of processing is required from the food's raw materials to get it to the form that you call it food? Does it have engineered chemicals designed to glue it together? What do these chemicals do to the human body? Ask why do you eat what you eat? Is it for comfort, convenience, conformity, value, or genuine nutrition?

If we're honest with ourselves, we all have food vices or desires that may push us outside the realm of human food. It's also the nature of our society of unlimited colorful packaging and intense marketing -- not to mention the addictive quality of Doritos and Diet Coke.

rBGH Milk Production: Animal Cruelty, Genetically Modified Hormones and E. Coli

Updated excerpt from Codex Alimentarius -- The End of Health Freedom

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post

With the current controversy surrounding the government crackdown on wholesome, organic, and locally produced milk, it is important to understand the products we are being pushed toward, as well as those we are being pushed away from. While the benefits of organic and raw milk is largely undeniable when compared to the industrially produced substitute, the dangers of the latter are not discussed quite as frequently. Of these dangers, rBGH is a central figure.

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (also known as Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin) is a genetically engineered hormone that is injected into cows for the purpose of increasing milk production.[1] It is derived from bovine somatotropin (bST) which is a hormone that is produced naturally in the cattle by the pituitary gland. This hormone is very important for growth and development, as well as other functions of the animal’s body.

Sometime in the 1930s it was discovered that injecting cattle with bST increased milk production. However, because bST is produced in the animal itself, the only source available was in the pituitary glands of the slaughtered cattle. Genetic engineering thus came into play.

Coca-Cola Sides With Regulatory Agencies Over Consumer Concern About Bisphenol A

John Galt

Activist Post

Corporate-regulatory lockstep is a growing trend that has been made most obvious through the recent EPA cover-up of the ongoing impact of the Fukushima disaster. However, the nefarious connections between large corporations and regulatory agencies are patently obvious across the board.

The latest example of disregard for public health in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence of guaranteed harm comes from Coca-Cola. Despite concerns from 26 percent of its own shareholders, as well as shareholder advocacy groups and the world's largest pension fund, Coca-Cola chiefs said, "it backs the consensus among regulatory agencies across the globe that BPA in epoxy linings does not pose a human health risk."

Each human has one of only three gut ecosystems

You're probably the member of a club you didn't even know existed. According to research published this week, we all have one of three ecosystems of bugs in our guts. New Scientist explores what this surprising discovery means, and how our internal fauna might affect our everyday lives.

Why might the types of bugs we carry be important?
We think of our bodies as our own, but actually only a tenth of our cells are human. The rest are all hitch-hikers, mainly harmless bacteria that have evolved with us.

There are 100,000 billion of these bacteria in our guts, where they play a crucial role in our health by helping to break down food and convert it into energy, and by excluding bacteria that are harmful to us. Some are even said to make us happier. In exchange, we provide shelter and a share of our food.

The types of bugs that call us home could explain differences in our ability to digest food and resist disease, and how we react to drugs.

Isn't it surprising that all humans share only three predominant gut-bug ecosystems, given our diverse diets, lifestyles and gene-profiles?
Yes, and even the researchers who made the discovery are mystified. "At the moment, it's purely an observation, but the signal is there, and it's strong and it's real," says Jeroen Raes of the Flanders Institute of Biology in Brussels, Belgium, a co-leader of the team in question. "We're still guessing the implications."

How did they find out?
Raes and his colleagues analysed DNA in faeces from 33 individuals from Japan, Denmark, the US, France and Spain. By comparing the DNA sequences with publicly available reference sequences for 1500 bacterial and other species, they excluded all human DNA and identified as many bacteria as they could.

What did they find?
To their amazement, they found that broadly, people's gut bugs segregated into three distinct "enterotypes", or ecosystems, not unlike the way that all humans share only a handful of blood types.

Isn't this a big conclusion for such a small sample?
Maybe, but they have gone on to confirm that the pattern is repeated in larger groups of people, including a study of 154 people from the US and 85 from Denmark.

Surely the type of ecosystem you have depends on what you eat?
Wrong, it seems. The other surprise was that the ecosystem you have doesn't seem to depend on how old you are, where you live in the world or your genetic make-up either. "We found that people from Japan and France, for example, might have ecosystems more similar to one another than to those of their compatriots, even though they have very different diets," says Raes.

So what are these three ecosystems?
The researchers have named them "bacteriode", "prevotella" and "ruminococcus", to reflect the species that dominate in each. People with a bacteriode ecosystem have a bias towards bacteria that get most of their energy from carbohydrates and proteins. Prevotellas specialise in digesting sugar-covered proteins in mucin, the mixture of viscous proteins in the gut – an ability shared by people with a ruminococcus ecosystem.

Does it matter which one you've got?
The only difference identified was in the vitamins produced. Bacteriodes had a higher proportion of bacteria that make high amounts of vitamins C, B2, B5 and H, and prevotellan guts had more bacteria that make vitamin B1 and folic acid. The implications for health are not yet clear, however.

Could this explain why some people may be more prone to obesity?
The researchers did find a correlation between obesity and the abundance of bacteria that extract energy rapidly from food for their own use. Raes is currently looking into this in greater detail in a study of 100 people, to see if any strong links emerge.

Why might there be only three ecosystems?
Raes admits he has no answer yet, but says one possibility is that our gut environment is governed by our immune system, by blood type or the "major histocompatibility complex", which dictates which blood type you are.

A second possibility is the length of time it takes for food to pass through our digestive system. If it goes slowly, it gives opportunities for a more diverse range of species to grow and thrive.

What about links between our health and gut bacteria – might the identification of the three ecosystems shed light on disease?
It has been suggested that eating sushi might help us to get energy from food, and taking probiotics could help babies who suffer from eczema. It has even been suggested that gut bacteria has a role in Crohn's disease and autism.

Raes says that there are plenty of studies in mice showing that diet can alter gut bacteria. The hope is that future research will reveal more about the possibility of links between our enterotype and conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature09944

The Health Dangers of Table Salt


Wiki Commons Image

By Dr. Edward Group
Global Healing Center

Salt is a wonderful thing. Whether from the far reaches of the Himalayan rock mountains, to the depths of the oceans floor, salt is a beautiful and necessary mineral. It’s an important element in keeping the proper mineral balance in practically all of the earth’s living creatures.

In fact, every cell in our body needs salt. Our bodies rely on salt to keep good bone density, proper circulation and stabilized blood sugar levels. But how could something so wonderful and natural become a poison? Here are a few common misconceptions and dangers of salt.

Salt vs. Naturally Occurring Sodium

“Table Salt” is a manufactured form of sodium called sodium chloride. While similar to naturally occurring rock, crystal, or sea salt, table salt merely mimics the taste of these elements.

Those who drank a chocolate milkshake with the seaweed extract felt almost a third less hungry by lunchtime that those who had a normal milkshake

Filling: Those who drank a chocolate milkshake with the seaweed extract felt almost a third less hungry by lunchtime that those who had a normal milkshake

A seaweed shake could help you lose weight – and not just because the thought of it is enough to put you off your food.

Scientists have found that adding the seaweed extract alginate to a chocolate milkshake suppresses hunger pangs.

Men and women who drank the alginate-based drink for breakfast felt almost a third less hungry by lunchtime than those who had a normal milkshake.

The finding, reported in the journal Obesity, paves the way for a range of foods that keep us feeling fuller for longer and make it easier to resist snacks between meals.

Researcher Harry Peters said: ‘Many different diets and diet programmes can be effective in reducing weight.

‘However, many subjects fail to adhere to these diets and the reduction in weight is therefore not achieved or maintained.

‘Delaying the return of hunger after consumption can potentially increase consumer satisfaction with weight control programmes and reduced-energy food products and encourage long-term compliance with a reduced-energy diet.’