10.29.06
Posted in Anything goes, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 8:51 pm by Administrator
Radiation and how it affects our bodies has been something I have wanted to understand. As a recovered idiopathic aplastic anemia sufferer, I have often wondered what it was that ever caused my severe aplastic anemia condition in the first place. Since recovery, I’ve also wondered what I need to do to remain in remission. Amongst the idea that I should eat well and stay away from toxic chemicals as much as possible, I’ve also wondered what role radiation plays considering shortly after my aplastic anemia diagnosis a mineral analysis revealed that my uranium level was off the charts. I’m still perplexed at how that got into my body and what affects did it have on me. As a lay person, I’ve found it a bit of a challenge to understand radiation at all. There appears to be different levels of it as well as different sources of it, not to mention different beliefs as to what a safe level of exposure is to radiation. We all know about x-ray radiation such as what is used for regular medical chest x-rays or dental x-rays. We also know about radiation therapy, which is a higher dose of radiation given to some cancer patients and some BMT patients. Then there is radiation from the sun and other sources like cell phones, our personal computers, wireless hookups at various public facilities, etc. I’ve wondered what kinds of radiation are we being exposed to? With the knowledge that radiation damage is cumulative, I have often wondered how concerned should I be? I’ve had dental x-rays throughout the years, chest x-rays on various occasions, a CT scan during my AA diagnosis, exposure to cell phones left and right. . . are these the kinds of radiation exposures that are causing damage to the body that are cumulative? Is there anything I should be doing about it? Or is there anything I “can” do about it?
Then I find from Ralph Moss’s report today that, “It has been known for quite some time that radiation could cause ’serious and permanent injuries’ to growing bones as well as localized but incapacitating diseases (Fajardo 2001: 365). In fact, the real surprise in the latest study was that relatively small doses caused such a significant amount of damage.” This article caught my attention because 1). I didn’t think much about the effects of radiation on bone, and 2). I have been reading a book called The Woman Who Knew Too Much, Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation, by Gayle Greene, which deals with Alice Stewart’s research which shows that the nuclear weapons industry is about twenty times more dangerous than worker safety standards admit, and that low dose radiation exposure is not as harmless as commonly accepted. It appears that low dose radiation exposure can cause very slow, but progressive damage in the body so that illnesses such as cancers appear after 20 or 30 or more years after low dose radiation exposure. This has to do with the radiation damaged cells that continue to reproduce more damaged cells throughout the years, until finally there is clinical symptoms such as cancer.
The picture to the left is the world’s largest open cast uranium mine in Namibia.
What I would like to do is sort out what kinds of radiation there are and what effect it might have on the human body. To make it more practical for every day understanding, I find it helpful to know what appliances or sources emit what kinds of radiation. This is particularly helpful in light of the fact that radiation can not ordinarily be seen, felt, or smelled. What I have found is that there are different kinds of radiation–alpha, beta, and gamma. There’s also non-ionising radiation (radiowaves), which is emitted by cell phones and wireless computers. This is a type of radiation which is considered “electric and magnetic field” (EMF) radiation. EMF’s are emitted from non-natural sources such as powerlines, hair dryers, and mobile phones. Radiation usually means EMFs which are not ELF (extremely low frequencies) type such as radiofrequencies or microwaves. However, I’d like to consider alpha, beta, and gamma radiation first, which is emitted from a number of sources and can affect us through external exposures such as in x-rays directed from outside the body and also internal radiation exposure from ingestion of radioactive substances. Newer drugs are coming to the market, which are radiolabeled and thus are a source of ingested radiation. This is the type of radiation, as well as x-rays, radiation therapy, and the gamma knife are forms of radiation used in medical therapies and treatments. Non-medical exposures to radiation can occur from inhalation of radon gas from the natural radioactive decay of uranium-238 and radium-226, which are common naturally occuring elements in the crust of the earth. We can obtain radiation exposures from nuclear facilities as well as mineral mines.
Why is any of this important? It is commonly accepted that radiation can have a profound negative effect on our health. Not only can radiation damage our cells at the DNA level and disrupt hormone function such as in the thyroid, it can also damage our bones to the point of necrosis. Since I’d been on steriods for so many years before AA, I am conscious of the condition of my bones, not to mention I hope I can avoid relapse of AA. And as I mentioned above, since radiation is cumulative, meaning any and all the doses we are ever exposed to in our lifetimes do not diminish, but rather add up, our health can be significantly impacted. How can we protect ourselves if we don’t know what we need to protect ourselves from? Is every x-ray necessary? Should one take a radiolabeled drug? What is the accepted safe level of exposure to radiation? How was the safe level of radiation exposure determined? Is radiation from cell phones the same as those from x-ray machines at the airport? What is used to irradiate foods or blood products? Should one be concerned that they’re living near a nuclear power facility? 
Should we be in favor of nuclear energy or weapons? What is done with radioactive waste? To what extent do patients treated with radioactive substances emit radiation? Naturally any choices regarding radiation are personal and the right of each individual. But understanding radiation and its effects can help one make more informed decisions regarding allowing their exposures to radiation. And since there is much to know about radiation, I’d like to continue this topic in sections, part two will be a continuation in another post.
Marlakins
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10.26.06
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 5:28 pm by Administrator
I don’t know if it’s age, but I’m having another one of my sentimental moments where I want to take this time to remember an AA friend. Writing about him on a public forum may seem out of character for me, but he was really special to me. About this time last year marks the one year anniversary of his passing. The actual date was the 27th of October, but since he lived in Europe, and I live on the west coast of the U.S., there was an 8 hour time difference. I met him through the Aplastic Anemia Forum, and we became pretty good internet pals. We wrote frequently, and chatted quite a bit, too. He told me that he would wait up late for me because I was interesting. Ha! Sweet guy. . . He had taken ATG three times, and with the help of Cyclosporin and GCSF injections, he was able to obtain a remission from his AA. However, he was never able get off the meds, and after about 2 years he relapsed big time and became severely transfusion dependent again even while taking his meds. But just at the beginning of round two with AA, he died of a heart attack early in the morning of Oct 27, 2005. To this day I hate the thought that I was probably comfortably sleeping in bed, while he was having a heart attack. When I heard the news, I was shattered. As I recounted our last live chat, he was telling me that he had written up his will which included the instructions for his funeral in case things turned for the worse. He knew who he wanted as pallbearers, what song they would play, that he didn’t want to have an autopsy, that he wanted to be cremated, etc. I knew he was having a hard time, but I didn’t realise how hard. Such is the disadvantage of living 5,000 miles away. Plus he would put on a good appearance for me by showing me on web cam that he still looked okay. With AA, looks can be so deceiving. . . But apparently, he had a gut feeling that the end was near for him. Yet, I didn’t realise it at the time, and had so much hope that he could regain remission. I had so much hope for his future.
For privacy’s sake, I’ll refer to him as his last chat nickname, “Seabiscuit.” He liked the name because he likened his AA struggle to the horse, Seabiscuit’s struggle racing to make it to the finish line. He liked sports, and “footy” was his favorite game–go Saints! Aside from his humor(he made me laugh a lot), he also liked a lot of music. One of the last songs I know he was listening to was by The Verve, The Drugs Don’t Work.
The Verve, The Drugs Don’t Work.
One of his favorite places was the waterfall in Glen Maye. And that is where he requested his ashes to be spread. I keep a picture of that waterfall by my computer, which his dad kindly sent to me.
Rest in peace, my dear Seabiscuit. I’m sure I’m only one of your many friends missing you today. I hope we meet again.
Your friend always, Marlakins.
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10.25.06
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Historical Trivia, History, Uncategorized at 3:00 pm by Administrator
Last Saturday I went to a Mind and Body expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I picked up enough brochures to keep me busy for a while, but one particular booth was a little different from the others in that it dealt with big pharma. . .
While chatting with the folks at this booth, the topic of Vioxx came up. For those in the know, Vioxx was a pain relief drug for arthritis manufactured by Merck. Evidently, between 1999 and 2003, Vioxx was linked to over 27,000 deaths before it was pulled from the market. I find that a staggering number especially considering the fact that this drug is only for ” pain relief” and not even a means to a cure. With all our FDA and FTC regulations, one would wonder how such a drug could have ever made it to the public market in the first place. Well, a short clip of an interesting interview can be viewed entitled, “Money Talks, Profits Before Patient Safety” regarding how this type of thing happens. Another amusing video they were promoting is called Side Effects, which appears to be a comedy of a woman who works for a pharmaceutical company as a sales rep.
Along the lines of drug safety or risks, I recall a book I read by Thomas J. Moore called, Prescription for Disaster, the Hidden Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet. 
Moore writes that “Although the pharmaceutical industry says that prescription medicines are as safe as they can possibly be, prescribed drugs kill more people each year than automobile and airplane crashes combined and send approximately one million people to the hospital. . . Nearly every one of the most popular prescription drugs has potentially serious side effects, yet doctors seldom discuss them for fear that patients will be too frightened to take their medicine. For example, Motrin, Advil, and Aleve may cause life-threatening, perforated ulcers; Prozac is linked to 242 different adverse effects; Xanax can be highly addictive. . . ” Another point Moore writes about, among the many other valid points he brings up, is what expectations people have of the medical drugs they take. He writes that people “hope” that the drugs will help them, but they rarely become disappointed or feel cheated if nothing much happens. What many consumers do expect is that the drugs won’t hurt them and that these drugs can be used reasonably freely without fear of injury. But as Moore writes, “there is no such thing as a safe drug.” What his book has taught me is that one should research any drug/s that one is considering to take. Never just take the doctor’s recommendation without further research. As for me, I have endeavored to avoid medical drugs at all costs, and have been fortunate enough to have been pharmaceutical drug free for the past 5 years or more.
Another book I found recently is called, The Truth About the Drug Companies, How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, by Marcia Angell, M.D. former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. She reveals many more interesting problems with big pharma and how their primary interests appear to be profits more so than public health. Angell writes that, “research and development (R&D) is a relatively small part of the budgets of the big drug companies–dwarfed by their vast expenditures for marketing and admiinstration, and smaller even than profits. . . The prices drug companies charge have little relationship to the costs of making the drugs and could be cut dramatically without coming anywhere close to threatening R & D. Now personally I believe in capitalism and don’t think “profit” is such a bad thing. However it’s the extent to which drug companies go, is where I take issue. If their drugs didn’t cause harm and death, then I wouldn’t see a problem to big pharma’s marketing ploys. But their drugs do harm, and they know it, yet they continue to deceive while pushing their drugs. Not only that, during my aplastic anemia recovery, I have followed other health forums and personal websites of fellow patients struggling from blood diseases and other cancers. What I commonly read is that “we are coming closer to a cure every day. We have newer and better drugs each year. . . ” As a layperson doing her own research, it has struck me that cancer treatments and drugs for them haven’t seemed to change much, really. Many of the current drugs still being used today with a few other added drugs are basically very similar to one another which have been used for decades. I had wondered why this was, and what Angell writes confirms what I noticed as she writes about how drug companies try to switch consumers over to their patented drugs once their other patented drug patent expires. They basically just market another drug that is very similar to the previous drug so that they can extend profits by patenting a new, but virtually identical drug. Angell goes on to write that, “Even worse is the fact that there are very few drugs in the pipeline ready to take the place of blockbusters going off patent. In fact, that is the bigest problem facing the industry today, and its darkest secret. All the public relations about innovation is meant to obscure precisely this fact. The stream of new drugs has slowed to a trickle, and few of them are innovative in any sense of that word. Instead, the great majority are variations of oldies but goodies–”me-too” drugs. . . Of the 78 drugs approved by the FDA in 2002, only 17 contained new active ingredients, and only 7 of these were classified by the FDA as improvements over older drugs. The other 71 drugs approved that year were variations of old drugs or deemed no better than drugs already on the market. In other words, they were me-too drugs. Seven of 78 is not much of a yield. Furthermore, of those 7, not one came from a major U.S. drug company.”
Angell continues that one would “think” that the pharmaceutical companies would focus on new drug discoveries, but that has not been the case. Instead, big pharma has upped their advertising efforts. . .
I think consumers today need to be aware of this. We need to learn to be free thinkers, who are not afraid to question and research and then follow through with our convictions.
Marlakins
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10.24.06
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 10:26 pm by Administrator
With Halloween just around the corner, I am reminded of Morgus the Magnificent. Bit of a strange guy, but I have to admit, he makes me laugh. If you have a moment for a little frivolity. . . check this video out clip from talent machine episode.
You’ll have to download it to view it, so hope it gives you a little chuckle as it did me. 
Marlakins
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10.22.06
Posted in Anything goes, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 10:18 pm by Administrator
About three years ago I read a book called, A Baby Catcher, Chronicles of a Modern MidWife, by Peggy Vincent. The book has story after story of home births. I never tire of hearing birth stories. Since I had my youngest son at home with a midwife, I could really appreciate these stories. I loved them, and could barely put the book down.
Tonight, I was visiting Samuel’s website, and noticed that I never checked out the “About Us” section. So I did and there I found that Jen had all four of her babies at home, AND she had each of their birth stories right there to read! Was I thrilled to read them, and it brought back my own memories of delivering my children. You’ve inspired me, Jen, to share my stories. . .
My first two babies were delivered in the hospital. My first one was Andrew, and he was delivered 3 weeks early. It was a very hot month, and my mom and I split a whole watermelon. Not long after that, I started to have “tummy pains.” I had no idea I was in labor. I just felt uncomfortable all day. By the evening I noticed these tummy pains were “regular.” Ha ha! Hmm. Why is that? Well being the shy person that I am, I didn’t want to “bother” anyone, so I suffered through the night with them until morning when I finally decided to tell my husband that I think I’m having labor pains. We ended up getting to the hospital around 8 AM. I was a very “quiet” laborer. . . The nurse would pop her head in the door and check me out and say she couldn’t believe how quiet I was and that other women at this stage are usually screaming. Well, I did feel terrible, but I was not going to be screaming. . . and by 12 noon, I was ready to pop. They then wheeled me into the delivery room, where the nurse leaned into me and said, “Stop pushing!” What?!!! Who’s pushing? This thing wants out, and I’m not doing anything! I guess I was still very quiet, but my lips were moving. My nurse noticed this, and came up right in my face and asked, “What is it, Honey? What are you saying?” The words I “whispered” back to her were, “Help me!” Ha, ha, ha! Well, seeing that I had no control, I heard the nurse yell out to get Dr. Thompson, the doctor on call. That’s when it hit me that there was no doctor around! Ack! But at that very moment, my doctor flew into the room and said, “Let’s give you more room. . . ” He did, and the next minute, Andrew shot right out. The pain was immediately gone. I did not know at the time if I was having a girl or a boy, but it didn’t matter. They placed him right on my chest. I could feel his weight and warmth, and his eyes twinkled as he looked right into my eyes, blinking with his long, wet eyelashes. He was absolutely beautiful.
Matthew’s delivery was just as quick as Andrew’s, but more painful. Since I didn’t take any meds for Andrew’s delivery, I thought I could do it again with this one. This time my doctor was off, and there was the doctor on call. When I started labor, he asked me what my labor felt like the first time, to which I replied, “Gas.” LOL He said, “Alrighty, then, come right in.” This time I was at the hospital at around 9AM. The doc on call asked me if I wanted to do this naturally, to which I said, “Yes.” And he was off. . . to let me go naturally. . . Little did I know that meant no episiotomy! After a lot of back labor, I finally was ready to deliver around 1PM. I pushed like crazy until Matthew squeezed out, sunnyside up screaming to high heaven. Not only did he scream like a rock star, but Brian said he had a tongue that could rival Gene Simmons of KISS , ha ha! If that wasn’t enough, I was shocked that he was a boy. Everything about this pregnancy was different even to the point of a faster heartbeat, which my doc told me likely means a girl. . . The shocked look on my face of having a baby boy plopped on my belly provoked a puzzled look from the doctor on call. He had no idea I thought I was having a girl. This one is fresh out of the oven, so it’s really yours. . . ha! But that was soon straightened out as his amazing form won me over in an instant. I loved that I had another boy.
Well, I had done it, twice without an epidural, and this time without an episiotomy. To my surprise, recovery was so much easier! I was amazed at the difference in recovery between having an episiotomy and not having one even though I did tear a little. Not having an episiotomy was so much easier afterwards! I was amazed at how normal I felt the next day! That’s when I realized that an episiotomy wasn’t normal. Pregnancy is a normal condition, not a sickness. Why should childbirth be done in a hospital, which is for sick people? That set the stage for my next child birth, which we chose to have at home with a midwife.
Last, but not least, was the birth of my youngest son, Aaron. Since the doctors didn’t do much at all for my first two deliveries (they basically “caught” my babies only after arriving at the very last minute), we figured I was ready to try a home birth. I’ll say, I am so happy that I did. As usual, I don’t like to bother people at night. When I got home that evening, I was changing my clothes and caught sight of my figure in the long view mirror. My belly looked different. . . uh, kinda low. . . ha ha! But silly me, I didn’t think much of it. So into bed I went, and very early in the morning I “heard” a “snap” sound! What was that?! I got up to use the restroom, and I was leaking. I guess my water bag popped on its own. I called the midwife to let her know, but since she was at another birth, she sent her assistant to check me out. She wanted to make sure that I didn’t have some sort of infection that would cause the bag to break. The fluid that was coming out was not murky, which was a good sign. Murky, dirty fluid could mean the baby was in stress and releasing muconium. But that was not the case, so since I wasn’t feeling any contractions, I whipped up breakfast–homemade belgium waffles, bacon, homemade whipped cream with maple syrup, ummm!!! I was so glad that midwives don’t mind eating! After breakfast my midwife, Leslie, arrived, and we all hung out for a while. Nothing much was happening except an occasional contraction. I was starting to dilate a little, but it was getting close to noon, so my midwife said, “shall we speed this up a bit?” She offered me some drink, and since I had no knowledge of anything medical or anything about health foods or anything else for that matter, I drank it. I still don’t know what it is. Ha! She said it was some natural something-or-other to help speed up contractions. And boy, oh boy was she right! In about half an hour I was in hard labor. I was my usual quiet self, but really appreciated that they let you labor in “any” position you wanted with no wires, I.V’s, or monitors to make the whole experience even that much more uncomfortable. I was on my left side. As Aaron’s head started to make an appearance, I heard the assistant midwife say that she had the mirror out. I didn’t realise that she had it set up so that I could see my son being born. It was so painful that I had my eyes closed the whole time! In retrospect, I realize what a shame that was! Fortunately, my midwife’s assistant had the presence of mind to take photographs, so today I’m blessed to have those by which to remember the event. My third son was placed on my belly just like his brothers had been when they were born, only this time Brian was allowed to cut the umbilical cord. But no matter how many times you deliver a baby, that very first moment that they’re placed on your belly is such an awesome moment. It’s always like the first time. The sheer joy of seeing and touching your child for the first time is thrilling, an experience unlike any other. A moment in life that I’m happy that God made me female.
Receiving a vit K dose. Not an injection, just using the syringe without a needle.
Aaron Brown, March 1, 1994
Marlakins 
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10.21.06
Posted in God, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 12:48 am by Administrator
There was a time when people weren’t afraid of the sun. It was likely before the invention of sunglasses and sunscreen that Solomon, the wisest man, said, “Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.” Hundreds of years later, Matthew the apostle wrote, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Today we know that the sun imparts many healthful benefits to us. Exposure of our skin to the sun provides us with vitamin D. This process uses cholesterol, thus not only do we obtain vitamin D, but in the process the sun lowers our cholesterol. In his book, Sunlight, Zane R. Kime, M.D. writes of the many benefits of the sun some of which included evidence that sunlight produces a metabolic effect in the body that is very similar to physical training. Tuberculosis patients being treated by sunbathing have been observed to have well-developed muscles with very little fat, even though they have not exercised for months. At a lecture given by Dr. Bressky regarding mental health, he stated that the more muscle mass a person had, the less risk they had of dementia.
As we can see, the sun works its good not only on the outside of our bodies, but also penetrates past the skin to the deeper layers, where we would ordinarily think the sun doesn’t shine. John Ott stumbled across the effects of the sun through the eyes from observing animals. He wrote in his book, My Ivory Cellar, that, “It is now known the lengthening night period causes certain glandular changes in birds that are responsible for their seasonal migration. People in the poultry business turn lights on in the hen houses at night to lenthen the daylight period so the hens lay more eggs. Originally it was thought this merely kept the hens awake longer, but more recent research has proven that increased egg production is attained as a result of the light reacting through the chicken’s eye on its pituitary gland. Farmers for a long time have used red celluloid spectacles over the eyes of chickens to reduce cannibalistic tendencies.” Zane Kime also wrote how the sun affects our hormones. He wrote, “Hormones are regulated by delicate balances in the body. The hormone cortisone provides a good example. The level of cortisone in the blood is regulated by several glands that work in concert. If the level of cortison gets too low, the pituitary gland (a gland found near the brain) is stimulated to produce a substance called ACTH. ACTH flows into the blood stream and upon reaching the adrenal glad, stimulates the gland to produce more cortisone.” We know that the pituitary gland is a major player in our body’s ablity to produce and regulate hormones. I find the “location” of the pituitary gland interesting. According to the online Merck Manual, “the optic nerve connects the retina to the brain in a split pathway. Half the fibers of this nerve cross over to the other side at the optic chiasm, an area immediately in front of the pituitary gland just below the front portion of the brain.” I think God placed the pituitary gland right behind the eyes where it could receive light because that gland is designed to use light. As with the example of the chickens explained by John Ott, we humans are also affected by the light the enters our eyes. In Anil Minocha’s book, Natural Stomach Care, he writes a portion on insomina. And this is what he says, “Studies show that exposure to sunlight or, if sunlight is not available, to bright artificial light after rising helps the body set its internal biological clock. Many health-care professionals recommend that persons suffering from sleep disorders receive at least one-hour exposure to sunlight every morning.” Hmm. Is this another case of the pituitary gland regulating hormones again using the sun as some sort of time keeper or connection to the outside world?
The above are only a few examples of how the sun is more friend to us, than foe. With a little care to watch that we don’t burn ourselves to a crisp in the sun, I hope that we can enjoy the sun more than fear it.
Marlakins
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10.16.06
Posted in Anything goes, God, Uncategorized at 11:12 am by Administrator
It was seven years ago today when I woke up and found my body mottled with bruises and pinpoint red spots. I still remember how nervous I felt after waking my husband to show him. He promptly started to surf the internet for my symptoms and everything seemed to pop up with the reference to leukemia. I was incredulous. This isn’t happening to me, is it? Little did I know how my life was about to change.
After a few phone calls, I ended up in ER. And after many, many hours in ER, I was finally admitted as a patient in the hospital. While there I got my aplastic anemia diagnosis and my first platelet transfusion. So many things happened after that day. A lot of tears, fears, and other emotions came in waves. I had to learn to ride them or drown. But I learned much more than that. My whole outlook on life has changed. Things that were once my reality turned out to be farces. As I tried to learn about my illness and how to get well, a new world opened for me. And day by day, I grew to be the new person I am today. I have a new reality. Those who know me understand the changes I’ve made in my life since my aplastic anemia diagnosis. I have learned much and feel more aware of life. I see people differently and feel I have a better understanding of human nature, which has helped me to be more tolerant in some ways and less tolerant in other ways. I’m not as naive as I once was. Most of all I feel more alive than I ever have felt before. I tend to be less fearful. It was actually many things in the Bible that have come alive for me. I never realised how relevant the Bible is to our every day lives.
My aplastic anemia diagnosis was a turning point for me. The Bible says that, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God used my aplastic anemia diagnosis to lead me back to Him. I admit I was beginning to stray far away. I was not seeking Him. It was not easy, but through all the hardship with my aplastic anemia, and just a little bit of faith, God showed me that His Word encompasses all aspects of our lives. Not just what will happen to us after we die, but what happens to us now, today. God is not only alive on Sundays, but every day. He is not only alive in our spiritual awareness, but in our physical existence, too. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I truly believe this means not only in the future, but now. This minute. God not only wants us to live, but He wants us to live “well.” We only need to seek Him, and we will find that He has provided us with so many means to live well. Seven years ago today, I did not know that. Seven years ago today, I was a different person.
Marlakins
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10.15.06
Posted in Historical Trivia, History, Uncategorized at 11:12 am by Administrator
While trekking around town yesterday, I happened to pass by the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire. The sight made me stop and reminisce. Years ago, my mom used to work not far from the Ambassador Hotel, and every once in a while she would take me to her work, and we’d have lunch in the Bullock’s Wilshire (which, BTW, is no longer a Bullocks, but a law school). That was the time when department stores actually had restaurants at the top level. The Bullock’s Wilshire even had a theater inside. Anyway, for those of you who are history buffs, The Ambassador Hotel was the location where Robert F. Kennedy was assasinated by Sirhan Sirhan in June 1968. Years later it was closed down, but the building remained standing. It was frequently used for filming movies, one of the most popular being The Graduate starring Dustin Hoffman. Since the closure of the hotel, there had been talk of turning it into a mall, a school, etc.; but local preservationists wanted to keep the hotel intact for historical reasons. So for years the hotel stood empty.
Not long ago, it appears the decision was finally made to convert the Ambassador Hotel into a school. And the work I saw yesterday is the result.
I recall the Ambassador Hotel being very cool and still remember walking though it as a little kid. I wished that they would have preserved it, so I was saddened to see the pathectic structure left today, which can be barely seen just beyond the Deere Escavator.
This is a picture I took of the Ambassador in 2003.
For more information on the Ambassador Hotel, check out The Ambassador Hotel and the Cocoanut Grove.
Marlakins
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10.14.06
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 8:28 am by Administrator
In comparison to other states, the weather in Southern California tends to be fairly mild all year round. It was only last week that some parts of the day started to look a little gloomy as a reminder that fall is upon us. This mild weather tends to fool us, leaving us unprepared in terms of proper clothing. I was still running around town in my sandals when yesterday we actually got rain in the early evening along with some impressive displays of lightening. Walking about with soaking feet made me feel a bit foolish, but then again the weather looked quite dry when I first left my home. As I drove, I could even see parts of the streets flooding.
In light of the belief that our ozone layer has been depleted, particularly in areas over the poles, every time I see lightening I rejoice. Why? Because lightening creates ozone. One of natures amazing ways to heal itself.
This morning the weather looks gloomy again. But this time, I’m prepared! Today my feet will be covered before I head out to check out the Craft Show today. Woo hoo!
Marlakins 
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10.10.06
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, Treatment Decisions, Uncategorized at 12:57 pm by Administrator
For anyone interested, another update on Starchild Abraham Cherrix’s progress was posted at Dailypress.com. As a recap for those who may not have been following Starchild’s case, he is a 16-year-old male who developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he was 15. He underwent chemotherapy, but his cancer returned several months later. Because of the difficulty he endured with the chemo, and the fact that it failed to cure him, he opted to search for alternative means to treat himself. One of the treatments he chose was the Hoxsey herbal treatment.
As a result of that choice some heated debates have ensued on the net between hardcore mainstream medical advocates and groups who support alternative treatments. The arguments arising from the mainstream medical group is that Hoxsey is/was a “quack” and never cured anyone. The alternative advocates naturally disagree.
Personally, I had heard of the Hoxsey treatment, but only knew very little such as the herbal formula was developed by one of the Hoxsey’s (I later found it was John Hoxsey) when his horse developed cancer. He let his horse out to pasture thinking that this horse didn’t have long to live and wanted him to die in peace. To Hoxsey’s amazement, after three weeks on pasture, his horse’s cancer appeared to be stabilizing. During that time Hoxsey noticed that his horse was feeding on weeds that he didn’t ordinarily feed on. About three months later, the tumor began to dry up and started separating from the healthy tissue underneath. It appeared that his horse had some natural instinct to eat certain vegetation which helped to heal its cancer. From there, Hoxsey started experimenting with those herbs and treating other animals with cancers with reported success. The other thing I heard about Hoxsey was the he had some man named Morris Fishbein from the AMA (American Medical Association) after him for many years in an attempt to shut him down. That was about all I knew of the Hoxsey formula.
With the recent debates regarding Starchild’s choice to use the Hoxsey tonic, and particularly seeing the hostile opposition accusing the Hoxsey tonic of being quackery, I wanted to know more about the Hoxsey story. Surely there must be more to the story for it to raise so much clamor. The searches I did on the internet yielded little new information for me. So I checked out my library to see what they had on the Hoxsey story. I found that there was a book called, “When Healing Becomes a Crime,” by Kenny Ausubel copyrighted in May 2000.
Wow! I had no idea how much controversy Harry Hoxsey and his Hoxsey tonic had stirred since the turn of the century and especially after he first opened his cancer clinic in 1924. Ausubel’s skill as a researcher really shines through in his well-documented book, “When Healing Becomes a Crime.” I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in health issues, and particularly with how the AMA has treated anyone who tried to treat cancer in any other way apart from the standard chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. The book is a genuine eye-opener of which I would like to share some information which has left an impact on me.
In short, it was in 1840 that John Hoxsey’s horse developed cancer and when he discovered the herbs which he used to treat other animals with cancers. It was his son, John C. Hoxsey who first tried the herbs to treat human cancers. The next generation Hoxsey was Harry Hoxsey, who subsequently opened his cancer clinic in 1924. There are so many details in between, but one important piece of information was the before Harry’s father, John C., died, he made Harry promise that he would use the Hoxsey formula to cure cancers, and that no one was to be turned away due to lack of funds. It’s reported that Harry fulfilled that promise, and to this day (according to Ausubel’s book in 2000) the Hoxsey clinic in Tijuana run by Mildren Nelson has no accounting system set up to track or even send out bills. Payment is on the honor system. One amusing quote was by a woman named Stella Gladis. She claimed that when her surgeon found out that she wouldn’t take chemotherapy and radiation from his friends, that he hollered at her and said, “Why are you going down there? (the Hoxsey clinic) They’ll only take all your money.” Her reply was, “Uh-uh–’cause you already did!” Stella Gladis paid $900 for her Hoxsey treatment, while she estimated her bills from her cancer operations in the tens of thousands of dollars.
In order for Ausubel to complete his Hoxsey documentary and book, he not only dug into historical news articles, including pictures of a couple cancer patients and news articles, but was able to find a good number of people who were still alive who were involved with Hoxsey and his treatments. The personal interviews and news articles provided very compelling information that Hoxsey had many supporters of his treatment who claimed that they were in fact cured of cancer through his tonics. During the trial between Hoxsey vs Hearst, it was reported in the Dallas Morning News that the courtroom was packed with his patients in support of him testifying in court of their cancers which had now been cured. In 1949, Hoxsey actually won a libel lawsuit making him the first “quack” to beat the AMA. Obviously something was happening. Hearst’s defense suggested any seeming recovery could be the result of sponaneous remission. To which Hoxsey’s lawyers pointed out, instances of spontaneous remission in cancer are scarce, about one in 100,000 cases. Had all these oddities somehow found their way to Dallas (Hoxsey’s clinic)? If many of these patients never actually had cancer, they went on, there must be an awful lot of misdiagnosis going on.
Ausubel didn’t stop there, he researched the contents of the Hoxsey formula. He was able to find that there were in fact more than one rendition of the formula, so we don’t really know which is the original formula. However, the ingredients are very similar, to which he consulted with James Duke, Ph.D., who at the time worked for the USDA. Duke collaborated for many years with the NCI and helped lead the way to plant medicines that have produced pharmaceutical drugs such as the cancer drug Taxol from the Pacific yew tree. Dr. Duke ultimately wrote a short article based on his Hoxsey research, published in 1988 in HerbalGram. Duke’s assessment was that the Hoxsey internal tonic ingredients showed very significant chemical and biological anitcancer activity. The formula might or might not work, but in principle it definitely merited serious investigation.
Dr Duke further explains the difficulty of approving herbs in that, “The whole is better than the sum of it’s parts. The suite is what’s most effective. But FDA regulations are such that, if you’ve got several active ingredients, you’ve got to prove not only that every one of them is safe and efficacacious, but that all of them are safe and efficacious. All plants contain thousands of compounds, most of them biologically active. Are we going to have to prove all thousand of them safe and efficacious?”
According to Ausubel, “the NCI did perform laboratory tests on all the Hoxsey herbs using cancer cell lines in petri dishes. Almost all the results were negative. However, many of the testing methodologies used have since been abandoned because they are unreliable, and many scientists find that the outcomes do not match actual results with human subjects.” What’s the explanation for this? Dr. Duke explains, “. . . failure of the Hoxsey herbs to show anticancer activity in the NCI screens [occur] because these experiments have been designed for one very narrow band of activity: the cytotoxic capability to kill cancer cells directly in a dish. . . . While some of the plants may directly kill cancer cells to some degree, most work by indirectly interfering with malignant cell growth through other mechanisms.” Very insightful information coming from a renowned botanist and author of 20 books and over 200 scientific journals. He goes on to say that, “One of the major problems with the NCI screen is that they do not test the plants in the way humans use the plants. I don’t know that they have ever given an oral extract of red clover to a human being, and that’s how it’s used in folklore. If you’re going to test red clover tea, you’ve got to give it to a human being.”
In my opinion, Kenny Ausubel’s book, “When Healing Becomes a Crime,” is very well-written. From the reviews at Amazon.com, it’s obvious I’m not the only one who feels this way. While it’s true Hoxsey never claimed to be able to cure every single cancer patient, there is certainly evidence that many cancer sufferers were being cured who passed through his clinic doors. So why the fury to close down the Hoxsey clinics and force them across the border? The common belief is competition. In Hoxsey’s case, perhaps there’s an additional reason that has something to do with something Hoxsey mentioned, that in the eyes of the AMA, the only thing worse than alternative cancer treatment is “free” medical treatment. And that’s exactly what Hoxsey gave out.
Marlakins
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