10.06.06
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Hmmm Moments, Treatment Decisions, Uncategorized at 12:48 am by Administrator
Patti just turned me on to Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, M.D. I read a little of his story, and look forward to getting a hold of one of his books to learn what else this brilliant man has learned. Dr. Bernstein developed type 1 diabetes at the age of 12, and has lived more than 55 years with it by learning to control his blood sugar level with the help of adjusting his diet. From reading Dr. Bernstein’s explanation of how diabetics were once prescribed high carb diets, and that diabetics also appeared to commonly have high cholesterol levels, I was reminded of another book I have been reading called Syndrome X, the Silent Killer by Gerald Reavenn, M.D., Terry Kristen Strom, M.B.A., and Barry Fox, Ph.D.
Syndrome X refers to the role of insulin resistance and heart disease risk. This book suggests that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet could increase the risk for heart attack, and that about 50% of all heart attacks may be Syndrome X related. For people suffering from Syndrome X, it is believed that excess insulin in the bloodstream prompts the damage associated with the lining of the coronary arteries. Once this damage occurs, the stage is set for blockages to form, which could later result in a heart attack. I found this link of excess insulin and damage to the coronary artery lining interesting in relation to the information that Dr. Bernstein pointed out about diabetics commonly having high cholesterol levels. Although it is a common belief that high cholesterol puts one at risk for heart disease, there are some experts who believe that it is “not” cholesterol which increases heart disease, but rather the body uses cholesterol to patch up damages made in the arterial lining. According to Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD, “Cholesterol is the body’s repair substance. Scar tissue contains high levels of cholesterol. When your arteries develop irritations or tears, cholesterol is there to do its job of patching up the damage.” If that is true, as well as the theory for Syndrome X and insulin resistance, then it makes sense that all the excess insulin in diabetics may be causing damage to their arterial lining, and thus their bodies produce more cholesterol to help patch up the damages occuring in their arterial lining. Hence, one possible connection to the higher cholesterol levels in diabetics. Both Dr. Bernstein and the authors of Syndrome X, the Silent Killer recommend a low carb diet to reduce the glucose intake in the body, which in turn, would reduce the production or need for insulin, which in turn would reduce the damage to coronary arterial lining, and finally would reduce the need for cholesterol to patch up damages.
I find it exciting to see how our food choices can help us greatly manage and even cure our ills.
Marlakins 
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10.04.06
Posted in Anything goes, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Historical Trivia, Treatment Decisions, Uncategorized at 1:05 pm by Administrator
The knowledge that food affects our health has been evident for thousands of years. Hippocrates clearly understood the relevance of foods to our well-being. Today, even those who espouse current mainstream medicine are familiar with the quote from Hippocrates in 300BC, which has been known as the “Hippocratic Oath”–
“I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfil according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:
“To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art – if they desire to learn it – without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
“I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
“I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.
“I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
“Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
“What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
“If I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.”
Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943
Hmm. Modern mainstream medicine sure has deviated from the original Hippocratic oath so much so that now they even have a “revised” version of it. The modern version can be viewed here.
Since the days of Hippocrates, even though mainstream medicine has veered way off from the importance of foods and health, many other health care advocates have continued to strive to use food as medicine. What has resulted is a myriad of dietary regimes, all claiming health benefits ranging from weight loss to curing the incurable. There are many diets, which even seem completely contradictory to another diet, yet interestingly, regardless of the differences, diseases have resolved. One example is the rage between vegetarianism vs. non-vegetarianism. Along those lines what defines a “vegetarian” also is not clearly delineated as some are “ovo-lacto” vegetarians and others are “vegan.” There are strict vegetarian diets claiming to cure cancers, and at the same time heavy meat diets also claim to cure cancers. We have the “milk diet,” and the “low carb diet,” also known as the “paleo diet.” There is the “Mediterranean diet” and the “Okinawan diet.” We have those who only eat all raw foods, who call themselves “raw foodists,” while on the other spectrum we have “macrobiotics,” by which most of their foods are well cooked. And let’s not forget juicing! The list goes on.
Is it possible that all these diets are right? Is it true that food is our best medicine? I’d like to explore this, and look forward to any comments and experiences regarding foods and how it has affected one’s health–good or bad. . . What we may see is that there is a place and season for everything.
Marlakins
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08.26.06
Posted in Treatment Decisions at 9:02 am by Administrator
I’m opening this new category as another spinoff from Patti’s suggestion on Steele’s MDS Herb Chronicle. I have reposted her post below as an introduction to this new topic. So, without further ado, I look forward to reading your comments. 
Marla,
I wanted to have a very frank discussion about medicine and I’m not sure where to put it so maybe you can take this and run with it and we can all chat about it. Not sure if you want to move it.
If you were faced with let’s say, a cancer, would you (or should we, I, etc.) consider conventional chemo or are we better off to do a Gerson type treatment, etc.? I’ve been giving this a lot of thought regarding my own beliefs in light of mom’s illness and frequently wonder what I would do if I was told I had cancer, specifically. I use that one since that’s the most likely scenario for a person requiring chemo. Would it depend on the “cure” rate a certain cancer has with chemo? Would I do integrative medicine? What would I do? I’m curious if others have thought about this in light of the illnesses that we are all dealing with today.
Patti
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