Tag: cascade effect

Susan McCreadie, MD: I Rest Easier NOT Vaccinating my Children#android#iPad#retweet

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by Susan McCreadie, MD

Since finishing my pediatric training, I have come to realize that you can find evidence to support your decision to vaccinate or not to vaccinate.

When I started my pediatric practice fresh out of residency, I was a primary care physician and offered vaccinations to those families who chose to vaccinate their children. I actually gave the children the vaccines myself (I’m so glad I no longer do that – I truly disliked that part of my job!).

I was also one of the parents who chose to vaccinate my child. I did educate myself about the pros and cons of vaccines, and felt I still needed to vaccinate Kaitlin (my oldest), but selectively vaccinate and on an alternative schedule (one vaccine per month).

After the 5th  vaccine, her eczema continued to worsen. I started to have the uncomfortable feeling of having to step outside the lines of what the standard medical   community recommended, on behalf of the health of my child. I have always been a rule follower, so naturally stepping outside ‘the standard of care’ was very   uncomfortable for me…

Continue to the Article Here

http://healthimpactnews.com

Adults Targeted as Federal Government Prepares to Track the Unvaccinated#android#iPad#retweet

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One of the pieces of Obamacare is tracking.  They have plans to track on many levels, one of which is vaccines.  It isn’t difficult to see the government dictating much of our lives if exemptions/waivers were retracted. 

If this freedom isn’t kept, then it won’t be difficult to monitor the next and the next.

Within the Obamacare administration, there are individuals with plans to monitor prescriptions next. 

Would you want to feel forced to take a prescription or lose your job.  Say it’s statins.

What if you were told, “We think your child needs such and such prescription”, and if you didn’t then your child couldn’t attend daycare or school. 

How many times are prescriptions promoted as the next best thing and then not too far down the road there is permanent health damage or death.   

Continue to the Article Here

http://www.nvic.org

The Starfield revelation: medically caused death in America#retweet#android#iPad

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by Jon Rappoport

On July 26, 2000, the US medical community received a titanic shock, when one of its most respected public-health experts, Dr. Barbara Starfield, revealed her findings on healthcare in America. Starfield was associated with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The Starfield study, “Is US health really the best in the world?”, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, came to the following conclusions:

Every year in the US there are:

* 12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgeries;

* 7,000 deaths from medication errors in hospitals;

* 20,000 deaths from other errors in hospitals;

* 80,000 deaths from infections acquired in hospitals;

* 106,000 deaths from FDA-approved correctly prescribed medicines.

The total of medically-caused deaths in the US every year is 225,000.

That’s 2.25 MILLION deaths per decade.

This makes the medical system the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer.

The Starfield study is the most disturbing revelation about modern healthcare in America ever published in the mainstream.

Continue to the Article Here

https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com

Could loneliness be the cause of addiction?#Android#Family#iPad

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Everyone is familiar with addiction to some degree, whether it’s that daily dose of chocolate you can’t give up or watching a loved one succumb to drug abuse. Many factors play a role in addiction, but some research suggests loneliness plays a pivotal role in encouraging addiction, and that taking measures to remedy loneliness can be powerful therapy.

Addiction can apply to any substance or activity (alcohol, drugs, shopping, sex, food, gambling, Facebook, etc.) that delivers pleasure but becomes compulsive and interferes with daily life and health. The addict is often not aware his or her behavior is out of control. Addiction is recognized as being a reaction to emotional stress; loneliness is so stressful it carries the same mortality risk as smoking and is twice as dangerous as obesity. Our physiological aversion to loneliness stems from our days as hunters and gatherers, when connection with others improved the odds of survival.

Research shows loneliness impairs the brain’s ability to exercise control over our desires, emotions, and behaviors –- the sort of qualities necessary to maintain healthy habits and avoid bad ones. This is called having executive control  and without it, we are more susceptible to addictive behaviors. Loneliness also triggers our fight-or-flight stress hormones, further creating that need for relief that erodes willpower and propels addictive behavior.

Studies show social connection inhibits addiction

In older studies on addiction, rats placed in cages with a bottle of pure water and a bottle of water laced with heroin or cocaine inevitably chose the drugged water until it killed them. The rats were alone.

However, rats kept in a comfortable cage with plenty of friends, fun activities and toys sampled the drug-laced water but mostly shunned it, consuming less than a quarter of the drugs the isolated rats consumed. Also, unlike the isolated rats who became heavy drug users, none of the socialized rats died.

After two months of addictive drug use, researchers then took the isolated rats and put them in the fun, socially active cages. The rats exhibited withdrawal symptoms initially and then voluntarily gave up their addiction, despite the availability of the drug-laced water.

Researchers saw similar outcomes in humans during the Vietnam War, during which about 20 percent of soldiers became addicted to heroin. Of those who returned home, about 95 percent simply stopped using heroin, presumably because they shifted from a “terrifying” cage to a safer, more comfortable one.

And although painkiller addiction has become a serious national problem, the majority of people temporarily prescribed pain pills for an injury or surgery don’t become addicted, even after months of use. These examples show evidence that drug addiction is not just a chemical dependency.

The remedy for addiction is connection

With one of the worst drug problems in Europe, Portugal put these principles to test. It jettisoned the war on drugs and instead poured resources into reconnecting addicts with their own feelings, other people, and a feeling of purpose through job programs. A follow-up study showed the program reduced the use of injected drugs by 50 percent.

Humans are wired to connect and bond with one another. If we can’t bond with other people we bond with the source of our addiction. Nutritional therapy, supplemental support (amino acids in particular can positively influence brain chemistry), and other functional medicine strategies can encourage healthy brain behavior that reduces addictive tendencies. However, it’s vitally important to also address the psychological and spiritual underpinnings of addiction, which often include loneliness and isolation.

http://drflannery.com/

 

Opinion: Why we object to mandatory vaccination measure#android#iPad#retweet

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This is a dramatic sudden push for less individual freedom, especially when no epidemic is present.  New Jersey has the largest percentage of vaccine compliance than any other state, and they require more vaccines than any other state.  Interestingly, they have the highest autism rate of any other state as well.  A rush to force the remaining small percentage to vaccinate seems hasty.

 

BY LOUISE KUO HABAKUS

People do not opt out of vaccination lightly. They do so for reasons that define who they are.

NEW Jersey’s lawmakers want to make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccines. This is a very bad idea. It erodes our rights and promotes increased government intrusion into our private religious, parental and medical affairs. The bill is discriminatory, dangerous and expensive. And it won’t work.

Government shouldn’t judge whether our religious beliefs are sincere. Government shouldn’t prohibit religious beliefs from addressing issues of safety, cleanliness or bodily integrity. Government shouldn’t compel citizens to choose a religion and stick to it forever. And government shouldn’t require someone else to approve our beliefs in order to make them legitimate.

And yet, these things are precisely what Trenton wants to do…

Continue to the Article Here

http://www.northjersey.com/

Suffering from burn out? Look at adrenal health#android#iPad#retweet

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by Dr. Flannery

The adrenal glands are two walnut-sized glands that sit atop the kidneys and that can make the different between being bouncy and energetic or run down and burned out. This is because they release stress hormones and the hormone cortisol, which, among other things, gives us energy.

Unfortunately, the adrenal glands are under siege by our stressed-out modern lives. In addition to stress, blood sugar swings, gut infections, food intolerances, chronic viruses, environmental toxins, and autoimmune conditions tax the adrenal glands. The body interprets all of these as threats, causing the adrenal glands to pump out stress hormones to raise blood sugar to meet the demands of the stress. What should be an occasional mechanism is a daily thing for most.

Symptoms of adrenal stress include fatigue, weak immunity, allergies, low blood sugar, being groggy in the mornings, crashing in the afternoon, sleep problems, and more.

Adrenal imbalances are one the most common health problems we see in functional medicine thanks to high-stress lifestyles, high-carb diets, and a toxic environment.

Adrenal problems always secondary to something else

Adrenal health is always secondary to something else. Blood sugar imbalances are a very common cause of adrenal problems. The adrenal hormone cortisol raises blood sugar when it drops too low, which, when it happens repeatedly, exhausts the adrenal glands, as well as the brain’s control center over these functions. Constant cortisol production weakens the lining of the intestines tract, making it more susceptible to bad bacteria, inflammation, and leaky gut.

Other factors that can contribute to adrenal problems include autoimmune disease, food intolerances, chronic infection, chemical sensitivities, and hormonal imbalances.

Lab tests to assess adrenal health

We can measure adrenal function with a salivary panel. The most important thing to know about the panel is that one test is not worth much. It is the follow-up test that shows whether a protocol is improving your health. If it’s not, we dig deeper.

You take the test kit home and collect samples of your saliva in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, and at bedtime to measure cortisol at each time. It should be highest in the morning so you feel alert and lowest at night so you feel tired for bed. This is called your circadian rhythm, or sleep-wake cycle. Chronic stress eventually disrupts the circadian rhythm. An abnormal circadian rhythm can cause high cortisol at night and insomnia, or low cortisol in the morning, which makes it hard to wake up.

Adrenal problems can cause hormone problems

When adrenal stress is high, the body steals a hormone called pregnenolone from cholesterol to make more cortisol — a phenomenon known as pregnenolone steal. Normally, the body uses pregnenolone to make sex hormones such as progesterone and testosterone. As a result, pregnenolone steal causes hormonal imbalances such as PMS, infertility, male menopause, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Avoid adrenal Stimulators

If you are serious about restoring your adrenal health, avoid the things that tax it, such as sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, foods to which are you sensitive, lack of sleep, over exercising, over working, bad relationships, and other stressors.

Stabilize blood sugar to support adrenals

Stabilizing blood sugar is paramount to supporting the adrenals. This is especially true for those with low blood sugar who get irritable, shaky, or lightheaded if they go too long without eating. Eat a protein breakfast and then eat small meals frequently to keep your blood sugar from crashing. Avoid relying on caffeine or sugar for energy, and do not skip meals.

Schedule relaxing things

Find ways to relieve stress and remain calm. Learn some relaxation techniques, take yoga, walk daily, take time off, socialize, and other things that support your well being in a positive and healthy way. Just knowing you have something fun and relaxing planned is half the battle to lowering stress.

Ask my office for help in supporting your adrenal health.

http://drflannery.com

Drugging Our Kids#Family#Android#iPad

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For the past four months, the Bay Area News Group has been documenting the alarming use of psychiatric medications in California’s foster care system — and the impact on thousands of vulnerable kids who suffer the consequences.

Here, in Part 5 of our investigative series “Drugging Our Kids,” we present a documentary video that gives voice to many of these young people, who say they were silenced during their youth by the powerful drugs.

From Los Angeles to the Bay Area to Humboldt County, reporter Karen de Sá and photographer Dai Sugano interviewed more than 175 people, including dozens of current and former foster youth who were frequently moved and heavily medicated by a system that struggled to manage their complicated childhoods.

Now, there’s a growing call for change among former foster youth, psychiatrists, public health nurses and youth advocates. The stories of lost childhoods and remarkable resilience provide compelling lessons on how California can better address their trauma and stop “Drugging Our Kids.”

http://webspecial.mercurynews.com/druggedkids/

Gut bacteria may play a role in eating disorders#iBelieve#Health#Eatingdisorder

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By Dr Flannery

Eating disorders affect an estimated 5 to 10 percent of the population and are generally thought to be a psychological disorder. However, new research from France shows gut bacteria can also play a role in causing eating disorders. The study showed eating disorders developed in mice who had an immune reaction to a protein made by gut bacteria. Basically they reacted to these proteins as if they had an allergy or sensitivity to them. The protein made by the gut bacteria is very similar in structure to a satiety hormone called alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (a-MSH). When the immune system reacts to the protein it reacts to the a-MSH too because they are so similar. This reaction causes the immune system to attack a-MSH, which regulates feeding, energy usage, and anxiety.

Mistaken identity and friendly fire by the immune system

When a pathogen, such as infectious bacteria, is similar to a tissue or hormone in the body and the immune system can’t distinguish between the two and attacks both, this is called cross-reactivity. It is a very common cause of autoimmune reactions. For instance, gluten, the protein in wheat, cross-reacts with tissue in the brain. Many people with gluten sensitivity develop neurological disorders because when the immune system attacks ingested gluten it attacks the brain too, confusing it with gluten. The same holds true for dairy and some cases of type 1 diabetes, and other foods and autoimmune diseases. This study opens the door to the possibility that eating disorders may have an immune component at their root driving the psychological disorder.

Ways to address an unhealthy relationship with eating nutritionally

Although serious eating disorders are complex and require intensive therapy, certain nutritional strategies can help you obtain a more balanced approach to eating and food. The key is to follow a diet that fosters healthy brain chemistry.

Eliminate processed carbohydrates from your diet as they are addictive and skew brain chemistry in the way other addictive substances do. This can foster an unhealthy relationship with food.

Eating to keep blood sugar stable is a vital component to curbing cravings, obsessions with food, and a constant feeling of hunger. Avoid sweet, starchy foods, coffee drinks and energy drinks, going too long without eating, and relying on coffee for breakfast. Many people need to eat small, protein-dense meals frequently in the beginning to stabilize blood sugar.

It’s also important to base your diet on plenty of vegetables — research shows a plant-based diet affects the composition of gut bacteria and affects energy usage and fat storage in a way that promotes being slender naturally — without having to obsess over it.

Supporting your neurotransmitters, brain chemicals that affect mood and brain function, can also help you stabilize your approach to eating. Your brain may need serotonin or dopamine support. Serotonin is important to feel joy and ward off depression, while dopamine support may be helpful to feel motivation and ward off cravings. Both have been shown to play a role in eating disorders.

Ask my office for more advice on how to support a healthier approach to balanced, obsession-free eating.

Post in it’s entirety, is compliments of www.drflannery.com/