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For Any Illness-Stop the Wheat and Suspect Your Prescriptions

September 7, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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By Dr. Bruce West

What do these three patients of ours have in common? One is a 70-year-old woman who suffered with epilepsy and seizures for 50 years. These came to an abrupt end within one week of starting treatment. The second is a 60-year-old woman who could not stop her bone loss from osteoporosis, despite the proper diet, lifting weights, and taking bone-building supplements. Her osteoporosis and continuing bone loss reversed itself within 90 days of starting treatment. The last is a 65-year-old who suffered through severe fatigue and what she called “being spacey,” confused, and unable to concentrate-for more than 25 years. It all ended within one week of starting treatment.

What these three patients shared in common was that they all suffered from celiac disease and did not know it. Celiac disease occurs when your body cannot tolerate gluten-a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. For celiac patients, gluten breaks down the lining of the intestines, interfering with digestion and absorption-leading to multiple nutritional deficiencies. None had the classic symptoms of bloating, nausea, gas, diarrhea, constipation, or weight loss. And none had been tested for or diagnosed with celiac disease.

They all got better simply because we stumbled onto their problems by trying a protocol I use with almost every patient-eliminating all gluten for 30 days. Two were immediately cured, and the third felt so much better that she continued to eliminate gluten from her diet and eventually overcame incurable osteoporosis.

The moral of the story is if you suffer from any illness at all, you must eliminate gluten from your diet for 30 days, simply to test the possibility that this protein is destroying your health. Estimates are that close to 1 in 133 Americans has celiac disease. And most do not know it. It is tough to diagnose because according to modern medicine, a biopsy of the intestinal lining is the only true diagnostic procedure. Of course, this is invasive, and by the time the intestinal lining is being destroyed, celiac disease is far advanced.

It is just so much better, makes so much more sense, and is classic evidence-based medicine to simply eliminate gluten from your diet and see how you feel. If you are remarkably better, biopsy or not, you have hit the nail on the head.

Prescriptions Also

These three patients all suffered from the same-somewhat unusual-underlying cause of their problems. However, for literally thousands of our other patients, we helped them find a much more common underlying cause of their problems by simply examining their prescriptions. And the lesson here is even simpler: No matter what symptoms you have, always suspect that your prescription drugs are the underlying cause of your problem until proven otherwise.

In fact, no home should be without a drug handbook to look up prescription medications. When you find that your problems are listed as a side effect from a drug that you take, it is an obvious tip off. This is particularly true for cardiac drugs. And if you take more than two drugs, your problem may not be listed under either drug because it could be caused by the combination. By the time you take three or more drugs, there is not a human being on the planet who can determine just what may be going on in your body as a result of the combinations. So get to your doctor to take steps to change, wean, or eliminate offending drugs to find your cure. Or even better, if you can find one, get to a private-practice pharmacist who helps people wean off drugs to solve their health problems. Thanks to a glut of super powerful prescription drugs, this is one of the hottest new fields for pharmacists.

So no matter what the symptoms, problems or “disease” you suffer from, always remember to eliminate gluten as your potential cure-and suspect your prescriptions as the potential cause of your suffering. If you don’t, your suffering can go on for years, decades, or your entire life!

Filed Under: Diet/Nutrition, Featured, Health News, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Gluten-Free Family Fare

September 7, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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by: Barbara Walch (Plano Profile July 2010 issue)

One mom’s quest to keep her family healthy, happy and well fed.

Jennifer Cinquepalmi became very concerned about the changes she was witnessing in her daughter, Rachel. For one thing, the usually healthy 8-year-old began complaining of occasional stomachaches. She also didn’t seem to be growing at a normal rate-the shortest in her class, even though both parents are taller than average adults. When Jennifer voiced her concerns to the pediatrician, she was dismissed with a promise of a “growth spurt.”

Over time, Rachel’s stomach upset became more frequent and her belly became distended, like a child suffering from malnutrition. Plus she started having daily nosebleeds. Jennifer was becoming even more alarmed, but a visit to a second pediatrician didn’t offer any more explanation.

Finally a third doctor suggested having Rachel tested for celiac disease. Unaware of what that even was, Jennifer and her husband, Dominic, decided first to do some research. What they found was not only the possible answer to Rachel’s health issues but the likely reason Dominic had suffered with digestive problems and not being able to gain weight most of his life.

“Dominic found a checklist of celiac systems and told me that out of the 20 listed, he had 10 of them,” Jennifer explains. “If someone finds out they have it, all of the offspring of that person need to be tested as well. That’s how we found out that Dominic, Rachel and Matthew, our youngest, have celiac, and Michael, our middle child, is gluten-intolerant but does not have celiac.”

Celiac is an autoimmune disease which affects the digestive process of the small intestine. The disease causes an abnormal response to gluten-which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye-damaging the small intestine, thus inhibiting the absorption of important nutrients. Because the body is robbed of needed nourishment, associated conditions like osteoporosis and anemia can develop. There is no cure but it can be effectively managed through a change in diet.

Eliminating gluten from one’s diet is no easy task, however, as Jennifer was soon to discover. But wanting to provide the same flavorful, varied meals her family had become accustomed to before the diagnosis, she was determined to make it work. “I spent many months reading books, researching food products, and shopping at new stores,” she says. “I would go to the Plano Public Library and if they didn’t have a cookbook on gluten-free cooking I wanted, they would get one for me through the library loan system.”

She continues, “I would bake and cook recipe after recipe. Then try and try again, then buy and buy again, purchasing ingredients which seemed so strange to me at the time. Then cry and cry again as many of the expensive ingredients ended up down the drain or in the trash!”

But throughout the process, she developed wonderful recipes for her family’s enjoyment, like gluten-free waffles that can be frozen then toasted for a quick, easy breakfast, or Dutch Baby Pancakes that can be served for breakfast or dessert. Another favorite is pizza dough made with a customized sorghum flour mix and cornmeal, topped with Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, Roma tomatoes, pine nuts, and Mozzarella cheese. She also created flatbread for making wrap sandwiches for lunches.

And, of course, some sweet treats. Like chocolate meringue cookies that are a snap to make and a rich chocolate-y cake frosted with decadent chocolate icing. Also a variety of granola bars that can be baked then stored in the freezer or an airtight container for adding to lunch boxes for a quick snack. (The recipes for the chocolate cake and the wrap bread can be found at planoprofile.com.)

Jennifer prides herself on making everything from scratch. “Most of the store-bought food out there is very lacking in nutrition, and it’s very expensive,” she says. “And the funny thing is, when I sent my children to school with things like the granola bars or muffins in their lunchboxes, the other kids out of curiosity would ask if they could taste them and before I knew it, their moms were calling me and asking for the recipes!”

Out of this came the idea to write a cookbook and her first, The Complete Book of Gluten-Free Cooking, was published in 2006. On a roll converting family recipes and developing new ones, a second cookbook, Gluten-Free Deliciously, was published in 2009. (Both are available through local booksellers and at aidantbooks.com.)

“These are complete cookbooks with recipes for things like chicken spaghetti and some Cajun dishes. It’s not filled just with recipes for gluten-free baked goods, because so often the newly diagnosed feel they are doomed to a life of dry grilled chicken breasts and steamed vegetables,” Jennifer explains. “They also contain information about alternative grains like quinoa, teff, amaranth, and millet, and encourage readers to incorporate these powerhouses of nutrition into their diets.” As a result, they will appeal not just to those on a strict gluten-free diet, but also to those that need to incorporate other grains into their diets due to a wheat allergy or other health reasons.

As a result of years of research, Jennifer Cinquepalmi has also become a respected and much sought-after speaker on the subject. Today, Jennifer says, her family celebrates this diet for the restored health it has offered as well as renewed energy, increased stamina, and better resistance to illness. “We have enjoyed discovering all the wonderful alternative grains available, most of which are now staples in our diet. My children have been educated about the value of their food versus the lack of nutrition in foods left behind. And they are content, because their food tastes great.

Filed Under: Diet/Nutrition, Health News, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , ,

BodyTalk Access Class – Saturday, October 16, 2010

September 7, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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Body Talk Access is body and mind balancing for health maintenance and management of daily health challenges; including improving performance, reducing stress, strengthening immune and physiological function.

You will learn five body balancing techniques plus an invaluable technique to use in health emergencies.

Class Details:

  • Saturday, October 16, 2010
  • 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • $115 adult (includes manual) Course #113078
  • $45 ages 12 – 18 (additional manual may be purchased for $15 if parent already is enrolled and receiving manual.) Course #113080
  • The class will be held at: The Tom Muehlenbeck Center, 5801 W. Parker Road, Plano, TX 76093

Register for the class:

  • The easiest and fastest way to register is to call The Tom Muehlenbeck Center: 972-769-4404 and give them the course numbers (see above).
  • If you want to register online you will have to create an account with the Plano Park & Rec. 

Seating is limited so don’t delay!

If you don’t live near Plano Texas, contact us to find out how to sponsor a BodyTalk Access class in your area. Click here to contact us.

Read what others are saying about BodyTalk Access

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10% off all purchases of Brain Power™ Essential Oil

September 7, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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Get 10% off all purchases of Brain Power™ Essential Oil blend from September 1-30,2010.

A specially designed blend of oils high in sesquiterpenes, which cross the blood-brain barrier. Use it to clarify and support concentration.

Log in to buy now

Not a member? Click here and sign up to start shopping

Offer Details

  • Offer valid 12:00 a.m. MT September 1, 2010, to September 30, 2010, 11:59 p.m. MT.
  • No limit per customer per order. Offer available to Young Living Independent Distributors, preferred customers, and  retail customers.
  • Offer does not apply to Essential Rewards point redemption orders.
  • Offer valid in the US and all NFR markets, except where restrictions prevent promotional product(s) from entering a  country.
  • Offer available on web, phone and Essential Rewards orders processed on or before 11:59 p.m. MT on September 30,  2010.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Filed Under: Featured, Health News, Mind/Body, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Meditation Far Superior To Drugs For Heart Disease

August 2, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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By Dr. Bruce West

“I instruct patients with stubborn hypertension that resists all therapies, including nutritional and drug therapies, to practice meditation and/or deep breathing. The results are always good…” Health Alert, Vol. 23, No. 12

There are four or five different types of blood pressure drugs. They all carry a litany of paralyzing side effects, and none of them, even if taken for 20 to 30 years, statistically provide for fewer heart attacks, strokes, or deaths. Heart disease drugs are not much better. However, another study reveals that transcendental meditation provides a 50% reduction in heart attacks, strokes, and death compared to patients who do not meditate!

A study granted by the federal government and conducted at the Medical College of Wisconsin was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting (Nov 16, 2009). The results were so dramatic that medical experts said it was as if those practicing meditation were taking a new class of medications!

The amazing part of all this is simply that there are no medical treatments, surgeries, drugs or combination of drugs that can provide anything close to a 50% reduction in heart attacks, strokes, or heart disease deaths-none! And yet mediators accomplished this without any medical treatment whatsoever-simply by using the relaxing technique of meditation.

If you are backed into a corner with stubborn hypertension or heart disease that will not quit, be sure to start meditating, or at least practice deep breathing daily. To learn to meditate, simply go to www.tm.org and find out how to learn transcendental meditation. At the very minimum, practice deep breathing. If you need help, simply send me a self-addressed, stamped (with two stamps) envelope and write DEEP BREATHING. The address is Health Alert, 30 Ryan Court, #100, Monterey, CA 93940. I will send you my free flyer to get you started.

Better yet, start meditating or practicing deep breathing while you eat a new, healthy diet and start exercising. In addition, use a protocol that includes the cardiotonic nutrients that really make a difference. If you need help with this, just use my protocols, or drop me a line about your problem with a self-addressed, stamped (with two stamps) envelope. The address is Health Alert, 30 Ryan Court, #100, Monterey, CA 93940.

When you combine meditation with nutrition and exercise, you simply hit a home run. After a few months on this type of protocol, the only thing left to do is to have your physician wean you off the paralyzing blood pressure and/or heart drugs that were prescribed in a futile effort to resolve your problems. Meditation alone is better than all medical therapies-including drugs, combined drugs, heart surgeries, and more. But you will never get a prescription for meditation-except here.

Filed Under: Health News, Mind/Body, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mammogram Alternatives

August 2, 2010 By LMND0830 1 Comment
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By Dr. Bruce West

A screening test should be used when evidence shows that it prevents disease, prolongs life, and is not harmful to the patient. Annual mammograms for all women over age 40 do not fall into this category. They do not prevent disease, and their early detection of disease does not prolong life. They can be harmful-even causing cancer—because the female breast is highly susceptible to the cancer-causing effects of radiation. And the breasts of premenopausal women are even more susceptible to radiation damage-one more reason to forego mammograms until after menopause.

Mammograms very often miss serious cancers. And they often detect false positives, or “cancers” that are not really there-that is, spots that are not cancerous. Further, they often detect tiny cancers that would never be of consequence to the woman. Unfortunately there are no tests to determine which tiny cancers will develop into anything serious or life threatening.

Because of this, women who discover “spots” on their mammograms are routinely subjected to further, often invasive testing. And because even more advanced testing is often inconclusive, thousands more women are injured or maimed by therapies and surgeries for “cancers” found on a mammogram. Many of these are later proven non-cancerous by post-operative examination of the removed tissue. Some women even opt for a mastectomy based on a shadow or spot on their mammogram-fearing that it is or will become cancerous. For all these reasons, routine mammograms for all women over age 40 are problematic. And the latest findings and suggestions about cutting back on mammograms are well considered.

All the uproar over mammogram cutbacks is a national disgrace as groups jockey for a position that will provide them benefit. The mammogram, physician, and hospital groups stand to lose money. Politicians are doing what they always do-use a subject, about which they know nothing, to promote their agenda. And women’s groups, perhaps swayed by “expert medical opinion” may not understand that they are doing women a disservice by howling that their mammograms are being taken away.

In addition, no one knows how many false positives and tiny cancers (that would never develop) found on mammograms are thrown in the scientific database of breast cancer “cures.” Are the survival rates skewed by the false positives? Have we really improved the survival rates or are these numbers just skewed to look better because they include women who never had cancer in the first place?

It all gets murky. But one fact remains-the statistics about the effectiveness and safety of mammograms do not lie. They show that mammograms do little good with plenty of harm. And that is not the definition of an effective screening test. But what is a woman to do? What if you have a family history of breast cancer? What if you have already had breast cancer and you are desperate to prevent a recurrence?

Well naturally, taking care of yourself with a good diet, exercise, pure water, and proper supplements is paramount. There are also tests that are actually better than mammograms. Simple blood tests, which are routinely administered after a mastectomy to determine if any cancer is still present, should be the screening test of choice before any radical treatment. The best of these are tumor marker tested called Cancer Antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) and Cancer Antigen 27-29 (CA 27-29). When your doctor prescribes repeated mammograms, just ask him or her for a tumor marker test.

There are no cancer tests that are 100% accurate. But at least with this testing, the procedure is non-invasive and a clear yes or no answer is provided. If you are in the high-risk group for whatever reason, you can have a CA 15-3 every 3-4 months. If a positive turns up, you can back this test up with a mammogram, and then a biopsy if needed.

Breast Cancer and Estrogen

Every woman who is worried about breast cancer, or who is in a high-risk group, should have a test for excess estrogen (estradiol). Estrogen causes cancer, and high estrogen is the single most powerful predictor of cancer (especially breast cancer) recurrence in women who have already been treated for cancer.

Excess estrogen is normally swept up and excreted by your body’s detoxification mechanisms. These mechanisms are a

complicatedbiochemical system of toxin removal that involves the liver, digestive tract, kidneys, and more. And cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts and others are critical to detoxification mechanisms-especially when related to the removal of excess estrogen.

If your estrogen is high or even high-normal, you need to take 4-6 Cruciferous Complete daily-probably for the rest of your life. This supplement, made from cruciferous vegetable concentrates by Standard Process, helps women to naturally excrete excess estrogen-a prime cause of female cancers including breast cancer. To order Cruciferous Complete contact Lynn (click here). Women with highest estrogen levels have 5 x the rate of breast cancer as those with normal estrogen levels. You can monitor your success by follow-up estrogen testing.

So be sure to use tumor marker blood tests, test your estrogen level, and treat with Cruciferous Complete if your levels are high or even high-normal. Eat a healthy Mediterranean diet that includes healthy oils like Blue Ice ™ High Vitamin Fermented Cod Liver Oil. Stay away from processed foods and all store bought oils and salad dressings. Avoid soy and anything deemed “low-fat,” “low-cholesterol,” “zero-fat,” or any other processed concoction that most medical organizations say is good for you.

Drink pure water, drink less alcohol, don’t smoke, and get plenty of exercise and sunshine. And always remember that whole food, phytonutrient, and phytochemical vitamins and supplements are your best ammunition to fight cancer. Over 15 years ago Newsweek (April 25, 1994) proclaimed on its cover, “Better Than Vitamins-Can Phytochemicals Prevent Cancer?” The article stated that “in the search for the magic pill, phytochemicals may be the best hope for stopping some of the most stubborn diseases, including cancer.” The latest research shows this to be true.

If you are overwhelmed and do not know how to proceed to fight or prevent cancer, drop me a line with a self-addressed, stamped (with two stamps) envelope and write CANCER. The address is Health Alert, 30 Ryan Court, #100, Monterey, CA 93940. Tell me briefly about your cancer, and I will see that you get the cancer-fighting information that you need.

And remember, when it comes to screening, proceed cautiously with mammograms, and be sure to use alternative, tumor market testing. Despite the uproar, the medical scientists who analyzed all the data and determined that we should use fewer mammograms deserve applause-they have done a great service to all women nationwide.

If you’d like more information about any of the products mentioned in this article please contact Lynn – Click Here.

Filed Under: Health News, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are Both Sides of Your Brain Communicating?

August 1, 2010 By LMND0830 1 Comment
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Cortices

The Cortices technique is designed to improve and balance the communication between the two halves of the brain. (Think of it as hitting the reset button on your brain’s computer.) This improves the brain’s efficiency – thereby improving overall health. Specific immediate effects include improvements in thinking ability, memory and concentration, stress reduction, feeling more physically relaxed, and enhanced general physiological functioning of the body.

 

How to “Tap Out” your Cortices

The Technique

I feel that the simple Cortices Technique, one of the core techniques of the BodyTalk System, and the BodyTalk Access program, is so powerful that I want to share it with everyone. In this short video, Dr. John Veltheim, Founder of the BodyTalk System describes and demonstrates the Cortices Technique – which balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and general brain function. I believe, along with the International BodyTalk Association (IBA), that everyone should be able to balance the cortices; their results can be immediate and profound in restoring healthy balance.

For a “hands – on” workshop regarding this technique and four others:

1. Stress Management

2. Hydration – helps your body better utilize the water you give it.

3. Body Chemistry for fighting bacteria, viruses, parasites and allergies

4. Body Structure Re-alignment such as joint &/or back pain

Click here and register for Lynn’s BodyTalk Access Workshop.

Click here to learn more about BodyTalk Access

Filed Under: Featured, Health News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Effective Steps for Managing Anxiety

July 19, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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Have you ever been in a situation that brought on sweats, rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath? You probably weren’t having a heart attack but an anxiety attack. If you suffer from anxiety disorders, learning to manage it is the first step to overcoming it.

Anxiety is characterized as extreme reactions to fearful situations. When someone follows you into a dark alley, those anxious feelings of a racing heartbeat and sweaty palms gives way to heightened senses and a rush of adrenalin that can save your life. This is the fight or flight syndrome.

In the case of frequent anxiety, the fearful feelings are dread of a particular situation and not the situation itself. Getting caught in traffic can cause an anxiety attack over what might happen when you get to work late. Starting a new job can bring on anxiety attacks. You don’t know anyone and fear of that unknown can send you into a panic.

Everyone experiences panic or anxiety in small ways. Like the fight or flight example, it can save your life. In new situations, we get panicky but when the outcome we fear fails to materialize, the anxiety stops. For someone with chronic anxiety, this is not the case.

Every situation that brings anxiety is not life-threatening. More than likely it is an extremely stressful situation that has brought on the anxiety as a way of dealing with it. Unchecked anxiety of this type can lead to depression. If you suffer from anxiety attacks on occasion or a more frequent anxiety disorder, there are steps you can take to keep your anxiety under control.

1. See a professional. This is always a good first step. Self-diagnosis of any type of physical or mental condition is unwise and can be dangerous. A professional psychologist can help you understand your anxiety and prescribe medication or other effective techniques.

2. Get a good night’s sleep. During the sleep cycle, your body repairs itself. You feel more rested after several hours of restorative sleep, reaching the REM stage. Most people need eight hours a night which varies within an hour or two each way.

3. Exercise on a consistent basis. Exercise helps you to use oxygen more efficiently. It helps to get more oxygen to the brain. It also increases focus which may help you see solutions to problems rather than simply worrying about them.

4. Meditate. Meditation is more than chanting mantras. Yoga is an exercise that involves quieting the mind and controlling your breathing. Simple mediation such as taking 5 minutes to clear your mind everyday can work wonders in the fight against anxiety.

5. Manage the worry. When you feel your pulse start to quicken, count backwards from ten. As you count, focus on the situation. What has actually happened? Resist the urge to read anything more into the situation.

6. Don’t use alcohol. You might think that the glass of wine is relaxing your tension but alcohol is a depressant. In anxious situations you could rely too heavily on it and gain another problem in the process.

7. Find some relaxing activities. Stress can rob you of your energy. On a regular basis, do something you like such as gardening, painting, reading or listening to music.

Anxiety can come into your life at any time. It’s normal. When the anxiety becomes frequent you could be at risk for more serious conditions. If you feel your anxiety is starting to take over your life or increasingly causing you problems, seek professional help immediately. There is no need to suffer this terrible condition in silence.

For more information contact Lynn

Filed Under: Featured, Health News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Laughter… Real Medicine

July 1, 2010 By LMND0830 1 Comment
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by Val Ge

The power of laughter as real medicine is often undervalued. If you consider the benefits of laughter, it should be everyone’s top priority as a healing tool because of the many positive qualities. Consider this-it doesn’t cost a cent; it can be self-prescribed and self-administered; it can be used any time, almost anywhere; and it has no adverse side effects. More importantly, it makes you feel good about yourself and the people around you.

Here’s a wonderful story that illustrates the healing power of laughter. A minister was in the hospital recuperating from a serious accident. It became a routine that when his pain was too much he rang a buzzer and a nurse would come and give him a shot. On this particular day, he rang for the nurse, rolled on his side with his back to the door, prepared for the shot. On hearing the door open, he pointed to his backside and said, “I’m ready!” After a few moments of uncomfortable silence he looked over his should to see a couple from his church standing there aghast! Totally embarrassed they had a brief conversation and left. The minister, realizing what he had done, began laughing and he could not stop. He laughed until tears ran down his face. When the nurse arrived to administer the pain medication, he laughed even harder trying to explain what happened. Finally, after he told the nurse the whole story he realized his pain was gone. He didn’t need pain medication for another two hours.

What does laughter do to your body? It triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers and produces a general sense of well-being, which is what happened to our minister in the hospital.

Laughter can have a placebo affect; your body doesn’t know the difference between simulated laughter and real laughter. As long as you are laughing, you are producing the same “happy” body chemistry and powerfully boosting your immune system whether your laughter is genuine or forced. Studies on the effects of laughter show that it lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, raises levels of infection-fighting T-cells and produces disease-destroying antibodies. Author of Love, Medicine and Miracles, Bernie Siegel, M.D, said it best, “The simple truth is that happy people generally don’t get sick. Laughter can always remove fear and anxiety, no matter what the situation. You cannot suffer when you are laughing. The two just can’t be experienced together. It has to be one or the other, and joy always overcomes fear. Love creates, but laughter is the cement that holds our lives together.”

How does a person laugh when there seems to be nothing to laugh about or no one is around to make a joke or share a funny thought? Thankfully, there are many laughter exercises created to help stimulate laughter. Many of them have been devised by the proliferation of ‘Laughter Clubs’ springing up all over the globe. The first Laughter Yoga Club was started in 1995 in Mumbai, India. It began with just five people in a local public park, but the concept rapidly spread worldwide and as of 2009 there are more than 6,000 laughter clubs in 60 countries. The conscious practice of laughter created by these clubs is being used in companies and corporations, on cruise ships, in fitness centers, yoga studios, senior centers, schools, colleges, prisons, universities, self-help cancer groups and for the physically and mentally challenged. “Most of our happiness depends on our disposition not on circumstances” – Martha Washington.

English comedian John Cleese went to India to do research on this phenomenon as part of a BBC documentary about the human face. He visited a prison in Mumbai where he witnessed prisoners going through a range of laughter exercises. Prison officials found that laughter diminished the prisoner’s feelings of anger and depression. Cleese said, “Laughter connects people, no matter what the language. Laughter created positive changes in prisoner attitude, better prisoner-staff relations and reduced violence.”

If you want to have a good laugh you can always join a Laughter Club, or try some of these favorite laughter exercises on your own.

  • Laughter cream: Rub your hands together rapidly for a few seconds until you start feeling some heat. You are preparing some powerful and healing laughter cream. When ready, apply the cream all over you and laugh as you do so!
  • Find your laughter center: Probe your head with one finger as if looking for your laughter center. Imagine that each spot you push on triggers a different laughter sound.
  • Motorboat (or lawnmower) laughter: Start an old gas engine lawnmower. Put one foot on the machine to hold it still, grab the pull cord and crank it in 4 powerful laughs. Move around and keep laughing once your engine is started. Ready? Go! HA! – HA HA! – HA HA HA! – Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…

Doing any of these exercises will change your breathing pattern, which affects your state of mind. The breathing patterns of people under stress become faster, shallow and irregular. Stressed people often hold their breath, which triggers the build up of carbon dioxide in the blood and creates a toxic environment in the body. Laughter shifts the breathing pattern from shallow to deep diaphragmatic breathing; it brings oxygen-rich air to the lungs and prevents the stress arousal system from being triggered. Focusing awareness on your breath will keep you in the present moment, as both breathing and laugher are activities that can only be performed in the present, it’s impossible to breathe in the past or future.

One of the best ways to find laughter is to want to find it. Look for the funny side of situations, because there always is one. Don’t take yourself too seriously and let go of having to be right in every encounter. I know a couple that regularly fight over how they load the dishwasher and how they shop for groceries; he buys generic brands, she loves brand names. It’s a power struggle. Imagine if either one of these powerful individuals decided to have a goal of making the other one laugh? Their entire relationship would change. When my husband and I go grocery shopping, we toss things at each other; an apple, an orange, a roll of paper towels; people look at us as if we’re crazy, but they also smile.

Laughter is an on-going pursuit. A while ago my husband, Jeff, and I realized that we were bickering. We wanted to have a simple reminder to wake up and stop arguing. We decided that if one of us put our forefinger and thumb together, made a circle, and put it up to our eye, the other person had to do the same. And even though sometimes the ego just doesn’t want to let go of the argument, we both did it. What we found was remarkable; it’s impossible not to laugh when you’re looking at another human begin through a circle of fingers!

However you decide to bring laughter into your life, make a commitment to do it for your health and well-being. You’ll soon realize that the more you laugh, the more you’ll find things to laugh about.

Laughter is real medicine that makes your life fun and creates positive energy. What can it hurt? Nothing. What can it help? Just about everything. Try it. You’ll like it!

Filed Under: Health News, Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pandemonium over New Mammogram Guidelines

July 1, 2010 By LMND0830 Leave a Comment
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By Dr. Bruce West

The uproar over the change in recommendations for mammograms has been predictable, unreasonable, political, and financial. It all happened after a well-respected organization, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) broke ranks with the medical establishment and sided with Health Alert and others. They recommend that mammogram screenings begin at age 50, instead of age 40, and that they be done every other year instead of yearly. What followed was shock, horror, anger, resentment, blustery political posturing that used the new guidelines for political gain, and more.

To date, all the women’s groups, mammography groups, most medical groups, (including the American Cancer Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), congressmen, and even the President’s office have distanced themselves from these new meaningful and evidence-based recommendations. Even Rush Limbaugh has ridiculously called the new recommendations an insult to women and the first of the new onslaught of “rationed care.”

The truth is exactly the opposite! The evidence to start mammograms was based on one study back in the 1970s! That study showed that mammograms could result in a 30% reduction in breast cancer deaths in women over age 50, but no benefit for women in their 40s. The clinical trial, for the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, followed women for 3 to 5 years, and did not even bother to follow them after that time. These study results were picked up by all the medical groups who sought to lower the age for first mammograms to 35. The American Cancer Society (ACS) agreed, and mammograms were started at age 35! The ACS quietly rescinded the age 35 recommendation in 1992, but the practice continued for 10 years anyway.

Over-treatment

The truth is that mammograms do not save lives. Even The Lancet reported in 2001 that mammography screening resulted in overtreatment without reducing mortality. To date, the Cochrane Collaboration continues to monitor mammography research. According to the Chochrane analysis of all the research, mammograms detect tiny cancers. One in three of these are meaningless and will not cause a problem. But there is no test that can sort out the potentially lethal cancers from those that are meaningless. Therefore, virtually all cancers are treated aggressively with biopsies and radiation, and even chemotherapies, surgeries, and more. Some women have even undergone double mastectomies because of these findings when they didn’t have a real problem at all! In the medical research world, this is simply referred to as over-treatment.

In the end, mammographic screening for breast cancer results in the overtreatment of huge numbers of women-all for no benefit. The screening does not affect overall mortality (deaths from all causes), and the benefit for breast cancer mortality (the number of women who would die from breast cancer) is small to insignificant. And this is for all women who start mammography at either age 50 or 40! In fact, the USPSTF, after examining the real statistics, concluded only 1 in 1,900 women who undergo mammography for 10 years would avoid a breast cancer death!

So a smart group has finally called for a reduction in a procedure that can result in overtreatment that can maim, injure, and even kill women-a procedure that offers little statistical benefit, even when started at age 40. But everyone is horrified, the politicians are distancing themselves because they want to pass “health care reform,” and the doctors and medical groups, who will lose business, are up in arms.

Over the years, women have been sold a bunch of lies-lies for money, politics, power, vanity, paybacks to special interests, and worse. It is all sickening and still going on. The mammography debacle is having a light shined on it. In addition, these same “experts” also caused, at the very least, 20,000 cases of invasive breast cancer a year for 25 years with estrogen prescriptions. This practice continued even though lots of people like myself begged them to quit. Quite frankly, all these medical “experts” owe an apology-on their knees-to the collective female population over the age 35! Instead, women get even more confusion because their doctors and the medical groups in whom they have placed their trust, are “angered,” “shocked” and in “horror” over the new mammography recommendations. In fact, the USPSTF and all non-biased medical scientist agree that these recommendations are the only ones that really make any sense.

Who was that Health Alert guy who was condemned for saying the same thing for years!?

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