Wednesday, September 29, 2010

1 in 6 Patients Report Being Misdiagnosed or Suffering Treatment Error from their Doctors

A new survey of primary care practices in North Carolina shows nearly one in six patients believed their physician had made a wrong diagnosis or a treatment error, and about one in seven said they had changed doctor as a result.

"Patients perceive mistakes in all types of outpatient clinics from primary care to specialty care, eye doctors to dentists, and they often change their doctors because of these perceptions," said Dr. Christine E. Kistler, whose findings are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

But Kistler, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, added that in some cases it didn't appear the doctor had done anything wrong.

"It's possible that the doctor has not explained their plans appropriately and that communication might improve what the patient expects to happen," she told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

One patient with chronic back pain, for instance, reported changing doctor because several medications had failed to work. But chronic back pain may be tough to treat even for the most accomplished doctor, and it is not unusual to go through various treatments before finding one that works.

Although Kistler and colleagues didn't determine if true errors had been made, other cases suggested they had.

For example, one woman said her doctor had wanted to remove her breast due to a swollen lymph node.

"I wanted another opinion," she told the researchers. "I got one, and that doctor sent me for a mammogram and biopsy of the lymph nodes. It turned out I had 'cat scratch fever,'" a bacterial infection.

Indeed, U.S. data published in 1991 suggested as many as 98,000 deaths per year might be due to medical errors. In the new survey, based on almost 1,700 patients at seven clinics, eight percent said they had experienced "a lot" or "severe" harm from the perceived mistake in care.

"Continuing to question and gather information is important for patients," said Kistler, adding that second opinions and information about the normal course of a disease could be helpful.

Dr. Ning Tang, an expert in patient safety at the University of California, San Francisco, said the area has seen little improvement in recent decades.

She called for better data, adding that doctors could do a better job of talking and listening to their patients.

"We certainly do need to improve communication with patients and help them understand what to expect from primary care," said Tang, who wrote an editorial about the new survey.

Earlier national surveys show as many as one-third of Americans believe they or a family member have experienced an error in medical care, she said.

From: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68D3K420100914


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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Senate bill will imprison dietary supplement makers for ten years -- for telling you the truth!

Our good friends at NaturalNews.com just issued the following warning about Senate Bill 3767, which is designed to eliminate your access to truthful, proven information about the benefits of nutritional supplements.

The medical bureaucrats figure they can destroy the natural health community without banning a single supplement.


All they have to do is make it illegal for supplement manufacturers to tell you how their supplements benefit your health. How will they do this? By claiming supplement manufacturers are "misbranding" their products by telling you what the supplements are good for.


As you know, the FDA already considers any specific claim of healing benefits for a supplement to be "misbranding." In other words, you can't say "Vitamin C cures colds" in your advertising, or on your label claims.


But now they want to make it a crime for manufacturers to tell you about (or even link to) clinical studies demonstrating nutritional benefits from a particular supplement ingredient.

They don't want you to see these studies, or understand their relevance to any particular nutritional supplement.


Can you imagine hundreds upon hundreds of different herbs and other supplements being available to you at health food stores and on the internet, but legally you can’t be told what any of them are good for?


So when you have a particular health challenge, and you go to a nutritional supplement web site to search out a natural solution to that challenge, you find…nothing. Just photos of the supplements, and their names.

Once SB 3767 is passed, the FDA wil use it to make sure there will be n
o info about clinical research studies or even about the historical uses of a supplement ingredient from which to make an informed decision.


That’s what the medical bureaucrats are up to now. Here, from NaturalNews.com and Life Extension Foundation, is the information you need to know about putting a screeching halt to it before it gets passed:


Senate bill 3767 seeks to put dietary supplement makers

in prison for ten years -- for telling you the truth!


Beware of Senate bill 3767, the so-called Food Safety Accountability Act. This dangerous legislation, if passed, would criminalize nutritional supplement manufacturers who tell the truth about their products or link to published scientific studies describing the biological benefits of their products.


Based on language in the bill, health proponents who sell supplements could be criminalized and convicted to ten years in prison.


The Life Extension Foundation recently published an important warning piece about this, complete with some call to action items for which we need your help.


Here's what was written by William Faloon and published at LEF. I agree with every word written here and urge you to read this and take this message seriously, then do your part to oppose this new legislative tyranny that seeks to criminalize dietary supplement manufacturers.


Congress Seeks to

put Dietary Supplement Makers in Jail for Ten Years!


by William Faloon, LEF.org


Pharmaceutical companies are once again interfering with your ability to access information about dietary supplements.


The Senate is debating a bill that will enable the FDA to put vitamin supplement makers in jail for ten years if they cite findings from peer-reviewed published scientific studies on the label of their dietary supplements or their web site.


The pretext for these draconian proposals is a bill titled the Food Safety Accountability Act (S. 3767).


The ostensible purpose of the bill is to punish anyone who knowingly contaminates food for sale. Since there are already strong laws to punish anyone who commits this crime, this bill serves little purpose other than enriching pharmaceutical interests.


The sinister scheme behind this bill is to exploit the public's concern about food safety. Drug companies want to convince your Senators that an overreaching law needs to be enacted to grant the FDA powers to define "food contamination" any way it chooses.


Even today, the FDA can proclaim a dietary supplement as "misbranded" even if the best science in the world is used to describe its biological effects in the body.


The concern is that the FDA will use the term "misbranded" in the same way it defines "adulterated" in order to jail dietary supplement makers as if they were selling contaminated food.


The new bill being debated in the Senate increases the penalties the FDA can use to threaten supplement makers to ten years in prison.


The big issue here is that the FDA will use this as a hammer to threaten and coerce small companies into signing crippling consent decrees that will deny consumers access to truthful non-misleading information about natural approaches to protect against age-related disease.


Please tell your two Senators to OPPOSE the Food Safety Accountability Act (S. 3767).


You can do this in a few minutes on our convenient Legislative Action Center on our Web site. Click here to take action now.


If you'd like to read the legal details about this bill, log on to the Alliance for Natural Health Web site: http://www.anh-usa.org/breaking-news-new-%E2%80%9Cfood-safety%E2%80%9D-threat%E2%80%94urgent-action-alert/


Health-conscious consumers have already succeeded in preventing Congress from capitulating to the pharmaceutical industry earlier this year.


Please continue this string of victories by telling your Senators to OPPOSE this underhanded attempt (S. 3767) to grant the FDA dictatorial new powers.


Due to the short session before Congress adjourns for the election, please alert your two Senators today!


For longer life,

William Faloon

Life Extension Foundation


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Friday, September 17, 2010

Can This Popular Asian Spice Help Prevent and Heal Alzheimer's?

Nature is full of various herbs and spices that protect against disease and even treat and cure it.


And according to Chris Kilham, an ethnobotanist and Fox News' "Medicine Hunter", turmeric root -- also known in its extract form as curcumin -- is one such powerful spice that appears to both prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease and even cure it.


"People who develop Alzheimer's disease get a sticky plaque in the brain called amyloid beta," explained Kilham to Dr. Manny Alvarez in a recent Fox News interview.


Such plaques either develop as a result of Alzheimer's, or they are the direct cause of it. But either way, they are directly related to the degenerative process.


However studies show that turmeric actually eliminates these plaques, both when they are first starting to form and even during the late stages of their advancement.


"What we have in turmeric is something that appears to inhibit the development of Alzheimer's disease…and actually help to reduce the occurrence of plaque in the brain if you have it," noted Kilham.


"We know in animal studies, when animals actually have amyloid beta plaque in their brains and they're given turmeric root…that plaque is reduced."


Observational studies have also shown that people groups who eat large amounts of turmeric virtually never get Alzheimer's.


"In countries where people consume a lot of [turmeric], there's a very low incidence of Alzheimer's disease," emphasized Kilham. "In India and Southeast Asia, it's a rare disease. And [in the U.S.] it's very, very common."


According to Kilham, drug companies are hard at work trying to develop drug versions of turmeric, but he recommends eating real turmeric whenever possible, and taking turmeric extract supplements if eating the spice in food is not an option.


"A challenge that we face is that drug companies…can't patent turmeric root," he said. "So they will continue to try to develop something else. [But] eating turmeric, eating its extracts…appears to be protective against one of the most horrific and debilitating diseases we know."


From our good friends at www.NaturalNews.com



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Thursday, September 9, 2010

New Oxford University Study: High Doses of Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and B12 Slash Brain Shrinkage By Up To 53%!

It was only a few months ago that the once highly esteemed Reader's Digest came out with its infamous cover report claiming essentially that there is no significant scientific evidence that vitamins do any good at all for people seeking better health and well-being.

Ignoring numerous published studies which have found the exact opposite of what the Reader's Digest reported, the Digest went on to decry vitamin intake as basically worthless.

But in this latest study conducted by pharmacologists at the prestigious Oxford University, it was demonstrated that higher than normal doses of three common B-vitamins -- folic acid, B-6 and B-12 -- slash brain shrinkage associated with memory loss and brain impairment such as Alzheimer's disease by as much as 53%!

It just goes to show that listening to pop culture media dependent upon drug company advertising dollars is simply not the way to go. Reader's Digest ought to be ashamed of themselves. And a great big hooray to Oxford University scientists for undertaking this important new study!

-- Spencer Jones

New Oxford University Study: High Doses of Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and B12 Slash Brain Shrinkage By Up To 53%!

Vitamin B tablets could slow and even halt the devastating march of Alzheimer's Disease in the elderly, a breakthrough British study suggests.

The research showed that large doses of the supplement could halve the rate of brain shrinkage – a physical symptom associated memory loss and dementia in the elderly.

The effects were so dramatic that the scientists behind the work believe it could revolutionize the treatment of the disease.

Brain shrinkage or atrophy is a natural part of aging but it is known to be accelerated in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) – a kind of memory loss and forgetfulness – and Alzheimer's.

Scientists at the University of Oxford conducted a trial on 168 people and found that taking high doses of three vitamin B supplements every day reduced brain shrinkage associated with dementia by up to 53 per cent.

They said the results were so strong that it should open up a debate as to whether the tablets should be prescribed to everyone with MCI – half of whom develop Alzheimer's disease.

MCI affects 16 per cent of people over 70 – 1.5 million people in the UK.

Professor David Smith, a pharmacologist who co-authored the study, said the results were "immensely promising".

"It is a very simple solution: you give someone some vitamins and you protect the brain," he said.

"This is the first trial that has shown a glimmer of hope and success. It is the first one of its kind that has worked so clearly. I think it will change the whole direction of Alzheimer's research.

"500 people a day develop Alzheimer's in the UK. If we can cut that down by just 10 per cent it will have a big impact. I personally believe that it will."

The research, published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, is controversial because it defies current scientific dogma about the way to tackle Alzheimer's.

It suggests simply taking vitamins can achieve results that have so far evaded pharmaceutical companies, despite millions of pounds being spent on experimental dementia drugs.

The brain naturally shrinks in volume as we get older and when you get to 60, it is shrinking by as much as half a per cent a year.

But in those with MCI it is accelerates to one per cent a year and in Alzheimer's Disease by 2.5 per cent a year. This is accompanied by severe memory problems, slower thoughts and confusion.

Current research centers around tackling so-called tangles in the brain which are thought to "silt up" the brain's thought processes.

The team at the University of Oxford set out in a new direction – targeting the abnormal physical shrinkage of the brain.

They knew that a substance called homocysteine, an amino acid found in the blood, was associated with this shrinkage.

Elderly people with higher levels of homocysteine, had higher levels of brain shrinkage.

They also knew that vitamin B regulated levels of homocysteine and that the more vitamin B in the blood, the lower the levels of the harmful amino acid.

The researchers used an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to study brain shrinkage in 168 volunteers over the age of 70 with diagnosed MCI.

Over a period of two years, half were given a daily tablet containing high doses of the B vitamins folic acid, B6 and B12. The rest received a "dummy" placebo pill with no active ingredients.

At the end of the trial the effects of the vitamin treatment were found to be dramatic, and most pronounced in participants who started out with the highest rates of brain shrinkage.

On average, taking B vitamins slowed the rate of brain atrophy by 30 per cent, and in many cases reductions was as high as 53 per cent were seen.

Prof Smith said: "This is a very striking, dramatic result. It's much more than we could have predicted.

"It is our hope that this simple and safe treatment will delay the development of Alzheimer's disease in many people who suffer from mild memory problems."

Although the trial was not designed to measure thinking ability, the researchers found that individuals with the lowest rates of shrinkage had the highest mental test scores.

Prof Smith said it was still early to say exactly how vitamin B worked.

"The treatment lowers homocysteine, lower homocysteine reduces brain shrinkage and that reduces cognitive decline," he said.

The scientists stress that the doses of B vitamins used in the trial are much higher than would be obtained from diets and additives or normal health supplements.

The "TrioBe Plus" pills, prescribed under medical supervision in Sweden but not available in the UK, contain around 300 times the recommended daily intake of B12 and four times recommended folate levels.

However it is possible to copy the dose by buying three separate supplements from health food shops in Britain for as little as 10 pence a day.

The long-term effects of taking big doses of the vitamins were not known, and there was some evidence that high folic acid intake could be linked to cancer, he said.

While Prof Smith said anybody thinking of taking them should consult their doctor first, he personally felt they would be effective.

He said: "These are big doses. Should we take it? The person must be worried about their memory and then I would recommend going to their doctor first. But if I had MCI I would take it."

Professor Helga Refsum, his co-author at University of Oslo who is a visiting academic at Oxford, said more trials were needed but the evidence was strong.

"As a scientist I am not happy with just one trial and there will be a large debate. But as a clinician sitting in front of a patient I would say vitamin B supplements are fairly safe, they are not expensive and what we have found here is extremely convincing. It is very difficult to argue against its use."

The study was cautiously welcomed by other scientists although they said more studies were needed to back up the findings.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, which co-funded the study, said: "These are very important results, with B vitamins now showing a prospect of protecting some people from Alzheimer's in old age.

"The strong findings must inspire an expanded trial to follow people expected to develop Alzheimer's, and we hope for further success.

Chris Kennard, chair of the Medical Research Council's Neurosciences and Mental Health Board, which also provided funding, said: "The findings are very encouraging and we look forward to further research that is needed in order to test whether B vitamins can be recommended as a suitable treatment."

Paul Matthews, Professor of Clinical Neurology, Imperial College, London said: “This well-conducted study adds substantial new data to previous information suggesting that dietary B vitamins could have beneficial effects on neurodegeneration with ageing."

A spokesman for the Alzheimer’s Society said:"This is an interesting study which could change the lives of thousands of people at risk of dementia.

"However, previous studies looking at B vitamins have been very disappointing and we wouldn’t want to raise people’s expectations yet, as we have not specifically seen any benefits in preventing the onset of the symptoms of dementia."

From:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7989889/Vitamin-B-is-revolutionary-new-weapon-against-Alzheimers-Disease.html



By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent

Published: 5:00AM BST 09 Sep 2010

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Is the Coverup of Vaccine Dangers Finally Coming Unraveled?

India halts HPV vaccine testing after six girls die, yet US does nothing in response to 67 American deaths and counting…

The horrors caused by Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccine continue as six young girls recently died from the shots during an experimental Indian trial.

The two human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have been implicated in at least 67 deaths in the U.S., prompting no response from U.S. officials other than to keep pushing it on the public, but the six deaths in India have prompted the government there to immediately stop all trials of the vaccines.

"Two imported brands of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, namely Gardasil and Cervarix, were allowed to undergo clinical trial (Phase III) in India, before being granted permission for import and market authorization," explained S. Gandhiselvan, minister of state for healthy and family welfare, in a statement to India's parliament.

However, because of the deaths, he advised all states to stop vaccinating immediately.

According to reports, the trials were wholly unethical and illegitimate to begin with, and were nothing more than blatant exploitation by drug companies of disadvantaged people from a developing nation.

Since many women in the industrialized world are now learning about the dangers of HPV vaccinations and rejecting them, Big Pharma has moved on to other populations in its quest to jab the entire world with the dangerous shots.

TruthAboutGardasil.org, a website devoted to exposing the true dangers associated with HPV vaccinations, also explains that drug companies are falsely advertising the vaccines in other counties, even going so far as to falsely claim that they are mandatory in the U.S., France and Australia.

"We consider this a human rights violation, and request the U.S. to take the lead in protecting fundamental human rights by calling for a congressional hearing," said Rosemary Mathis from TruthAboutGardasil.org.

However, there have been 67 U.S. deaths from HPV vaccinations reported thus far in the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System (VAERS), and countless reports of serious, life-damaging side effects, and officials have done nothing about it.

So it is unlikely that the U.S. will do anything to stop the poison from being marketed around the world as a cure.

From our good friends at NaturalNews.com -- http://www.naturalnews.com/029632_India_HPV_vaccine.html