Are you having trouble refilling your Armour Thyroid?

Although I do not prescribe thyroid medication many of my patients take Armour Thyroid, the natural form of thyroid, and I have often recommended that they ask their doctors to switch them to this form of thyroid medication from the more common synthetic forms. Over the years, many people commented that they felt better after switching to Armour from an equivalent dose of synthetic.

A few months ago Armour Thyroid was reformulated and this coincided with people commenting to me that they felt symptoms of low thyroid creeping back although their dose of medication had not changed. To read more about the reformulation go here: http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/a/armour-reformulation.htm.
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Interested in healthy aging? Consider supplementing with Potassium Bicarbonate (K-Bicarb)

Over the years I have written often about how the modern diet and lifestyle cause our bodies to become increasingly acidic as we age, and how excessive acidity leads to or favors many of the health conditions associated with aging.

Although women are reminded constantly about taking calcium to stave off osteoporosis, they have to do extensive research to learn that when the body is acidic it draws calcium and other minerals out of bones, and no amount of milk or calcium supplements will reverse that trend. I wrote about this topic a few years ago and readers who are interested can find my article by going to my website and searching in Newsletters.

Many common symptoms that modern medicine struggles to address today, including fluid retention, fatigue, lack of restful sleep, muscle tension, and more, can result from excessive acidity.
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Preventing Swine Flu and the flu in general, and avoiding vaccine side effects

Although to date the H1N1 (or “swine flu”) vaccine has not been released, there is already talk about it becoming mandatory. Concern among parents and others, including people who have not vaccinated before, is that this time they should.

When deciding whether to vaccinate of not, consider that even though swine flu has spread rapidly across the world, most people who had it experienced unusually mild flu symptoms. In rare cases it affects the lungs causing pneumonia, which could become life-threatening.

Though I believe that the risk of these severe complications can be all but eliminated with a few natural precautions, no one can prove definitively that this is so.

Also consider that the swine flu vaccine is not just the usual flu vaccine adapted to a new strain, it is a newly engineered vaccine. Given how quickly it is being developed, it is impossible to rule out the risk of potentially severe side effects that may only become apparent after the vaccine is released in the population.

There is a historic precedent to this. In 1976 the United States was hit by a similar swine flu virus and, just like today, there was a great deal of concern for its possible deadly consequences. Also just as we are seeing now, there was a huge rush to produce a vaccine that, once released, was found to cause an often-fatal neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS).
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A natural alternative to rheumatoid arthritis drugs once labeled as “miracles” that have been found to cause deadly side effects

Yet another recently released family of drugs has been shown to be potentially deadly. This time it is the so-called TNF blockers, a group of drugs that includes Enbrel, Humira, Kineret and others, commonly prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions.

According to information from the FDA, years after being approved as “safe and effective,” these drugs have been proven to cause lymphoma, other types of cancer, and new immune system disorders like psoriasis (although they are also prescribed as treatment for psoriasis).

To understand how this is possible, consider that these medications work by suppressing tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a critical component of the body’s immune response. When there is an immune disorder like rheumatoid arthritis, blocking TNF will reduce inflammation, which means less pain – but at the same time it will make the body more vulnerable to a variety of other illnesses, including cancer.

Not enough people realize this, but it is a fact that rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders respond very well to natural treatments, generally with no side effects, no immune suppression, and therefore no long-term dangers.

My way of dealing with these conditions is based on three primary components: dietary modification, an anti-inflammatory enzyme often described as a “systemic enzyme” called VitalzymX, and a blend of Chinese herbs called BioEssence.

Even though diet is probably not the root cause of these conditions, everyone I have evaluated who came to me with these conditions suffered from undetected food allergies that acted as triggers for their symptoms. These hidden food triggers must be identified and eliminated from the diet in order to initiate and support the healing process. Many times sufferers will report a significant improvement from this step alone.

Systemic enzymes are proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes that are taken several times a day between meals. When taken this way they are absorbed in the bloodstream unaltered. They then naturally seek out and break down protein buildup in joints and other inflamed areas of the body. These areas of protein buildup are constantly feeding the inflammatory process and, when cleared, the inflammation also stops or decreases greatly.

While systemic enzymes do not correct the root cause of the condition, they are an essential step (along with diet) to initiate a healing process. They also cause no adverse effects on health and have been shown to actually strengthen immunity and help the body fight off viruses and other infections.

Chinese herbs can do what no drug can: they can normalize immune function, thus enabling sufferers to truly overcome their conditions. In studies, Chinese herbs have often been shown to be equally effective to steroid drugs, like Prednisone, for example in the treatment of asthma. However, one key difference was that the steroids worked by suppressing immunity, whereas the Chinese herbal mixes normalized and strengthened immunity.

The product I am currently recommending is BioEssence. It has proven to be remarkably effective for allergies and asthma, autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, and skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis. However, if you or your child suffers from one of these conditions I strongly recommend that you make an appointment to see me and not try to self-medicate.