Point of View

Walking In Someone Else's Shoes

Invisible Physical Conditions

Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, CRPS, Migraines, Fibromyalgia, high functioning Autism…. The list is long. And media is always slow about getting the facts across to people. Perhaps too few are reading what is shared on the latest information about chronic illnesses. Honestly, this is another example of sleepwalking, isn’t it? For why bother thinking about another at all? Until it is you or your loved one that is disabled. And no reason to consider all the manifestations of physical conditions, again, unless you or your loved one is experiencing a condition that is not obvious to the naked eye, to the common observer on the street. So, if you don’t have time to learn about why someone that looks perfectly fine to your point of view is struggling and could use, at least, your understanding… stop reading here.

If, on the other hand, you and someone you care about could use this article …to share with those you know that cannot accept your physical condition; or maybe just to expand your viewpoint a little bit more and learn some more coping techniques… Read on.

Nothing So Strange As Folk

My spouse’s father used to say this all the time…. “Nothing so strange as folk.” And frankly, this is perhaps a careful way of putting it! But over my experiences in this life, I have also come to see the saying from the perspective that of course everyone is a stranger. We are all focused in on our own experiences, conditions, dreams, and desires… and rightly so. We cannot not truly know anyone until we know the very ‘person’ looking back at us in the mirror each day. Maturity evolves and hopefully one begins to recognise that judging another is just as awkward as when another judges you. Meanwhile, we are often guilty of harshly judging ourselves sometimes too! Where does this uncomfortable circle lead?

All sides, and there are ALWAYS more than just two sides, have meaning for the side that is giving the perspective. Compassion is easily given, usually, by that human with the hidden disability. They know you cannot see their condition because you probably have never even heard of it. How do they know this? Because they never heard of it either, before they got ‘the diagnosis’! You may be under a lot of pressure at work or in an important relationship. Who has time to know about all the ways the physical is imperfect… when after all, the dream is perfection in our modern society. So, rather than educate about the many conditions, this article is meant to educate that the stranger on the street may have as much or more going on in their little world as you have.

Mirror, Mirror

The photograph I share with this story is of my face while walking. I chose it, and actually the photo inspired this writing, because I look so ‘normal’ and happy as well! in the picture. The list of secondary physical conditions that accompany my presumed ‘diagnosis’ of Ankylosing Spondylitis is amusingly long. I laugh, now, understanding that this stranger, ankylosing spondylitis, has been sneaking in and about my house for far longer than I or any of my doctors recognised.

Imagine your life right now and there have been illnesses here or there, maybe some injuries, but nothing you couldn’t handle. Then you cross some imaginary border that you never saw coming …when the doc comes into the exam room and announces a ‘diagnosis’ like it is the child you have been waiting to birth.

For the physician, see, all those minor complaints have coalesced into a known condition. He or she can name it for you. For the patient, this news is like opening the front door of your home to see a really dangerous looking character standing on your front porch. . . waiting to come inside. No! I didn’t invite you, you say. He pulls out some papers… lab results, research statistics, medical protocols, …it all goes murky in your vision. You come back in to the exam room reality as the smiling physician hands you some prescriptions and a careplan guide for your ‘diagnosis’. Oh, and a list of various numbers or clinic website links you can go to for more information…. Because the doc is busy with way too many patients and your appointment time is up.

Now, I can’t say about you, but for me…this is when I get the eerie feeling that I am walking in someone else’s shoes!!! Who is this person in the mirror? Everyone has their own variety pack of coping mechanisms. Key word there: mechanisms, because most of us have not penetrated the source of our thinking, much less the source of our emotions and reactions. At this point in the article, you might want to pause for a second and ask yourself, “wait..what does she mean the source of my emotions? I am human; I Am emotional, right?” My apologies to those of you who already have this down that you have a say in your behavior. But this would be the upshot of this article! Yes, we DO have a say in our thinking, which is why self-improvement activities get so much attention.

But Really?

Adaptability is touted as the penultimate talent of the human species. However, change, you may have observed, does not seem to come easily to most people. Especially when the change is something entirely unacceptable to the individual. For the traveler experiencing no physical impediments, just having to slow down to wait for someone to make it through the door or up a curb, can seem extraordinarily frustrating. Imagine how the person in that body feels about it!

For your friend or loved one whose physical condition is not visible, imagine having to explain for the tenth, 100th, 1000th …time! the reasons why they cannot go out for a movie tonight even though you are having such a grand time with them walking in town today. In case you missed it, they had to save up their tasks and energy, and balance them, so that they could enjoy this walk with you today. You must be very special to them. Because now it may be a week or possibly longer before they can do something like this again.

For the living breathing soul going through the lessons that this stranger, ‘the diagnosis’, has brought for their evolution …Point of View is all of this and more. The stranger may have moved in. The stranger may be the reflection in your mirror. The stranger may be the life you hadn’t planned on. But just like the unexpected last child, becoming aware of your Point of View is a conscious choice to awaken to a greater picture of the purpose in your life, …a conscious choice to adjust your point of view. Yes, it does take a hero of sorts, this attitude adjustment. Guess what? The reason the hero in all the stories tends to be reluctant…. is that what is required of them now is not what they planned.

Oh hey, that sounds like a stranger entered their reality and imposed its condition on them.

The Picture

If you enjoy hero tales, then you remember that there needs to be a guiding principle, a higher standard, or simply a reason to look beyond one’s small world. Or the hero will not pull the story’s desired ending off. The hero could even be the antagonist (aka bad guy) instead. I mentioned conscious choice above like it is an everyday thing. People do seem to think it is; yet, the very fact that change comes with effort reveals that actually conscious choice is unfamiliar. Aw shux, give it up then; I can be the bad guy. There must be a sequel where I win the lotto, right?

If you are the bad guy, I am surprised you read this far. Truly impressive, that would be. I suspect that, in truth, you are the hero of your story. Every day, use your mirror to remember who you really are. Discover the mystery behind this curious condition, the stranger, that has caused you to change all your life plans. Why? What else might I be instead? ‘The diagnosis’ I received like a wrapped package on my doorstep has insisted I change everything about how I live life. But please hear me when I say this: I could not have done this alone. My personal coping skills evolved into conscious choice… by the daily practice of looking to see the Greater in the picture I have.

The smile on my face above is not because of anything in the physical condition. Believe it or not, I am in physical pain there and laughing at the irony of it. I am smiling because I am discovering the way to live my own truth through the house, the body, the irony! I have been gifted to live in. And this hero’s journey, though immensely challenging, has morphed into a wondrous self discovery. Now THAT is a gift.

The next time, someone gets in your way …stop, pause, and check in. What are you going to choose about your point of view of this momentary awareness? Maybe walk in their shoes or alongside them a few steps of the way? For just a little bit, you could be their hero of the day. How sweet is that? In so doing, you might also discover that your own problems aren’t as heavy as you imagined.

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The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

¬A teaching story of Rumi translated by Coleman Barks©

Poop Matters! or What is Microbiome?

Photo by Art-Of-Photo/iStock / Getty Images

Poop Matters! or What is Microbiome?

What do the topics of diet, weight loss, Probiotics, gut health, and Prevention have in common? Not long ago, we would have been hardput to answer this question. Today, the link in these topics is the latest shot of adrenaline to the study of health promotion. And oh yes, scientists, health promotion aficionados, healthcare providers, nutritionists, and those strange folk that actually want a high quality of life experience (You) are excited by the ongoing stream of information coming through more and more research studies. 

Just to get your attention? is the subject of "poop" brazenly broached! And well, this is the very kernel of the science behind Probiotics that has opened a storm of revelation. To say it as plainly as possible, your poop, like the revered oracle of ancient Greece (must laugh, yes?) tells the story of your current health condition like lines in the tea leaves... like bones in the bowl... like the colours of a sunset... Forgive the poetic hyperbole haha! but this is the facts of it. The poop must be healthy! or the patient is not... healthy, that is.

Wait, really?! YES, really. There is supposed to be a whole host of healthy/normal micro-organisms living in our guts...our intestines. And these organisms are not merely passersby, these teeny lifeforms must be able to establish colonies and symbiotic connections to one another and to the individual human body of the intestines (the host). I think of it as similar to how those various small fish and other creatures live on the most fearsome predators of the seas. Without them, the predator could not be healthy, because these little creatures perform vital tasks to maintain the host fish's health. Of course, what they do keeps them alive, too. And so it is with our microbiome.... that is what we call this village of gut bacteria living in our intestines- our microbiome.

Okay, whatever...Why should I care? And what can I do about keeping the wee boogars happy in my bod? Quite a bit, it turns out. Oh yeah, and what if I do NOT do these things? !Voila`! you get sick, really sick after awhile, if your poop and its environment allow the naughty microbes to move in. Well, that seems simple, right? And really it is.... except that ...you knew this was coming if you have been paying attention in this blog and others on the same vein.... Our modern diet does NOT promote healthy gut microbiomes.

Please, Keep It Simple, Sweetie! Alright, here is the short and sweet list of do's and dont's. And if you are like me and want convincing, follow up the Resources and Ideas links at the end of this post as well as the many links in the Meet Probiotics article and the other posts/reviews shared in Lifestyle Modification Support website.....

DO -

• Choose the freshest locally grown food that is NOT using agricultural methods that kill off the soil and plant microbiome.
• Cook your food as lightly as possible. Heat kills food's naturally occurring pre- and probiotics
• Drink and eat naturally fermented foods and beverages. Fermentation means that healthy micro-organisms are thriving in the food and will transfer to your gut to set up housekeeping :)
• Supplement, if necessary, with multi-strain probiotics products.
• If you must take antibiotics, use probiotics during and after the unfortunate situation.
• Become a food label reader! Learn all the code names for sugar.

DON'T -

• Don't have sugar in your food choices. Period. Wherever you catch it as an ingredient, find another way to eat that food without sugar, because it will ruin your microbiome.
• Don't cook on high unless you need to boil water for pasta for example. Slow, low heat makes all the sumptuous flavours remain and blend into your dish...& saves the nutrients for your microbiome.
• Don't beg your medical provider for antibiotics! If the doc says antibiotics are not called for, guess what? The doc is trying to SAVE YOUR HEALTH! Antibiotics kill the microbiome.

The problem with simple lists is that they leave out the whys and wherefores. So, ask for more info... and Read everything on the topic of your poop's happiness and well-being! And come on, you can be a researcher, too, of your own body. Try out some of the healthy suggestions for keeping your guts happy.

Resources and Ideas

The Healing Power of Poop May Surprise You; friendly article on the focus for understanding our gut's health. Retrieved from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-healing-power-of-poop_us_56e75c36e4b0860f99da2a3b?

A storm of research continues, but where to begin? How about at the beginning? What did you eat today? Consider prebiotic sources of food choices to fatten up the good microbes your gut is already hosting... https://peerj.com/articles/659/ and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705355/ and https://authoritynutrition.com/why-is-fiber-good-for-you/

Healthy suggestions... just remember to take all the info with a grain of ....healthy microbes!! http://www.drfranklipman.com/build-a-better-microbiome/

Meet Probiotics

You may have only recently heard about probiotics. But modern research into the missing element in, not only the physical health of our homo sapiens species but also into the diminishing health of domestic species and even of the ecosystems that homo sapiens relies on, became an earnest study for scientific research in the 1980s. Japan, historically as an island nation, tends to penetrate to the source of the whole survival cycle of humans, because islands must manage resources for self-sustainability. In the 1980s, microbiologists in Japan expanded discussions in food production to investigate the key elements necessary for maintaining the vitality of the ecosystem that provided food. In-depth research revealed an intimate connection between the human gut and the bacteria that enabled healthy plant growth. Long story short (for now), this initiated what has now become the new thriving market of pre- and probiotic products.

This month of March, Lifestyle Modification Support presents the evolution of human health, with an intense focus on how food production matters to whole health for long high-quality lifestyle.

This post is short today, but as always, I am adding links below to get you looking into some of the new and historical viewpoints and investigation of food's connection to physical health. During March, my focus will be on organising for You the information and the concepts such that the facts are easily recognised...so that You can use this current information to make conscious choices for your own well-being.

Until later, life, Love, laughter! live well and Be well. ¬jstill

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Probiotics: the Magic Pill? http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288813.php

Probiotics - Supplements Galore! https://www.crohns.net/miva/productinfo/ohhira_story.shtml

Or Probiotics 'the way nature intended' in our soils, foods, and bodies?!! https://www.chucklinggoat.co.uk/what-is-kefir/

Meet other island nations' research on how to restore the health of their ecosystems and thereby the health and well-being of their people : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15638751

Probiotics for a Better Pregnancy - A new study call for participants at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/departments/medicine/research/otago031744.html

And yes, this is big business as well as big news! Read one of the many articles on Food Business News about the impact of probiotic research at: http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/Supplier-Innovations/2014/04/Probiotics_and_prebiotics_The.aspx?ID={7F4E9C92-D651-4978-A7F9-9F3EA3BC7EDD}&cck=1

Japan's version of this news : http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/issues/2008-03/view_columns/japan-insider-prebiotics-amp-probiotics-in-japan/

Of course, even agriculture benefits from providing the Best quality product! http://www.custombio.com/agriculture

A High Fat Diet Reverses ALL Coronary Risk Factors

A High Fat Diet Reverses ALL coronary risk factors...why? This video presentation is a simple (and therefore, hopefully, easy to understand...let me know) update on some of the latest research backing up the already well known regarding vagaries of nutritional counseling. In the video, Dr Noakes shares a number of recent resources on this topic.

Take-home points:

• Obesity is a brain disorder
• Obesity has specific causes from our modern diet
• Diabetes is compounded by the same dietary conditions
• FOLLOW THE MONEY to see why our current food supply has changed
• Gliaden/gluten in wheat may be the cause of a wide range of chronic diseases with currently unknown causes
• A High Fat diet reverses ALL coronary risk factors
• Lipid count is unrelated to your risk of heart disease
• Examples of a high fat diet changing bodies

And more.....

Did you open the infographics from Lifestyle Modification Support's Welcome page? Most of them are specifically related to this topic, such as http://www.stilljanet.com/blog/984-2 and http://www.stilljanet.com/blog/got-skim-milk-maybe-a-recipe-for-obesity-and-cancer-talking-back-scientific-american-blog-network

You might also want to investigate Leaky Gut Syndrome further ... http://www.leakygut-syndrome.com/

A great place to get started on cooking and eating truly healthier .... enjoy a peek at Theresa Niccassio's website, YUM at: http://yumfoodforliving.com/

See the resources:

Davis, William (2011). The Wheat Belly. Can also read more from several places: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWheatBelly to get you started!

Noakes, Tim (2014). The Real Meal Revolution. Enjoy this link to his book:  retrieved from http://realmealrevolution.com/

Rothberg, MB. (2013). Coronary artery disease as clogged pipes: A misconceptual model; from Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes; 6: 129-132.

Teicholz, Nina (2014). The Big Fat Surprise. Information can also be retrieved from http://thebigfatsurprise.com/

Maybe a lil dirt doesn't hurt after all!

Maybe a lil dirt doesn't hurt after all!

J.Still

Or maybe there is ALWAYS a whole lot more to learn about our bodies, health, and disease! In preparation for an upcoming podcast on probiotics and the healthy gut microbiome, I am reviewing quite a few scholarly articles from the huge influx of recent research results about how the health of the bacteria in and on our bodies turns out to be the key to disease prevention. You read that aright! the KEY ...And I do mean that healthy micro-organisms (like micro-organisms found in the dirt o.O) have a very important role in our physical balance. 

Thinking of so many people that ask me about their particular condition .... how folks ask, too, how nutrition could assist them in improving the progression of their disease; .... I have found some articles to share with you that are not so full of scientific jargon. These articles are from the various Foundations, healthcare groups, or science sections of reputable news rooms that support folks with diseases, so that you are reading expert agreed-upon information in these. This is a short post add-on to supplement this month's articles and writing. I will see if I can add my podcast link too when it is completed!

Remember these are layman articles to make for easier reading for you. I am also including actual research links at the end of this brief post...

Reviews:

Arthritis, yes, wonderfully, probiotics has a huge benefit! Read the Arthritis Foundation review... http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-diet/healthy-eating/guide-to-probiotics.php

Crohn's and Colitis, too... http://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/research/projects/a-new-super-protective-probiotic-for-ibd

Even depression and anxiety can benefit from a healthy microbiome... There are many articles and new research on this subject! Here is an easy read from the Huffington Post Science section... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/04/gut-bacteria-mental-healt_n_6391014.html

Diarrhea? from antibiotics? aww! Probiotics to the rescue! http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/news/20120508/probiotics-reduce-antibiotic-diarrhea

Immunity is the main BIG news from microbiome research. This article is from the NIH website and includes a lecture by the respected Patricia Hibberd MD PhD.  https://nccih.nih.gov/training/videolectures/probiotics Please be aware this one is much like going back to university!

Obesity is the new area invaded by probiotic results! What?! Yes..read on http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/

Psoriasis your issue? Look at this recent top story from the National Psoriasis Foundation: https://www.psoriasis.org/advance/features/microbiome-how-your-bacteria-affects-psoriasis-psoriatic-arthritis

And loads more reliable sources are talking about how the health of your microbiome, especially your gut microbiome, is intricately connected to your overall health and well-being.

References:

Akkasheh, G; Kashani-Poor, Z; Tajadadi-Ebrahimi, M; Jafari, P; Akbari, H;Taghizadeh, M; Memarzadeh, MR; Asemi, Z; and Esmaillzadeh, A (2015). Clinical and metabolic response to probiotic administration in patients with major depressive disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Nutrition.

Castellazzi, AM; Valsecchi, C; Caimmi, S; Licari, A; Marseglia, A; Leoni, MC; Caimmi, D; Miraglia del Guidice, MM; Leonardi, S; La Rosa, M; and Marseglia, GL. (2014).  Probiotics and food allergy in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics 39(47).

Floch, MH; Walker, WA; Sanders, ME; Nieuwdorp, M; Kim, AS; Brenner, DA; Qamar, AA; Miloh, TA; Guarino, A; Guslandi, M; Dieleman, LA; Ringel, Y; Quigley, E; and Lawrence J (2015). Recommendations for Probiotic Use—2015 Update: Proceedings and Consensus Opinion in Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 49; S69-S73.

Frei, R; Akdis, M; and O’Mahony, L. (2015). Prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, and the immune system: experimental data and clinical evidence in Current Opinion in Gastroenterology, 31(2); 153-158.

Gill, T; Asquith, M; Rosenbaum, J; and Colbert, RA (2015). The intestinal microbiome in spondyloarthritis in Current Opinion in Rheumatology 27(4); 319-325.

Gomes, AC;  Bueno,AA; Machado de Souza, RG; and Mota, JF (2014). Gut microbiota, probiotics and diabetes in Nutrition Journal 13(60); 1475-2891.

Luna, RA and Foster, JA (2015). Gut brain axis: diet microbiota interactions and implications for modulation of anxiety and depression; in Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 32; 35-41.

Park, S and Bae JH (2015). Probiotics for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis in Nutrition Research 35(7); 566-75.

Zhang, H; Wang, H; Shepherd, M; Wen, K; Li, G; Yang, X; Kocher, J; Giri-Rachman, E. Dickerman, A; Settlage, R; and Yuan, L. (2014). Probiotics and virulent human rotavirus modulate the transplanted human gut microbiota in gnotobiotic pigs. Article in the Gut Pathogens section of the BioMed Central site. Retrieved from: http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/46/art%253A10.1186%252Fs13099-014-0039-8.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgutpathogens.biomedcentral.com%2Farticle%2F10.1186%2Fs13099-014-0039-8&token2=exp=1448914702~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F46%2Fart%25253A10.1186%25252Fs13099-014-0039-8.pdf*~hmac=8d951c6f738c58994e40b29287b7d26cb2232845ac8375da49d7f12df9f6f546

How We Survived

How We Survived

¬jstill

Today’s hunt nearly cost us our two youngest stalkers, the promise of tomorrow lives in their strength and cunning. We have been without sufficient food for two days. How much longer can the young ones be convinced to share any harvest with all of us? I can only hope the gatherers succeeded in discovering a good supply of roots or our families may not remain alive to see another full year.

Astounding to imagine what survival entailed on a day to day basis in the formative years of our species’ evolution. Yet survive our species did, or we would not be overrunning the planet today. Was it merely persistence and blind luck? There are many theories; however, there is consensus that our intelligence assisted in our ability to learn from mistakes and discover what foods were the easiest and safest to rely upon to awaken to another day….by day …by day.

What if we had insisted on eating food-like substances with little or no nutrient value, would we have succeeded to the degree we realise now? When early hominids consistently ate lesser quality substances, they tended to sicken, starve or weaken so much so that their care became a burden. Some of these unfortunates did manage to reproduce, but courtship rituals for early hominids had to be much like all mammals reproduction rites: a display of the traits most likely to provide success for the offspring. In our case, physical prowess is vital but equally so, applied intelligence still stands strong.

Correct or not, the fact of our present survival insists that our sentience played an important role. This utilisation of problem-solving, memory, and experimentation is the outstanding feature of our species that we believe guides our choices even now. Without diving too deep into future conjecture, this article is to open discussion on the purpose of Lifestyle Modification Support’s choice of health articles. Because, in order to sustain our species’ survival record, we surely cannot leave behind all practical use of our intelligence!

Oxford Dictionaries defines intelligence as “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). Thus, the popularity of books, periodicals, videos, blogs and social media reflects our inherent appetite for knowledge. You might object that such mediums do not necessarily lend any credible information. Acquiring knowledge certainly requires astute discrimination of the source of information. Whether the information is empirically derived or the product of an active imagination lends further cred to its long-term usefulness. I have heard some argue that knowledge is useless if misunderstood or simply not applied.

Services page link

About page link

With all these implicit parameters embracing Lifestyle Modification Support’s intentions, the goal and purpose of all the health articles available in our website are to assist the individual with a steady source of defining research on balanced lifestyle, especially in the area of choosing Real nutrition to support your body’s intelligent chemical homeostasis. When you are healthy, your future and that of those relying on you is secured. Many readers are educated and practiced at application of knowledge; others require support. Please know that Lifestyle Modification Support is available to answer your individual questions; to speak or write for your educational events; and/or to provide professional advocacy/guidance on a case by case basis. The Services page and the About page offer contact details.

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References

Oxford Dictionaries (2015). Intelligence, retrieved from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/intelligence

Imagine Our World if We Taught It How to Eat

News from the

• European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2015

theheart.org on Medscape > Heartfelt with Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley

COMMENTARY

Imagine Our World if We Taught It How to Eat

Melissa Walton-Shirley

I attended a session yesterday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2015 Congress entitled, "What should you eat to live a heart-healthy life?" By all accounts, accolades, and high-fives following the presentation, it was life-changing. Dr Neil Thomas (University of Birmingham, UK), Dr Steen Stender (University of Copenhagen, Hellerup, Denmark), Dr Simon Poole (Cambridge, UK), and Prof T Meinert Larsen (University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark)—all nutrition gurus and scientists—spent 67 minutes teaching us how to save the world. It was probably the most important series of the entire ESC 2015 meeting because they advocated for nutrients whose side effects are nil (for most) and are readily available for mass consumption (in most places). They demonstrated how a population of unsuspecting individuals could be sickened when a government allows a food supply to become tainted by commerce and ignored by politicians. They proselytized with proof and enthusiasm that we need to educate and legislate on the topic of nutrition to save millions upon millions of lives and dollars.

You may say I'm a dreamer

Dr Steen Stender dreams of a world without trans fat. He knows why it has been favored by the food industry: it's cheap, can hold its shape as a semisolid at room temp, has an ultralong shelf life, and stands up to repeated heating. Dr Stender also understands why the 2006 Nurses' Health Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated a 33% increase in the incidence of coronary heart disease when 5 g or more of trans fat per day is consumed. Its ability to increase LDL and decrease HDL levels is a negative double-whammy in the lipid arena.

Because Dr Stender stood up to big commerce, he is now a superhero in the world of trans-fat legislation. As chair of the Danish Nutrition Council's subgroup dealing with trans fats and health, he convinced the country of Denmark to approve a ban there effective January 1, 2004. It is now illegal for any food to contain more than 2% trans fats, and offenders face hefty fines and even incarceration. Proof of the downside of taking a hard stand on trans fat is the fact that he was sued after he outed the content of a favorite snack wafer. He likened the public's risk of consuming it to that of smoking 10 cigarettes per day. Sales plummeted, and the company sued him for $1 million. Then, in a stunning turnaround, in 3 months, it dropped the suit and removed 100% of the trans fat in its product.

The number of Danes who died from cardiovascular disease fell by 70% between 1985 and 2009. No EU member state has recorded a greater decline in mortality. Could the ban on trans fats in 2003 be the cause? Indeed, it seems that Dr Stender's dream for Denmark may have already come true.

But I'm not the only one

In my office, I have a copy of the Mediterranean diet pyramid at checkout for every new patient. Many established patients who suffer from metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, or obesity receive a second or even a third copy. I spend hours teaching the simple mechanics of nutrition. I stress that it's more impactful on longevity than any metal scaffold electively deployed into a coronary artery. I found a kindred spirit in Dr Simon Poole. His salient points came rapid fire, finding their mark and leaving quite an impression.

"If patients with coronary artery disease came out of the office of a practicing physician or cardiologist not on a statin, you could argue that's a negligent practice, but I'd argue that most have no advice on diet. I lay down the gauntlet. We as physicians need to emphasize diet," he began. He then lauded Dr Stender by saying, "Steen has done remarkably well with his government. Our secretary of state wanted to make an impact. We were shuffled into a room to discuss how to decrease mortality in 2.5 years. We emphasized "brave legislation" (hinting at labeling, reduction in trans-fat content, and education). The reply was a terse, "Well, we don't do social engineering." Someone in the group argued, "If you look at eye-level in a market at the packaging of chocolates for children . . . if that isn't social engineering, I don't know what is."

He made the salient points that simple things like irrigation of olives decreases the antioxidant content of olive oil, which can ruin even good foods. When UV light replaces natural sunlight, it can be impactful. Furthermore, he consumes up to 50 cc of olive oil per day and recommends frying fish in it and pouring it on pasta. He doesn't count calories.

I quickly asked the expert if anything about my usual dietary recommendations could be improved. I told him that I advocate for cutting in half the consumption of bread, sweets, potatoes, pasta, and rice and to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. I recommend a maximum of four eggs per week and no more than one serving of red meat per month.

Dr Poole replied, "I don't discourage consuming pasta if they drizzle olive oil on it because it lowers the glycemic load. I'd die without having red meat once per week but the portion is very, very small," he said, pointing to a small portion of the palm of his hand. "It's always grass fed," he added and quipped, "I always know what my food ate." Further critiquing my recommendations, he added, "I would go for more than five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Butternut squash, for instance, and cucumbers are fruits of sorts. As for eggs, they are back on the menu."

His friend Dr Aseem Malhotra (Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Camberley, UK), who was standing nearby, added, "Following an MI, for mortality lowering, a high-fat Mediterranean diet is more effective than aspirin, statins, and coronary stents." It was a statement thrown like a fastball toward home plate, its implication staggering and dead on target.

Dr Poole concluded his presentation today by stating, "We need broader professional leadership and access to resources. Education is key. We need to take responsibility."

I hope someday you'll join us

Dr Neil Thomas emphasized the importance of respecting the many randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of the Mediterranean and DASH diets to reduce all cause mortality. The impact of uneven recommendations and the impact of the media's influence cannot be underestimated. He cautions against supplements, stating that, "The media regularly reports on omega-3 fatty acids for prevention and treatment of CV disease, but there are no interventional studies that demonstrate a reduction in mortality. The US Preventive Services Task Force found no evidence of a positive effect of any nutritional supplement. Although there was a 7% reduction in all-cause mortality in one study that included vitamin D, those studies included simultaneous calcium supplementation. Those with vitamin D alone are all negative," he said, then added, "There are two larger trials upcoming that will be definitive regarding whether it's beneficial." He concluded by saying, "With regard to beta carotene, as soon as you start giving it in interventional trials it actually increased the risk of death."

Dr Thomas Larsen is studying multiple dietary combinations like high- or low-glycemic-index diets combined with higher or lower fatty- and protein-content diets. According to the DIOGENES trial, he noted, patients who followed a low-protein and high-glycemic index diet were more likely to gain weight. He then added, "High-protein diets, not low-glycemic-index diets, are the most promising for regulation of fat mass and abdominal height." He concluded that based on the Diogenes diet and others, "a high-protein, low-glycemic-index diet may have additive effects to improve body-weight regulation, is more successfully maintained, and may be more likely to lower CVD risk factors if followed long term."

And the world will be as one

I challenge you take this information into your exam rooms tomorrow. Bring along a copy of the Mediterranean diet pyramid. Talk to patients about how adding extra virgin olive oil blunts the glycemic index of whole-wheat pasta. Advocate against unfounded claims for dietary supplements. Strike up a conversation with your local congressional representatives. Imagine how we as clinicians and practitioners can change the world one conversation at a time, one politician at a time, and one act of legislation at a time. If you can see the future, you can make it happen. Imagine how the world would eat and live if we all did that tomorrow. Just imagine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, imagine a world where wellness is revered and respected again!

Thank you, Melissa Walton-Shirley, for one of the most exciting and inspiring reviews I have read in some time!!

Photo by yaruta/iStock / Getty Images

6 Anti-Inflammatory Powerhouses

6 Anti-Inflammatory Powerhouses

Clean eating can put out the fire that's making you sick.

By Editors of Prevention August 24, 2015

Chronic inflammation has been associated with an increased risk of arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and cancer. Sure, some inflammation is good—like the acute kind is a form of self-protection, your body's immune response to a cut or pathogens entering the body. Chronic inflammation, however, means that your body is constantly producing immune cells, which can damage the body. This harmful inflammation is a result of never-ending stress, being overweight, or a diet high in things like sugar, trans fats, and various toxins.

But while the wrong diet promotes excessive inflammation, a diet rich in clean foods can help reduce it and its harmful effects on your body. The following foods in particular are anti-inflammatory powerhouses:

Spices and Herbs
Herbs and spices like basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, turmeric, peppercorns, ginger, and cinnamon are loaded with all sorts of antioxidants that have even been found to reduce pro-inflammatory compounds that build up on meat during grilling. And ginger and turmeric, in particular, have been linked to joint pain relief. Add them to marinades, dressings, spice rubs, and teas for a dose of health and flavor.

Soy
Soy can reduce the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, which is linked to cardiovascular disease. Incorporate clean sources of soy into your diet, such as tempeh or edamame.

More: The Top Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Cold-Water Fish
Salmon, black cod, sardines, and anchovies are full of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is a particularly good choice—its rosy pink color comes from carotenoids, which also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins C and E and the carotenoids alpha- and beta-carotene, all of which reduce inflammation and promote healthy, vibrant skin.

More: 11 Weird Things Inflamming Your Body

Walnuts
Walnuts contain alpha- linolenic acid--an omega-3 fatty acid that reduces inflammation and is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Tea
Green, black, and white teas contain free radical-fighting catechins, which have recently been associated with reduced muscle inflammation and a speedier recovery after exercise.

Adapted from Eat Clean, Stay Lean

Article retrieved from: http://www.rodalewellness.com/food/6-anti-inflammatory-powerhouses?cid=NL_RNDF_2170216_09072015_6_Anti-Inflammatory_Powerhouses_title

Eating Processed Foods

Eating Processed Foods

.....from NHS Choices

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood/pages/what-are-processed-foods.aspx

Processed foods aren't just microwave meals and other ready meals. The term 'processed food' applies to any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience. This means you may be eating more processed food than you realise.

Processed foods aren't necessarily unhealthy, but anything that’s been processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat.

One advantage of cooking food from scratch at home is that you know exactly what is going into it, including the amount of added salt or sugar.

However, even homemade food sometimes uses processed ingredients. Read on to find out how you can eat processed foods as part of a healthy diet.

What counts as processed food?

Most shop-bought foods will have been processed in some way.

Examples of common processed foods include:

• breakfast cereals
• cheese
• tinned vegetables
• bread
• savoury snacks, such as crisps 
• meat products, such as bacon
• "convenience foods", such as microwave meals or ready meals
• drinks, such as milk or soft drinks

Food processing techniques include freezing, canning, baking, drying and pasteurising products. 

Dietitian Sian Porter says: "Not all processed food is a bad choice. Some foods need processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurised to remove harmful bacteria. Other foods need processing to make them suitable for use, such as pressing seeds to make oil.

"Freezing fruit and veg preserves most vitamins, while tinned produce (choose those without added sugar and salt) can mean convenient storage, cooking and choice to eat all year round, with less waste and cost than fresh."

What makes some processed foods less healthy?

Ingredients such as salt, sugar and fat are sometimes added to processed foods to make their flavour more appealing and to prolong their shelf life, or in some cases to contribute to the food's structure, such as salt in bread or sugar in cakes.

This can lead to people eating more than the recommended amounts for these additives, as they may not be aware of how much has been added to the food they are buying and eating. These foods can also be higher in calories due to the high amounts of added sugar or fat in them.

Furthermore, a diet high in red and processed meat (regularly eating more than 90g a day) has also been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer. Some studies have also shown that eating a large amount of processed meat may be linked to a higher risk of cancer or heart disease. 

What is processed meat?

Processed meat refers to meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. This includes sausages, bacon, ham, salami and pâtés.

The Department of Health recommends that if you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red and processed meat a day, that you cut down to 70g a day. This is equivalent to two or three rashers of bacon, or a little over two slices of roast lamb, beef or pork, with each about the size of half a slice of bread.

However, it's important to remember that the term "processed" applies to a very broad range of foods, many of which can be eaten as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

How can I eat processed foods as part of a healthy diet?

Reading nutrition labels can help you choose between processed products and keep a check on the amount of processed foods you're eating that are high in fat, salt and added sugars.

Adding tinned tomatoes to your shopping basket, for example, is a great way to boost your 5 a day. They can also be stored for longer and cost less than fresh tomatoes – just check the label to make sure there's no added salt or sugar.

Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition label on the back or side of the packaging.

This type of label includes information on energy (kJ/kcal), fat, saturates (saturated fat), carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. It may also provide additional information on certain nutrients such as fibre. All nutrition information is provided per 100 grams and sometimes per portion of the food.

How do I know if a processed food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt?

There are guidelines to tell you if a food is high or low in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar. These are:

Total fat

High: more than 17.5g of fat per 100g
Low: 3g of fat or less per 100g

Saturated fat

High: more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g
Low: 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g 

Sugars

High: more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g
Low: 5g of total sugars or less per 100g

Salt

High: more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium)
Low: 0.3g of salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)

For example, if you are trying to cut down on saturated fat, try to limit the amount of foods you eat that have more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g.

If the processed food you want to buy has a nutrition label that uses colour-coding, you will often find a mixture of red, amber and green. So, when you're choosing between similar products, try to go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds, if you want to make a healthier choice. 

However, even healthier ready meals may be higher in fat and other additives than a homemade equivalent. That's not to say that homemade foods can't also be high in calories, fat, salt and sugar, but if you make the meal yourself, you'll have a much better idea of what's gone into it. You could even save yourself some money, too. 

When cooking food at home...

For tips on how to eat healthily on a budget, read our healthy recipe ideas and check out the Eat4Cheap challenge.

Page last reviewed: 01/06/2014

Next review due: 01/06/2016

Another janet's eye on the media share....

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats?

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats? (Infographic)

May 19, 2015 / By Heart & Vascular Team

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/15-HHB-423-Dietary-Fats-Infographic_FINAL.pdf

For years, we’ve heard that saturated fatis bad for our hearts and that unsaturated fat is good. But experts’ views on dietary fat are changing. It’s easy to be confused. Learn which fats you can eat more of and which fats to avoid. And enjoy useful tips on heart-healthy eating, cooking and shopping from preventive cardiology dietitians Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, and Kate Patton, MEd, RD, CSSD, LD.

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats? #infographic

5 Food Additives You Should Avoid

Processed food has become more American than apple pie. But chemical additives in the food, if consumed in large quantities, may be a health concern. Here are five additives you should avoid.

Source: 5 Food Additives You Should Avoid | Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

5 Food Additives You Should Avoid

August 17, 2015 / By Heart & Vascular Team

Food additives prohibited

“Mmm, sodium nitrate.”

When is the last time you heard someone say that? Right before you sunk your teeth into some juicy sodium nitrite?

Probably not.

People typically don’t consider the chemicals in their cuisine. However, additive-laced processed foods have become more American than apple pie.

Americans spend 90 percent of their food budget on processed food, claim some sources. It’s more convenient. It can be less expensive. But is it as healthy?

Dietitian Kate Patton and intern Sara Saliba of Cleveland Clinic’s Section of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation explain.

What is processed food?

“Processed food has been altered in some way from its natural state,” says Ms. Patton. “Often, that means it has been treated with additives – substances that add color, enhance flavor or increase shelf-life, for example. Additives are not necessarily bad. Most foods do require additives to prevent spoilage and maintain their nutritional value.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved thousands of additives for use in food. But while consuming small amounts is safe, it may be warranted to limit the amount of these foods you consume.

What’s so bad about food additives?

“People should eat a healthy diet, rich in fresh vegetables and fruits. Eating a diet rich in processed foods is linked to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer,” says Ms. Saliba.

For example:

Preservation

• Sodium nitrites help stabilize, flavor, and provide a bright red color to meat. When the meat is heated at high temperatures or combines with stomach acid, sodium nitrite can produce nitrosamines, which is linked to an increased risk of pancreatic and colorectal cancer.
• Sulfites are a popular preservative that many people are sensitive to; and can aggravate asthma and deplete vitamin B1 (thiamine). These additives have already been banned from use on fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S., but are still present in other foods. (Look for these ingredients on the label: sulfur dioxide, potassium bisulfite, sodium bisulfite, sodium sulfite.)
• Trans fats is a type of fat added to foods to extend its shelf life or improve the consistency. It increases LDL or bad cholesterol, which increases the risk for heart disease.

Flavor Enhancers

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) enhances flavor and texture in Asian foods, soups and other processed foods. Many people are sensitive to MSG. People with MSG sensitivity can experience nausea, breathing problems and other reactions. It also adds extra sodium, which can elevate blood pressure. (Look for these ingredients on the label: natural flavoring or hydrolyzed vegetable protein).

Artificial Colors

• FD&C yellow #5 and #6 has been linked to hyperactivity in children. It can cause severe allergic reactions, especially in people with asthma. Food dyes come from chemicals, so try to choose foods that are in their natural state and color.

How can you avoid unhealthy additives?

The best way to eat healthy is to:

1. Buy more fresh foods than processed (or “convenience”) foods. Farmers markets are good places to shop.
2. If fresh foods are not available, choose frozen fruits and vegetables without any additives.
3. Avoid prepackaged, pre-cooked meals. Cook your own meals so you know what is in your food.
4. Check food labels. Don’t buy products with known additives, and beware of other ingredients you can’t pronounce.

“By following these tips, your food will be healthier and more nutritious as well as fresher and more naturally flavorful,” says Ms. Patton.

References

American Cancer Society

The World’s Healthiest Foods

Sustainable Table

Healthy Eating Politics

Schlosser, E. (2002). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic)

Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us will overindulge at times. But the more sugar we consume, the more we want, says Mark Hyman, MD. However, the good news is that people can break the sugar addiction in 10 days. Here's how.

Source: Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic) | Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic)

May 21, 2015 / By Family Health Team

How to break your #sugar addiction in 10 days. #infographic

Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us will overindulge at times. But the more sugar we consume, the more we want, says Mark Hyman, MD. However, the good news is that people canbreak the sugar addiction in 10 days. Here’s how.

How to break your #sugar addiction in 10 days. #infographic

What Eating 40 Teaspoons of Sugar a Day Can Do to You

“That Sugar Film” takes a look at what happens when you give up fresh foods for sugar-laden processed foods.

Source: What Eating 40 Teaspoons of Sugar a Day Can Do to You - The New York Times

Please open the above links to see That Sugar Film's website chock full of information vital to rebalancing your health! and to read the full article from the New York Times. Also check out LMS Welcome page link to Dr Hyman's plan to break your sugar addiction in 10 days.

"THIS is what I'm talking about...." ~janet

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brought to Lifestyle Modification Support by janet's Eye On the Media 

20 Names for Nasty MSG

"Food manufacturers just love it when you can't stop with a single serving. For them, it is the sound of cash registers ringing in sales. But what does this mean to us? It means that somehow the food is now in control. Somehow it has been manipulated to cause you to overeat."

Source: 20 Names for Nasty MSG | Rodale Wellness

20 Names for Nasty MSG

This ingredient can make you fat and sick in so many ways.

By Jayson Calton, PhD, Mira Calton, CN July 30, 2015

Food manufacturers just love it when you can't stop with a single serving. For them, it is the sound of cash registers ringing in sales. But what does this mean to us? It means that somehow the food is now in control. Somehow it has been manipulated to cause you to overeat.

Monosodium glutamate is the go-to add-in to create this desired effect. So much so that this menacing flavor enhancer is found in almost all processed and packaged foods in the United States. MSG-induced obesity is such an accepted concept in scientific circles that when studies require obese animals, the first thing they are given is MSG. Scientists in Spain found that giving laboratory rats MSG increased food intake by 40 percent.

MSG works as an obesogen in three distinct obesity-inducing ways. The most obvious way is that it intensifies the tastiness of any treat, and this makes you desire it even more. Second, MSG has been shown to make us leptin resistant. Remember that leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full. Why would you ever put down a snack if your brain never gets the message to stop eating it? Finally, MSG causes the secretion of insulin, your fat-storage hormone, which drops your blood sugar and makes you hungrier faster.

More: 4 'Healthy Food' Offenders

However, this ingredient also reduces our micronutrient levels because it is an excitotoxin. This means it can cross the blood-brain barrier and overexcite your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and more. It's true--and your micronutrient levels pay the price because your available antioxidants are used at an accelerated rate when trying to repair MSG brain toxicity.

Rather than performing other important functions in your body, available antioxidants—such as vitamins C and E and selenium—are called on to repair the damage. Additionally, magnesium, chromium, and zinc are all very important protectors of neural cells, so their use is also accelerated in the presence of MSG.

More: Make Your Own 'Instant' Cup of Noodles

Can you imagine how many other essential bodily functions may not be able to be performed properly because food manufacturers snuck MSG into the recipe? Kick it to the curb by watching out for these ingredients that could harbor MSG:

• Autolyzed yeast

• Autolyzed yeast protein

• Calcium glutamate

• Carrageenan

• Glutamate

• Glutamic acid

• Hydrolyzed corn

• Ingredients listed as hydrolyzed, protein fortified, ultra-pasteurized, fermented or enzyme modified

• Magnesium glutamate

• Monoammonium glutamate

• Monopotassium glutamate

• Natural flavors (ask manufacturers their sources, to be safe)

• Pectin

• Sodium caseinate

• Soy isolate

• Soy sauce

• Textured protein

• Vegetable extract

• Yeast extract

• Yeast food

Adapted from The Micronutrient Miracle

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Janet's Eye on the media.........

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Disease mongering and drug marketing

EMBO Rep. 2005 Jul; 6(7): 612–614.

doi:  10.1038/sj.embor.7400476

PMCID: PMC1369125

Science and Society

Analysis

Disease mongering and drug marketing

Howard Wolinsky

Copyright and License information ►

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Summary

Does the pharmaceutical industry manufacture diseases as well as drugs?

Most people may not have heard of metabolic syndrome, but that is likely to change. Once known mysteriously as Syndrome X, the condition, a precursor to heart disease and type 2 diabetes, is about to be transformed into a household name by the US pharmaceutical industry and its partners in the medical profession. A society dedicated to addressing the condition has been organized, a journal has been started, and an education campaign launched. Patients are already being tested for metabolic syndrome. As the trade publication Pharmaceutical Executive said in its January 2004 issue: “A new disease is being born” (Breitstein, 2004).

...industry has found itself under fire from detractors who contend that, in the pursuit of profits, companies are in league with medical doctors and patient advocacy groups to 'disease monger'...

The situation is reminiscent of the attitude towards cholesterol. Twenty years ago, physicians were not concerned about the effects it might have on heart disease. Today, thanks to efforts by pharmaceutical companies, high cholesterol levels are now recognized as a major health problem. In fact, IMS Health, a global healthcare information company, reports that the two best-selling drugs in 2004 were statins: Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) from Pfizer (New York, NY, USA)—valued at US$10.6 billion with growth of 13.9% over the previous year—and Zocor® (simvastatin) from Merck (Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA).Pharmaceutical Executive noted: “The emergence of cholesterol reduction as a market was a major event for pharma. Metabolic syndrome promises to be as big or bigger” (Breitstein, 2004).

However, critics note that not every new disease for which the pharmaceutical business provides a drug is necessarily a major public health problem, but rather a venue for drug companies to increase revenues. Pharmaceutical companies research, develop and exploit drugs to prevent, control and cure diseases and treat symptoms. Companies then market these medications to recoup their investments and reward shareholders. It would seem to serve the interests of society, but some critics characterize it as a vicious circle in which businesses invent new diseases to match their existing drugs. Increasingly, industry has found itself under fire from detractors who contend that, in the pursuit of profits, companies are in league with medical doctors and patient advocacy groups to 'disease monger': convince people that their usually mild ailment urgently needs drug treatment.

The late medical journalist Lynn Payer addressed the issue in the early 1990s in her book Disease-Mongers: How Doctors, Drug Companies, and Insurers Are Making You Feel Sick. She wrote: “Disease-mongering—trying to convince essentially well people that they are sick, or slightly sick people that they are very ill—is big business.... Disease mongering is the most insidious of the various forms that medical advertising, so-called medical education, and information and medical diagnosis can take.” Similarly, Arthur Caplan, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, last December told the popular American TV programme 60 Minutes, “If you want to stir up worry in the public, and you've got the advertising dollars to do it, you can turn almost anything into a disease.” The focus of the 60 Minutes report was the recent emergence of a market for adult attention deficit disorder (ADD)—the traditional view was that ADD afflicted only children who would eventually outgrow it.

Critics such as Payer and Caplan maintain that the routine human condition...is increasingly being re-defined as disease...

Critics such as Payer and Caplan maintain that the routine human condition—unhappiness, bone thinning, stomach aches and boredom—is increasingly being re-defined as disease: depression in its milder forms, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome and attention deficit disorder. Likewise, risks factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, are declared diseases in their own right—hyper-cholesterolaemia and hypertension—with falling thresholds resulting in more people considered to be sick. In other cases, drugs approved for devastating illness, such as clinical depression, are indicated for milder conditions, such as shyness, which is now dubbed 'social phobia'.

One such example is Strattera® (atomoxetine hydrochloride), developed by Eli Lilly & Co. (Indianapolis, IN, USA) and approved in November 2002 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating ADD in children, teens and, for the first time, adults. One Lilly advertisement shows a series of photographs of an uptight-looking model, and asks in the headline: “Distracted? Disorganized? Frustrated? Modern Life or Adult ADD?” The advertisement notes that adult ADD can go undiagnosed because “its symptoms are often mistaken for a stressful life.” The commercial suggests that readers get checked out by their physician, because Strattera®, the first approved medication for adult ADD, can help “you stay focused, so you can get things done at work and at home.”

“I certainly have watched adult attention deficit disorder start to spread out from the first grade/kindergarten crowd right up to adulthood. I am suspicious because I think that this expansion is fuelled by Lilly and Strattera®,” Caplan commented. “I don't like the way their website [suggests that] people go pester their doctor if they have problems waiting in lines or get frustrated being put on hold on the phone.” Lilly did not respond to a request for comment.

Adult ADD has been a favourite target of the critics. But psychiatrist Peter Jensen, a mental health researcher at Columbia University (New York City, NY, USA), concedes there is a dearth of epidemiological research on adult ADD, which can be a real condition that impairs and disables people. “Pharmaceutical companies are businesses that are out there to make money and sell things. But saying that diseases are invented seems a little over the top. [Companies] certainly spread information and increase awareness, but you can't sell it to the FDA that way,” said Jensen, who serves on the governing board of Children and Adults with Attention–Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD; Landover, MD, USA), a non-profit patient support group. “Illness is defined in a social context. Value systems are inherent in medicine. With adult attention deficit disorder, some people whose brains are easily distracted are [annoyed] at being labelled [and] will say that they are just high energy and creative; others will be thankful they were diagnosed, treated and had their attention span restored to almost normal.”

...it is not only companies who are to blame, but also physicians who diagnose a disorder and prescribe a drug, as well as patients who feel that they have a serious disease that needs treatment

Not surprisingly, the pharmaceutical industry does not buy the 'disease mongering' critique. “Our [industry's] job is to look for cures, not to create disease. It's up to the medical community to develop new diagnostic tools and ways to evaluate patient response,” said Alan Goldhammer, Associate Vice President for Regulatory Affairs for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), an industry trade group based in Washington, DC, USA. He maintains that drug regulators, such as the FDA, approve drug therapies on the basis of clinical trials. “One can argue you can't do a clinical trial because if it's not a disease, it's unethical to treat people with a drug if you're not going to come up with any potential benefits. There are a number of checks and balances throughout the development process that are totally external to the pharmaceutical companies.”

Critics maintain that it is not only the pharmaceutical industry that has a role in the creation of new diseases, although they certainly fuel the process. For this reason, Australian journalist Ray Moynihan, a visiting editor at the British Medical Journal and co-author of the forthcoming book Selling Disease: How Drug Companies are Turning Us All into Patients, describes the process as 'corporate-sponsored drug creation' because it also involves physicians and patient groups. “There are informal alliances of doctors, drug companies and increasingly patient groups that help to widen the boundaries of illness in order to widen markets for those selling treatments. Often this process is driven by the medical profession, but it's driven with fuel provided by the drug companies,” he said. Nevertheless, drug companies have an important role in the process. “The meetings where these disorders are defined and expanded are all drug-company funded,” Moynihan said. “Drug company activity lubricates this process, but it's often not corporate executives in the driving seat. Often it's the so-called thought leaders at the top of the tree in their profession and in their specialties.”

Furthermore, it is not always obvious where the border should be defined between a mild symptom and a disorder that needs medical attention. “I wouldn't draw such a clean line between manufactured and real diseases,” said Joe Dumit, Associate Professor of the Anthropology and Science-technology Studies' Programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA). He has been studying the topic of disease creation as part of his work on how patients with controversial sociomedical conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity, organized themselves to obtain research funding from the US National Institutes of Health. Dumit found that when patient groups were backed by pharmaceutical companies, such as patients with ADD and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the character of the debate changed entirely. “When Zoloft [®; sertraline hydrochloride] was approved [in 1999 for PTSD], almost every article that came out about PTSD now more or less no longer questioned the existence of the disease, but instead talked about the treatment and whether [PTSD is] underdiagnosed or overmedicated,” he said. In addition to forming alliances with patient groups, drug companies also attempt to “maximize the detectable prevalence of conditions as part of the economic rationale for growing the market for the medications,” said Dumit. “Once you decide on a threshold like a cholesterol level or an amount of irritation in your bowels, and once you decide there's a drug that could reduce that in a population, they have a strong incentive to market to that whole population.”

One such example is social anxiety disorder, better known as shyness. GlaxoSmithKline (Uxbridge, UK) had the indications for its antidepressant Paxil® (paroxetine hydrochloride) extended to treat social anxiety disorder, an extreme form of shyness marked by fear of public speaking, eating in front of others or using public bathrooms. The FDA approved this new indication in October 2003. However, “shyness is a new disease invented by Glaxo,” said Sidney Wolfe, executive director of the Public Citizen's Health Research Group (Washington, DC, USA). “In a pathological way I'm sure that people are so shy it can be a disease. It can be a real downside for people. A lot of these people are depressed. A number of these people are shy because they have been physically or sexually abused when they were younger. Shyness is generally a symptom of something else and to gloss over finding the cause and to just throw a drug at someone is doing a disservice.” GlaxoSmithKline did not respond to a request for an interview.

In the end, it is not only companies who are to blame, but also physicians who diagnose a disorder and prescribe a drug, as well as patients who feel that they have a serious disease that needs treatment. “What you have in social anxiety disorder is senior clinicians who are often connected with [several] different drug companies promoting this almost as a horrifying psychiatric disease,” Moynihan explained. He therefore lays some blame on the medical profession if they are not forthcoming about these connections. “I just don't think you can be credible when you're taking money from drug companies. And often when these [experts] are communicating with the public, the public does not know of those ties,” Moynihan said. “This is the marketing of fear. This is not a healthy way to run a society. It's putting disease at the centre of human life.”

The USA is the epicentre for both drug and drug-marketing innovation. In addition, it is the only developed country apart from New Zealand that allows direct-to-consumer advertising for medications. According to Moynihan, consumers are exposed to an average of ten drug advertisements per day on news programmes, sitcoms and soap operas, which has a major impact on their view of disease. “The drug ads are changing perceptions of human ailments and conditions and experiences,” he said. Referring to the process in which disease prevalence is maximized, Moynihan cited GlaxoSmithKline's campaign to market Paxil in the late 1990s, when pamphlets were distributed suggesting that one in eight Americans had social anxiety disorder. “One in eight Americans! This is clearly an absurd fiction. The point of that is to try and make ordinary people feel sick,” Moynihan said.

It's not healthy for children or adults to sit in front of a wall of drug-company promotion every day that tells healthy people they're sick.

Although other developed countries may not have direct-to-consumer advertising, they are not immune to the influence of marketing campaigns. “This is a global phenomenon,” Moynihan said. “In other countries, you can't advertise drugs direct to the public, but you can run and sponsor disease awareness campaigns and that's what they see in Europe and Australia.” In fact, in the autumn of 2003, Germany's largest weekly news magazine Der Spiegel devoted a cover story on the topic, based on German science journalist Jörg Blech's book Die Krankheitserfinder (The inventors of disease), which analyses how the pharmaceutical industry invents new diseases to increase sales of their drugs.

Jerry Avorn, a medical professor at Harvard University and Chief of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), is a long-time critic of the drug industry's marketing practices. However, he is also sceptical of the social critics: “The reason we're not still using leeches is we base our decisions about drugs on well done clinical trials of what works and what doesn't. Nothing that comes out of the realms of anthropology or philosophy matters much if the science isn't taken into account.” According to Avorn, there are two extremes in the discussion: those who overpromote the pill-for-every-ill philosophy and nihilists who view diseases as being invented. “The truth is somewhere in the middle,” he said.

Faced with increasing costs for healthcare services to cover drug prescriptions, politicians have also begun to investigate the issue of disease mongering. In 2004 and 2005, the British House of Commons held hearings on practices of the pharmaceutical industry, including disease mongering. In March 2005, the House of Commons Health Committee published a report, The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, in which it expressed concerns about the effects of “medicalisation of our society—the pill for every problem.” The committee did not blame this trend solely on the pharmaceutical industry, but rather said the industry has encouraged it by acting as a “'disease monger', with the aim of categorising an increasing number of individuals as 'abnormal' and thereby requiring (drug) treatment. This process has lead to an unhealthy over-reliance on, and an overuse of, medicines. It also diverts resources and priorities from more significant disease and health problems” (House of Commons, 2005).

To increase people's awareness of disease mongering, Moynihan called for “a more robust conversation” on regulation. “The disease-awareness campaigns need to be seriously regulated. It's not healthy for children or adults to sit in front of a wall of drug-company promotion every day that tells healthy people they're sick,” he said. “I actually think quite strongly that there must be a conversation about how or if to regulate this. I think that's extremely unlikely [in the USA] in the near future. I think the Europeans are a little more civilized about this stuff. And in fact the Europeans recently rejected loosening the rules on advertising.” As governments and public healthcare systems are increasingly confronted with the high cost of medications, no doubt the issue of medicalization and disease mongering will become even more important in future debates.

References

• Breitstein J (2004) The making of a new disease. Pharma Exec 1 Jan, www.pharmexec.com
• House of Commons (2005) The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Fourth Report of Session 2004–2005, HC 42-I. London, UK: The Stationery Office Limited

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Articles from EMBO Reports are provided here courtesy of The European Molecular Biology Organization

Longevity Only for the Wealthy? Why?

"The biggest healthspan concern is Alzheimer's, which strikes at a 47% rate among the over 85 population.

"If we just keep living longer, but we don't knock out this horrible disease, it will be the sinkhole of the century," Dychtwald says. "It will take us down - every country. It will be a horror beyond horrors. And how much do we spend for research on this disease? Hardly anything.""

Learning first hand what a tough & invisible disease this is. . . and, to my perspective, seems very preventable. I hope you do not have to go through this with one of your loved ones, but chances are very strong (47% see quote above) that you or your loved one will! So WHERE exactly are our funding dollars going? Jus' sayin'....

Hipster LucyBear

....more on this to follow....

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/844385?nlid=81251_2822&src=wnl_edit_medp_nurs&uac=89108HN&spon=24

The Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC)

The Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC). Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts, concepts, ideas, and/or needs with the Department of Health and Human Services on the drafting of the first National Pain Strategy. 

The purpose of the National Pain Strategy is to address treatment and management and, most especially, prevention of! chronic pain across all causes. If you feel that the NHHS is not addressing that, then please speak up. This is a long overdue step. Many of us have been decrying the lack of any cohesive or comprehensive strategy to begin a new day on a now HUGE problem... chronic pain.

Follow the link to get started. And thank you, whatever your reasons for participating, we need a discussion to begin.

Do You Know the Colour of Body Fat?

Do You Know the Color of Body Fat? (Infographic)

health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/04/do-you-know-the-color-of-body-fat-infographic/

By Chronic Conditions Team | 4/23/15 7:00 a.m.

Body fat gets a bad rap, but you’d die without it. Body fat stores crucial energy. It provides insulation. It protects your organs. It even helps hold your cells together.

But too much of a good thing can be fatal.

Explore this field guide to human body fat. Discover the different colors and what they mean. Learn which kind of fat can kill you and what you can do about it.

Research smee-search, what does it mean?

¬¬¬¬¬  I've written this description of research in answer to the oft repeated statement of friends and family that they do not know what research really is. In healthcare forums, some reveal their lack of awareness regarding research's place in science and in healthcare by the nature of their comments. Sharing this description also emphasizes the standard which I strive to match or exceed in my written discussions. Rationality and objectivity are valuable tools, especially when the well being of others is relying on conscious leadership. Though research/science is imperfect being of the physical world; we nevertheless must make some standard by which to provide the highest possible action in the given moment. ¬¬¬¬¬     by Janet Still MSN FNP

Research is a diligent, controlled study that validates and refines existing knowledge and develops new knowledge. The ultimate goal of research is the development of an empirical body of knowledge for a discipline or profession.  Research is essential to develop and refine knowledge that can be used to improve clinical methods of care, for example.   What some simply call "science" is the practice of this type of detailed and recorded observation, which is then analysed and compared to many (hopefully) other studies to draw a yet newer overall picture of the studied method/practice.

Critical thinking, developed and practiced, is essential to analysis of research results. So, setting up a formal study of a treatment or methodology for giving care for specific illness must consider carefully how to prevent "noise"  in the observations as well as in the reading and the application of results. Many procedures have been created for insuring unaffected and non-biased studies. These various procedures are the result of continued analysis too. Critical thinking, then, refers to a process of ordering thought such that reasoning is reliable and inarguable.

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The professional that provides specialize care must have the ability to provide exceptional physical assessments as well as good critical thinking to assist patients in serious and unstable conditions to reach their maximum health. You might say that goes without question...yet perhaps one should question this very situation! There are as many angles to scrutinizing your healthcare situation as there are words in this sentence (entirely too many haha). I have written on this topic in a number of philosophical articles in this blog. But practically speaking, what matters is what works; and I, like other healthcare providers and experts, have come to recognize that the patient at the center of decision-making is key to effective treatment.

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Communication is integral in healthcare on levels too many to attempt enumerating in this article. Understanding the basis of treatment....research studies ...at least a basic understanding, is you-the-patient's tool for assessing the validity of a treatment choice. As always, at the bottom of this article, I will include some resources for you to have in hand for those treatment discussion clinic appointments.

Despite the suppressed groan of healthcare workers and providers on seeing the patient arrive, armed with education of all things! you-the-patient are the primary decision-maker regarding your care, whether you abdicate your power or not. So their reaction expresses either their lack of understanding or their poor communication skills in previous encounters with educated patients. Let me insert here, especially for healthcare providers scanning this, that you-the-patient are not the expert on the latest research just because you found some articles. You are the expert on You, on what works for your balance in your life, on interpreting an illness' priority in your life, and on what amount of surrender you are willing to experience in a health crisis. The healthcare providers are your tools - to interpret pertinent research, to explain options in care, to find you the best specialists available at your behest, and/or to provide you the treatment that you both agree is most suitable given your unique circumstances. (See the References below for current thought on patient-centered healthcare).

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One last example to flesh out the reasoning behind understanding research.... statistics. Ugh, one might comment, meaningless numbers. And I agree the numbers out of context are quite meaningless. Recently, my partner in a documentary presentation of chronic pain asked me why the total numbers given of the condition have such a wide disparity. He could not understand how to present such a spread when speaking of the occurrence of the condition. There are key pieces to creating a research study. One piece is what is called the sample. The sample is how large (or small) the number of subjects in the study. The media is fond of headlining big or small numbers for capturing your attention. But the number is meaningless unless you know how many people were actually studied. In other words, stating that 80% of subjects studied improved with a drug is not so sensational when you read further and learn only ten people were used in the study. Another study with a much larger sample of the population might (probably would) have a much smaller percentage result. There is even more to this number thing....how were the subjects decided upon? what age group? what gender? what region of residence? on and on.... so many conditions that can affect the outcome.

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Another piece that causes seemingly wide gaps in given results of formal studies is when was the study performed? Was the study you are reviewing for a particular nation? or global? What exactly is the study attempting to define? and what you are looking for? Like any internet search, the keywords determine the results. So before you begin to look for answers, define your question as concisely as you can in order to actually obtain some good leads. If you are coming up with widely diverse answers, why? Maybe this is a question for your provider as well. Yet, you may not be paying attention to details like how old the information is (look at dates on your links!), what aspect of the condition the research was designed to study (cause, symptomology, treatment, epidemiology), do you have the correct title of your condition (diabetes one or two give very different results).

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To encapsulate the point of this brief essay: research is meant to establish the most reliable observations of the current day on particular conditions or organisms. Of course research is of multiple disciplines, astronomy, biology, mathematics and physics, genetics, environmental mechanisms, and more. And research is an ongoing, ever dynamic study analysis of the discipline or of the condition....so there can be and ARE changes in the accepted thought and practice, based on research. In this essay, I attempt to provide another way of perceiving research that directly impacts You. My viewpoint is take all research "results" with a grain of salt as my grandparents used to say. And look further, deeper. Who funded the study? Did anyone building the study's design have reason to desire one outcome over another? Were the methods used of the highest standard today? and how do you know that? But finally, as always, get some varied expert opinions on the study results. And do not take the first opinion out of the gate! This is your life. Make it interesting....by taking part in the decision-making.

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Resources

A quirky but informative (and short) video explaining the very basics of research by Greg Martin with Global Health:  https://youtu.be/PDjS20kic54 This is the first of several he produced to elucidate what is research and research methods. Essentially, he puts research in context in the world.

For a really fun learning experience the Khan Academy has raised the bar. A father wanting to help his son with mathematics has turned into a hugely popular online interactive virtual lesson platform. Keeping on topic with healthcare, I am providing you the link to the Biology school:  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology Know that Khan Academy is known for its comfortable, friendly and fun demeanor making all "lessons" easy as a game.

In the interest of possible avenues to figure out what the heck my doc is talking about to cute questions my kids ask to well what is this symptom about anyway, Its The Small Things offers some readable info on things we cannot see but sure can feel! https://heathermicrobiologyjackson.wordpress.com/tag/immunology-2/page/2/

On a more serious note, how about a reliable source for research studies more likely to be reliably performed? The Cochrane Library is widely accepted as a reliable peer reviewed source to locate many many MANY research studies. This video helps you learn how to find it and how to use it: https://youtu.be/Iv-cI03UMP8

References

De Silva, D. (2011). Evidence: Helping people help themselves; from The Health Foundation; 52. Retrieved from:  http://www.health.org.uk/public/cms/75/76/313/2434/Helping%20people%20help%20themselves%20publication.pdf?realName=03JXkw.pdf

Epstein, R., Fiscella, K., Lesser, C., & Stange, K. (2010). Why the nation needs a policy push on patient-centered health care; Health Affairs 29(8); 1-7.

Institute for Patient and Family Centered Care (2014). Useful links. Retrieved from:  http://www.ipfcc.org/tools/links.html

What The Color of Your Urine Says About You

What The Color of Your Urine Says About You (Infographic)

health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/10/what-the-color-of-your-urine-says-about-you-infographic/

By Urinary & Kidney Team | 10/31/13 11:01 a.m.

Human urine has been a useful tool of diagnosis since the earliest days of medicine. The color, density, and smell of urine can reveal much about the state of our health. Here, for starters, are some of the things you can tell from the hue of your liquid excreta.