THE CURSE OF THE CANOLA CLOUD…

It’s Spring - that time of the year when the cropping fields of the Bellarine Peninsula are filled with golden flowers. The sides of the roads are also increasingly covered with similar looking golden weeds. As a local health care professional, it’s also the time of the year when patients arrive with a dreaded seasonal affliction – sneezing; runny nose and eyes; itching, hot, red and painful eyes; constricted airways; painful and congested sinuses. My observation over the last few years has been that this malady is increasing in severity, prevalence, and sudden dramatic onset. And my observation is that this seems to coincide with the arrival of a fine yellow dust that covers car bonnets and windscreens, and even internal household surfaces.

But I’m not alone: According to a study of 25 residents in a small Scottish village over a two-year period investigated respiratory symptom reporting in the presence or absence of oilseed rape. Symptom reporting in the year when oilseed rape virtually surrounded the village, varied during the growing season of the crop and was at its highest coincident with peak flowering. At the same period of the following year when the crop was absent, symptom reporting was significantly lower. The symptoms which correlated most strongly with peak oilseed rape flowering were sneezing, cough, headache, eye irritation and the total of these and other symptoms… (Evidence that oilseed rape (Brassica napus ssp. oleifera) causes respiratory illness in rural dwellers. Scott Med J. 1995 Jun; 40(3): 74-6. Parratt D, Macfarlane Smith WH, Thomson G, Cameron LA, Butcher RD.)

Other studies have confirmed the allergenic potential of the canola pollen, being similar but distinct to many common allergies to grasses. The two most dangerous times from this crop are probably at the height of flowering, and then upon harvesting when massive amounts of pollen are released into the airstreams.

So here’s the question – Are the residents of the Bellarine peninsula who are significantly impaired by this proven allergen, supposed to suffer in silence, while the acreage covered by this cash crop increases each year, and encircles each township with seemingly closer proximity, and as vacant fields and grasslands appear to be invaded and filled by what amount to an introduced weed?

And perhaps an even larger issue – Overseas, GM Canola crops now outnumber hybrid Canola species. In the early days of Canola farming in Canada (hence the change of the name from an unacceptable “Rapeseed” to Canola), the plants were hybridized to remove erucic acid which had question marks over its toxic potential, and also gave the resultant oil a green tinge and unpleasant taste. More recently though, Canola has been used as a pioneer of GM cropping, to further remove the unwelcome components of the resulting products and to increase the resilience of the plant. As Victoria will eventually bow to federal pressure to remove its’ blockage of GM crops being planted, there is no doubt that Canola will be one of the first crops to convert to GM, and hence areas surrounded by Canola will also be amongst the first to be surrounded by even more controversial plants and pollens.

The primary product from Canola is the oil, which is widely accepted due to its high levels of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, making it a better health and nutrition option. But one need only to spend ten minutes on Google to discover that there is hot debate about which oils are the best. Canola has had some bad press; Olive Oil is seen as too expensive for some; and while Flaxseed is really healthy, its’ smell and taste is not popular.

So how do you decide which oil to use?

Canola is popular among cooks because of its ability to handle high temperatures, and because it has minimal taste and color (due to either its high level of hybridization or its’ GM). Olive oil is more popular for low-heat cooking and in salads due to its’ distinctive and popular flavor and color. Flaxseed tends to be used more as a dietary supplement.

Butter and margarine are less popular now due to the presence of saturated and/or trans-fatty acids: My usual advice is to choose oils/fats that are in the form you would like them to be inside your body – That is – LIQUID.

Some other factors you may want to factor into your decisions as to which oil is for you?

1) How was the oil extracted? Oils like Canola are usually extracted by a chemical process which MAY leave behind some potentially toxic residues. Most people who prefer Olive Oil do so when it has been cold-pressed.

2) How has the Oil been processed? That is – Has anything else been added to increase the shelf life, temperature stability, color or flavor.

My conclusions? I personally look for oil which is grown from non-GM crops, which has been cold-pressed and has not been processed – you can find both Canola and Olive Oils with these specifications if you read the labels carefully. But buyer beware, canola oil products are exempt from having to state if they are manufactured from GM crops, so if you choose to avoid GM, you will have to look for products which clearly state that they ARE GM-free.

And what about all those fields of yellow? I’d rather see groves of shady green Olive trees myself!

Click Here To See This Article At Sight Magazine...

Click Here To Find Out More About My Super Healthy Manual For Improving Your Health And Immune System...

WHY DO WE NEED FLUORIDE ADDED TO OUR WATER SUPPLY?

Why do we need fluoride in every single ml of water supplied to our community when the only target organ for this synthetic additive is the teeth of a segment of the population? Not every single ml of water supplied to our households is ingested, and not every single ml of water that we ingest will benefit the health of our teeth (IF we have them or IF we even need additional assistance with dental health). Has the ecological impact of introducing truck loads of fluoride into the water supply been studied in terms of all the other parts of the local environment that will receive this additive?

Research has been conducted in Geelong which showed that topical therapy was more effective than water fluoridation (Economic Evaluation of Dental Sealant and Fluoride mouth rinsing program in Two Non-Fluoridated Regions of Victoria. June, 1996. Crowley S, MSc, MBA, Morgan M, BDS, PhD, Wright C, BDS, PhD.) In the study those in a fluoridated region had 1.1 less dental caries than those in the non-fluoridated region, and when topical therapy was applied the gain was 1.22 less dental caries – 11% more effective by my calculations.

Which raises another point – why do we have to expose every man, woman, child, infant, fetus, dog and plant to this stuff when the net gain is one less decayed tooth per person? Sounds like pretty poor efficacy to me. Maybe if the truck loads of processed sugar finding their way into our food and beverage supply chain and school canteens were reduced the net dental health gains would be noticeably superior?

Increasing the entire populations’ exposure to fluoride must increase the rates of fluorosis – is the government also setting aside a public-funded trust to compensate all those who suffer from what will be yet another iatrogenic illness?

REPORTS OF MEDICATION INJURIES HAVE DOUBLED

Study shows painkillers, immune-system drugs account for most serious ills.

Reports of deaths or injuries related to drug treatments more than doubled between 1998 and 2005 in the United States, with painkillers and immune-system boosters accounting for most, according to researchers.

“This study shows that substantially growing numbers of patients are experiencing serious injuries from drug therapy,” they wrote in a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “This growing toll of serious injury shows that the existing system is not adequately protecting patients and underscores the importance of recent reports urging far-reaching legislative, policy and institutional changes,” they added.

The study found 467,809 such occurrences during the period studied, with annual reports growing from 34,966 at the start to 89,842 at the end. The number of deaths due to drugs jumped from 5,519 to 15,107 during the study period. “The overall relative increase was four times faster than the growth in total U.S. outpatient prescriptions, which grew in the same period from 2.7 billion to 3.8 billion,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers estimated that a growing population and more intensive use of drug therapy might account for a quarter of the increase.

An additional 15 percent of the increase appears to involve newer biotech drugs such as interferons, which help the body’s immune system attack viruses, bacteria and other invaders.

“Among the most frequently reported drugs associated with fatal events, we observed a disproportionate contribution of pain medications and drugs that modify the immune system,” they added...

Click Here To Read More At MSNBC...

HIDDEN NAMES FOR MSG

Foods always contain MSG when these words are on the label:

MSG Monosodium glutamate, Monopotassium glutamate, Glutamate Gelatin, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP), Autolyzed Plant Protein, Calcium Caseinate, Textured Protein, Yeast Extract, Yeast food or nutrient, Glutamic Acid, Sodium Caseinate, Autolyzed Yeast...

Click Here To Read More At The MSG Myth...

FOLLOWING THE SCRIPT: HOW DRUG REPS MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE DOCTORS

In 2000, pharmaceutical companies spent more than 15.7 billion dollars on promoting prescription drugs in the United States. More than 4.8 billion dollars was spent on detailing, the one-on-one promotion of drugs to doctors by pharmaceutical sales representatives, commonly called drug reps. The average sales force expenditure for pharmaceutical companies is $875 million annually.

Unlike the door-to-door vendors of cosmetics and vacuum cleaners, drug reps do not sell their product directly to buyers. Consumers pay for prescription drugs, but physicians control access. Drug reps increase drug sales by influencing physicians, and they do so with finely titrated doses of friendship. This article, which grew out of conversations between a former drug rep (SA) and a physician who researches pharmaceutical marketing (AFB), reveals the strategies used by reps to manipulate physician prescribing...

Click Here To Read The Full Article At Plos Medicine...

VACCINATED CHILDREN TWO AND A HALF TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HAVE NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

A new survey indicates a strong correlation between rates of neurological disorders, such as ADHD and autism, and childhood vaccinations.

The survey, commissioned by Generation Rescue, compared vaccinated and unvaccinated children in nine counties in Oregon and California. Among more than 9,000 boys age 4-17, the survey found vaccinated boys were two and a half times (155%) more likely to have neurological disorders compared to their unvaccinated peers. Vaccinated boys were 224% more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and 61% more likely to have autism.

For older vaccinated boys in the 11-17 age bracket, the results were even more pronounced. Vaccinated boys were 158% more likely to have a neurological disorder, 317% more likely to have ADHD, and 112% more likely to have autism.

Click Here To Read More At The Generation Rescue Website...

"JUNK SLEEP" DAMAGING TEENAGERS' HEALTH

Teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep because they are distracted by electronic gadgets in their bedrooms...

Advisory body The Sleep Council said "junk sleep" could rival the consumption of unhealthy junk food as a major lifestyle issue for parents of teenage children: Its poll of 1,000 youngsters aged 12 to 16 found that 30 percent managed just 4 to 7 hours sleep as opposed to the recommended 8 or 9 hours.

Almost a quarter said they fell asleep more than once a week while watching TV, listening to music or using other electronic gadgets.

"This is an incredibly worrying trend," said Dr Chris Idzikowski of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre. "What we are seeing is the emergence of Junk Sleep - that is sleep that is of neither the length nor quality that it should be in order to feed the brain with the rest it needs to perform properly at school."

Nearly all the teenagers had a phone, music system or TV in their bedroom, with around two-thirds possessing all three.

Almost one in five of the teenage boys said the quality of their sleep had been affected by leaving their TV or computer on. The survey also found that 40 percent of youngsters felt tired each day, with girls aged 15 to 16 faring the worst. However just 11 percent said they were bothered by the lack or quality of sleep.

"I'm staggered that so few teenagers make the link between getting enough good quality sleep and how they feel during the day," Idzikowski said. "Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to feel well, perform well and look well, they need to do something about their sleep."

Click Here To Read More At Reuters...

FDA DRUG SAFETY NEWSLETTER - FORCED TO COME CLEAN ON DRUG ADVERSE EVENTS

This new publication provides post-marketing information to healthcare professionals to enhance communication of new drug safety information, raise awareness of reported adverse events, and stimulate additional adverse event reporting.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) described the risks of several medications in this new report published in its Drug Safety Newsletter for health care professionals.

The move came after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) sharply criticized the FDA in 2006, saying it has “a dysfunctional structure hindering its ability to protect public health.” The Agency has also been criticized for not monitoring drugs after they’re on the market.

The report, which fills one of the FDA’s commitments to the IOM after the criticism, details the side effects from a number of drugs…

Click Here To Read The Latest FDA Drug Safety Newsletter...

I recommend you add this page to your favourites so that you can keep up to date on new releases...

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF OSCAR THE CAT

Since he was adopted by staff members as a kitten, Oscar the Cat has had an uncanny ability to predict when residents are about to die. Thus far, he has presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families. Oscar has also provided companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone. For his work, he is highly regarded by the physicians and staff at Steere House and by the families of the residents whom he serves…

Click Here To Read More At The New England Journal Of Medicine...

HOW EXTENSIVE IS THE PROBLEM OF SPECIFIC ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS?

Each year, more than 9.6 million adverse drug reactions occur in older Americans. The referenced study found that 37% of these adverse reactions were not reported to the doctor, presumably because patients did not realize the reactions were due to the drug. This is not too surprising considering that most doctors admitted they did not explain possible adverse effects to their patients.

The following national estimates are based on well-conducted studies, mainly in the United States:

1) Each year, in hospitals alone, there are 28,000 cases of life-threatening heart toxicity from adverse reactions to digoxin, the most commonly used form of digitalis in older adults. Since as many as 40% or more of these people are using this drug unnecessarily, many of these injuries are preventable.

2) Each year 41,000 older adults are hospitalized - and 3,300 of these die from ulcers caused by NSAIDs. Thousands of younger adults are hospitalized.

3) At least 16,000 injuries from auto crashes each year involving older drivers are attributable to the use of psychoactive drugs, specifically benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants.

4) Each year 32,000 older adults suffer from hip fractures - contributing to more than 1,500 deaths - attributable to drug-induced falls. In one study, the main categories of drugs responsible for the falls leading to hip fractures were sleeping pills and minor tranquilizers (30%), antipsychotic drugs (52%), and antidepressants (17%). All of these categories of drugs are often prescribed unnecessarily, especially in older adults. The in-hospital death rate for hip fractures in older adults is 4.9%. Multiplying this times the 32,000 hip fractures a year in older adults attributable to drug-induced falls, 1,568 older adults die each year from adverse drug reactions that cause hip fractures.

5) Approximately 163,000 older Americans suffer from serious mental impairment (memory loss, dementia) either caused or worsened by drugs. In a study in the state of Washington, in 46% of the patients with drug-induced mental impairment, the problem was caused by minor tranquilizers or sleeping pills; in 14%, by high blood pressure drugs; and in 11%, by antipsychotic drugs.

6) Two million older Americans are addicted or at risk of addiction to minor tranquilizers or sleeping pills because they have used them daily for at least one year, even though there is no acceptable evidence that the tranquilizers are effective for more than four months, and the sleeping pills for more than 30 days.

7) Drug-induced tardive dyskinesia has developed in 73,000 older adults; this condition is the most serious and common adverse reaction to antipsychotic drugs, and it is often irreversible. Tardive dyskinesia is characterized by involuntary movements of the lips, tongue, and sometimes the fingers, toes, and trunk. Since most of the older people taking these drugs were not actually psychotic, they have a serious side effect from antipsychotic drugs prescribed without justification.

8) Drug-induced parkinsonism has developed in 61,000 older adults due to the use of antipsychotic drugs such as Haldol, Thorazine, Mellaril, Stelazine, and Prolixin. There are also other parkinsonism-inducing drugs, such as Reglan, Compazine, and Phenergan, prescribed for gastrointestinal problems. As mentioned above, most (about 80%) older adults receiving antipsychotic drugs do not have schizophrenia or other conditions that justify the use of such powerful drugs.

A serious problem exists because both doctors and patients do not realize that practically any symptom in older adults and in many younger adults can be caused or worsened by drugs. Some doctors and patients assume that what are actually adverse drug reactions are simply signs of aging. As a result, many serious adverse reactions are entirely overlooked or not recognized until they have caused significant harm.

Click Here To Find Out More At www.worstpills.org - Your Expert, Independent 2nd Opinion For Prescription Drug Information

A NEW VIEW OF CANCER - GERMAN NEW MEDICINE

I highly recommend reading the following piece on an alternative philosophy and treatment model for cancer. I am not in a position to endorse or confirm his theories but they make fascinating reading from an alternative health point of view. Chiropractors talk about the three causes of Subluxation as being physical, chemical and emotional - But which is the most prevalent? EMOTIONAL...

"Dr Hamer’s research began in 1979 after the tragic loss of his son Dirk. Shortly after Dirk’s death, Dr Hamer was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Since he had never been seriously ill, he assumed that the development of his cancer could be directly related to the traumatic event he had experienced. At that time Dr Hamer was head internist of a cancer clinic at the University of Munich, Germany. There he began to systematically study his patients regarding the causes, development and healing process of their cancers. What he discovered was revolutionary!

"Dr Hamer found that every DISEASE originates from an unexpected shock experience. He established that such a sudden shock affects not only the psyche, but impacts at the same time (visible on a brain scan) the part of the brain that corresponds biologically to the specific trauma. Whether the body responds to the unexpected event with a tumor growth (cancer), with tissue degeneration, or with functional loss, is determined by the exact type of conflict shock. So far, Dr Hamer has been able to confirm these discoveries with over 40,000 case studies. Since HEALING can only occur after the conflict has been resolved, German New Medicine therapy focuses on identifying and resolving the original shock.

"German New Medicine offers a completely new understanding of what we commonly call ”diseases“. By understanding the Five Biological Laws that Dr Hamer discovered, we liberate ourselves from the fear and panic that often come with the onset of an illness. Truly, a gift to humanity!"

Dr Hamer’s GNM claims a success rate of 92%!

Click Here To Read More About German New Medicine...

MOST ASTONISHING HEALTH DISASTER OF THE 20th CENTURY

For over 100 years conventional medicine has seized control of the US health care system and as a result we have over 800,000 people who are killed by interacting with this system. It is likely that over 50 million Americans have died prematurely from this abuse...

Click Here To Watch The Video At YouTube...

TINY BRAIN NO OBSTACLE FOR FRENCH CIVIL SERVANT

A man with an unusually tiny brain managed to live an entirely normal life despite his condition, caused by a fluid buildup in his skull, French researchers reported on Thursday.

Scans of the 44-year-old man's brain showed that a huge fluid-filled chamber called a ventricle took up most of the room in his skull, leaving little more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue.
"He was a married father of two children, and worked as a civil servant," Dr. Lionel Feuillet and colleagues at the Universite de la Mediterranee in Marseille wrote in a letter to the Lancet medical journal.

The man went to a hospital after he had mild weakness in his left leg. When Feuillet's staff took his medical history, they learned he had had a shunt inserted into his head to drain away hydrocephalus -water on the brain - as an infant...

Intelligence tests showed the man had an IQ of 75, below the average score of 100 but not considered mentally retarded or disabled, either.

"What I find amazing to this day is how the brain can deal with something which you think should not be compatible with life," commented Dr. Max Muenke, a pediatric brain defect specialist at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

"If something happens very slowly over quite some time, maybe over decades, the different parts of the brain take up functions that would normally be done by the part that is pushed to the side," added Muenke, who was not involved in the case...

Click Here To Read The Full Article At Reuters...

Nick's footnote: Maybe it wasn't the remnant of his brain that fulfilled his daily functions - maybe it was his spinal cord?

IS WHAT MAKES YOU LOOK GOOD MAKING YOU FEEL BAD?

What started as a hobby in her kitchen may become a revolution in the health and beauty industries: Narelle Chenery’s search for truly natural skin care began almost a decade ago after finding out through her own research that many so-called “natural ingredients” were actually very toxic and dangerous. When she couldn’t find a range that was truly pure, she decided to create her own. In 2001 Australia’s leading organic certifying body, The Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), awarded their “Australian Certified Organic” seal of approval to MiEssence which includes skin and personal care products and a Probiotic Superfood.

“We are enormously excited by our future prospects,” says Narelle. “We hope to bring the benefits of organic agriculture to the fore and educate people about the importance of avoiding toxins in their daily lives.”

Dr Nick Hodgson of www.torquerelease.com.au where people can now access the full range of MiEssence and MiVitality products said, “The moment I saw the product range and the commitment of the company to people’s health, I had to make the products available to the community. One of the most invisible causes of ill-health is the continuous low-grade exposure to toxic chemicals. What better way to start to reduce this toxic load than by choosing household and personal products that don’t contribute to the problem?”

If you suffer with skin allergies, rashes, blemishes and/or acne then you need to change to more natural personal care products immediately. But even other allergies such as asthma and hay-fever can be improved by reducing the chemical overload produced by the myriad of toxic ingredients in standard off-the-shelf products. And if you’re just struggling to find the answer to why your energy and vitality aren’t as you would like, then it may be time to look at what’s on your bathroom and laundry shelves!

And an even bigger picture demands that we choose products from companies with ecologically friendly practices...

Click Here To Watch An Online Presentation...

Click Here To Investigate The Products In More Detail...

BODY ABSORBS 5 lbs OF MAKE-UP CHEMICALS A YEAR

Women who use make-up on a daily basis are absorbing almost 5lb of chemicals a year into their bodies, it is claimed.

Many use more than 20 different beauty products a day striving to look their best while 9 out of 10 apply make-up which is past its use by date.

Dependence on cosmetics and toiletries means that a cocktail of 4lb 6oz of chemicals a year is absorbed into the body through the skin.

Some synthetic compounds involved have been linked to side effects ranging from skin irritation to premature ageing and cancer.

Richard Bence, a biochemist who has spent three years researching conventional products, said: "We really need to start questioning the products we are putting on our skin and not just assume that the chemicals in them are safe.

"We have no idea what these chemicals do when they are mixed together, the effect could be much greater than the sum of the individual parts." Mr Bence, an advocate of organic beauty products, believes that absorbing chemicals through the skin is more dangerous than swallowing them.

He said: "If lipstick gets into your mouth it is broken down by the enzymes in saliva and in the stomach. But chemicals get straight into your bloodstream, there is no protection."...

Click Here To Read The Telegraph Article...

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE - THE BOY WITH THE INCREDIBLE BRAIN

Talking about autistic people - check this one out...

Daniel Tammet first came to worldwide attention in March 2004 on international "Pi" Day (14/3, of course) when he recited, from memory, Pi to 22,514 decimal places. It took over five hours and set a new European record. The event, which Daniel named "Pi in the Sky", coincided with Einstein's birthday and took place in front of Einstein's blackboard at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, England. Daniel used that event to raise funds for the National Society for Epilepsy because it was after a series of childhood seizures that his extraordinary number and memory abilities began, aligning him with that rare circumstance of the 'acquired savant' in which such exceptional skills surface following some CNS injury or disease. He is proud of the monies raised on behalf of this organization, and certainly gave this worthy cause a good deal of visibility.

In addition to number and massive memory skills, Daniel has exceptional language skills as well. He speaks French, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, Esperanto and Icelandic. He learned the difficult Icelandic language in seven days which was carefully documented in the one hour film about Daniel titled "The Boy with the incredible Brain".

Click Here To Watch A Documentary About Daniel...

AUTISTIC CHILDREN CLINICALLY PROVEN TO BE MERCURY POISONED

Recent peer-reviewed scientific/medical studies by Nataf et al. (2006) and by Geier and Geier (2006) leave little doubt that many autistic children are indeed mercury poisoned. These studies utilized urinary porphyrin profile analysis (UPPA) to assess the body-burden and magnitude of physiological effects of mercury in children. UPPA is a highly accurate, inexpensive, non-invasive, and routinely available method for estimating body-burden and toxicity of mercury. Numerous peer-reviewed scientific/medical papers published over the past 40 years, many of them supported by the US NIH, have proven the validity of using UPPA to identify mercury poisoning...

Click Here To Read The Full Article At Medical News Today...

This is a controversial topic because it is believed that the major sources of Mercury in an infant's lifestyle are vaccines. You can imagine that the pharmaceutial companies and perhaps even govenmental departments do no want this link to be confirmed - imagine if they were to be held accountable for the apparent epidemic in autistic spectrum disorders?

First, they would have increasing problems selling their product/s to the consumer, plus there could well be massive class actions to claim for damages...

PRENATAL SECONDHAND SMOKE TIED TO MENTAL PROBLEMS

Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely than their unexposed counterparts to have children with psychological problems such as conduct disorder, attention deficits, and behavior problems, a study suggests.

Scientists believe such behaviors are controlled by the brain's dopamine system, which has been shown in animal studies to be damaged by fetal smoke exposure.

"Evidence suggests that the dopamine system in the brain gets over stimulated during pregnancy," Beauchaine noted in a statement. "As a consequence, children who were exposed to smoke in utero have colic and are hard to soothe as infants. As toddlers they are overactive and oppositional. Later on they are irritable, inattentive and low on pleasure."...

Click Here To Read The Complete Article At Reuters...

Have you got your copy of the DVD, "ADHD To Drug Or Not To Drug" yet? If you want to explore some natural management options then this DVD presents a smorgasbord of strategies...

Click Here To Learn More...

TOO SWEET ON SUGAR

Dr. David Ludwig treats childhood obesity at Boston Children's Hospital and he is stunned by America's consumption of empty calories. In fact, he says that the average convenience store is a nutritional disaster area.

"All sugar-containing foods aren't bad," he told CBS News correspondent Susan Spencer. "For example, an apple has its main calories come from sugar. But it's surrounded by fiber, so it digests slowly and keeps blood sugar under control."

Including refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, the average American wolfs down 142 pounds a year, or roughly 2 ½ pound a week. That is up 23 percent in the last 25 years, and is a major factor in soaring rates of obesity and diabetes.

"The problem is when we take sugars and concentrate and refine them, and serve them in massive amounts throughout the food supply," Ludwig said. "That's causing hormonal changes that in many people drive hunger, cause overeating, and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease."

And it isn't just sugar driving those highs and lows - so do the carbohydrates found in highly-processed food, like white bread and white rice, which turn to glucose when eaten.

Click Here To Read The CBS Story...

Recent research showed that sugar is more addictive than cocaine - no wonder the processed food companies want to put heaps of it in their products - there's no better repeat customer than an addicted one!

STUDENTS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER "MASS OVERDOSE" AT SCHOOL

Fourteen Year 9 students had to be taken to hospital recently after overdosing on prescription medication during their lunch break at a north Brisbane school. The mass overdose is understood to have involved Ritalin, a drug usually used to treat attention deficit disorders.

While the normal dose of Ritalin is two or three tablets a day, the 10 girls and four boys at Narangba Valley State High School are understood to have swallowed up to 15 tablets each.
Teachers became aware the group had taken the pills when one of the affected girls came forward. The school immediately called an ambulance, but waited about an hour to notify parents.

About 12 paramedics arrived at the school around midday, where they found the teenagers "clearly drug-affected", according to an ambulance spokesman. "The kids were displaying symptoms such as increased heart rate, nausea and some of them a bit of dizziness." Ambulance officers transported 12 of the group to hospital, but two girls went missing from the school grounds. The girls were later found after searches by family and police and taken to Caboolture hospital.

Police believe one of the teenagers brought the prescription drugs into the school and distributed them to friends throughout the day. Inspector Keith Miller said there was no indication the child had been dealing the pills for money.

"Once kids take over 100mg a day (10 tablets), and all at once you are talking about risks of serious side-effects," Dr Jarman Senior pediatrician at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital said. Ritalin overdoses could lead to full-blown psychotic episodes, as well as hallucinations, increased heart-rate, agitated behaviour and tearful outbursts.

Click Here To Read About This On The ABC Web-Site...

A lot of ADHD kids are very bright - and some don't like taking their medications because of the common side effects: What better way to get rid of unwanted meds than to give them to someone else?

On my DVD, "ADHD To Drug Or Not To Drug" I made the prediction that we would soon see the sale of Ritalin at schools for "hits", and it has now happened as this article graphically demonstrates. The more worrying prediction I make is that there will be violent crimes committed by long-term users of Ritalin and Dexamphetamine - the signs are there that we are getting closer to this sad day? To find out more about how you can be part of the solution check out my "ADHD To Drug Or Not To Drug" program...

Click Here To Learn More...

FLUORIDE, A LONG-TIME BLESSING, NOW A CURSE?

A debate follows a warning by the ADA about giving babies fluoridated water.

Few noticed in November when the American Dental Association alerted its members via e-mail of a possible problem with giving babies fluoridated water:

The ADA, long among fluoride's biggest advocates, wrote that parents of infants younger than a year old "should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride" when mixing baby formula.

Public health agencies in some states, like Vermont and New Hampshire, responded by issuing warnings through the media based on the ADA e-mail.

But it would be four months before Florida's Department of Health would relay the ADA's message on its Web site along with its own seemingly contradictory footnote: "Mixing formula with fluoridated water poses no known health risks."

Neither Hillsborough nor Pinellas counties' water utilities - both of which use fluoride additive - passed along the warning.

So is fluoridated water safe for infants? It depends on whom you ask.

Click Here To Read The Complete Article at the St Petersburg Times...

Many baby formulas already have inherent levels of Fluoride, so to add fluoridated water to the mix further increases the risk of side effects from this potentially toxic substance. Previous studies showed that adding fluoride to our town water decreases the rate of dental caries by 1.1 tooth per 8 year old child. Whereas another study found that topical applicaion reduced the dental caries rate by 1.2 teeth - Raises the question - why do we need to add fluoride to every ml of water that we use and ingest, when we only need it for our teeth, and can use it topically anyway?

THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO MEN'S HEALTH

After 18 years of working with the health care of both sexes and all age groups, I have to say that certain adult male behaviours perplex me to this day! Particularly when it comes to looking after their health. This has lead me to share with you what I call the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Men's Health". Let's take a look at some of the predominant male health behaviours:

1) "I'm as fit as a mallee bull." This is one of the most common descriptions males use to describe their current health picture. This same 'stud', is almost always overweight, can't reach their toes, is often on medication for high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, swallows some form of antacid daily and still lives with the painful injuries that have been with him since the under-18 grand final!

Complete idiot's rule #1: Face reality. If your car was blowing smoke and the oil light was continuously lit, you would get it fixed. Be willing to listen to the warning signs that your body has. There are a lot more signals than just crippling pain that should be telling you to be more proactive in improving your health, attitude and fitness.

2) "Work keeps me fit." The only two occupations who may be able to claim this are garbos and posties (those who still ride a push-bike that is!). For the rest of us there is no way that our work activities fulfil the criteria for keeping a man fit. If you think that you walk miles in the course of a day from one office to another, it's never the same as continuous aerobic activity. If you lift lots of heavy things all day, you aren't doing any aerobic work and probably a tiny amount of stretching. Or, if you're just working incredibly long hours and don't have the energy to exercise when you get home, take note!

Complete idiot's rule #2: Don't fool yourself. Ninety-nine per cent of men need to exercise over and above what they do at work.

3) "I'm too busy now, I'll have time to do all that healthy stuff later."

Complete idiot's rule #3: Spend now, save later. The bottom line is that you will either invest time on your health now - OR - pay later with sickness costs. If you spend time on preventative health strategies today, you'll still be fit and healthy in years to come. The return on your investment will be quality of life, longevity, and even an ability to keep earning more money. If you don't invest your time on healthy activities now, you will literally be forced to make time in the future, plus some.

4) "I can't spend my family's hard earned money on things like chiropractic and vitamins." Time and money are interchangeable commodities so the principles are almost identical.

Complete idiot's rule #4: The law of investment. Invest money on your health now and you will receive a healthy return on that investment later. Look at it another way - wouldn't it be better to be sacrificing time now on healthy pursuits while still on junior pay rates, so that when you are in your forties, you can still be working hard and receiving consultant or managerial pay rates? If you’re working excessively on a poor pay rate now, and end up crook as a result, you will miss out on your best earning years! Do you really think your family will begrudge you spending money on some preventative health care, when they will have a healthy partner/dad/grandad to enjoy in years to come?

5) "I seem to be getting better now." You'd be surprised what some men have promised to me when they are in crippling pain - "I'm going to keep up regular check-ups once I've got through this","I've learnt my lesson, I'm going to take better care of myself from now on!", "If you fix me I'll refer all my friends and family to you", "The whole town will know how good you are if you can get rid of this pain, I'll make sure of it." Then a week or two later, I get a phone message that "he doesn't think he needs to come back again because he's feeling a bit better". (The call is usually made by the wife.)

Complete idiot's rule #5: Finish the job. After the flames of a scrub fire have been put out by the firemen, do they leave and say, "seems to be going out now, she'll be right?" No way! The firemen stay for hours continuing to pour water onto the affected areas, and surveying for potential sources of further outbreak. No matter what type of health crisis has hit you recently, the same principle needs to be applied. If you take medication, the doctor tells you to "finish the course", chiropractors will tell you that you need more treatment beyond the disappearance of the crippling pain. This is not "stringing you on": This is doing the job right - The first time preferably!

6) "I know what's good for me." This is a partial truth. I am always trying to empower my clients to make better health care choices for themselves. But everyone needs expert guidance and coaching too - how come the best professional sportsmen still have a coach, and a fitness adviser, let alone the personal chiropractor and so on? And yet the average bloke tries to perfect his own golf game, won't listen to his wife's street directory instructions, refuses to go to the doctor unless he's on his death bed, even tries to "crack" his own back!

Complete idiot's rule #6: Listen to the coach. Surround yourself with some health "mentors" that you respect and do what they tell you to do.

7) "Superman syndrome." All men fantasised about being a superhero as a boy. This led some of us to jump from the tops of furniture and even small buildings. Some men, particularly young bucks, seem to have started to believe this dream. Their health behaviours suggest that nothing can perforate their impenetrable health defences.

Complete idiot's rule # 7: Don't eat Kryptonite. Superman could tell immediately when the life energy-zapping Kryptonite was close to him and would go to great lengths to avoid and expel the source of his weakness. As men we need to develop the same perception of what it is that zaps our superpowers. Expel the junk food, social and pharmaceutical drugs, food additives and preservatives, sugar, caffeine, and nicotine, and rise above your enemies!

8) "My family knows that I am working for them." Many of us fall into the workaholic trap in the quest to be good providers. Stephen Covey talks about climbing the ladder of success only to find at the top, that your ladder is leaning against the wrong building. How many men lay on their death bed wishing that they had spent more time at work?

Complete idiot's rule #8: Know your priorities, stick to your priorities. Make time for your family, relationships, spirituality, personal development and enjoyment.

9 ) “That spiritual stuff is for the girls.” Abraham was a bloke. So were Moses, Noah, Daniel, Joseph, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, John The Baptist, Jesus, Paul and James.

Complete idiot's rule #9: Become the spiritual giant you are supposed to be. Spend less time at the altars of the TV, golf course, workplace, pub, TAB, and start spending some time getting to know the big boss in the sky. This won’t make you weaker; it will make you stronger – employees with a great boss always perform better than employees with a dud-boss.

The bottom-line guys, is that the statistics are scary for your future health unless you step in and take some affirmative action towards managing your short and long-term well-being.

Depressed and substance-dependent in our teens; angry and drunk in our twenties; dying of heart attacks and popping pills in our thirties; diabetics and visiting surgeons in our forties; fighting cancer and taking pharmaceutical cocktails in our fifties; dropping dead by the masses in our sixties (only months after retiring from work).

Are you man enough to take the health bull by the horns and start to do what it takes to ensure you will be the best grandad in the world?

DIETARY CHOICES - THE GAP BETWEEN WHAT PEOPLE KNOW AND WHAT THEY DO

Everybody wants to be healthy, but the statistics tell us that most of us aren't. How do we explain the gap between our wants and our haves? Maybe this next piece of research helps to answer the question - that there is a huge gap between what we know and what we do.

Ninety percent of Americans say breakfast is an important part of a healthy diet, but just 49 percent manage to eat breakfast every day, a new survey shows. I'm sure we would find the same statistics down-under.

Among the most striking "disconnects," Susan Borra, the president of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation said in an interview, concerned knowledge about good and bad fats. While current guidelines recommend people consume more polyunsaturated fats, found in fish and some whole grain foods, and monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, avocados and vegetable oils, she noted, 42 percent of those surveyed said they were trying to eat less polyunsaturated fats and 38 percent reported trying to cut down on monounsaturated fats.

"Consumers are interested in health, they want to have a healthy lifestyle, but they're just having a tremendous difficulty achieving it," Borra said, adding that people's "hectic, crazy lifestyles" and the confusing mix of information out there don't help matters...

Click Here To Read About The Research On Reuters...

Click Here To Download The Research Paper...

How do we close the gap between what we know and what we do? We need a very conscious and structured plan which designs the steps that close the gap between what we want and what we have. For many this needs some professional advice and coaching - Have YOU considered employing the services of a wellness coach?

THREE GIRLS DIE, OTHERS HOSPITALISED AFTER CERVICAL CANCER VACCINE

A new trend in medical intervention has been heralded with a vaccine for cancer! First, a possible link between genital papilloma and cervical cancer was proposed. This opened the pandora's box, since if they could prevent the "infection" with a vaccine, THEN, maybe they can prevent the development of the cancer. I'm always fascinated by the release of new medicines - first they are introduced as the wonder cure, with NO side effects. But if you follow the stories through time - first they discover that they do have side effects; usually more and worse than first predicted. Then they discover that they aren't the wonder cure first hoped for.

But never mind, I'll guarantee that they have a "new and improved" formula which costs more, and comes with bigger claims.

Questions have emerged in the United States and Australia about the effectiveness and possible dangerous side effects of Gardasil, Merck's newly licensed vaccine for human papillomavirus.

In the US, three deaths closely time related to immunisation with the vaccine were among 1637 adverse reactions reported by Judicial Watch, a public interest watchdog. Judicial Watch obtained the reports from the Food and Drug Administration using the Freedom of Information Act. The reports were filed through the FDA's vaccine adverse event reporting system.

In Melbourne , 25 girls at a Catholic high school who had just received their first injection of the vaccine on 22 May experienced headache, nausea, and dizziness, the Age reported. Four were sent to hospital and two were admitted overnight. All were discharged. One expert called it mass hysteria (that's a new one). Shares of the vaccine's Australian developer, CSL, fell after news reports of the incident...

Click Here To Read The BMJ News Release...

But of course the owners of the patent on the drugs will tell you that the side effects are due to some other cause, they are not as severe as everyone is claiming, and that the benefits outweigh the risks anyway, and then they'll ask the government to indemnify them for the compensation costs...

JUDGE SLAMS DOCTORS OVER "RITALIN KIDS" CRIMEWAVE

ADHD is Attention Hyperactivity Disorder - a behavioural dysfunction which gets diagnosed primarily from a check list of unacceptable behaviours. ADHD does exist, but requires a compehensive assessment ruling out other causes of the behaviours and confirming the presence of brain dysfunction. The most often used treatment, is to medicate first, ask questions later. And the most common drug of choice is "Ritalin". This is a stimulant which has been found to have a paradoxical effect at low doses - in other words - when you are a little bit high you are easier to get along with.

BUT, there is a lot of controversy in regards to the possible short and long term negative effects of drugs like Ritalin and Dexamphetamine: This article exposes one of the biggest worries...

Judge says 'Ritalin kids' committing violent crimes

Ritalin prescriptions at 264,000 from 11,114 in 1992

A NSW judge has slammed doctors for creating a generation of 'Ritalin kids' now committing violent crimes and coming before the courts.

Judge Paul Conlon said attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was the most over-diagnosed condition in the community, with "naughty kids whacked" on to drugs like the powerful stimulant Ritalin.

Last year there were more than 264,000 prescriptions for Ritalin issued in Australia, compared to just 11,114 prescriptions written in 1992.

Judge Conlon said he was worried because the effect on the mental health of children who were given powerful drugs they did not need was unknown.

"I have huge concerns. The tide of cases is amazing," Judge Conlon, a former Crown prosecutor and now judge in the NSW District Court, said.

"I am starting to lose count of (the number of) offenders coming before the courts who were diagnosed at a very young age with ADHD for which they were 'medicated'."

With Australia's ADHD rates among the highest in the world and 32,000 NSW schoolchildren now on medication for it, the judge's comments will renew controversy about the use of Ritalin.
Judge Conlon said he was also seeing signs that children prescribed psycho-stimulant drugs like Ritalin went on to develop addiction to drugs like methamphetamines.

"My own research indicates that ADHD is perhaps the most over-diagnosed condition in today's society," he said.

"If that is correct, do we really know what are the long-term effects of those drugs and chemicals on the mental health of those young persons so diagnosed?"

He urged health professionals whom he knew had concerns to become more vocal, saying it was too easy for GPs and psychiatrists to "tick the diagnostic boxes" and come up with ADHD.

Click Here To Read Daily Telegraph Article...

Want to learn more about the ADHD controversy? Check out my DVD which covers and explains the issues raised by Judge Conlon, explores the diagnosis and conventional treatment of ADHD, and presents natural management strategies...

Click Here To Find Out More About "ADHD To Drug Or Not To Drug"...

Ritalin is in the same drug class as Cocaine and other commonly used amphetamines, and works by synthetically stimulating a rush of dopamine in the brain reward chemical system: "Synthetic" being the key word, since as with most synthetic additives, research suggests that long-term use actually interferes and further damages the brain reward system. As chiropractors we know that it is better to supplement and feed natural processes, than it is to manipulate them - There are more natural products available which provide the nutritional precursors for chemicals like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine...

Click Here To Find Out More About The Natural Alternative To Ritalin...

SOFT DRINK ADDITIVE DAMAGES DNA

A common preservative found in many soft drinks can cause serious cell damage and fatal illness, according to a UK study revealed last night.

Research indicates that sodium benzoate, an ingredient in many soft drinks and sauces, has the ability to deactivate parts of DNA and eventually cause diseases such as Parkinson's and cirrhosis of the liver.

Sodium benzoate is indicated in Australia as "Preservative (211)" on ingredients lists, and is included in Sunkist, Diet Coke, Sprite, Pepsi Max and many other drinks and condiments.

Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology who has been studying sodium benzoate for eight years at Sheffield University, found that the preservative seriously damages living cells. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether," Prof Piper told The Independent on Sunday.

Click Here To Read ninemsn News Release...

Not to mention the massive amounts of sugar, artificial colours and flavours (which are usually low doses of industrial chemicals), artificial sweeteners (which are suspected to be toxic to the nervous system), and Phosphoric acid, added to give soft drinks "bite," is associated with calcium loss, and then add some caffeine for more energy boost, and you've got a real recipe for BAD HEALTH. I feel like a big glass of water......!

KICKING THE SICKNESS "HABIT"

Have you ever wondered why when you get run down or sick, it tends to hit you in the same part of your body, seemingly every time? When I was a teenager, and into my early twenties, no matter what kind of minor infection I "caught", it would head straight for my chest/lungs. I would be choked up with bronchitis for weeks.

Many people who consult me as a chiropractor need to because when they get stressed, run down, overworked, physically or emotionally fatigued, or mysteriously ill; they always seem to end up with their neck or lower back "going out", or a bunch of headaches piling on top of each other.

We all seem to have our weak spots and if they recur often enough and severely enough we usually give our seemingly permanent residents a name: Migraines, Asthma, Irritable Bowel, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Sinusitis, Depression and so on.

"Patterns can develop in our nervous system when it comes to how we respond to chemical, physical, mental and/or emotional stresses and strains: basically similar to a 'habit' forming."
To understand why this happens we need to learn some more about the finer workings of the nervous system. Yes, that's right - it's not due to your lungs, muscles, immunity, or any other organ for that matter, that illness patterns recur. It all starts in your nerves!

“How can that be?” I can hear you thinking. “Surely if every time I get sick, if it affects my lungs, doesn’t that mean I’ve got weak lungs, not faulty nerves?”

To understand this better, let’s explore The Law of Facilitation - when an impulse passes through a certain set of neurons (nerve fibres) to the exclusion of others, it will take the same course on future occasions, and each time it traverses this path the resistance in the path will be less. (You may need to read this a couple of times to get your head around it.)

The most easily understood healthy example of this law, is the learning of a new motor skill: riding a bike, kicking a footy, juggling, playing a tune on an instrument. When you perform the task successfully, the information travels through your nervous system in a characteristic pattern (as individual as a fingerprint). So, according to the law of facilitation, once we have set off this characteristic nerve pattern once, it becomes easier and easier to set it off successfully again and again. Practice makes perfect.

Top sportspeople are even able to rehearse these patterns mentally, which we know as visualisation. And when you get really good at visualisation, brain research suggests that you are actually activating the same nerve loops that you would have if you actually performed the activity.

Now, here's the bad news. The same kinds of patterns can develop in our nervous system when it comes to how we respond to chemical, physical, mental and/or emotional stresses and strains: basically similar to a "habit" forming.

An example of this is asthma. Children who are vaccinated and the children of smokers are more prone to suffering from asthma throughout their life. Now vaccines and smoke in isolation do not cause asthma. But they can both irritate the airways and lungs of the children exposed. This could set up a facilitated nerve pattern. Future different kinds of stresses will tend to be channelled through that same loop, leading to repeated pressure on the lungs. Asthma is basically an overactivity of the immune and muscular tissues around the airways of the lungs, due to different triggers. But for a person who has not developed the particular facilitated pattern of an asthmatic, the same triggers may not be good for them; but they do not attack their lungs with the same speed and severity. (They may have another type of facilitated habit and suffer a sinus attack instead!)

Science has now demonstrated that our body replaces its' chemical building blocks on a continuous basis. This observation has led some experts to say that in just a couple of years, chemically speaking, you will have an entirely new body!? The time frame for this recycling process is still controversial, but the fact that it occurs is no mystery.Considering why we seem to become recurrently “sick” in the same regions all the time leads to the questions: "Why does my body keep putting my arthritic ankle back the wrong way? Why can’t I have a new regenerated one with new cartilage?" "Why do we age?" "Why do we look the same with each new body?"

Well, now you know the answer! The nervous system is the slowest to change (and some scientists have argued that this is the one part of the body that doesn't regenerate chemically at all). And it is the nervous system which determines how, where, and when all the chemicals in the rest of the body are replaced. So the reason the ankle gets replaced in its' arthritic state is due to the existence of a facilitated nerve pattern: because a facilitated pattern of laying down extra calcium to barricade an overstressed joint has been established, as the body replaces the chemicals in that joint, it continues to lay down more and more calcium.

HOW DO YOU KICK THE SICKNESS "HABIT"?

We have been discussing the complex issue of how some sicknesses are a type of habit that your nervous system has gotten into. So, how do we break these habits? Until we can understand this area, every time we get run down, stressed, fatigued, overworked; we will find ourselves spiralling back into the same old sickness patterns.

Most of the principles we will discuss now are very similar to the steps needed to overcome any kind of habit. Eating disorders, drug addictions, behavioural habits, are all really examples of the nervous system facilitation that we spoke of earlier, just as much as recurrent lung infections, intestinal disorders, or joint degeneration can be.

1) Try to keep away from the environmental conditions in which the facilitated pattern has occurred in the past.

Drug rehabilitation rarely works if the addict returns to the same environment after detoxing. In terms of our bad health habits we need to try and understand the factors which will reinforce the facilitation in our nervous system. When dieting, we are often taught that the critical time is when you are in the supermarket. Once you have bought the fatty and sugary foods, and put them in the fridge, chances are you will "slip" into eating them, despite your promise to yourself that you would have enough will-power to resist. The answer? Don't have the bad foods in the pantry in the first place, and in the weaker moments, they won't be there as a choice of food.
"In terms of our bad health habits we need to try and understand the factors which will reinforce the facilitation in our nervous system."

So, once you know what area of your body where you seem to habitually get sick; the next stage is to research and think about the life situations that encourage the "bad habit". For example, for many of us, we get trapped into the mega-busy-treadmill. And if you look back through time, you will realise you can sustain this for only so long before you crash. A smarter tactic would be to recognise the warning signs that you are trapping yourself in this cycle once again, and learn to avoid getting trapped into the manic stage, and learn to "say no", pace yourself, and take time to smell the roses.

2) Give your nervous system something else to do. As a parent I learned quite quickly, that if you want your young child to stop doing something, you can try to tell them to stop till your red in the face. But what works best is to give them an attractive alternative, to distract them away from the unsuitable behaviour.

We can apply this same principle to our bad health habit. When are you most likely to slip into a bad habit? When you have nothing else to do, when you’re tired, when you’re angry, when you’re hungry, when you’re lonely? So, it's always a good idea to try to keep your nervous system away from the facilitated pattern by developing a new, more advantageous one.

It has been said that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit: if you can force yourself consciously to carry out a new behaviour for 21 days and avoid the old behaviour during that same time, the new facilitated pattern will become dominant over the old. In other words you are trying to develop new dominant facilitated patterns that are more productive and healthy.

3) Break the facilitated nerve pathways. When you have a chiropractic adjustment, you are not only having muscles and joints stretched, there is also a delayed process and response that occurs in your central nervous system following an adjustment.

Many people find that as they persist with regular chiropractic care, they are less likely to suffer from a relapse. This is because it is almost like the facilitation in the nervous system (which leads you back to the same old injury) is gradually being cleared away.

Research in the US demonstrated this when a group of drug addicts going through rehab were also given chiropractic adjustments. The result was that the retention rates of the addicts through the whole program became 100 per cent and the relapse rate was significantly reduced.
Acupuncture and auriculotherapy also appear to have the ability to tap into the circuitry of the nervous system and may also assist with breaking down faulty facilitated nerve pathways.

4) Renounce the title. How strongly do you hold onto your illness? Are you convinced that whenever you get sick that it will last at least two weeks? When people ask how you’re doing, is your first response always about your latest symptom? Are you too scared to attempt a new healing strategy because it might upset your weak spot? Do you give up on a new healthy habit really quickly because you convince yourself that it isn’t working even though you haven’t given it long enough to work?

"Just as a top sportsperson can visualise themselves towards a successful performance, those trapped in the sickness habit can visualise themselves away from healing."

Just as a top sportsperson can visualise themselves towards a successful performance, those trapped in the sickness habit can visualise themselves away from healing. Is it time that you start to daily reaffirm to yourself that your ailment is getting better all the time, as opposed to lying down and believing that you’re always going to suffer with your war wound?

Make a commitment to give yourself a new title: you are not Esther the Asthmatic, Con the Constipation, Arthur Arthritis, or Danny Depression - just as Abram and Saul found a new name to match their new identity to become Abraham and Paul; you can claim a new healthier identity for yourself.

5) Get "deep and meaningful". Unfortunately for some of us, the facilitated patterns that have developed in our lives (that are now having an effect on our health), are the result of past physical and/or emotional injury. The above strategies may help to reduce some of the pain and suffering, but until healing occurs at the deeper levels of the nervous system, the same patterns will return.

This may mean we need counselling, spiritual healing, some sort of behavioural therapy, and so on. It can be difficult to uncover the facilitated patterns that have established themselves in our nervous system with our own strength. Sometimes it requires someone looking from the outside in to throw some perspective.

6) Balance the brain. We know that the brain bathes itself in different chemicals of emotion synchronously with the feelings and thoughts and frequencies that are firing inside your central nervous system. A brain that is under stress and overloaded with faulty facilitated pathways, is exposing itself to more and more draining and destructive chemical reactions. Technology does exist that helps to calm, harmonise and synchronise the two hemispheres of the brain, leading to feelings of wellbeing, calmness, focus, insight and relaxation. This technology is known as binaural beat frequencies.

Research has shown that when two separate frequencies of sound are played into opposite ears at the same time, the two hemispheres start to harmonise and balance to the difference between the two sound frequencies. The practical and clinical implication of this is that if we control the frequencies being listened to by both ears, we can actually dictate the frequency range that the brain begins to fire in. In effect you can draw the brain into deep states equivalent to very skilled and deep meditation.

There are a number of companies that specialise in producing the CDs that have to be listened to in stereo headphones to create the therapeutic effects. Each makes similar claims but can vary substantially in price and format. The bottom line to these CDs is the carrier frequencies, not how nice the accompanying music a sounds or whether they add subliminal and subconscious messaging. If you like these other things as well then by all means pay the extra dollars for the product.

7) Talk to the computer programmer. If we have a computer that is malfunctioning we might require a programmer to come in and correct the faulty command prompts and scripting language that is encoded within the software. Preferably someone who knows the software well and has the skills to correct the glitches? There is only one being in our universe that knows each of us so intimately; and that is the one who created you in the first place. Not your mummy and daddy, but your God.

"People who receive miraculous healing, sometimes in an instant when they seek God’s touch, must have received supernatural reprogramming at the nervous system level at least, to explain the sudden and dramatic changes in body and mind function. Don’t be afraid to ask for this kind of help for yourself."

People who receive miraculous healing, sometimes in an instant when they seek God’s touch, must have received supernatural reprogramming at the nervous system level at least, to explain the sudden and dramatic changes in body and mind function. Don’t be afraid to ask for this kind of help for yourself.

Where to from here? Make the time to sit down and review your own sickness habits. List down your weak spots and attempt to delve into your past to uncover the events and circumstances that set off and reinforce your own nervous system’s facilitated pathways. Get adjusted regularly to reduce the vicious cycles in your nerves. Build better boundaries into your decision making processes. Develop some new behaviour to start to grow more advantageous patterns. Seek counsel and help from those people and resources that can help you along this healing journey.

Consciously observe and experience yourself blooming into a happier “health habit”.

ILLNESS BY ACCIDENT OR HEALTH BY DESIGN?

When it comes to health, it would appear that there are only two choices: illness by accident or health by design.

There seems to be a prevailing belief system within our culture that sees illness, sickness and disease as being a game of chance over which we have little influence; someone else is dealing the hand:

1. You get an infection because a bug that is going around chooses you as a potential home, and if you are unfortunate enough to be exposed to that micro-enemy by a carrier passing by who sneezes in your general direction, then you are out of luck - sneezes and snuffles are just around the corner.
2. Mental malfunction is the result of chemical imbalance within our brain, over which we have no control.
3. Cancer is just a game of chance; the uncontrolled growth of a tumour that has mysteriously housed itself in its new home - the sufferer.
4. And now the concept of genetic predetermination and that if you are one of the unlucky ones to inherit a gene for a particular malady - then it is just a matter of time until that malfunctioning gene is going to produce a malfunctioning body.

An underlying philosophy to this type of thinking is that disease and illness come from the outside, invading to get inside, to create the damages of warfare inside the unfortunate territory that has been invaded: you. Such is the philosophy of illness by accident.

This philosophy has its own set of behaviours that result. If the problem comes from the outside, and if the illness is produced by a foreign body, then the best ways to manage these problems are through methods of guerrilla warfare - chemical, physical or otherwise. Drugs to destroy the invaders, or to suppress the signs that the enemy is present; heroic surgeries to remove the unwanted guests.

This at first appears to make good sense, after all when you are in the middle of a battle ground you want some outside help so call in the hired troops.

But, maybe if there had been some wiser choices made prior to the arrival of the unwanted guests - perhaps if a careful program of border protection had been carried out earlier - maybe the invaders would have turned away to look for easier prey elsewhere.

Is there an alternative? There is a counterculture that sees the development of illness from another viewpoint. Illness does not come from the outside in, but from the inside out.

1. An infection can only occur when the host allows the invasion to happen - if the defence mechanisms are sleeping, switched off or dormant.
2. The chemical production in the brain is a manifestation of our thoughts, feelings and experiences, and not the other way around.
3. Potential cancers are appearing and disappearing within each body continuously, but when the body fails to recognise and manage the impending problem then the tumour can be allowed to expand, spread and wreak havoc.
4. And genes only express themselves in the context of the environment in which they are working: get the environment right, and the right genes will be expressed, get the environment wrong, and the wrong genes will be expressed.

This alternative philosophy leads to its own set of behaviours - if the internal environment of the human body determines which illness and sicknesses will be allowed to express themselves then to control and change this environment is the key to reducing the dangers from potential maladies. Such is the idea of health by design.

The spiritual parallel to these divergent viewpoints would be the idea that Satan is the external cause of all our trials and tribulations, as opposed to our tendency towards sin being the internal path to falling and failure. If life is going bad, it must because Satan is on the rampage. If life is going well then Satan has gone to work elsewhere? Few of us would doubt that Satan is out there awaiting the weak and the unprepared. His job description is to separate you from your Creator, by whatever means he can. But it is, more often than not, our response to the insinuation, deception and suggestion that Satan surrounds us with, that determines whether his tactics win or lose. When Jesus was being tempted in the desert He had to proactively resist the Devil. But the mere presence and antics of Satan does not necessitate your doom - the choices you make because of or preferably in spite of more often than not determine the outcome.

Similarly in terms of illness, there are viruses 'out there' which, if they get a stranglehold inside your body, will kill you. Many of us could easily spiral into a depressive, compulsive or even addictive pit, if we don’t possess strategies to resist the cascade. Cancer appears to be an ever-increasing thief of loved ones. Most of us have at least one genetic flaw that could potentially rob us of our quality of life. But most of these scenarios are preventable if we get the context of our life in order.

So what action steps do we undertake to ensure health by design? The Bible teaches us that we are spirit, body and soul and it is imperative that we keep these three dimensions in balance...

Prepare spiritually: As much as our culture would like to think spirituality is an optional accessory to our lifestyle; all the symptoms of our sick society point to a disconnected race; one crying out for some sort of reconnection.

1. Stay connected to your Creator: God is ultimately the source of any healing power in the universe - so stay plugged in.
2. Run with the pack: Animals that stray from the herd due to isolation or injury are the most susceptible to attacks from the outside. Protection exists in a well structured community - join one.

Prepare physically: We are not physical beings having occasional spiritual encounters, we are spiritual beings having a physical encounter.

1. Make sure you take care of the transport vehicle you have been provided with to walk this physical journey. This means: exercise regularly, diversely, enjoyably and interestingly; and, eat like Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Daniel, Jesus (but maybe not John the Baptist).
2. Service and maintain the machine: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is healing - this does not just refer to a medical practitioner armed with a prescription pad, and probably refers to more than just prayer ministry. Find some “healers” that you can respect who will help to mentor you in caring for your engineering.

Prepare mentally: The mind is a battleground where healing or illness can be the victor on any given day - barrack for healing.

1. Take captive every thought: What a challenge! To have conscious control and censorship of our thought processes is a key to overcoming jealousy, anger, hate, resentment, selfishness, greed, pride, fear, guilt, lust…
2. Junk in… junk out: What an old cliché, but what an accurate metaphor. Carefully choose what information, atmospheres, and imagery that you are absorbing. Eat a junk food mind diet and expect a fat, sluggish and sickly brain and immune system.

Don’t settle for illness by bad luck - start working towards health by good planning - start preparations today.