Do you sometimes despair at the condition of your skin? Perhaps you’ve tried all the so called ‘miracle’ potions and lotions. Or resorted to heavy make-up, big shades or, worse, hiding at home!   What is your skin trying to tell you? Usually, the message is that unless the cause of the skin issue is external, such as a cut or insect bite, an external remedy will almost never properly correct an internal problem. You see, our skin is the largest organ of our body, with more area exposed to the elements – internal and external – than any other organ. It receives one third of all the blood that is circulated in the body, helping it to protect, absorb and excrete wastes. So if you don’t ‘feed’ and ‘water’ it correctly, with the right nutrition, adequate pure liquids, proven natural supplements , and natural topical ingredients , it gets sick! And if it can’t excrete toxins because the digestive and excretory systems are impaired, leading to chemical and hormonal imbalances, aging and degeneration , the skin becomes even sicker! Indeed, the skin is a vivid fingerprint of what’s going on inside. According to Chinese medicine, skin is the ‘third kidney’: it rids the body of excess moisture and toxins. Oily, dry, blotchy, itchy, inflamed red skin, acne, psoriasis and other skin disorders very often indicate that the organs which eliminate toxins from the body, such as the liver, kidney or colon are not working properly

NDI’s stand for new dietary ingredients. If you have been reading this blog for some time you will be aware that last year the US FDA came out with a bombshell for both industry and consumers alike when they issued a ‘guidance’ document for NDI’s.  This document was seen by many as a direct attack on the supplements and much of it was without justification and some aspects of it were technically impossible to comply with. If you are not aware of how ominous this document is, then you may wish to have a look at some of my earlier blogs which can be accessed from the links below. Is this the beginning of the end for Supplements? An Update on the FDA’s ‘attack’ on Dietary Supplements… An Update of NDI’s… Update of FDA proposed NDI regulations As a result there has been a significant uproar by consumers and industry alike.  The ‘guidance’ if passed would severely undermine the integrity of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) as well as restrict the availability of supplements.  It would deal a ‘death blow’ to the industry and provide a major victory for the pharmaceutical industry. The two US Senators who were the prime authors of the DSHEA legislation have come out solidly opposed to the proposed ‘guidance’ document for NDI’s.  They have written to the FDA Commissioner requesting that they withdraw the current document and start again.  Fortunately they have the support of other influential politicians, but then they have a real fight against those politicians supporting the pharmaceutical lobby. You can read the letter to the FDA by Senators Tom Harkin and Orrin G. Hatch by clicking here .

I recently wrote a blog entry about the poor quality of hospital food in the UK after watching a reality-based TV series about a world renowned chef trying to improve the nutrition and quality of food served to patients… especially children. It seems the trend of serving unpalatable (and probably low quality) meals to patients has spread to a hospital in New Zealand. According to this article , a woman is claiming that she was served poor quality food during her recent admission to a hospital. Now this may just be a case of one person’s opinion versus the hospital’s menu…the article also doesn’t reveal any comments from other patients at the same hospital. Whether the hospital in question does actually serve bad food or not cannot be verified. However, the issue itself should be something that every hospital catering service needs to take seriously. A patient’s recovery should be a hospital’s primary objective…so when it comes to the patient’s meals, this objective shouldn’t be diverted for any reason. Sorry for sounding a little cynical, but a part of me cannot help but wonder if some hospitals insist on serving poor quality food that’s low in nutritional value to simply get the patients back in. I know this is probably far from the truth but it does make you think doesn’t it?

Are you aware that last year the FDA actually issued a warning to limit the doses of simvastatin as at the highest recommended levels of 80mgs they now deem it to be unsafe for most people? This is because people on that higher rate have an increased risk of muscle injury (myopathy) . In some people, the myopathy progresses to a more serious disorder called rhabdomyolysis, which can damage the kidneys and lead to kidney failure and death. This safety announcement was made by the FDA last June.  If you are on a high dose of a statin, particularly if it is around the 80mgs then please bring this warning to the attention of your Doctor.  The full bulletin can be read on the FDA’s website by clicking here . Bear in mind when talking to your Doctor that statin drugs at any dosage carry the risk of myopathy. The symptoms of myopathy include weakness, muscle pain or tenderness, and fatigue.  If the myopathy progresses to rhabdomyolysis, it can cause dark or red-colored urine. If you are taking a statin also check the list of other drugs on the FDA bulletin that you should not be taking at the same time as the statin.  If you are taking any of those talk to your Doctor urgently. Question the need to actually be on a statin.  What are your triglycerides like?  Are your homocysteine levels OK?  But most importantly do you have any inflammation in your blood?  That is measured by the level of your C-Reactive Protein.

It is a bit of a change to see the mainstream media air a negative report about a blockbuster drug, let alone a statin drugs which have been the biggest ‘blockbusters’ of all time.  But… they did! The headlines were “ Statins increase the risk of Type-2 Diabetes in Women ”.  It is good that the evidence is now being revealed by mainstream media (even though it has been known for some-time) that these drugs increase the risk of other diseases including diabetes.  I wonder when they will start releasing some of the other negative statistics…such as the statins increase the risk of cancer. What is not widely known is that some of the studies on statins showed that although there was some overall reduction in mortality from heart related events…in some sectors of the population (not for women) that there was an overall increase in mortality from other causes, cancer being one of them, but they were not obligated to make that knowledge public as that was an observation outside the parameters of the studies. What is surprising in the msnbc video which you can watch by clicking here is that the woman being interviewed intends carrying on with the statin.  If she was to dig deeper and question her physician in depth she would discover that the statin is doing nothing to reduce her risk of a heart event.  Any benefit that a statin may give in relation to heart disease very likely comes from the drugs assisting to reduce the levels of C-Reactive Protein which is a measurement of inflammation in the body, not as a result of its cholesterol lowering properties.   (Reduction of CRP can be easily achieved without the risk of side effects). I wonder when we will see media releases letting people know that dropping cholesterol to the levels that statins do are a major factor in the increasing rates of male impotency, and overall depression in the general population…and other concerns!  Low cholesterol will cause both of the two mentioned conditions.  Triglycerides, and inflammation in the blood as measured by C-Reactive Protein are much better indicators of the health of your heart and circulatory system and both of these are easily helped by ingesting one of our Omega / 3 DHA Fish Oils preferably in conjunction with one of our Total Balance range .

Depression can be segmented into three general categories – mild, major, and severe. A depression case is classified as severe if the symptoms hamper normal functioning.

Typical symptoms of depression include prolonged feelings of intense sorrow and aversion to pleasurable activities. These symptoms are accompanied by sleeplessness or oversleeping, low self-esteem, excessive pessimism and guilt sentiments, among others. Clinical depression can destroy the life of the patient and the family members as well. It ruins intellect by affecting the foundations of rationality.

Bipolar depression is a severe condition of depression that has manic undertones. …

Last week, three senators asked a large pharmaceutical company (and five other health companies) to spill the beans and reveal why want to block generic versions of the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Of course the answer is obvious and if the plan is fully implemented then the patients and tax payers will be the ultimate losers.  For more info on this refer to an article on the New York Times website . “Pfizer has taken unprecedented actions to preserve market share during the next six months, while generic competition is limited and prices remain fairly high. Pfizer is offering discounts to companies that will reject generic prescriptions and substitute Lipitor.” While some companies say they will save money, others do not. The senators said they were concerned about longer term impacts on employers, Medicare and health care costs. ‘We need to take a close look to ensure we’re protecting both taxpayer dollars and access to the medicine patients need,’ Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, said in a statement released with the senators’ letters. “The letters were signed by Senators Baucus, a Montana Democrat; Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican; and Herb Kohl, the Wisconsin Democrat who is chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. ‘Consumers and taxpayers foot the bill when drug benefit companies and insurers manipulate the marketplace to prevent access to generic drugs for millions of Americans,’ Senator Kohl said in the statement.” Credit should be given to the senators for giving this Big Pharma company a few hurdles in its effort to dominate the market…however, I wonder if they realise that drugs (regardless of whether they’re best-selling brands or generics) are hardly the best way to address health concerns.  Be good if these senators could put a bit more attention to helping stop the influence of the pharmaceutical companies in trying to discredit natural solutions and helping the general public to understand that there are much better alternatives to statin drugs which do nothing to help the overall heart health of the nation

Drug companies have long kept secret payment details they make to medical professionals for promoting their drugs. This practice, though legal, raises many questions about potential conflicts, and whether the interests of patients may be compromised. Lee Spiller, Policy Director for the Texas branch of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights comments: “The practice puts patients and tax dollars at risk…It taints the whole process. I’d hate to think donations were shaping state mental health policy in particular.” The fact is they are! Extent of the Problem As the Texas Tribune reports: “Between 2009 and early 2011, at least 25,000 Texas physicians and researchers received a combined $57 million, and probably far more, in cash payments, research money, free meals, travel and other perks. Dozens of these medical professionals were paid more than $100,000 each during that period. 114 were professors, physicians, psychiatrists or researchers who were already paid a salary by the state, in some cases more than a half-million dollars a year. In the USA generally, the PLOS Medicine study shows how pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing and promoting to doctors  than on research ($57.5 billion vs $31.5 billion respectively in 2008). This translates as “an astounding $61,000 in promotion per physician.” The PLOS authors conclude: “There is something severely wrong with a system that emphasizes marketing over research. Profit is good, but profit at the expense of the public health is dangerous.” Similarly, data reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) about a Duke University study shows the financial motives behind the increase in cardiac stress tests recommended by doctors over the last decade. The study found that doctors who bill for both the equipment and the interpretation of the tests were 50-100% more likely to order the testing than doctors who only interpreted the results

It’s True! Just Ask the US Government… I’ve seen some pretty incredible headlines in my time and this one is no different. It seems that the US House of Representatives recently passed a bill that abandons proposals to strip the ridiculous vegetable status given to pizza and limit the frequency of French fries served as school lunch to almost 32 million US school children. It seems that Big Pharma aren’t the only big sharks in the corporate feeding frenzy that is America’s upper finance echelon… the food manufacturers are just as ruthless. These guys shouldn’t really be called food manufacturers because some of the stuff they produce isn’t ‘food’ in my opinion. Frozen French fries, ready-made pizza and other ‘edible’ substances that no doubt are filled with preservatives, trans fats and who knows what else, are the flagship products of these large corporates. There’s nothing wrong with successful companies making profit, it’s actually encouraging to see some form of economic growth.

Prior to the 1980′s, many parents would deliberately take their children to visit a friend whose kids had chickenpox. The assumption? ‘Catching’ chickenpox ‘naturally’ would provide children with ‘natural’ long term immunity. Indeed, as a kid, I remember my parents taking me to friends whose kids were infected by chicken pox, mumps, measles and whooping cough. Of course, they didn’t tell me their ‘agenda’ at the time or I’d have run a mile! Then when I came down with all the symptoms, I just assumed it was bad luck! Today, this practice has been largely replaced by the chickenpox Varicella vaccine. It’s called this because chicken pox is usually caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV). However, because of worries about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines in general , and the chickenpox vaccine specifically , some concerned parents are reverting to the ‘older’ methods, with a potentially dangerous twist… According to several press reports some parents have been using a Facebook group called ‘Find a Pox Party in Your Area’ to pay strangers to mail them “[licked] lollipops, spit or other items” from kids with the illness. One of the Facebook postings from Wendy Werkit of Nashville offered a “fresh batch of pox in Nashville shipping of suckers, spit and Q-tips available tomorrow 50 dollars via PayPal.” Charming! Werkit said that the money was used to cover the shipping costs of the lollipops that had been licked by her children.