Combatting the Swine Flu Hysteria

After several days of media hysteria, you are probably concerned about this latest “outbreak” of swine flu. If you listen to the media, we are all in danger of dying. However, that is far from the case, and in this letter, I want to set the facts straight and give you a strategy to protect both yourself and your loved ones.

First of all, let’s put matters into perspective. This viral strain is H1N1, not the dreadful H5N1 bird strain that we’ve been hearing so much about over the last several years. Why is that important? Because – media hype to the contrary – swine flu is generally much less pathogenic than bird flu. People will get sick; people get the flu every year. But, so far, there is no reason to believe that this flu will be any worse than the other flu outbreaks that circle the globe annually.

The latest information is also that the strain is not highly transmissible. The outbreaks have so far been contained in “clusters” – groups of mutually infected people – without spreading to the larger population.

For one thing, the death rate (deaths/100,000 population) is most likely greatly inflated due to the dearth of health care in many of the more rural areas of Mexico. There are undoubtedly many more than the 1600 reported cases of this influenza, almost all of which have been reported in the cities. Many laborers in Mexico actually live in the rural areas and only commute in to the cities to work, returning home each evening to the farm. So, the statistics are not reliable.

The next important fact is that of the cases that have been reported in the U.S., the symptoms have been relatively mild and consistent with influenza in general. In fact, the symptoms are so similar that the CDC and epidemiologists are hard put to determine whether an infection is actually the H1N1 strain they are so concerned about. As of this writing, I do not believe anyone in the U.S. has died from this virus.

So, what can you do personally? The first, and to me most important, fact about this virus is that it is encapsulated, as are all influenza viruses. Why is that important? Because encapsulated viruses are susceptible to St. John’s Wort (SJW). (See my article, “The Flu and St. John’s Wort” on my web site, which contains all the references to the medical literature. The best thing you and your family can do is to begin taking SJW now as a prophylactic. For adults, the dose would be 2 per day. For young children, I recommend ½ tablet per day.

At the first sign of symptoms, begin taking Thymunose (another product we have in stock), 2 twice a day; and increase your dosage of SJW to 4 to 6 per day, depending upon body weight.  You can call the office if you are unsure of how much to take.

If you develop a deep cough and/or chest congestion, call the office and make an appointment for diathermy to the lungs to help your body ward off the virus.

Since every news program I have seen underscores the idea that Tamiflu is somewhat effective against this virus, I have my suspicions about all the hyperbole that is going on. But, remember, Tamiflu is effective only within the first 48 hours of infection, and most patients don’t exhibit symptoms until the 3rd or 4th day. Furthermore, it has some pretty serious side effects as well.

So, the take-away message here is that there is no cause for alarm. And, even if you or a member of your family becomes ill, we are here to help you recover.

Alli™ — Weight Loss Boon or Health Fraud?

I want to comment on the hype around Alli™, the newest, over-the-counter weight loss product.  I couldn’t believe it when it sold out all over the country on the first day of its release.  I would like to inject some sanity into the conversation.

Alli™ is a weaker version of Xenical™, a prescription medication that was introduced about 10 years ago.  I clearly remember the advertisements at that time:  A voice telling you “you won’t look like a supermodel,” while a picture of a model is clearly displayed on the screen.  Then, a picture of a pizza while the voice states, “of course, you can’t eat anything you want.”  And finally, in a very fast, tiny voice, the side effects, including fecal incontinence!  This was a masterful use of NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP).  NLP is the study of how people’s brains process information.  The two important rules to apply to the foregoing ad are these:  i) Your brain doesn’t hear negatives; it literally edits them out. And ii) your visual cortex overrides your hearing.  So, the message being communicated is exactly the opposite of the words!!  Talk about misleading!

Now that the product has been around for a while, people are beginning to catch on the side effects, which include:  increased gas and flatulence, oily stools and greasy excretions from the anus.  The package instructions include:  you may want to wear dark pants until you know how this medication will affect you, and you may want to take an extra set of clothes to work!! Excuse me?  Why would anyone subject herself to this indignity?  I suspect because Alli™ is being presented as an “easy solve” to what is really a complex problem.

More seriously, as far as I am concerned, Alli™ blocks the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, including Vitamins A, E and D.  Given the recent research on vitamin D and the increased risk of cancer because of a deficiency state (see my article on this topic.  Click on “Cancer” under “Categories” on the right.), the drug companies are creating a market for their expensive chemotherapy drugs!  Sorry for the cynicism, but it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

The data on vitamin D is inescapable.  There is a direct relationship between serum vitamin D and the incidence of cancer of the breast, colon and prostate.  In fact, an animal study in 2006, linked the active ingredient in Alli™ to colon lesions believed to be the precursors to colon cancer. (Garcia S, da Costa Barros L, Turatti A, Martinello F, Modiano P, Ribeiro-Silva A, de Oliveira Vespúcio M, Uyemura S (2006). “The anti-obesity agent Orlistat is associated to increase in colonic preneoplastic markers in rats treated with a chemical carcinogen.”. Cancer Lett 240 (2): 221–4. Takayama T, Katsuki S, Takahashi Y, Ohi M, Nojiri S, Sakamaki S, Kato J, Kogawa K, Miyake H, Niitsu Y (1998). “Aberrant crypt foci of the colon as precursors of adenoma and cancer”. N Engl J Med 339 (18): 1277–84)  And, they want you to take this for life?!?

Last, but not least, the weight loss is nominal – only 5% of body weight.  So, if you weigh 250 lbs, you’ll lose 12½ lbs.  Great isn’t it?

A far better option is Coleus forskoli, which is in our herbal product Coleus Forte™.  The dose is two to three per day, based upon your response to the product.  A few people experience diarrhea, which can be handled by reducing the dose.  The side of effects of Coleus include:  lowering your blood pressure, improving your blood sugar by increasing insulin secretion, replacing body fat with muscle mass, inhibiting platelet activation (less clots), increasing the strength of contraction of your heart, while relaxing smooth muscle, and improving thyroid function.  The reason for these wide ranging effects is that Coleus acts directly to increase cyclic AMP, a major regulator of cellular metabolism.

Of course, you will have to watch your portion size and eliminate sugar and white flour (i.e., decrease refined carbohydrates in general).  But, that’s just a healthy approach to eating.  The only people who can’t take Coleus Forte™ are those whose blood pressure is too low to start with (people with severe adrenal problems) and those few people who find their gut becomes too irritable.  In my office, that’s less than 1% of the people who have tried it so far.

So, if you’re interested in a healthy approach to improving your body mass, call and ask for Coleus Forte™.  If you feel you need a more personalized program, you can schedule a consultation and I will be happy to create a personalized plan for you.

West Nile Virus and St John’s Wort

West Nile Virus, although new to the US, is well-documented. The Centers for Disease Control identifies it as a flavivirus, a member of the Togavirus family. It is closely related to yellow fever and dengue fever. This is important because the Togavirus family are encapsulated viruses, i.e., they are covered with a lipid (fatty) coating. This is exciting, because it means the virus is accessible to treatment utilizing high quality St. John’s Wort (SJW). Several studies have been done on a variety of encapsulated viruses, including herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, parainfluenza virus, vaccinia virus, cytomegalovirus and several retroviruses including HIV1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10. Non-encapsulated viruses or “naked” viruses were also studied for comparison purposes10,13. SJW was a potent anti-viral agent across a variety of encapsulated virus families, but showed no activity against naked viruses. Unlike a vaccine that is specific to each organism, SJW is active against encapsulated viruses by a variety of mechanisms, including light activation, interference with DNA transcription, impairing the assembly of intact viral particles and the lipophilic (fat-loving) nature of the ring structures (the quinone and phenolic groups)4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. These ring structures are critical to the biologic activity of SJW. From these results, it is reasonable to use high quality, pharmaceutical grade SJW in combating West Nile Virus, since there are no effective pharmaceutical agents. Quality is critical since the level of hypericin and pseudohypericin are key. I can only recommend the SJW product produced by Medi-Herb, which is a pharmaceutical house in Australia, adhering to pharmaceutical manufacturing standards. The product is distributed by Standard Process through alternative health care practitioners, including doctors of chiropractic, acupuncturists and veterinarians. SJW is quite unstable and the active ingredients degrade on store shelves. An independent analysis of 3 products (all of which were certified to contain 0.3% hypericin) were shown to be widely variant, with one product 25% below label claims. It is critically important that the phytochemical integrity of the whole plant be preserved for maximum efficacy.16 Medi-Herb SJW is available at the RFHC and is the only brand we carry. References: 1. Andersen DO, Weber ND, Wood SG et al. Antiviral Res 1991; 16(2): 185-196. 2. Lopez-Bazzocchi I, Hudson JB, Towers GHN. Photochem.Photopbiol. 1991; 54(1): 95-98. 3. Moraleda G, Wu TT, Jilbert AR et al. Antiviral Res 1993; 20: 235-247. 4. Tang J, Colacino JM, Larsen SH et al. Antiviral Res 1990; 13 (6): 313-325. 5. Hudson JB, Harris L, Towers GHN. Antiviral Res 1993; 20 (2):173-178. 6. Lenard J, Rabson A, Vanderoef R. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90 (1): 158-162. 7. Degar S, Prince AM, Pascual D et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1992; 8 (11): 1929-1936. 8. Carpenter S, Kraus GA. Photochem Photobiol 1991; 53 (2): 169-174. 9. Lavie G, Valentine F, Levin B et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989; 86 (15): 5963-5967. 10. Meruelo D, Lavie G, Lavie D et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1988; 85 (14): 5230-5234. 11. Kraus GA, Pratt D, Tossberg J et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1990; 172 (1): 149-153. 12. Takahashi I, Nakanishi S, Kobayashi E et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1989; 165 (3): 1207-1212. 13. De Witte P, Agostinis P, Van Lint J et al. Biochem Pharmacol 1993; 46 (11): 1929-1936. 14. Panossian AG, Gabrielian E, Manvelian V et al. Phytomed 1996; 3 (1): 19-28. 15. Lavie G, Mazur Y, Lavie D et al. Transfusion 1995; 35 (5): 392-400. 16. Constantine GH, Karchesy J. Variations in Hypericin concentrations in Hypericum perforatum L. and commercial products. Pharmaceutical Biology 1998; 36 (5): 365-367.

CODEX, Supplements & Dianne Feinstein

As promised, here is the text of the letter Senator Feinstein sent one of my clients in response to her inquiry concerning the availability of supplements if CODEX is implemented in the U.S. I have crossed out her name and e-mail address to protect her privacy. If you are affiliated with the Democratic party and are concerned about the availability of natural health care, I recommend you contact the Senator’s office personally and express your dismay at her position. The issue regarding ephedra is a red herring, since the herb was being abused, not used. Yet, we are all being punished as a result of the actions of a few!! “From: senator@feinstein.senate.gov Date: August 12, 2005 9:34:46 AM PDT To: Subject: U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to your message August 12, 2005 Mrs. xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx Pasadena, California xxxxx Dear Mrs.xxxx: Thank you for writing to me with your thoughts about regulating dietary supplements. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome this opportunity to respond. The availability of dietary supplements to the public is important, but it is equally important that these supplements do not put the consumer’s health at stake. I believe that if we are to ensure the safety of those who consume dietary supplements, we must make sure that these supplements are not hazardous to their health. We cannot allow deaths, such as those caused by the dietary supplement Ephedra, to continue. The herbal supplement Ephedra was associated with 164 deaths between 1994 and April of 2004, when it was banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sadly, in the time between the FDA announcement of the ban in December of 2003 and the time of the ban’s implementation in April of 2004, four people died from taking Ephedra. I believe that something more must be done to ensure that dietary supplements are safe and effective. Last year, I cosponsored the ADietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003″ that would require all dietary supplement manufacturers to report serious adverse experiences to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. After one or more of these reports are collected, the FDA would conduct a detailed evaluation process and investigate the occurrences. Waivers would be available for certain supplements that would not warrant such concerns. Under the bill, the FDA could only remove products from the market if it determines that the product “is not safe or has not been shown to be safe under ordinary or frequent conditions of use.” As such, unless a vitamin is shown to cause such serious adverse events, it could not be removed from the market under this bill. This bill did not pass the Senate last year, but similar legislation may come before the Senate during this Congress. Please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind. Again, thank you for writing. I appreciate knowing your views on this issue. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call my Washington, D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841. Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein United States Senator http://feinstein.senate.gov Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov. You can also receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at http://feinstein.senate.gov/issue.html.”