High School Students Identify Fraudulent Supplements

Often we who value herbs and vitamin supplements feel government agencies are unfairly targeting our right to access these. We value the essential components of healthy foods, vitamins, minerals and the wonderful synergy of herbs. When it comes to the health benefits of plants, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  

New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailer, February 3, 2015 is an article written by Anahad O’Connor for Alternative Medicine-Well Bog, New York Times newspaper. O’Connor writes, the New York State attorney general’s office accused four major retailers on Monday of selling fraudulent and potentially dangerous herbal supplements and demanded that they remove the products from their shelves.

…Authorities said they had conducted tests on top-selling store brands of herbal supplements at four national retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart — and found that four out of five of the products did not contain any of the herbs on their labels. 

…Tests showed that pills labeled medicinal herbs often contained little more than cheap fillers like powdered rice, asparagus and houseplants, and in some cases substances that could be dangerous to those with allergies.

O’Connor continues the investigation was a welcome surprise to [allopathic] health experts. These experts and pharmaceutical companies have complained about the safety and quality of dietary supplements. They are angry that supplements are exempt from the strict regulatory oversight that is applied to prescription drugs.

We should all care about the quality of the supplements we ingest. There have been many reports of imported products tainted by toxic chemicals. Often the cost of an organic quality product made in the U.S. is only pennies per serving more. Why risk liver disease, or kidney failure and a lifetime of real medical expense for a few pennies a serving?

What is the moral---Buyer Be Aware. There are many people in the U.S. That claim we have too many consumer regulation that makes products too expensive. Some manufacturers abroad, and in the U.S. are more concerned about profits than the deadly effects of their product. Pharmaceutical companies run statistics on profits compared to the cost of being sued when their drug kills or permanently damages someone. If profits out weigh damage costs, that drug will be sold on the open market---even when research shows little health benefit.

What is the high point of the story? The U.S. has high school students capable of great things when we invest in our schools. Quality does not occur on the cheap in the products we buy, or in our schools.

There is a positive and exciting aspect to the story and that is the back-story. Where did the initial research come from? The research came from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) which is located in Cold Spring Harbor, NY. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit research and education institution at the forefront of molecular biology and genetics. CSHL sponsors a science competition for high school students called the Urban Barcode Project.

From the CSHL website: The Urban Barcode Project (UBP) is a science competition spanning the five boroughs of New York City. Just as a unique pattern of bars in a universal product code (UPC) identifies each item for sale in a store, a DNA barcode is a DNA sequence that uniquely identifies each species of living thing. In the Urban Barcode Project, student research teams use DNA bar coding to explore biodiversity (Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms, between species, and within/between ecosystems) in New York City.

Scientists identify plants and animals by looking for short sequences of DNA unique to each organism, which is much like the bar codes on grocery items, and compares it with an electronic DNA barcode database. In this project technology identifies which plants a supplement contains by identifying its unique DNA.

In 2012, Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Science students Bobby Glover, Mary Achaempong, and Marisa VanBrakle and their teacher Allison Granberry created a DNA barcode project investigating store brands herbal supplements. Their tests revealed that pills labeled medicinal herbs often contained little more than cheap fillers like powdered rice, asparagus and houseplants. The Bronx high school team won first prize in the annual Urban Barcode Project competition conducted by the DNA Learning Center.

The students’ results were forwarded to the N.Y. State Attorney General. Further research confirmed the Urban Barcode Project findings of herbal supplement fraud.

The New York State Attorney General ordered GNC, Walmart, Walgreens, and Target to cease and desist selling the herbal supplements, which did not contain the advertised plant according to DNA bar-coding tests. Among the samples tested, none of ginkgo supplements, from all four companies, contained any Ginkgo biloba DNA rather the DNA barcode for rice was commonly identified.  

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences was established in 1890 as a laboratory to train high school and college teachers in marine biology. In 1889, John D. Jones gave land and buildings of the Cold Spring Whaling Company to the Institute, which led to a name change. 

The first course at the new Biological Laboratory was the General Course on Biology. Ever since the 1890s, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has been on the cutting edge of scientific research. Today, they continue their mission with outreach science and research programs for children, teachers, college, high school and graduate students, as well as established scientists.

http://www.cshl.edu/About-Us/History.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers/?smid=pl-share&_r=0

http://www.urbanbarcodeproject.org/finalists_2012/index.htm

End Your Tobacco Smoking Habit: the best suggestions

We all know cigarette/tobacco smoking is a very unhealthy habit and addiction. We all know people who struggle to give up the habit and addiction—some times succeeding, sometimes not.

We all know individuals who become defensive claming tobacco smoking is unfairly maligned. They tell about Uncle Joe who smoked a pack a day for 30 years and he’s still alive. They forget to mention Uncle Joe’s quality of life. Uncle Joe could have one or more of the following diseases.

• Emphysema
• Bronchitis
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease
• Coronary artery disease
• Peripheral artery disease
• Colorectal cancer
• Liver cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Erectile dysfunction in men
• Stomach cancer
• Bladder and kidney cancer
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Acute myeloid leukemia
• Cataracts
• Cervical cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Periodontitis
• Pneumonia

Economically, Uncle Joe set fire to his money. He never had enough money to take a vacation let alone save enough money for a down payment on a house. My bias against smoking is showing.

I like many others tried tobacco smoking when I was young. We try smoking for a variety of reasons. It creates a sense of belonging with the group, or a sense of adulthood and control over one’s own life. There is a happy, euphoric hit of emotion. Some claim greater clarity of thinking, or a sense of relaxation. And smoking seems to go really well with coffee, alcohol, and socializing. These are the initial emotional roots of addiction.

Craig Nakken author of The Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive Behavior, tells us why, even after an addict has given up the object of addiction she/he will never be done with recovery. He says addiction is a process of buying into false and empty promises. There is a false promise of relief, the false promise of emotional security, the false sense of fulfillment, and the false sense of intimacy with the world.

Nakken says like any other major illness, addiction is an experience that changes people in permanent ways. Recent research now shows that the nicotine in the tobacco changes the biochemistry of the brain and body. So the individual trying to give up smoking has undo the body’s craving, as well, the emotional craving and the habit behavior. To succeed all three areas must be addressed.

The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates 69.6 million Americans aged 12 or older reported current use of tobacco. This confirms that tobacco is one of the most widely abused substances in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report there has been a decline of almost 50 percent since 1965. Nada’s 2011 monitoring shows a decrease in smoking trends among the Nation’s youth.

However, the rate of smoking of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, and other mental illnesses is two to four times greater than the general population. Among those with schizophrenia smoking rates are as high as 90 percent.

More than $96 billion of total U.S. healthcare costs each year are attributed directly to smoking. The total cost to society includes the cost of burn care from smoking-related fires, prenatal care for low-birth weight infants of mothers whom smoke, and costs associated with disease caused by secondhand smoke. The economic costs of lost productivity due to smoking effects are estimated at $97 billion per year. A conservative estimate of the total economic burden of smoking is more than $193 billion per year.

There are more than 7,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Nicotine was first identified in the early 1800s and is the primary addictive component. When inhaling tobacco smoke, the average smoker takes in 1–2 milligrams of nicotine per cigarette and nicotine rapidly reaches peak levels in the bloodstream and enters the brain.

The typical smoker takes 10 puffs on a cigarette over a period of 5 minutes. A person smoking about 1½ packs (30 cigarettes) daily gets 300 "hits" of nicotine to the brain each day. Nicotine is absorbed through the mucosal membranes and reaches peak blood levels and the brain immediately creating nicotine "kick." This kick is caused by the drug’s stimulation of the adrenal glands and a discharge of adrenaline creating an increase in blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate.

To master the smoking/nicotine addiction one must be knowledge about the process of addiction, have an acceptance of the need to change, and develop a commitment to work toward change.

Would-be non-smokers often receive less support and sympathy compared to drug addicts or alcoholics, even though the mind and body effects of nicotine dependency can be just as debilitating. Experts agree that a combination of techniques is more powerful than just using one.

For many, kicking the habit can seem like an impossible challenge. Winter is a good time to start giving up smoking when you find yourself exiled to a frozen fire escape and forced out onto the icy streets to sate your cravings.

Doireann Maddock of the British Heart Foundation tells us quitting smoking is a process. She does not recommend quitting cold turkey. She believes success comes with preparation. 1) Set a date to quit and make sure to pick a relatively stress-free time. 2) Change behavior by voiding situations where you know you’ll be tempted, like post-work drinks. 3) Plan what you’re going to do with all the money you save. 4) Tell yours friends and family that you’re quitting – to help your focus. 

For most smokers the phrase 'cold turkey' brings to mind visions of suffering, anxiety, and crushing drudgery. But quitting by willpower alone isn't impossible. According to a meta-analysis published by the American Public Health Association, cold turkey was a successful method used by 85 per cent of successful long-term quitters.

It is a good idea to mix up your tactics. But remember that no matter what technique you use, you will always need willpower. If you’re serious about ending smoking, ask your GP for advice.

Strategies for Ending Smoking Behavior

Herbal supplements are a healthier alternative to anti-smoking drugs. Valerian, motherwort and holy basil have been used for centuries in folk medicine to combat stress, anxiety and depression the common side effects of quitting nicotine. In a pilot study, a combination of St John’s Wort with smoking cessation counseling boosted quit rates by 37.5 per cent.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, has been used to treat everything from depression to stuttering, and has a strong track record in its applications to conquer addictions. The process consists of working together with a therapist to change deeply ingrained patterns of thought and behavior by reprogramming the smoker’s mind away from nicotine. Professional therapies, such as CBT, can double your chances of successfully quitting. 



Robin Hayley, MD and therapist, states once smokers lose their fear, it really is easy to stop smoking. Haley says the idea that smoking provides any genuine pleasure or crutch is a delusion. Physically, the stress that nicotine supposedly relieves is actually created by the nicotine itself – it’s a bit like putting on a tight pair of shoes just for the pleasure of taking them off again.

Hypnosis advocates claim that drugs and self help books only affect the conscious mind, and as a result ignore the huge power of the subconscious. By unlocking the power of mind, hypnosis can improve motivation, focus of attention, positive visual imagery and freedom from anxiety and tension. Hypnosis can break the subconscious association of smoking with pleasure.

Gaylene Mooney, chair of the American Association for Respiratory Care’s Subcommittee on Smoking and Tobacco says keep a list of when you smoke for a week before quitting, note what you're doing at the time and how bad the craving is to see if specific times of the day or activities increase your cravings

Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., director of the Clinical Psychiatric Research Center at George Washington University Medical Center recommends 1) make an honest list of all the things you like about smoking 2) draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and write them on one side 3) on the other side make a list of all the things you dislike, it interferes with health, work, family. 3) Review and Think about the list over time, and make changes. 4) If you are brave enough seek feedback from family and friends about things they don’t like about your use of cigarettes. 5) When the negative side outweighs the positive side, you are ready to quit.

Lieberman says now make another list of why quitting won’t be easy. He recommends be thorough even if the list gets long and discouraging. He states here’s the important part anticipate the challenges to quitting, and their solutions, this increases your chance of success.

Next to each entry list one or more alternatives for overcoming that challenge, for example nicotine is an addictive drug---try a nicotine replacement alternative. Or smoking helps me deal with stress---take five-minute walks instead.

It is important to set a quit date. Consider the quit date a contract and it should include your signature and that of a supportive witness.

Write all your reasons for quitting on an index card and keep it with you.

Stop buying cartons of cigarettes, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time. Eventually you’ll find that when you want a smoke, you won’t have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.

Quit when you’re in a good mood. Studies show when you’re depressed or under a great deal of stress it is more difficult to quit.

When your quit date arrives, throw away anything that reminds you of smoking, leftover cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, cigarette holders, even the lighter in your car.

Put all the money you save on cigarettes in a large glass jar so you will physically see how much you’ve been spending.

Earmark that money for something you’ve always dreamed of doing, but never thought you could afford---cruise to Alaska.

Switch to decaf coffee until you’ve been cigarette-free for two months, too much caffeine while quitting can cause the jitters.

Think of the difficult things you have done in the past and build on that persistence and success attitude.

Meditation is about mindfulness. Addiction studies show awareness of the body, thoughts, and feelings in the present moment is more effective when trying to change behavior rater than avoiding thoughts of cravings. Meditation creates a method for self-acceptance of negative thoughts and fears. Research shows that meditation has the ability to change thought processes and brain activities that can affect the body’s chemistry.

Alternative behaviors to Smoking

   Make copies of this list and keep one with you so when the craving hits, you can whip out the list and    find an alternative

• Take a walk,
• Drink a glass of water,
• Kiss your partner or child,
• Throw the ball for the dog,
• Play a game,
• Wash the car,
• Clean out a cupboard or closet,
• Have sex,
• Chew a piece of gum,
• Wash your face,
• Brush your teeth,
• Take a nap,
• Get a cup of coffee or tea,
• Practice your deep breathing,
• Light a candle.
• Carry cinnamon-flavored toothpicks and suck on one whenever a cig craving hits.
• Find a healthy snack food you can carry with you, try sunflower seeds, sugar-free lollipops, or gum, or carrot or celery sticks if you're concerned about weight gain.
• Switch your cigarette habit for a nut habit for the same physical and oral sensations you get from smoking.
• Switch to a cup of herbal tea whenever you usually have a cigarette.
• The act of brewing the tea and slowing sipping it as it cools will provide the same stress relief as a hit of nicotine.
• Instead of a cigarette break at work, play a game of solitaire on your computer, a phone call, a stroll, or eating a piece of fruit outdoors
• Avoid places where smokers congregate.
• Picture yourself playing tennis, or go play tennis--British researchers found volunteers trying to quit smoking were better able to ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a tennis match.
• Create a smoke-free zone. 
• Don’t allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant.
• Make actual “No Smoking” signs and hang them around your house and in your car.
• To minimize cravings, change your routine--sit in a different chair at breakfast or take a different route to work.
• Try Avena sativa (oat) extract--one study found that, taken at 1 milliliters four times daily, habitual tobacco smokers significantly decrease the number of cigarettes they smoked.
• Don't bottle up your emotions if something makes you angry, express it instead of smothering it with cigarette smoke, bored, admit and find something energetic to do
• Make an appointment with an acupuncturist. 
• If you relapse, just start again. You haven’t failed. Some people have to quit as many as eight times before they are successful.
• Avoid triggers--urges for tobacco are likely to be strongest in situations where you smoked often, identify your trigger situations and have a plan in place to avoid them entirely or get through them without using tobacco.
• Don't set yourself up for a smoking relapse; if you usually smoked while you talked on the phone keep a pen and paper nearby to occupy yourself with doodling rather than smoking.
• Delay, if you feel like you're going to give in to your tobacco craving, tell yourself that you must first wait 10 more minutes and then do something to distract yourself for that period of time.
• Give your mouth something to do to fight a tobacco craving. Chew on sugarless gum or hard candy, or munch on raw carrots, celery, nuts or sunflower seeds — something crunchy and satisfying.
• Don't have just one, don't fool yourself into believing that you can stop at just one. Physical activity can help distract you from tobacco cravings and reduce the intensity of cravings.
• Practice relaxation techniques, these include deep-breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, yoga, visualization, hypnosis and massage.
• Call for reinforcements; touch base with a family member, friend or support group to resist a tobacco craving.
• Join an online stop-smoking program, or read a quitter's blog and post encouraging thoughts for someone else who might be struggling with tobacco cravings. 

If you  stumble Don't give up. Revise your plan. Be sure your plan addresses physical needs, emotional needs and habitual behaviors. Visualize your healthy, smoke free life. It never hurts to ask a Higher Power for strength.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/quit-smoking/in-depth/nicotine-craving/art-20045454

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/quit-smoking

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/health_and_beauty/1264385/five_of_the_best_natural_ways_to_quit_smoking.html

http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Meditation-to-Help-Quit-Smoking

http://frugallysustainable.com/2013/12/natural-remedies-for-addition-25-ideas-herbs-essential-oils-to-help-you

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/tobacco

www.smokefree.nhs.co.uk



Solvining The Mystery of Chronic Pain and Depression

Many of us do everything the medical establishment asks when we are faced with injury, pain and chronic disease. Yet we just can’t seem to get well. And we are left with the question: Why can’t I achieve total recovery?

Dr. Gary Kaplan, Doctor of Osteopathy, author of Total Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Chronic Pain and Depression tells us the medical establishment has been thinking about disease all wrong. Current research is revealing the neurological connection between physical pain and emotional pain as two sides of the same coin.

New research findings reveal that every injury, infection, toxin, and emotional assault we experience generates the same inflammation reaction in the brain. Inflammation activates tiny cells in the brain called microglia.

Inflammation is a normal, healthy response to injury or infection. Inflammation, which displays as localized heat, redness, swelling, and pain, increases nourishment and immune activity where healing is needed. But chronic inflammation can have devastating effects contributing to chronic diseases, autoimmune diseases, or possibly cancer.

Microglia are small nonneural cells, rather immune cells that form part of the supporting structure of the central nervous system. These cells, found in all regions of the brain and spinal cord, help to defend and repair the brain from injuries.

When the microglia receive too many assaults, this creates a devastating cumulative effect of hyper-reactivity. This hyper-reactivity is a key to understanding the connection between chronic physical pain and depression. A body in constant stress cannot completely heal.

In Total Recovery, Dr. Gary Kaplan tells us conventional treatment for health conditions focuses on symptoms, not causes. This leaves patients locked into a lifetime of pain and suffering. Dr. Kaplan has a unified theory of chronic pain and depression, which helps us understand the cause of these conditions as well as the issues we must address to create a pathway to healing.

Mark Hyman, MD, author and chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, remarks with cutting edge science and clinical expertise, Kaplan has identified the source of the inflammation that has been keeping patients in an endless cycle of pain and depression. Kaplan offers excellent insight into the role our life experiences as they create a cumulative effect on our health.

Andrew Weil, MD, founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and author remarks Kaplan’s Total Recovery, has created potentially game-changing insight. The neurological key to the inflammation, which keeps patients in an endless cycle of pain and depression. This remarkable book may change your life.

Brian Berman, MD. Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine reports Dr. Kaplan’s book offers us paradigm-shifting insights into the causes of chronic pain.

Wayne B. Jonas, MD, Former Director (1995-1999), Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health describes Gary Kaplan as the Sherlock Holmes of chronic pain. Total Recovery describes a method to uncover the underlying causes of chronic pain and how by correcting them patients can move toward health. Jonas describes it as a 'must read' at every pain center, by every pain physician and for every patient with chronic pain.

Kaplan sees the whole person. He views the seemingly disconnected events of the individuals life history and health issues as source information for the brain’s microglia hyper-activity. This life and health history predisposes patients’ bodies and emotions to over-react to seeming small new traumas.

Dr. Gary Kaplan’s website describes him as a pioneer of integrative medicine and board-certified in both family medicine and pain medicine. He is a clinical associate professor at Georgetown University, director of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine, and serves as a consultant to the NIH.

Kaplan offers a free online Total Recovery Toolkit, which includes:

A 3-PART VIDEO SERIES ON THE GUT BRAIN CONNECTION

In this series, Dr. Kaplan discusses why people stay in pain, in spite of treatment, and how treatment strategies must change to become more effective. Topics include:

▪ The neuro-physiological connection between the human gut and brain.
▪ The gut’s role in mediating chronic pain conditions.
▪ The effect of pain medications and antibiotics on gut health.
▪ The problem of “leaky gut” and how this condition contributes to chronic pain, inflammation, obesity, fatigue, metabolic syndrome and depression.
▪ How to improve gut health through nutrition, exercise and stress management.

AUTOGENIC MEDITATION INSTRUCTION

The Total Recovery Toolkit also includes an 8-minute autogenic meditation instruction MP3 to guide you in exploring several relaxation techniques to help regulate physiological variables such as body temperature and blood pressure. Say ah…

A WEEKLY HEALTH DIARY

Keeping a current health diary assists with identifying any problem aspects to your diet. The toolkit includes a template for your diary with tips for getting started.

A HEALTH TIMELINE

Maintaining a health timeline helps you to see if/when a cumulative problematic health pattern has emerged. If you’re dealing with an illness, it will help you to find evidence of how your illness has evolved over the years. The toolkit includes a health timeline template to effectively track and chart your health history. You might be surprised at what you’ll find!

CONSUMER GUIDE TO CHOOSING A DOCTOR TO TREAT YOUR CHRONIC PAIN

medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Microglial cells

http://www.kaplanclinic.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Recovery-Solving-Mystery-Depression/