Truly....How Effective is the Flu Shot?

The following article is from the Nelson Star Newspaper (www.nelsonstar.com):

Flu vaccine statistics don’t add up

 November 15, 2011

A study recently published in The Lancet (thelancet.com/journals) reveals that flu shots only prevent influenza in 1.5 out of every 100 adults. Tao those who are familiar with vaccine literature, this comes as no surprise. What is interesting, however, is that the  Centres for Disease Control​ and the corporate media are interpreting the study as proof that flu vaccines are 60 per cent effective. So let’s examine the study to see how this spin transpired.

This was a meta analysis, meaning that the researchers used data from 28 previously published random controlled trials between 1967 and 2011. The control group, n=13,095, consisted of non-vaccinated adults who were monitored to see if they got confirmed influenza. Over 97 per cent of them did not. Only 357 got flu which means that 2.73 per cent of these adults got the flu in the first place.

The treatment group comprised adults who were vaccinated with a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine. According to the study, 1.18 per cent got the flu.

The difference between these two groups (2.73 – 1.18) is 1.5 people out of 100. In other words, the flu vaccine did nothing for 98.5 per cent of adults in the studies.

So where did the media get 60 per cent effective? It’s called lying with statistics. First you take the 2.73 per cent in the control group who got flu and you divide that figure into the 1.18 per cent of the treatment group who got the flu. This gives you 0.43.

You then say that 0.43 is 43 per cent of 2.73 and claim that the vaccine results in a 57 per cent decrease in flu infections. This becomes the 60 per cent effectiveness claim.

Now even if you don’t understand statistics, common sense will tell you comparing 2.73 per cent non-vaccinated who got the flu with 1.8 per cent vaccinated who got the flu, shows very little difference.......

J.L. Craig, BSN, Ph.D

Should you be concerned about taking Nutritional Supplements?

According to the Poison Control Centers, there were zero deaths due to supplements in 2008. In 2009, there was one.

Compare this risk to an article published recently in the L.A. Times:

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show

Fueling the surge are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol.

September 17, 2011|By Lisa Girion, Scott Glover and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times

Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found.

Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

November 21, 2011

 Mark Hyman, MD

 

  

How Dietary Supplements Reduce Health Care Costs

Posted: 7/10/10 12:00 PM ET

The Lewin Group looked only at rigorous scientific studies that documented the benefits of nutritional supplements. They used the Congressional Budget Office's accounting methods to determine the economic impact of supplements. And they kept their analysis specifically to Medicare patients and women of childbearing age.

Today I will review the Lewin Group's research, explain the remarkable conclusions they came to, and outline the supplements I recommend you take every day if you want to optimize your health and possible reduce health care costs in the process.

Reviewing the Research: Supplements Have Dramatic Health Benefits

Although nutritional therapies can help a broad range of illnesses, the group only looked at four supplements and disease combinations because of the rigor and validity of the scientific evidence available for these nutrients and diseases.

While there are many other beneficial nutritional therapies that have been proven helpful in studies, the ones in this particular study are only those that are unquestionable, beyond scientific doubt, well-accepted, and proven to help. Yet they are also under-used and not generally recommended by healthcare providers. The study looked at:

1. Calcium and vitamin D and their effect on osteoporosis
2. Folic acid and its ability to prevent birth defects
3. Omega-3 fatty acids and their benefits for heart disease
4. Lutein and zeaxanthin and their benefit in preventing major age-related blindness, or macular degeneration

In this study, the researchers were extremely strict and only looked at nutrient interventions that met three criteria.

1. The supplement had to produce a measurable physiological effect.
2. This physiological effect had to create a change in health status.
3. The researchers only looked at health problems where a change in health status is associated with a decrease in healthcare expenditures.

Now, most of us hear the refrain from our physicians that nutritional supplements just produce expensive urine, that you do not know what you are getting, or that there is no scientific proof to support their claims. Based on this study and many others like it, my advice to these doctors is to do their scientific homework. Let's start by looking at the effects of calcium and vitamin D.

First, I want to point out the vitamin D research referred to in The Lewin Group study is older research. Newer research, as I discussed in my vitamin D blog, suggests that higher doses of vitamin D3, such as 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day, have even greater benefit.

Yet even by focusing only on the older research, this study's authors determined that providing Medicare-age citizens with 1,200 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D would result in reduced bone loss and fewer hip fractures. The researchers estimated these supplements could prevent more than 776,000 hospitalizations for hip fractures over five years and save $16.1 billion.

Next let's look at omega-3 fats. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent cardiac arrhythmias, improve cell membrane function, reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and have many other benefits.

The Lewin Group found that giving the Medicare population about 1,800 mg of omega-3 fats a day would prevent 374,000 hospitalizations from heart disease over five years. The Medicare savings from reduced hospital and physician expenses would be $3.2 billion.

This is pretty convincing data, but it doesn't stop there. The Lewin Group also analyzed the economic effects of lutein and zeaxanthin--carotenoids that are found in yellow and orange vegetables. I recommend taking them in combination with the hundreds of other carotenoids found in yellow and orange foods.

Taken as supplements, these have been shown to treat macular degeneration, which is the loss of central vision, a major reason people over age 65 require nursing home care. The study found that taking 6 to 10 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin daily would help 190,000 individuals avoid dependent care and would result in $3.6 billion in savings over five years.

Lastly the Lewin Group looked at the effects of taking folic acid. 44 million women of childbearing age are not taking folic acid. If only 11.3 million of them began taking just 400 mcg of folic acid on a daily basis before conception, we could prevent birth defects called neural tube defects in 600 babies and save $344,700,000 in lifetime healthcare costs for these children. Over 5 years, this would account for $1.4 billion in savings.

Taken together, these four simple interventions, which cost pennies a day, could produce a combined savings of $24 billion over five years. This does not even include benefits to people younger than 65 or any of the other benefits of nutritional supplementation, such as improved immunity, cognitive function, and mood.

The Lewin Group's study is intriguing. The economic impact of investing a few pennies a day in nutritional supplements is compelling. But what's downright frightening is that studies by the US Department of Health and Human Services prove that the typical American diet does not always provide a sufficient level of vitamins and minerals -- meaning we are at greater risk for conditions like those outlined above.

Because of our consumption of low-nutrient, high-calorie foods that are highly processed, hybridized, genetically modified, shipped long distances, and grown in nutrient-depleted soils, many of us are nutritionally depleted.

In fact, a whopping 92 percent of us are deficient in one or more nutrients at the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) level, which is the minimum amount necessary to prevent deficiency diseases like rickets or scurvy -- diseases that are the result of not getting enough vitamins and minerals. The RDA standards do not necessarily outline the amount needed for optimal health.

What's more, our government's nutrient guidelines ignore the fact that many Americans, because of genetic variations and unique needs, may need higher doses of vitamins and minerals than the RDA. Vitamin deficiency does not cause acute diseases such as scurvy or rickets, but they do cause what have been called "long-latency deficiency diseases." These include conditions like blindness, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, and more.

What all this adds up to is clear. Nutritional supplements do not just make expensive urine. Based on mounting evidence and confirmed by the Journal of the American Medical Association (ii) and The New England Journal of Medicine (iii), I strongly believe that we should all be taking certain basic supplements.

Supplements You Should Take Every Day

Here are the supplements I recommend for everyone:

1. A high-quality multivitamin and mineral. The multivitamin should contain mixed carotenoids, which include lutein and zeaxanthin as part of their mix, as well as at least 400 mcg of folate and a mixed B-complex vitamin.
2. Calcium-magnesium with at least 600 mg of calcium and 400 mg of magnesium. The calcium should be calcium citrate or chelated versions of minerals. Do not use calcium carbonate or magnesium oxide, which are cheap minerals that are poorly absorbed.
3. Vitamin D3, 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day (people who are deficient in vitamin D will need more).
4. Omega-3 fatty acids that contain the fats EPA and DHA, 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day.

The cost is low, the benefit is high, and the risk is non-existent for these nutritional supplements. Not only will you feel better, have better immune function, and improve your energy and brain function, but you will also prevent many problems down the road. So, eat a healthy diet -- and take your nutritional supplements every day. It is essential for lifelong vibrant health.

Now I'd like to hear from you...

What supplements do you take every day?

How does your doctor feel about nutritional supplements?

Which of these nutrients do you typically get from your diet?

Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

References

(i) The Lewin Group. (2006). An evidence-based study of the role of dietary supplements in helping seniors maintain their independence. Prepared for: The Dietary Supplement Education Alliance.

(ii) Fairfield K.M., and R.H. Fletcher. (2002). Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: Scientific review. Journal of the American Medical Association. 287:3116-3126.

(iii) Willett W.C., and M.J. Stampfer. (2002). What vitamins should I be taking doctor? New England Journal of Medicine. 345 (24):1914-1916.

Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.

Living Well Chiropractic, P.C. Holiday Newletter 2011

I am so thankful for the blessings I have experienced in my life, personally and professionally. 2011 has been an incredible year! My wonderful wife, Jasmine, and I have a new addition to our family, Evander Leach, who is four-months-old this month. Our two other children are healthy and doing well in their school and church activities. In addition, Living Well Chiropractic, P.C. has expanded our "tent" by serving Plymouth, Minnesota and the surrounding Twin Cities' communities. This has enabled us to help so many people through NUCCA care resulting in enhanced health by proper postural alignment. I am also grateful for your referrals. Word-of-mouth and sharing your personal experiences regarding NUCCA is one of the the best ways to help family members, friends, and work colleagues with their health. Patients are traveling from Canada and several states in order to receive NUCCA chiropractic care for their spines at Living Well Chiropractic. I am thankful for a "record breaking" summer and fall season. I pray for blessings of health, peace, and joy in your lives this Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Take time to enjoy the holidays and don't forget to take a little personal time to rest during these busy months. Be Blessed and Be Balanced, Dr. Jeff Healthy Tips for the Holiday Season (CDC, 2010) Holiday Health and Safety Tips   The holidays are a time to celebrate, give thanks, and reflect. They are also a time to pay special attention to your health. Give the gift of health and safety to yourself and others by following these holiday tips.   Wash your hands often. Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Wash your hands with soap and clean run-ning water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based product.           Manage stress. The holidays don't need to take a toll on your health. Keep a check on over-commitment and over-spending. Balance work, home, and play. Get support from family and friends. Keep a relaxed and positive outlook.     Travel safely. Whether you're traveling across town or around the world, help ensure your trip is safe. Don't drink and drive, and don't let someone else drink and drive. Wear a seat belt every time you drive or ride in a motor vehicle. Always buckle your child in the car using a child safety seat, booster seat, or seat belt according to his/her height, weight, and age.     Be smoke-free. Avoid smoking and breathing other people's smoke. If you smoke, quit today!     "Get a NUCCA chiropractic check-up." Exams and screenings can help find prob-lems before they start. Keeping your spine in alignment enhances your immune system.     Watch the kids. Children are at high risk for injuries that can lead to death or disability. Keep a watchful eye on your kids when they're eating and playing. Keep potentially dangerous toys, food, drinks, household items, choking hazards (like coins and hard candy), and other objects out of kids' reach. Learn how to provide early treatment for children who are choking. Make sure toys are used properly.     Prevent injuries. Injuries can occur anywhere and some often occur around the holidays. Use step stools instead of furniture when hanging decorations. Leave the fireworks to the professionals. Wear a bicycle helmet to help prevent head injuries. Most residential fires occur during the winter months. Keep candles away from children, pets, walkways, trees, and curtains. Never leave fireplaces, stoves, or candles unattended. Don't use generators, grills, or other gasoline- or charcoal-burning devices inside your home or garage. Install a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector in your home. Test them once a month, and replace batteries twice a year.     Handle and prepare food safely. As you prepare holiday meals, keep you and your family safe from food-related illness. Wash hands and surfaces often. Avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs (including their juices) away from ready-to-eat foods and eating surfaces. Cook foods to the proper temperature. Refrigerate promptly. Do not leave perishable foods out for more than two hours.     Eat healthy, and be active. With balance and moderation, you can enjoy the holidays the healthy way. Choose fresh fruit as a festive and sweet substitute for candy. Select just one or two of your favorites from the host of tempting foods. Find fun ways to stay active. Be active for at least 2½ hours a week. Help kids and teens be active for at least 1 hour a day.     Don't forget to keep your pet healthy too. tificates available at Living Well Chiropractic.   STUDENTS AND KIDS NEED NUCCA CHIROPRACTIC CARE  Our kids need to be checked for postural alignment. They are active and often will get injuries playing sports, games, and doing things that kids do. Long periods of sitting with poor posture can aggravate the body. Lack of rest and heavy activity schedules can affect their immune systems and add stress to their bodies. Back packs can also be injurious for the posture because students often carry too much book weight for their size. Sometimes they trip or stumble while carrying heavy books. Recommendations:  Carry no more than 10%-15% of their body weight.  Pay attention to posture while standing and lifting.  Don't carry the back pack on one shoulder.  Distribute the contents evenly. Be sure the straps are not too tight on their shoulders. Don't assume they are in alignment just because they don't have back pain. Pain may be a symptom of an issue that has needed attention but not corrected. So don't wait! Be pro-active and take advantage of their time off school to arrange an appointment. Give the Gift of Health Why not consider "The Gift of Health" by purchasing a $450 New Patient Visit. Other great dietary supplements and medical foods are available such as: The Dynamic Health Drink or The Dynamic Performance Drink. You can make a difference in someone's life today by calling our office to make arrangements for these unique holiday opportunities! Living Well Chiropractic, P.C. 3140 Harbor Lane N. Suite #102 Plymouth, MN 55447 763.230.7333 Save $51 In celebration of our one-year anniversary in Plymouth, MN, Living Well Chiropractic, P.C. is offering a New Patient Promotion. Your friends and family can receive their first NUCCA chiropractic care for $399. This includes: [Exam, X-rays, and Adjustment.] Please share this opportunity and give the" gift of health." Offer Expires: November 22, 2011. Print and clip this coupon.   References Center for Disease Control, 2010. Holiday Health and Safety Tips. Retrieved from: https//:www.cdc.gov/family/holiday/.

America conned: Psycho pharma drug pushing empire under fire Thursday, July 21, 2011 by: Monica G. Young

(NaturalNews) Is America truly stricken with widespread mental illness? Do tens of millions need mind-altering drugs? A recent flurry of media articles lead readers to a realization that Big Pharma and the "mental health" industry have deceived The "New York Review of Books" two-part article by Dr. Marcia Angell, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School and former Editor in Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, summarizes it extremely well. She analyzes three books by authors Irving Kirsch, Robert Whitaker, and Daniel Carlat. Each deconstructs the apparent mental illness epidemic and theory that mental disorders stem from brain chemical imbalances which can be corrected by drugs. Dr. Angell's review has sparked a host of other journalists to applaud her and fuel the fire. An article in Forbes even concludes, "psychopharma is looking like an idea whose time has passed." As an overview: Ten percent of Americans over age six take antidepressants. Antipsychotic drugs, once reserved for schizophrenics, have become the top-selling class of drugs in the US, with over $14 billion in sales in 2009. ADHD, bipolar and autism diagnoses have exploded in the past two decades with at least 5 million US kids now on psychiatric drugs. Ten percent of boys take drugs for ADHD. Half a million kids take antipsychotics, including preschoolers. The chemical imbalance theory rose to fame when Prozac hit the market in 1987, accompanied by massive hype that it corrected a chemical deficiency in the brain. In the years that followed, the number of people prescribed drugs for mental illness skyrocketed. Today, "treatment" for mental disorders is synonymous with psychoactive (mind-altering) drugs. Tracing the origin of this theory shows it wasn't that chemical imbalances were discovered in the mentally ill and then drugs were devised to correct the imbalance. Instead, drugs created for other purposes were incidentally found to also affect brain chemicals and blunt mental symptoms. Drug companies, hungry for new markets, and psychiatry, eager to build stature in the medical arena, leapt on this. They conducted a vast campaign to popularize chemical imbalances as the cause of mental disturbance and push drugs as the answer. As Dr. Angell writes, "instead of developing a drug to treat an abnormality, an abnormality was postulated to fit a drug." "Or similarly," she says, "one could argue that fevers are caused by too little aspirin." Many scientific studies disprove the chemical imbalance theory. After fifteen years of research, Irving Kirsch - psychologist and author of "The Emperor's New Drugs" - concludes, "It now seems beyond question that the traditional account of depression as a chemical imbalance in the brain is simply wrong." Research studies show psychoactive medications actually disrupt brain chemistry and cause the brain to function abnormally. This year prominent neuroscientist, Dr. Nancy Andreason, announced proof that antipsychotics shrink the brain. Studies also demonstrate that long-term recovery rates are higher for nonmedicated patients. For instance, the World Health Organization conducted an investigation in fifteen cities around the world and out of 740 depressed individuals studied, those that weren't on psychiatric drugs had the best long term outcomes. In the pre-medication era, it was known that with time, people usually recovered from depression. If kids had tantrums, were unruly or shy, they were apt to outgrow it. Today, individuals branded with disorders are likely to receive long-lasting diagnoses, endless prescriptions and the poorer ones tend to remain on disability for life. Big Pharma manipulation Dr. Marcia Angell says the authors of each of the three books agree on "the disturbing extent to which the companies that sell psychoactive drugs - through various forms of marketing, both legal and illegal, and what many people would describe as bribery - have come to determine what constitutes a mental illness and how the disorders should be diagnosed and treated." According to IMS Health, an information and consulting company, pharmaceutical companies spent $6.1 billion in 2010 in marketing to US doctors. Another $4 billion was spent on direct-to-patient advertising. Drug trials, used to bring a drug to market, are funded by drug companies, heavily biased and misleading. Companies may sponsor as many trials as they like until they have just two positive ones to submit to the FDA. Great care is taken to hide negative trials. The highly positive results of placebo trials are downplayed: a high percentage of patients recover on a fake drug (like a sugar pill) - proving that the more a person believes he will benefit from a treatment, the more likely he will experience a benefit. In regards the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - the psychiatric bible of mental disorders, used in prescribing drugs - Dr. Angell points out "in all of its editions, it has simply reflected the opinions of its writers." The majority of the psychiatrists involved in creating the current edition had financial ties to drug companies. Author Daniel Carlat points out that "psychiatrists consistently lead the pack of specialties when it comes to taking money from drug companies." Crime against humanity And where has the "mental health" industry and "drug therapy" brought our nation? As Americans line up at their local pharmacy, documented side effects are legion: weight gain, deadened emotions, diabetes, heart problems, liver damage, stunted growth in kids, shortened life spans and on and on. Those prescribed one psychoactive drug are commonly prescribed another to address side-effects, with many on daily cocktails of meds. An estimated 2.2 million Americans are hospitalized each year for adverse drug reactions. Over 100,000 die from them. Instead of decreasing, the number of adults on disability pay for mental illness has soared 250% since 1987 and for kids it's a 35X increase. The greatest crime to humanity is the mass drugging of children. Yet it's perpetrated within schools, doctor offices, foster homes and juvenile facilities daily. There is good news. In the past few years, drug companies have faced a rise of multi-billion dollar class action suits. The key popularizer of childhood bipolar and antipsychotics for kids, Dr. Joseph Biederman, was publicly sanctioned by Harvard Medical School for failing to report $1.6 million he pocketed from drug companies. Some drugmakers are steering away from pursuing new psychoactive drugs. Nazi chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels once said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." This chemical-imbalance/drug therapy lie has been told big enough and repeated enough, that much of America believes it. Isn't it time we all put a stop to it? Key articles: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arc... http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arc... Additional sources include: http://www.pri.org/health/big-pharm... http://english.aljazeera.net/indept... http://www.catholicculture.org/news... http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspecul... http://www.businessinsider.com/zypr... http://blogs.forbes.com/investor/20... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maril... Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033133_psychoactive_drugs_Big_Pharma