Harvard researchers are saying that patients who take so-called "proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are at higher risk for pneumonia than those who do not."
The drugs — including Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid — are often recommended for intensive-care patients to prevent stress ulcers, and in recent years they have been given to many other hospital patients. Experts estimate that 40 percent to 70 percent of inpatients now receive acid-suppressive drugs during a hospital stay, with about half receiving them for the first time.
"I noticed that there were a lot of patients being placed on these for prophylactic purposes, and I thought that was curious because they are not currently recommended for patients who aren't at high risk for stress ulcers," said the study's lead author, Dr. Shoshana J. Herzig, chief medical resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, explaining why she was interested in the subject.
Dr. Herzig said that proton pump inhibitors, which suppress acid in the stomach, might promote the growth of different types of bacteria in the upper gastrointestinal and respiratory tract, and that those bacteria might be the culprits in the pneumonias. Another explanation, she suggested, may be that acid stimulates coughing, and coughing less may promote pneumonia.
The study, published this week in The Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed 63,878 admissions to Beth Israel Deaconess from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2007. Among patients who received the drugs, 4.9 percent developed pneumonia in the hospital — more than double the 2 percent who had not been given the drugs. After adjusting to account for the fact that recipients of the drugs may have been sicker to begin with, the researchers determined that patients treated with acid-reflux drugs faced a 30 percent increase in pneumonia risk over patients who were not.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
This is yet another good reason to be vigilant when you or a loved one goes to the hospital. Many of the patients in the study were given acid-suppressing drugs for prophylactic purposes – meaning, just in case, but not because they needed them. Pharmaceutical drugs are powerful and have side effects. If the patient has no heartburn, why give drugs for it? If you do have heartburn, what is the cause? And, by the way, it may be too little acid, rather than too much acid. If you treat the cause, then you solve the problem and have no need to expose yourself to side effects.
Sometimes heartburn is the body's way of giving us an early warning signal. GI distress plays a role in food allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and more. If you merely suppress the symptom, you may leave the door wide open to even worse problems down the road.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
FDA wants more money from entities they supervise
For fiscal year 2010, the FDA requests a total budget of $3.2 billion - that represents a 19 percent increase over 2009 – the largest increase ever in FDA history.
The FDA budget proposes $828 million in industry user fees, an increase of $215 million compared to FY 2009, including $141 million in proposed new user fees. These FDA user fee programs "facilitate premarket review for human and animal drugs and human devices. Three other user fee programs support the mammography facilities inspection program and provide certification services for color additives and for drug and device products exported from the United States.
"In addition to amounts for food safety and generic drug review user fees, the budget includes fee increases for safety and application review for human drugs (+$67.5 million), animal drugs (+$2.3 million), and medical devices (+$4.5 million)."
The acting head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Joshua Sharfstein, defended the agency's request for more funding from drug companies: "I understand the concern that people ... have expressed that user fees create a perception or a conflict of the agency's work. I think these concerns reflect a broader lack of trust in the FDA."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The FDA established a practice of collecting "user fees" from drug companies, food manufacturers, and others the agency regulates. The idea was that the FDA should be able to collect fees from pharmaceutical companies, for example, in order to conduct drug approvals. That may have sounded good to those balancing budgets, but the practice invites conflicts of interest.
Critics say the program ties the interests of FDA's drug approval office too closely to those whom they regulate, and that the agency has become dependent for its funding upon the very industries over which it has regulatory authority. Due to the dependence on user fees, those being regulated are increasingly seen as stakeholders, customers, or even clients.
The American Association of Health Freedom believes it is time to "reform the Food and Drug Administration from the ground up" and is circulating a petition at ReformFDA.org.
The FDA budget proposes $828 million in industry user fees, an increase of $215 million compared to FY 2009, including $141 million in proposed new user fees. These FDA user fee programs "facilitate premarket review for human and animal drugs and human devices. Three other user fee programs support the mammography facilities inspection program and provide certification services for color additives and for drug and device products exported from the United States.
"In addition to amounts for food safety and generic drug review user fees, the budget includes fee increases for safety and application review for human drugs (+$67.5 million), animal drugs (+$2.3 million), and medical devices (+$4.5 million)."
The acting head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Joshua Sharfstein, defended the agency's request for more funding from drug companies: "I understand the concern that people ... have expressed that user fees create a perception or a conflict of the agency's work. I think these concerns reflect a broader lack of trust in the FDA."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The FDA established a practice of collecting "user fees" from drug companies, food manufacturers, and others the agency regulates. The idea was that the FDA should be able to collect fees from pharmaceutical companies, for example, in order to conduct drug approvals. That may have sounded good to those balancing budgets, but the practice invites conflicts of interest.
Critics say the program ties the interests of FDA's drug approval office too closely to those whom they regulate, and that the agency has become dependent for its funding upon the very industries over which it has regulatory authority. Due to the dependence on user fees, those being regulated are increasingly seen as stakeholders, customers, or even clients.
The American Association of Health Freedom believes it is time to "reform the Food and Drug Administration from the ground up" and is circulating a petition at ReformFDA.org.
Arsenic exposure increases swine flu severity
Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Dartmouth Medical School have found that the ability to mount an immune response to influenza A (H1N1) infection is significantly compromised by a low level of arsenic exposure that commonly occurs through drinking contaminated well water. Study findings are reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
"When a normal person or mouse is infected with the flu, they immediately develop an immune response," says Joshua Hamilton, the MBL's Chief Academic and Scientific Officer and a senior scientist in the MBL's Bay Paul Center. However, in mice that had ingested 100 ppb (parts per billion) arsenic in their drinking water for five weeks, the immune response to H1N1 infection was initially feeble, and when a response finally did kick in days later, it was too late. "There was a massive infiltration of immune cells to the lungs and a massive inflammatory response, which led to bleeding and damage in the lung," Hamilton says.
The EPA considers 10 ppb arsenic in drinking water safe, yet concentrations of 100 ppb and higher are commonly found in well water in regions where arsenic is geologically abundant, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Florida, and large parts of the Upper Midwest, the Southwest, and the Rocky Mountains.
"One thing that did strike us, when we heard about the recent H1N1 outbreak, is Mexico has large areas of very high arsenic in their well water, including the areas where the flu first cropped up. We don't know that the Mexicans who got the flu were drinking high levels of arsenic, but it's an intriguing notion that this may have contributed," Hamilton says.
Arsenic exposure not only disrupts the innate immune system, as the present study shows, it also disrupts the endocrine (hormonal) system in an unusually broad way, which Hamilton's laboratory discovered and first reported in 1998.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The good news is that arsenic does not accumulate in the body over a lifetime, as do other toxic metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. Organic arsenic usually exits the body through urine in a few months, but when you have constant daily exposure to it through drinking water or by eating commercially-raised chickens who were fed arsenic-laced feed, then you have a constant supply of arsenic on board that can do harm. Arsenic is a carcinogenic.
Although the use of arsenic has been recently banned by various countries in various ways, there is a lot of it out there. The vast majority of pressure-treated wood was treated with an arsenic compound because the toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria and fungi makes it a great preservative. The arsenic leaches out however when it leaches out of the wood into the surrounding soil (from playground equipment, for instance). Arsenic is also released when treated wood is burned.
A good description of arsenic toxicity can be read at the following website, from the University of Arizona. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1112.pdf
"When a normal person or mouse is infected with the flu, they immediately develop an immune response," says Joshua Hamilton, the MBL's Chief Academic and Scientific Officer and a senior scientist in the MBL's Bay Paul Center. However, in mice that had ingested 100 ppb (parts per billion) arsenic in their drinking water for five weeks, the immune response to H1N1 infection was initially feeble, and when a response finally did kick in days later, it was too late. "There was a massive infiltration of immune cells to the lungs and a massive inflammatory response, which led to bleeding and damage in the lung," Hamilton says.
The EPA considers 10 ppb arsenic in drinking water safe, yet concentrations of 100 ppb and higher are commonly found in well water in regions where arsenic is geologically abundant, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Florida, and large parts of the Upper Midwest, the Southwest, and the Rocky Mountains.
"One thing that did strike us, when we heard about the recent H1N1 outbreak, is Mexico has large areas of very high arsenic in their well water, including the areas where the flu first cropped up. We don't know that the Mexicans who got the flu were drinking high levels of arsenic, but it's an intriguing notion that this may have contributed," Hamilton says.
Arsenic exposure not only disrupts the innate immune system, as the present study shows, it also disrupts the endocrine (hormonal) system in an unusually broad way, which Hamilton's laboratory discovered and first reported in 1998.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The good news is that arsenic does not accumulate in the body over a lifetime, as do other toxic metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. Organic arsenic usually exits the body through urine in a few months, but when you have constant daily exposure to it through drinking water or by eating commercially-raised chickens who were fed arsenic-laced feed, then you have a constant supply of arsenic on board that can do harm. Arsenic is a carcinogenic.
Although the use of arsenic has been recently banned by various countries in various ways, there is a lot of it out there. The vast majority of pressure-treated wood was treated with an arsenic compound because the toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria and fungi makes it a great preservative. The arsenic leaches out however when it leaches out of the wood into the surrounding soil (from playground equipment, for instance). Arsenic is also released when treated wood is burned.
A good description of arsenic toxicity can be read at the following website, from the University of Arizona. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1112.pdf
FDA asked to require clear warnings about mercury toxicity in dentistry
Nineteen members of the US Congress signed a bipartisan letter authored by Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Calif) and Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), urging FDA to require clear warnings about mercury toxicity to every dental patient and establish specific protections for children and young women.
The letter asks the FDA Acting Commissioner to insist that FDA
(1) "require the industry to correctly label ‘silver' fillings to reflect their predominate component, mercury",
(2) "require all parents of children under the age of 18 years old to sign a written consent form indicating that they are fully aware of the potential negative effects of mercury", and
(3) "require a verbal warning given by dentists to patients over 18 years noting the high toxicity of mercury and the potential of neurological problems."
The Watson-Burton letter follows on the heels of a similar letter by the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus, who advised the Senate and FDA that "the time is past for the use of mercury-based dental fillings ... a pre-Civil War era device."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
For years, the FDA has marched arm in arm with the American Dental Association and unflinchingly maintained the joint position that mercury fillings are perfectly safe, despite increasing evidence to the contrary. But last June, the FDA broke ranks and posted a website warning that mercury-based amalgam fillings "may" pose a safety risk for pregnant women and young children. The change came as a result of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by consumer groups including the Mercury Policy Project, Mom's Against Mercury, and Consumers for Dental Choice.
That lawsuit also requires that the FDA make a ruling by July 28, 2009. The FDA could simply reclassify amalgam as a Class 2 material, adding special controls to its use, such as a mandatory brochure or even limited warnings. Or the FDA could classify amalgam as a Class 3 material, which could result in a ban.
Mercury is one of the most toxic metals known. There is strong evidence that mercury lowers T-cell (white blood cells) counts. A number of studies have shown removing amalgam fillings can cause T-cell counts to rise anywhere from 50 to 300 percent. This, alone, implicates amalgam fillings in cancer, autoimmune diseases, allergies, Candida overgrowth, and multiple sclerosis (mercury levels in MS patients are, on average, 7.5 times higher than normal). There have been several studies showing that white blood cell abnormalities, such as found in leukemia patients, tend to normalize when amalgam fillings are removed.
It has also been shown that mercury interferes with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen -- actually cutting its oxygen-carrying capabilities by half. This would account for many instances of chronic fatigue syndrome. Mercury also has an affinity for our brains and, as already mentioned, is implicated in brain tumors and dementia. The famous "mad hatters" of England were hat makers who worked with mercury and eventually went insane. Mercury has an affinity for fetal tissue -- reaching higher levels in the fetus than in the mother herself -- which accounts for mercury's implication in birth defects. And of course, mercury from vaccines has been implicated in autism.
The letters from Congress are pressuring the FDA to at least issue warning about the hazards of mercury, and that would be a good thing. There are other, safer options available.
The letter asks the FDA Acting Commissioner to insist that FDA (1) "require the industry to correctly label ‘silver' fillings to reflect their predominate component, mercury",
(2) "require all parents of children under the age of 18 years old to sign a written consent form indicating that they are fully aware of the potential negative effects of mercury", and
(3) "require a verbal warning given by dentists to patients over 18 years noting the high toxicity of mercury and the potential of neurological problems."
The Watson-Burton letter follows on the heels of a similar letter by the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus, who advised the Senate and FDA that "the time is past for the use of mercury-based dental fillings ... a pre-Civil War era device."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
For years, the FDA has marched arm in arm with the American Dental Association and unflinchingly maintained the joint position that mercury fillings are perfectly safe, despite increasing evidence to the contrary. But last June, the FDA broke ranks and posted a website warning that mercury-based amalgam fillings "may" pose a safety risk for pregnant women and young children. The change came as a result of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by consumer groups including the Mercury Policy Project, Mom's Against Mercury, and Consumers for Dental Choice.
That lawsuit also requires that the FDA make a ruling by July 28, 2009. The FDA could simply reclassify amalgam as a Class 2 material, adding special controls to its use, such as a mandatory brochure or even limited warnings. Or the FDA could classify amalgam as a Class 3 material, which could result in a ban.
Mercury is one of the most toxic metals known. There is strong evidence that mercury lowers T-cell (white blood cells) counts. A number of studies have shown removing amalgam fillings can cause T-cell counts to rise anywhere from 50 to 300 percent. This, alone, implicates amalgam fillings in cancer, autoimmune diseases, allergies, Candida overgrowth, and multiple sclerosis (mercury levels in MS patients are, on average, 7.5 times higher than normal). There have been several studies showing that white blood cell abnormalities, such as found in leukemia patients, tend to normalize when amalgam fillings are removed.
It has also been shown that mercury interferes with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen -- actually cutting its oxygen-carrying capabilities by half. This would account for many instances of chronic fatigue syndrome. Mercury also has an affinity for our brains and, as already mentioned, is implicated in brain tumors and dementia. The famous "mad hatters" of England were hat makers who worked with mercury and eventually went insane. Mercury has an affinity for fetal tissue -- reaching higher levels in the fetus than in the mother herself -- which accounts for mercury's implication in birth defects. And of course, mercury from vaccines has been implicated in autism.
The letters from Congress are pressuring the FDA to at least issue warning about the hazards of mercury, and that would be a good thing. There are other, safer options available.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Medical Choice legislation moves forward in Arizona
Arizona state lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a proposal that could appear on the 2010 ballot. House Concurrent Resolution 2014 would amend the state Constitution by barring any rules or regulations that force Arizonans to participate in a health-care system, government-run or otherwise. The measure, approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee, also would ensure individuals retain the right to pay for private health coverage with their own dollars.
The ballot measure is similar to one narrowly rejected by Arizona voters last year. This time, advocates say the ballot language is clearer - ensuring, for example, that patients covered under the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System wouldn't be impacted. During the 2008 campaign, AHCCCS officials and Governor Janet Napolitano argued against the bill claiming it would increase costs.
Arizona's House Speaker Kirk Adams the key is to ensure patients remain the focal point, "not bureaucrats, not government programs, not insurance companies." Referring the measure to the ballot sends a message to Washington, he said, "putting Arizona's stake in the ground" in a show of support for medical choice and the free market.
"People should have a choice if they don't want to be part of something, for whatever reason," said Dr. Eric Novack, a Glendale orthopedic surgeon who also supported last year's ballot proposition.
Rep. Phil Lopes of Tucson said, "This is an ideologically driven effort because they don't like government, and they don't want government running health care."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Many people see a one-size-fits-all government health care plan coming. In an interview with the New York Times, President Obama said that "the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here … there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place."
Whoa, it is not just the elderly – look at any school full of children and you see far too many who are sick. The U.S. government reports that 1 out of every 6 children has a developmental disability. The CDC reports that 1 in 150 children has autism. About 1 in 10 children in public schools has ADHD. Asthma has more than doubled since 1980 affecting 1 in 4. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (July 2007), "new epidemics in chronic health conditions among children and youth will translate into major demands on public health and welfare in the coming decades." The study found "from 15 to 18 percent of children and adolescents have some sort of chronic health condition, nearly half of whom could be considered disabled." The predominant form of medicine practiced in the United States has created a system whereby money is made when people are sick. The disease management paradigm is one that employers and unemployed people find far too expensive.
Our pursuit in the last 40 years of new drugs and surgery techniques has a dismal track record. As Sen. Tom Daschle pointed out, the high rate of people dying from medical errors every year (100,000, or the equivalent of a 747 crashing every day and a half) is unacceptable. And that does not include the 60,000 people who died from the prescription drug Vioxx. Standardization, one-size-fits-all, raises the specter of forced drugs, forced vaccinations and annual mammograms in the name of "prevention." Some of us do not want to take all the vaccinations or take them as fast as the CDC prescribes. Some of us want to use the safer thermography for breast cancer screening, even though the establishment is still invested in radiation and mammography.
If health care reform can bring about lower costs and a healthier population, then we must be open to innovation and forms of medicine which do not necessarily fill the coffers of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. We must look at the many forms of green medicine which are less expensive. By green medicine I mean proven modalities ranging from homeopathy and acupuncture, to heavy metal chelation and the use of God-given nutrients to restore health. The public is already voting with its feet.
This comes down to a matter of education and choice. We can choose green medicine for health, or choose disease management for illness. The solution to the health care issue is to give Americans more choice, not less. This proposed Arizona legislation would do just that.
The ballot measure is similar to one narrowly rejected by Arizona voters last year. This time, advocates say the ballot language is clearer - ensuring, for example, that patients covered under the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System wouldn't be impacted. During the 2008 campaign, AHCCCS officials and Governor Janet Napolitano argued against the bill claiming it would increase costs.
Arizona's House Speaker Kirk Adams the key is to ensure patients remain the focal point, "not bureaucrats, not government programs, not insurance companies." Referring the measure to the ballot sends a message to Washington, he said, "putting Arizona's stake in the ground" in a show of support for medical choice and the free market.
"People should have a choice if they don't want to be part of something, for whatever reason," said Dr. Eric Novack, a Glendale orthopedic surgeon who also supported last year's ballot proposition.
Rep. Phil Lopes of Tucson said, "This is an ideologically driven effort because they don't like government, and they don't want government running health care."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Many people see a one-size-fits-all government health care plan coming. In an interview with the New York Times, President Obama said that "the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here … there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place."
Whoa, it is not just the elderly – look at any school full of children and you see far too many who are sick. The U.S. government reports that 1 out of every 6 children has a developmental disability. The CDC reports that 1 in 150 children has autism. About 1 in 10 children in public schools has ADHD. Asthma has more than doubled since 1980 affecting 1 in 4. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (July 2007), "new epidemics in chronic health conditions among children and youth will translate into major demands on public health and welfare in the coming decades." The study found "from 15 to 18 percent of children and adolescents have some sort of chronic health condition, nearly half of whom could be considered disabled." The predominant form of medicine practiced in the United States has created a system whereby money is made when people are sick. The disease management paradigm is one that employers and unemployed people find far too expensive.
Our pursuit in the last 40 years of new drugs and surgery techniques has a dismal track record. As Sen. Tom Daschle pointed out, the high rate of people dying from medical errors every year (100,000, or the equivalent of a 747 crashing every day and a half) is unacceptable. And that does not include the 60,000 people who died from the prescription drug Vioxx. Standardization, one-size-fits-all, raises the specter of forced drugs, forced vaccinations and annual mammograms in the name of "prevention." Some of us do not want to take all the vaccinations or take them as fast as the CDC prescribes. Some of us want to use the safer thermography for breast cancer screening, even though the establishment is still invested in radiation and mammography.
If health care reform can bring about lower costs and a healthier population, then we must be open to innovation and forms of medicine which do not necessarily fill the coffers of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. We must look at the many forms of green medicine which are less expensive. By green medicine I mean proven modalities ranging from homeopathy and acupuncture, to heavy metal chelation and the use of God-given nutrients to restore health. The public is already voting with its feet.
This comes down to a matter of education and choice. We can choose green medicine for health, or choose disease management for illness. The solution to the health care issue is to give Americans more choice, not less. This proposed Arizona legislation would do just that.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Will a worse version of swine flu come next winter?
The Centers For disease Control have lost the ability to track swine flu, according to Daniel Jernigan, MD, PhD, and deputy director of the CDC's influenza division. Jernigan noted that the 4,714 confirmed or probable cases of swine flu reported to CDC represent a gross underestimate. When asked how many actual cases there were, Jernigan noted that 7% to 10% of the U.S. population -- up to 30 million people -- get the seasonal flu each year.
"So with the amount of activity we are seeing now, it is a little hard to know what that means in terms of making an estimate now of the total number of people with flu out in the community," Jernigan said. "But if I had to make an estimate, I would say ... probably upwards of maybe 100,000."
The CDC's most recent data, for the week ending May 9, shows that about half of Americans with confirmed flu had the H1N1 swine flu. If Jernigan's off-the-cuff estimate is correct, more than 50,000 people in the U.S. have the new flu.
At a time when flu season should be ending or over, the CDC's flu season indicators are going up instead of down. As of May 9, 22 states had widespread or regional flu.
Meanwhile, Maricopa County - home to Phoenix - reported that a woman in her late 40s died from complications of the H1N1 swine flu. She is the nation's fourth H1N1 swine flu fatality. The woman had an underlying lung disease, according to the Maricopa County public health department.
Dr. Grout's comment:
Thankfully, swine flu has not turned out to be the pandemic that some feared. However, there is a valid question about what will happen this fall. The concern is that the H1N1 genetic code could mix with various seasonal flu strains, creating a lethal and contagious strain at a time vitamin D reserves are low. The 1918 pandemic struck during the winter months when people were most vulnerable with vitamin D deficiency. Influenza is an Italian word that may have originated in the mid-18th century as influenza di freddo, or "influence of the cold." During winter, we are exposed to less sunlight and our bodies make less Vitamin D which nourishes the immune system.
Mankind was designed to bask in the rays of the sun. About 90 percent of the vitamin D in your body is made when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Only about 10 percent comes from food – butter, egg yolk, fish oil, and human milk.
The preparation for swine flu is two-fold: build a strong immune system, and be able to destroy the pathogen if the immune system cannot do it on its own. The potential for a more robust version of swine flu this fall is one more reason to go free of sugar, white flour, and all those things we know weaken the immune system. In our special advisory on swine flu last month, we described the various tools we have to kill the pathogen.
"So with the amount of activity we are seeing now, it is a little hard to know what that means in terms of making an estimate now of the total number of people with flu out in the community," Jernigan said. "But if I had to make an estimate, I would say ... probably upwards of maybe 100,000."
The CDC's most recent data, for the week ending May 9, shows that about half of Americans with confirmed flu had the H1N1 swine flu. If Jernigan's off-the-cuff estimate is correct, more than 50,000 people in the U.S. have the new flu.
At a time when flu season should be ending or over, the CDC's flu season indicators are going up instead of down. As of May 9, 22 states had widespread or regional flu.
Meanwhile, Maricopa County - home to Phoenix - reported that a woman in her late 40s died from complications of the H1N1 swine flu. She is the nation's fourth H1N1 swine flu fatality. The woman had an underlying lung disease, according to the Maricopa County public health department.
Dr. Grout's comment:
Thankfully, swine flu has not turned out to be the pandemic that some feared. However, there is a valid question about what will happen this fall. The concern is that the H1N1 genetic code could mix with various seasonal flu strains, creating a lethal and contagious strain at a time vitamin D reserves are low. The 1918 pandemic struck during the winter months when people were most vulnerable with vitamin D deficiency. Influenza is an Italian word that may have originated in the mid-18th century as influenza di freddo, or "influence of the cold." During winter, we are exposed to less sunlight and our bodies make less Vitamin D which nourishes the immune system.
Mankind was designed to bask in the rays of the sun. About 90 percent of the vitamin D in your body is made when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Only about 10 percent comes from food – butter, egg yolk, fish oil, and human milk.
The preparation for swine flu is two-fold: build a strong immune system, and be able to destroy the pathogen if the immune system cannot do it on its own. The potential for a more robust version of swine flu this fall is one more reason to go free of sugar, white flour, and all those things we know weaken the immune system. In our special advisory on swine flu last month, we described the various tools we have to kill the pathogen.
The "cleanest" chicken from the store is the air chilled version
The Los Angeles Times got to wondering about the many different brands of chicken available at the grocery store. Their food section staff bought 14 different brands and roasted the birds at 400 degrees to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. They blind-tested each bird, judging the skin, the texture of the meat and flavor.
The results? Well, there was no clear winner, they said. But the one that is air-chilled, Mary's, received high marks.
Air-chilling is fairly new in the United States and is used by a limited number of producers, though it has been fairly common in Western Europe for almost 50 years.
Most American chickens are water-chilled, meaning a slaughtered chicken is cooled in a large, cold communal bath shared with (usually a large number of) other chickens. The baths are heavily chlorinated, as required by the USDA, and each bird can absorb 2% to 12% of its weight in this water as it cools. The liquid you see as you open the package of a conventionally processed chicken is often drainage from the water bath.
In contrast, air-chilled chickens are chilled on racks in a room using cold air. Each chicken is still sprayed inside and out with a chlorine rinse as required by the USDA, but air-chilled chickens do not absorb water as water-chilled chickens do, and when packaged can be labeled with the statement, "No water added."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Perhaps the label might also say, "No chlorine added." So every time you eat chicken out, maybe you order the chicken sandwich because you want to avoid the hormones and steroids in commercial feedlot beef, just remember you are eating whatever it took for that chicken to be raised cheaply and survive shipping. I'm familiar with Mary's air-chilled chicken; I get it at Whole Foods. Mary's chickens are organic and free range, and they are never debeaked – a process common in factory farming where distorted behavior patterns such as cannibalism, vent picking, feather pulling, toe picking, and head picking result from abnormal restriction of normal activities of free ranging fowl.
The results? Well, there was no clear winner, they said. But the one that is air-chilled, Mary's, received high marks.
Air-chilling is fairly new in the United States and is used by a limited number of producers, though it has been fairly common in Western Europe for almost 50 years.
Most American chickens are water-chilled, meaning a slaughtered chicken is cooled in a large, cold communal bath shared with (usually a large number of) other chickens. The baths are heavily chlorinated, as required by the USDA, and each bird can absorb 2% to 12% of its weight in this water as it cools. The liquid you see as you open the package of a conventionally processed chicken is often drainage from the water bath.
In contrast, air-chilled chickens are chilled on racks in a room using cold air. Each chicken is still sprayed inside and out with a chlorine rinse as required by the USDA, but air-chilled chickens do not absorb water as water-chilled chickens do, and when packaged can be labeled with the statement, "No water added."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Perhaps the label might also say, "No chlorine added." So every time you eat chicken out, maybe you order the chicken sandwich because you want to avoid the hormones and steroids in commercial feedlot beef, just remember you are eating whatever it took for that chicken to be raised cheaply and survive shipping. I'm familiar with Mary's air-chilled chicken; I get it at Whole Foods. Mary's chickens are organic and free range, and they are never debeaked – a process common in factory farming where distorted behavior patterns such as cannibalism, vent picking, feather pulling, toe picking, and head picking result from abnormal restriction of normal activities of free ranging fowl.
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