PORTLAND, OR—Environmental issues are inseparable from health care issues, and holistically minded physicians need to step up and assume leadership in the effort to reverse environmental degradation.
PORTLAND, OR—Few people think of type 2 diabetes as being an “environmental” disease. But new data, recently published in prominent diabetes journals, point to an etiologic connection between exposure to “persistent organic pollutants (POPs)” and risk of diabetes, said John Peterson “Pete” Myers, at the annual meeting of the American Holistic Medical Association.
In 2001, Jon Abrams was a successful fast-track Wall Streeter. He was also morbidly obese, weighing over 400 lb. Despite disciplined dieting on everything from Atkins to Zone, he couldn’t lose weight, until he began to understand why his body wanted to be fat. Speaking at the American Holistic Medical Association’s annual conference, he shared lessons learned on his journey back to fitness.
More than 100 years ago, French physiologist Rene Quinton described similarities between human blood plasma and ocean water, and he established a whole system of “marine therapies,” making use of specially harvested seawater to treat everything from skin rashes to tuberculosis. Today, a new generation of clinicians worldwide are discovering the salutary effects of Quinton’s “Marine Plasma.”
Obesity is especially common among women. Recent studies show that women can lose small but clinically meaningful amounts of weight through the Atkins, Zone, Ornish or LEARN diet regimens. Conjugated linoleic acid may be a valuable ally in weight loss. Calcium supplementation may also help.
Polyphenols from olives, known to be potent antioxidants, can also down-regulate inflammation, and they’re proving effective in clearing psoriasis.
Psoriasis is thought to be the result of T-cell activation initiated by unidentified antigens. These activated T-cells release cytokines like tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) that lead to keratinocyte proliferation. This hyper-proliferative response decreases epidermal transit time from the normal 28 days to 2–4 days, ultimately leading to the erythematous scaly plaques that characterize the disease.
The patient, a 51-year-old woman, “showed jealousy toward her husband as the first noticeable sign of the disease. Soon a rapidly increasing loss of memory could be noticed. She could not find her way around her own apartment.
They say blood is thicker than water. When it comes to cardiovascular risk, the big question is, how much thicker?
Osteoarthritis is the end result of the same disease process that leads to atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, according to Dr. Phil Cheras, an Australian investigator whose research shows that the vessels supplying the joints in patients with osteoarthritis become blocked with blood clots and lipid droplets. The good news is that triterpene compounds derived from the African shea nut can reverse this process in many patients with this devastating disease.
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