I have thought this to be an issue for years
30 September 2011
Anticaking ingredients may help to degrade, not stabilise, powdered nutrients, suggests research
Raising Awareness Good, What's Ignored, Not...
As so many cling to every word from Dr. Oz, this is a very telling comment in regard to the lack of fully factual information you get on his show -
"The Dr. Oz Show" has gained the trust of millions of consumers. Recommendations of ingredients on his TV program move markets in a way that no other media mention can. Despite issues raised with the accuracy of some of the information relayed on the show." Source
Another organization says -
Dr. Oz Raises Awareness of Pain in America! The Dr. Oz Show interviewed top doctors this week about a familiar subject— pain. Dr. Oz was shocked to learn what so many of us live with every day. Pain is prevalent, finding good pain care is hard, and women face discrimination when it comes to pain assessment and treatment.How ever you interpret this we think he can do a much better job in educating you about the benefits of natural healing.
If you want to know more
Selections from Natural Health News
Mar 28, 2010
I happened to notice a link to the Oprah show bulletin broad and their Q & A for Dr Oz having to do with vitamin D, Fosamax, cell phones and irregular heart beat. What stuck me is that one of the queries posted was by a ...
Mar 17, 2010
Oprah and Oz: Maybe their answers are missing some... New from Tanka Bar · When a little hype can cause big health problems · Data Safety · Vitamin A and Arsenic Effectively Treat Leukemia, . ...
Aug 08, 2011
Earlier than this, along with an expert on the subject, we tackled mis-information being promoted by Dr Oz's "Real Age". ... Natural Health News: Sunscreen Allergies. May 15, 2011. In 2008 Natural Health News reported on ...
Mar 12, 2009
You will need: 1 quart of organic raw apple cider vinegar 1 pound garlic cloves 8 oz. comfrey root 4 oz. each of oak bark, marshmallow root, mullein flowers, rosemary flowers, lavender flowers, wormwood, black walnut leaves ...
Aspartame:Tumours and Cancer
Here is another study in PDF: This one was shredded by G. D. Searle and FDA doesn't release them. Some pages are missing but there is enough for you to see the cancers Searle didn't want you to see. The Task Force and Bressler Report exposed that G. D. Searle filtered out the cancers and anything they didn't want FDA to see, but they were caught!
I just sent this study to Ed Johnson, an attorney who worked in the Justice Department before he started using aspartame and suffered brain tumors. I wanted him to see all the pituitary tumors they found. After reading this he said: " I noted a large number of significant discrepancies listed in the pre-notes. So significant in fact that they indicate gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the so-called "researchers."
Indeed that is the case with G. D. Searle's original studies. So much so that on January 10, 1977 in a 33 page letter, FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill recommended to U. S. Attorney Sam Skimmer that a grand jury investigate Searle for "apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U,.S.C. 331 (e) and the False Reports to the Government Act 18 U.S.C. 1001 for "their willful and knowing failure to make reports to the Food and Drug Administration required by the Act 21 U.S.C. 355 (i), and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of (aspartame)." The FDA called special attention to studies investigating the effect of NutraSweet on monkeys and hamsters.
G. D. Searle was not indicted because the defense lawyers hired both U.S. Prosecutors, Sam Skinner and William Conlon, then the statute of limitations expired. Donald Rumsfeld was hired by G. D. Searle to get aspartame approved because the FDA had tried to have them indicted for fraud, and the petition for approval they revoked.
FDA toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross told Congress that FDA violated the Delaney Amendment which forbids putting anything in food you that will cause cancer, and the FDA should not have been able to establish an allowable daily intake. His last words were "if the FDA violates its own laws who is left to protect the public.?" You can understand why they tried to destroy the studies proving aspartame is a carcinogen, causes birth defects and other problems.
You may have heard this before but now you actually see what one of their studies looks like, and the way they did studies. Aspartame was never proven safe and can't be proven safe. Poisons kill. Almost 100 % of independent studies show aspartame is unsafe. These are the studies of the 70's. James Turner, Atty, I think had most, although some were given to another attorney. If you read the congressional record they were discussed.
Here is a link to the congressional records in PDF. http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record1.pdf and http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record_1985.pdf
The FDA knew aspartame is a carcinogen. It's all a matter of record. Dr. Morando Soffritti should get even more awards for his work, in letting the world know this poison causes cancer. It can't be hidden any longer. Too much is a matter of record.
Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770 242-2599
www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net
Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
Selections from Natural Health News
I just sent this study to Ed Johnson, an attorney who worked in the Justice Department before he started using aspartame and suffered brain tumors. I wanted him to see all the pituitary tumors they found. After reading this he said: " I noted a large number of significant discrepancies listed in the pre-notes. So significant in fact that they indicate gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the so-called "researchers."
Indeed that is the case with G. D. Searle's original studies. So much so that on January 10, 1977 in a 33 page letter, FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill recommended to U. S. Attorney Sam Skimmer that a grand jury investigate Searle for "apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U,.S.C. 331 (e) and the False Reports to the Government Act 18 U.S.C. 1001 for "their willful and knowing failure to make reports to the Food and Drug Administration required by the Act 21 U.S.C. 355 (i), and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of (aspartame)." The FDA called special attention to studies investigating the effect of NutraSweet on monkeys and hamsters.
G. D. Searle was not indicted because the defense lawyers hired both U.S. Prosecutors, Sam Skinner and William Conlon, then the statute of limitations expired. Donald Rumsfeld was hired by G. D. Searle to get aspartame approved because the FDA had tried to have them indicted for fraud, and the petition for approval they revoked.
FDA toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross told Congress that FDA violated the Delaney Amendment which forbids putting anything in food you that will cause cancer, and the FDA should not have been able to establish an allowable daily intake. His last words were "if the FDA violates its own laws who is left to protect the public.?" You can understand why they tried to destroy the studies proving aspartame is a carcinogen, causes birth defects and other problems.
You may have heard this before but now you actually see what one of their studies looks like, and the way they did studies. Aspartame was never proven safe and can't be proven safe. Poisons kill. Almost 100 % of independent studies show aspartame is unsafe. These are the studies of the 70's. James Turner, Atty, I think had most, although some were given to another attorney. If you read the congressional record they were discussed.
Here is a link to the congressional records in PDF. http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record1.pdf and http://www.mpwhi.com/congressional_record_1985.pdf
The FDA knew aspartame is a carcinogen. It's all a matter of record. Dr. Morando Soffritti should get even more awards for his work, in letting the world know this poison causes cancer. It can't be hidden any longer. Too much is a matter of record.
Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770 242-2599
www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net
Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
Selections from Natural Health News
Sep 09, 2006
Aspartame is a molecule composed of three ingredients, aspartic acid,40% (an Excitotoxin as an isolate, product that stimulates the neurons of the brain to death causing brain damage), a methyl ester that immediately ...
Jul 11, 2010
EU-funded research has found that pregnant women who drink just one can of fizzy drinks containing artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, have a 37% higher risk of having a premature birth. Routinely drinking 4 or more ...
Feb 23, 2005
When aspartame was news, Dr. H. J. Roberts in a press conference foretold that in 5 or 10 years we would have a global plague. And it was Dr. Roberts who declared Aspartame Disease to be a global plague and published the ...
May 30, 2008
The use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame, has long been contemplated and studied by various researchers, and people are concerned about its negative effects. Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine (50%), ...
Statins ‘without known benefit but with definite risk’
After years of writing and educating about the real risks of statin drugs this is an extremely refreshing and supportive report.
If you want to balance out your cholesterol, first check your thyroid, then evaluate triglycerides that are the real danger to your health, and get nutritional and lifestyle support.
Real Food, The Working Mother and The Mid Life Crisis
Welcome to my mid-life crisis! I am glad that you decided to join me, if at least for just a moment. Don’t be afraid, these things aren’t contagious. So let's get cozy.
Actually I am uncomfortable in labeling this as a mid life crisis because that means I would die by 64. And that seems too young. And a quarter life crisis also seems too weird because that means I would live to be 128. And that is way way way too long. I think I would like to go between 80 and 90, preferably quietly and on my own terms. But now I am way off topic.
I have had a mid/ quarter-life crisis before. The year before I met DH I had just graduated from college with a degree that wasn’t going to get me really anywhere. I was working as a retail store manager and I imagined trying on every hat to figure out the direction of my life. I had been exposed to very little and didn’t know what the inside of an office looked like at all, much less what someone in ‘marketing’ or ‘finance’ really did. Every hat felt awkward or required more schooling and with every path eliminated I felt more discouraged. I felt sure that this weird period of my life was a one time deal. Once I got on the right road I have been on a straight and path since then, work, get married, buy a place to live, move beyond an entry level position, have kids, continue to grow a career. The path has been deliberate and thoughtful, yet not so creative or even all that distinctive.
But there are things about having children that change everything. I read an article recently that showed that women tend to peak in their careers just before they have children. The article may have been specific to finances. Perhaps certain mothers' gains are offset by others who drop out of the job market completely. Perhaps others seek out other employment that allows them a better quality of life with fewer hours and a lower salary. I don’t think the study went into any great depth. Either way, having kids makes working more complicated. Be it time off for school in-service days, stomach bugs or just the old, ‘I gotta run before my daycare turns my kids over to ACS’, there are countless things about being a parent that make one less desirable as an employee. So if one wants to shine, one often has to work harder to get more accomplished in less time, be crafty with one’s schedule, and all around be more organized to get everything done.
Lately I have been feeling like a doll whose two arms are made out of one long piece of rope or yarn. You pull on the doll’s left arm and the right arm goes short. If you pull on the right arm, the left arm goes short. These days everytime I reach to put out some new fire I end up dropping some other ball that I was juggling. Surely the transition to school has been the culprit. It has only added to our routine and made things harder for everyone. I know the kids are getting less sleep than before. For someone like me, type A ever-so-slightly-lazy-overachiever all the extra drama has been unnerving. Cooking real food after so much work and commuting with toddlers is almost too much. If my kids would eat any of the local take out, I’d probably call in at least once a week. Since they don’t like Indian Korma, leftovers and hotdogs (the farmer’s market ones) have become an easy weeknight dinner. Blogging has become tough. And my recent slow traffic has me reminded that I only will get out of this what I put into it. In fact, as I am stretched so thin, I am coming to that conclusion about virtually everything.
Upon examining my life, I want to do so much more. I see my career and I want to be better, smarter and more capable. I see my kids and I want to be more involved in their daily lives, keep up with their latest assignments and get to know other parents in the school. I see this blog and I want to drive traffic to the site, participate in every blog hop that will have me and possibly turn it into a book to help other working moms. But thus far I seem squished by the enormity of it all. And all I can see through my glasses are the ‘Meet the Teacher’ events that I have missed, the late running trains, the overly emotional drop offs and the projects that I wish I was suggesting to my boss rather than the other way around. Why is it that trying to push oneself to get more done often has the opposite effect? Why does it seem sometimes that my kids make me a worse employee and my job makes me a worse parent? Six weeks ago I felt like I was balancing both fairly well and managing to continue my hobby, this blog, in my spare time. Today all I see is my shortcomings.
That would be enough to meditate on, until it hit me. The future of my career, this blog and my being a parent relies solely on me. I must have the vision to create this next step of my life. I always had a vision of what my twenties and early thirties would look like. And I have a good idea of what I want my fifties and sixties to look like. But these meaty years of raising kids and getting them to turn into functioning adults, my thirties and forties, I really don’t know what I think they ought to look like. And after waking up at 5am to run and pack bags, my brain isn’t operating in visionary territory. It is barely in functioning territory.
We are limited by the hours in the day and the simple laws of physics. No matter how rich or well connected you are, you only get 24 hours in each day and you can only be in one place at a time. Perhaps someone might tell me to get organized, do some tasks the night before or wake up 15 minutes earlier. But since making our huge tranisition I have had over an hour's worth of chores to do each night, packing lunches, dishes, laundry or making kefir. I have always believed that drive, hard work and sheer sweat would be enough to carry me through even the most trying times. Today I am saddened because I think I finally hit the outer limits of my capabilities. I am now evaluating what I have to give up rather than how to work smarter. I am finally living the stereotype of the stressed out working mother.
My conclusion? We are too busy. Most of us are. Our culture expects us to be on the go. And many of us have to be super busy in order to pay rent or mortgages. So where do we cut corners? We don't clean house every night (or even on the weekends sometimes), we skip errands, and we phone in dinner. It is so easy for a blogger, food author, editorialist or politican to slam the average citizen for not eating better. 'People need to be more responsibile and cook more! They should show some initiative and take care of their families!!', they cry as though the problem is as simple as laziness. I am far from lazy, yet I have recently found myself going to bed without dinner because I am too tired to cook anything. Is this really what we expect of the average citizen?
This should be the part of the post where I suggest that everyone take on less and get back to the land or nature. But I am obligated to the modern world. I gotta make this work. Five acres in the country and homeschooling just isn't in the plan for me. Do I ever make it sound easy? I hope I never do. And if you are trying to do the same in balancing work, kids and real food, well, kudos to you. I truly believe that it is worth the extra effort.
This post is shared with Fight Back Fridays
Actually I am uncomfortable in labeling this as a mid life crisis because that means I would die by 64. And that seems too young. And a quarter life crisis also seems too weird because that means I would live to be 128. And that is way way way too long. I think I would like to go between 80 and 90, preferably quietly and on my own terms. But now I am way off topic.
I have had a mid/ quarter-life crisis before. The year before I met DH I had just graduated from college with a degree that wasn’t going to get me really anywhere. I was working as a retail store manager and I imagined trying on every hat to figure out the direction of my life. I had been exposed to very little and didn’t know what the inside of an office looked like at all, much less what someone in ‘marketing’ or ‘finance’ really did. Every hat felt awkward or required more schooling and with every path eliminated I felt more discouraged. I felt sure that this weird period of my life was a one time deal. Once I got on the right road I have been on a straight and path since then, work, get married, buy a place to live, move beyond an entry level position, have kids, continue to grow a career. The path has been deliberate and thoughtful, yet not so creative or even all that distinctive.
But there are things about having children that change everything. I read an article recently that showed that women tend to peak in their careers just before they have children. The article may have been specific to finances. Perhaps certain mothers' gains are offset by others who drop out of the job market completely. Perhaps others seek out other employment that allows them a better quality of life with fewer hours and a lower salary. I don’t think the study went into any great depth. Either way, having kids makes working more complicated. Be it time off for school in-service days, stomach bugs or just the old, ‘I gotta run before my daycare turns my kids over to ACS’, there are countless things about being a parent that make one less desirable as an employee. So if one wants to shine, one often has to work harder to get more accomplished in less time, be crafty with one’s schedule, and all around be more organized to get everything done.
Lately I have been feeling like a doll whose two arms are made out of one long piece of rope or yarn. You pull on the doll’s left arm and the right arm goes short. If you pull on the right arm, the left arm goes short. These days everytime I reach to put out some new fire I end up dropping some other ball that I was juggling. Surely the transition to school has been the culprit. It has only added to our routine and made things harder for everyone. I know the kids are getting less sleep than before. For someone like me, type A ever-so-slightly-lazy-overachiever all the extra drama has been unnerving. Cooking real food after so much work and commuting with toddlers is almost too much. If my kids would eat any of the local take out, I’d probably call in at least once a week. Since they don’t like Indian Korma, leftovers and hotdogs (the farmer’s market ones) have become an easy weeknight dinner. Blogging has become tough. And my recent slow traffic has me reminded that I only will get out of this what I put into it. In fact, as I am stretched so thin, I am coming to that conclusion about virtually everything.
Upon examining my life, I want to do so much more. I see my career and I want to be better, smarter and more capable. I see my kids and I want to be more involved in their daily lives, keep up with their latest assignments and get to know other parents in the school. I see this blog and I want to drive traffic to the site, participate in every blog hop that will have me and possibly turn it into a book to help other working moms. But thus far I seem squished by the enormity of it all. And all I can see through my glasses are the ‘Meet the Teacher’ events that I have missed, the late running trains, the overly emotional drop offs and the projects that I wish I was suggesting to my boss rather than the other way around. Why is it that trying to push oneself to get more done often has the opposite effect? Why does it seem sometimes that my kids make me a worse employee and my job makes me a worse parent? Six weeks ago I felt like I was balancing both fairly well and managing to continue my hobby, this blog, in my spare time. Today all I see is my shortcomings.
That would be enough to meditate on, until it hit me. The future of my career, this blog and my being a parent relies solely on me. I must have the vision to create this next step of my life. I always had a vision of what my twenties and early thirties would look like. And I have a good idea of what I want my fifties and sixties to look like. But these meaty years of raising kids and getting them to turn into functioning adults, my thirties and forties, I really don’t know what I think they ought to look like. And after waking up at 5am to run and pack bags, my brain isn’t operating in visionary territory. It is barely in functioning territory.
We are limited by the hours in the day and the simple laws of physics. No matter how rich or well connected you are, you only get 24 hours in each day and you can only be in one place at a time. Perhaps someone might tell me to get organized, do some tasks the night before or wake up 15 minutes earlier. But since making our huge tranisition I have had over an hour's worth of chores to do each night, packing lunches, dishes, laundry or making kefir. I have always believed that drive, hard work and sheer sweat would be enough to carry me through even the most trying times. Today I am saddened because I think I finally hit the outer limits of my capabilities. I am now evaluating what I have to give up rather than how to work smarter. I am finally living the stereotype of the stressed out working mother.
My conclusion? We are too busy. Most of us are. Our culture expects us to be on the go. And many of us have to be super busy in order to pay rent or mortgages. So where do we cut corners? We don't clean house every night (or even on the weekends sometimes), we skip errands, and we phone in dinner. It is so easy for a blogger, food author, editorialist or politican to slam the average citizen for not eating better. 'People need to be more responsibile and cook more! They should show some initiative and take care of their families!!', they cry as though the problem is as simple as laziness. I am far from lazy, yet I have recently found myself going to bed without dinner because I am too tired to cook anything. Is this really what we expect of the average citizen?
This should be the part of the post where I suggest that everyone take on less and get back to the land or nature. But I am obligated to the modern world. I gotta make this work. Five acres in the country and homeschooling just isn't in the plan for me. Do I ever make it sound easy? I hope I never do. And if you are trying to do the same in balancing work, kids and real food, well, kudos to you. I truly believe that it is worth the extra effort.
This post is shared with Fight Back Fridays
Person Dies Following Hospital Discharge
Just for this moment I will say that this is not so uncommon in recent years. I will be back to add more of my thoughts.
Patient dies outside Calif. hospital after releaseSANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A California hospital is investigating the death of a discharged patient whose body was found on hospital grounds.
Officials at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital said Monday that their investigation into 49-year-old Michael Torres' death is almost complete.
Torres' body was discovered on the hospital campus around 8 a.m. Sept. 20. The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reports (http://bit.ly/p4Ek7e) that he had been discharged about 12 hours earlier after treatment for an undisclosed condition.
Hospital officials say Torres was asked to move when, after he was discharged, he was found in part of the hospital that is closed to the public at night. But they have released few other details.
According to Torres' family, a preliminary autopsy showed he could have died of pneumonia, or swelling of the arteries and heart.
___
Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemocrat.com
28 September 2011
Nursing: Who Stays, Why You Go
UPDATE 11.29.11: Whistleblower wrongs change culture -
The article linked above is part of a series. The core issue is retaliation. Retaliation is specifically what I endured and it is still on-going as is the extreme effort to maintain the cover up. There has been NO investigation of my claim for starters. Why does WA DOH wish to protect people who make false claims and engage in insurance fraud as well as crete an environment that is unsafe for patients?
UPDATE 9.29.11: I have recently learned that that an "investigator" with WA DOH, and WA DOH, are defendants in a federal civil rights litigation. Dwight Correll, an employee of WA DOH, is one of the people who relied on false information about me and moved to carry it forward. He ignored the fact that I prevailed in two cases involving the people who made the false complaint to him. He put me in a situation that is equal to reckless endangerment, and was involved in fraud as well. He never investigated. He relied only on the false statements and never inquired as to the facts. The kangaroo attack he created has now boomeranged back on him. I just wonder how many others have been harmed by this man.
9.28.11
I have been hearing about the shortage in nursing since the 60s when I started in this profession. I have a college degree with honors in nursing and have completed graduate education as well as specialized education as a nurse practitioner (NP). I have also been an educator, an administrator, and a consultant in this arena.
I basically left nursing after a patient-caused injury in 1993. I have not, however, left my focus on public health, and especially natural public health.
Why I find nursing a difficult profession would take up many pages, but I'd say for the purpose of the article that it is the nursing profession itself that left me puzzled.
I know the games hospital administrators play with nursing personnel. They do not have to do this but it never fails that administrators always cut nurses when they have to tighten their belts.
Always, patient care suffers.
First I have to note that in this experience it was the Washington State DOH/QA office that acted against me based on a false claim by a nurse who was involved in insurance fraud and patient safety violations. Yes, I was a whistle blower.
The state concocted an amazing pile of paper alleging all kinds of things in their attack against me. They did this to protect the wrongdoer who was a WSNA insider and UW grad. How politically cozy was this? Very!
Oddly my documentation was ignored by the state. The then "executive" in this office, Patti Hayes, was provided with the proof yet she withheld it from hearing officials. This was documented through an investigation by my state representative.
Other irregularities were present too. A member of the first hearing panel, an RN, appeared in the second panel I had to go to as a "Public Lay Member".
How's this for conflict of interest and bias? It is all in the testimony I gave because the hearing "judge" denied me the right to provide evidence. That's the same evidence that Patti Hayes received before the hearing.
Before I filed appeals even the AG representing the state stood up to the panel on my behalf.
The panel further retaliated by ignoring him and the factual evidence.
Of course I appealed. And I pointed out too that I had filed under the WA Whistle blower Act, but was denied this protection. Yet, as I later found out, the QA panel gave this protection to the person who filed the false complaint.
While there is more to this egregious abuse of process along with obstruction of justice and denial of due process rights, I had other support.
While the WA Medicaid fraud unit refused to take my complaint about this facility it so happened that DOJ was prosecuting them for insurance fraud in 10 other states.
I quickly gathered my evidence and went on a visit to the Region X inspector general for Health and Human Services.
My evidence was verified not only by the OIG but several other law enforcement professionals, elected officials and an investigative reporter. One funny thing was the fact that when the reporter contacted the QA office he was told all my records were lost. I was told they were "archived".
Funny how this goes.
Eventually the state failed to reply to a second appeal I filed for cause, and in a timely manner. On the advice of a friend who is a highly regarded attorney in Washington state, I filed a motion and order for default along with some additional action required of the state to correct their wrongful action.
Usually when in legal matters a challenged party will fail to reply, or default, when they know they have no grounds and their actions were false from the beginning.
Well, I prevailed but would you guess, the QA crowd failed.
The short of it is that with this level of integrity, if you can even call it that, why would you want to remain in the field?
I'm writing a more in depth story about this adventure, thinking I will call it "Nasty Nurse", but for now something else is on the burner.
An attorney or two, and another legislator, have are supporting my recent petition to the current Attorney General. I have requested he call a halt to the recent harassment I have received from this same crowd. Added to this is a request that he remind the QA office of their lack of follow through on that default order.
The current AG wants to be governor and is running for this office in the 2012 election.
We'll see how it goes.
Just my words for the wise...
Whistleblowing Nurses Case Highlights Need for More Open Quality of Care Culture
The article linked above is part of a series. The core issue is retaliation. Retaliation is specifically what I endured and it is still on-going as is the extreme effort to maintain the cover up. There has been NO investigation of my claim for starters. Why does WA DOH wish to protect people who make false claims and engage in insurance fraud as well as crete an environment that is unsafe for patients?
UPDATE 9.29.11: I have recently learned that that an "investigator" with WA DOH, and WA DOH, are defendants in a federal civil rights litigation. Dwight Correll, an employee of WA DOH, is one of the people who relied on false information about me and moved to carry it forward. He ignored the fact that I prevailed in two cases involving the people who made the false complaint to him. He put me in a situation that is equal to reckless endangerment, and was involved in fraud as well. He never investigated. He relied only on the false statements and never inquired as to the facts. The kangaroo attack he created has now boomeranged back on him. I just wonder how many others have been harmed by this man.
9.28.11
I have been hearing about the shortage in nursing since the 60s when I started in this profession. I have a college degree with honors in nursing and have completed graduate education as well as specialized education as a nurse practitioner (NP). I have also been an educator, an administrator, and a consultant in this arena.
I basically left nursing after a patient-caused injury in 1993. I have not, however, left my focus on public health, and especially natural public health.
Why I find nursing a difficult profession would take up many pages, but I'd say for the purpose of the article that it is the nursing profession itself that left me puzzled.
I know the games hospital administrators play with nursing personnel. They do not have to do this but it never fails that administrators always cut nurses when they have to tighten their belts.
Always, patient care suffers.
Predictors of Registered Nurses' Willingness to Remain in NursingMy experience with the nursing system basically showed me what kind of underhanded actions take place in the political confines of so called Quality Assurance Boards.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/746222?src=mp&spon=17
First I have to note that in this experience it was the Washington State DOH/QA office that acted against me based on a false claim by a nurse who was involved in insurance fraud and patient safety violations. Yes, I was a whistle blower.
The state concocted an amazing pile of paper alleging all kinds of things in their attack against me. They did this to protect the wrongdoer who was a WSNA insider and UW grad. How politically cozy was this? Very!
Oddly my documentation was ignored by the state. The then "executive" in this office, Patti Hayes, was provided with the proof yet she withheld it from hearing officials. This was documented through an investigation by my state representative.
Other irregularities were present too. A member of the first hearing panel, an RN, appeared in the second panel I had to go to as a "Public Lay Member".
How's this for conflict of interest and bias? It is all in the testimony I gave because the hearing "judge" denied me the right to provide evidence. That's the same evidence that Patti Hayes received before the hearing.
Before I filed appeals even the AG representing the state stood up to the panel on my behalf.
The panel further retaliated by ignoring him and the factual evidence.
Of course I appealed. And I pointed out too that I had filed under the WA Whistle blower Act, but was denied this protection. Yet, as I later found out, the QA panel gave this protection to the person who filed the false complaint.
While there is more to this egregious abuse of process along with obstruction of justice and denial of due process rights, I had other support.
While the WA Medicaid fraud unit refused to take my complaint about this facility it so happened that DOJ was prosecuting them for insurance fraud in 10 other states.
I quickly gathered my evidence and went on a visit to the Region X inspector general for Health and Human Services.
My evidence was verified not only by the OIG but several other law enforcement professionals, elected officials and an investigative reporter. One funny thing was the fact that when the reporter contacted the QA office he was told all my records were lost. I was told they were "archived".
Funny how this goes.
Eventually the state failed to reply to a second appeal I filed for cause, and in a timely manner. On the advice of a friend who is a highly regarded attorney in Washington state, I filed a motion and order for default along with some additional action required of the state to correct their wrongful action.
Usually when in legal matters a challenged party will fail to reply, or default, when they know they have no grounds and their actions were false from the beginning.
Well, I prevailed but would you guess, the QA crowd failed.
The short of it is that with this level of integrity, if you can even call it that, why would you want to remain in the field?
I'm writing a more in depth story about this adventure, thinking I will call it "Nasty Nurse", but for now something else is on the burner.
An attorney or two, and another legislator, have are supporting my recent petition to the current Attorney General. I have requested he call a halt to the recent harassment I have received from this same crowd. Added to this is a request that he remind the QA office of their lack of follow through on that default order.
The current AG wants to be governor and is running for this office in the 2012 election.
We'll see how it goes.
Just my words for the wise...
Better Testing Needed for Critical Vitamin
Many people go to their doctor these days and ask about B12 shots. Most providers react with shock and grudgingly order a Serum B12 test because you must never give this important vitamin to any one who does not need it. Usually this is faulty logic because the only true way to measure active B12 in the body is with an intracellular B12 level.
Now comes a great article looking at the way we currently look at B12 in mainstream medicine. I guess a water soluble vitamin is really dangerous to their thinking. But don't back off because B12 can really protect your health and that of your brain as you age. Remember too that in the 40s and 50s it was common to give B12 and natural thyroid to people as they aged. Then we had little dementia, comparatively speaking.
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay News
MONDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) — Too little vitamin B-12 may be associated with smaller brain size and more problems with thinking skills as people age, new research suggests.
And the number of people who suffer from B-12 deficienciesmay be greater than thought because current methods for measuring levels of the vitamin may not be accurate, said Christine C. Tangney, lead author of the study published in the Sept. 27 issue of Neurology. The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
The researchers assessed the study participants' vitamin levels not only from B-12 levels themselves, but from blood metabolites that are considered markers of B-12 activity (or lack of it) in the tissues.
But the findings aren't nearly enough to start recommending people take B-12 supplements to jumpstart their brains, cautioned Dr. Marc L. Gordon, chief of neurology of Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. Gordon was not involved with the study.
"It's not clear exactly if you have a measurement like this whether it's causal or that lowering the marker will drive a change in the risk," he said.
And unless you're a strict vegan, most people do get enough B-12, which is critical for brain health, from their diet — mainly from animal-derived products, added Gordon, who is also anAlzheimer's researcher at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.
B-12 is critical for brain health but can become an issue as people get older because the body becomes less able to absorb it. Also, certain drugs can affect absorption. These include proton pump inhibitors, widely used to reduce stomach acid, and the hugely popular diabetes drug metformin (Glucophage).
The authors of the new study looked not only at B-12 levels but at five different blood markers for the vitamin that indicate "where B-12 is active in the tissues," said Tangney, who is associate professor in the department of clinical nutrition at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
These markers may actually be better indicators of how much B-12 is absorbed in the body than B-12 itself, she added.
In this study of 121 black and white seniors participating in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, volunteers had their blood drawn and tested for B-12 and related metabolites; they also took 17 tests to measure their memory and mental acuity (cognitive skills).
About 4.5 years later, the researchers measured the participants' brain volumes using MRI scans, and checked for other signs of brain damage. High levels of four of the five markers were linked with smaller brain volume and/or lower scores on cognitive tests, compared with people who had lower levels of the markers.
"This suggests that measuring B-12 levels in itself is not enough to tell if a person is deficient or not," Tangney said. "We need to be careful and think about other indicators."
If a person's B-12 levels are borderline normal, it might be reasonable to check other measures, said Gordon.
Tangney said the study results suggest that B-12 deficiencies contribute to brain atrophy (shrinkage), which in turn can contribute to cognitive problems. However, she also warned against making dietary changes or drawing too-firm conclusions from these findings, noting that they were based on data from only a small number of people.
Last Updated: 09/27/2011
Selections from Natural Health News
Jun 24, 2008
I am a proponent of B vitamins, and especially B12 for various health reasons. And I am a hold out for B12 shots even though in today's cookie cutter approach to health care it is almost taboo to even ask for B12 shots from your health ...
Sep 15, 2008
Dementia and Vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency is well recognized as a cause of cognitive decline and dementia.4 Dementia due to vitamin B12 deficiency responds to vitamin B12 therapy, unless it has progressed to the ...
Oct 19, 2010
With his open-minded MD he was able to switch to B12 shots and natural thyroid support, reduce his costs, and greatly improve his anemia, and his health. Working as I do from time to time with people who experience serious ...
Dec 11, 2008
Even B12 shots were a regular occurrence and no one needed a blood test to decide if you could get them. Of course now the blood test used - really to get a billable charge and avoid acting outside standards of care - is ...
The Chicago Plan
This just in from ANH, imagine, forced to take drugs to keep your job. Not my idea of wellness.
If employed by Chicago, you’ll take whatever “preventive” medicine the city demands—or pay far more in insurance premiums!Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan, unveiled last week, city employees must enroll in a conventional medicine–structured “wellness program” to manage chronic health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Employees who do not participate in the program will be required to pay an extra $50 per month in insurance premiums for each family member covered.The Chicago program includes “enhanced screening and wellness training to establish benchmarks and long-term goals, including weight loss, medication, exercise, and kicking the smoking habit.” A form of this plan appears in the healthcare reform act as well—which should be no surprise, as Rahm Emanuel was one of its chief architects.So imagine this picture. Conventional medical doctors tell you to take your blood pressure medication, whether you think it wise or not, whether you want to try natural alternatives or not. And if you don’t, you pay. Same for taking statins for high cholesterol, medications which many medical professionals agree are really dangerous to your health.Preventive medicine is a hotly debated topic, as it should be. But for Rahm Emmanuel, it’s one-size-fits-all. You had better have your blood sugar at a specified level, or you will be required to take highly dangerous diabetes drugs. At least they won’t fire you or put you in jail if you don’t comply—it will just cost you money. So far.This kind of incipient medical fascism is mainly a gift to Big Pharma, and we can be sure that Big Pharma is cheering Emmanuel on.
More Drugs Making You Sick
Fluoride based antibiotics are well known to cause problems in your gastrointestinal system. More damage can come from fluoride based drugs like CIPRO and others that are based in fluoride compounds.
Consider this evidence - and why probiotics are critical if you are prescribed these drugs.
Antibiotic use tied to Crohn's, ulcerative colitis
By Linda Thrasybule | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who are prescribed a large number of antibiotics tend to have a higher risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a new study finds, providing more evidence that antibiotics may be disturbing bacteria in our intestine.
"It's not that antibiotics cause inflammatory bowel disease, but that it further supports the hypothesis that changing the gut flora may be disadvantageous," co-author Dr. Charles N. Bernstein, who studies bowel disorders at the University of Manitoba, told Reuters Health.
Previous studies have linked antibiotic use and IBD, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In the current study, Canadian researchers found 12 percent of people diagnosed with the two conditions had been prescribed three or more antibiotics two years before compared to seven percent without the disease. This difference was consistent over a five-year period.
In other words, if antibiotics were solely responsible for the difference, for every 20 people prescribed three or more antibiotics, there would be one extra case of IBD.
Once the researchers took other factors into account, they found that people prescribed lots of antibiotics were as much as 50 percent more likely to get Crohn's disease within two to five years.
Published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, the study looked at 24,000 people from the one of the largest IBD databases in North America.
"It's a well-done study that has a strong well-maintained database that allows the authors to get quality data," said Dr. Jean-Paul Achkar, who studies the genetics of IBD at the Cleveland Clinic and was not part of the study.
"They even tried to adjust for non-antibiotic prescription history, and still antibiotics came out as being associated with increased risk of IBD," he told Reuters Health.
An estimated 1.4 million Americans suffer from IBD, with approximately 30,000 new cases diagnosed each year, according to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis - the two main forms of IBD -- cause chronic inflammation in the intestines, triggering symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss.
The cause of IBD is unclear, but some scientists think IBD may result from the immune system overreacting to viruses or bacteria in the intestine.
"There is growing evidence that alterations in the balance of normal intestinal bacteria could lead to the development of IBD," said Achkar.
Most people who've taken antibiotics will not develop IBD. But Bernstein still thinks a portion of the population is at risk.
"It's not that we should stop using antibiotics," he said. "We get through a lot of important infections by using them. But we have to make sure that when we use them, it's for the right reasons."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/r2Ye3Y American Journal of Gastroenterology, September 13, 2011.
Selections from Natural Health News
Dec 09, 2008
Ever Consider Herbal Help for IBS, Crohn's or Celiac Concerns? The root contains starch (37%), mucilage (11%), pectin (11%), flavonoids, phenolic acids, sucrose, and asparagine. I was reading two articles this morning ...
Nov 15, 2008
Fibre, antispasmodics and peppermint oil are used to treat IBS, but evidence of their effectiveness is unclear because of conflicting results from studies, the researchers said. They have also been overlooked because of ...
Apr 23, 2008
"Peppermint oil, which is extracted from the stem, leaves, and flowers of the plant, has become popular as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), headache, and non-ulcer dyspepsia." ...
Jun 10, 2006
... for such conditions as Chrohn's dis-ease, or the new one that came out just after Novartis developed a drug for it (along with a very distasteful ad that is demeaning to women), IBS or 'irritable bowel syndrome'. ...
Thimerisol Dangers Identified
I urge you to read this and pass on to all of your friends -
A Review of ‘Scientific Information Regarding the Use of Thimerosal As a Preservative in Vaccines’
http://dr-king.com/docs/110915_PGKReviewOfUSSubmissionToUNEP_b.pdf
26 September 2011
Recipe: Savory Sausage and Eggplant Casserole
I cannot deny fall any longer. School has been up and running for 3 weeks already, the carnivals and harvest festivals are everywhere. And in one week buildings around the city will legally have to turn on the heat if the overnight temperatures fall below 55 degrees. (Or something like that.)
Yet saying goodbye to summer has been bitter this year. Perhaps it was the killer tan I had this year during the days when I actually got sun. Perhaps it was the time off from work. Perhaps it was because my DH was home for several weeks this summer playing with the kiddos and helping out around the house. Our schedule was leisurely, our fridge was full of fresh fruit and although it was wickedly hot much of the time the sun felt clean and clear on our skin. Now here I am sorting through my closet, up to my ankles in corduroy and opaque Spanx, and I can't find any excitement about it at all.
This time of year DH is always playing Simon and Garfunkel and reminding me how they conjure fall for him. His memories of all-boys Catholic prep school will forever endear him to the fall season. Starting school gave his life structure and meaning. I normally find excitement this time of year in pull on boots, corduroy skirts with over sized belts or sweaters that hit just below the waistline. Oh! And brightly colored cardigans. But this year. I just keep looking at my sun dresses and white pants with melancholy.
Eggplants and tomatoes are the fruits of a dying season. Nurtured by long hot days they seem to come of age just as the days begin to shorten. While tomatoes are coaxed into being for much longer seasons by farmers who know that the tomato is a cash cow, eggplants are free to do their own thing. Not every person you know will eat an eggplant this season. And my family and I might only have 2 or 3 in any given late summer. But they are some of my most favorite of all vegetables.
Eggplants cook down into a mush that is not sweet and not bitter, but yet a bit of both. They are also usually cooked in so much olive oil that this fatty and creamy texture is cooked right into the vegetable pulp. The following recipe is not one that will be kind to your waistline. It is quite the fattening dish. But it is one that will help to coax out some of those tears that you have been unable to shed over summer's demise.
Sausage and Eggplant Casserole
FOR THE SAUCE:
1 pound sausage (preferably pork, but that isn't entirely necessary, definitely ethically raised though)
1 peeled and cubed eggplant, about 3-4 cups (any variety)
1 medium sized onion, chopped to a medium dice
2-3 cups prepared tomato sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped kale (in a chiffonade if you will)
FOR THE POLENTA:
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups dry polenta
1 cup heavy cream
FOR THE TOPPING:
Fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses
In a larger skillet than you think you need (that has a lid), begin to cook your sausage. When the sausage is cooked through but not yet brown, add your onion and eggplant and stir. Cover and cook until the eggplant begins to soften, maybe 30-40 minutes. At first the eggplant will soak up all the fat in the pan. But as it cooks it will release it all back into the dish. Notice I didn't say drain the fat from your sausage? Well, that is why this recipe is so good. The fat is crucial to the flavor of this meal. If your sausage is very lean like turkey sausage, add about a quarter cup of olive oil during browning. This oil will prevent burning, don't remove any of it.
When the eggplant becomes very soft add the prepared tomato sauce and the chiffonaded kale. The reason for the stipulation on the kale is that while you want to add some more vitamins to this dish, you don't want it to be thick and chewy. The idea is that the kale will melt into the sauce. You can completely omit it if you prefer. Allow the sauce to cook for another 45 minutes to an hour until all the flavors have combined.
In another pot, bring your 5 cups of water up to a boil with the teaspoon of salt. When the water is at a rolling boil, add your polenta while whisking to avoid clumps. Allow polenta to cook. I recently saw on TV that polenta that is fully cooked naturally pulls away from the pan when stirred. It reminded me of when bread dough comes together. I added my cup of cream when this happened. It is worth it to note however, your polenta will likely not look like bread dough coming together. It just won't be quite so amorphous and sticky. It will get very thick when fully cooked. Undercooked polenta is NOT delicious.
Pour your cooked but still hot polenta into a casserole dish. Spread evenly over the bottom. Do not wait for your polenta to cool before you put it in the casserole dish. Cooled polenta will take on whatever shape it was in while cooling. You MUST get it into your casserole dish while it is still warm. Layer your sauce on top of the polenta, and also spread in an even layer. Lastly top with cubed or sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan.
Bake the casserole in a 350 degree oven until the cheese has become melted and yummy looking on top.
Serve, and try not to eat the whole freakin' pan. It will be hard. But you can do it. Think of the amazing lunches and leftovers you will have!!! And yes, you are reading correctly, this recipe takes apx 2 hours to cook. It is definitely a weekend effort. But it does freeze beautifully. Even better, make a double batch and eat one and freeze one!
The Things did NOT eat this meal. Neither one said they liked sauce that night. Go figure. They are difficult to understand and even more difficult to anticipate. Oh well, more for me!
Enjoy!!
This post is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Mondays and Traditional Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays and Simple Lives Thursdays
Diabetes and Wound Care
Maggots used in wound care dates back hundreds if not thousands of years.
Creepy-crawlies may help heal diabetes wounds
By Fran Lowry | Reuters – Fri, Sep 23, 2011
He and his colleagues presented their findings this week in Chicago at a scientific meeting, and they still haven't been vetted by independent researchers.
Eron's team treated 37 diabetics with maggots. The patients all suffered from a type of artery disease that causes poor circulation in the limbs, and they all had stubborn wounds -- some up to five years old.
The doctors put 50 to 100 maggots (of the species Lucilia sericata) on the wounds and left them there for two days, at which time they applied new ones. They repeated this five times on average.
Honey is also a great healer for wounds in people with diabetes. Essential oils help especially when there is great infection. http://www.leaflady.org/honey.htm
A Massage Technique - U.S. physician, Dr. J. B. Dawson, has discovered a simple massaging technique that can restore blood flow to skin ulcers and speed the healing process. Skin ulcerations develop in a circular pattern that resembles a three-layered bull's eye. At the center of the circle is a red, inflamed area where tissue destruction has taken place. Just around the outside of that red center, you'll usually find an area of pus formation. This area is surrounded by a rim of swollen tissue, which forms the outer boundary. To promote healing in the ulcer, Dr. Dawson gently and carefully massages the red center of the ulceration in a circular manner once a day. To block the pain of the massage, he uses a mixture of 2 percent lidocaine and an antibacterial ointment. This gentle method of massage increases circulation to the infected area. After a few days, Dr. Dawson begins to massage the area more firmly and gradually expands the massage to include the outer rim of the circle. Within a few days, if the pain caused by massaging the ulceration starts to subside, there is no longer any need to use the lidocaine and the ointment. When the infection begins to clear, you can substitute vegetable (olive oil) oil for the antibiotic ointment. As treatment continues, the increase in circulation slowly destroys the outer rim of the ulcer. The destruction of the border appears to be the key to healing diabetic lesions. Dr. Dawson reports that, with his technique, ulcers as large as 3 centimeters (a little over an inch) heal completely in one to two weeks. He has found that they heal even better if they are left exposed to the air with a thin covering of lubrication. If you can't find lidocaine, Solarcaine (the sunburn ointment containing lidocaine) should work just as well. Dr. Dawson mixes an over-the-counter antibacterial ointment with the lidocaine.
from our main domain, http://www.leaflady.org/Diabetic_Health.htm
Selections from Natural Health News
Mar 20, 2009
Creepy-crawlies may help heal diabetes wounds
By Fran Lowry | Reuters – Fri, Sep 23, 2011
(Reuters Health) - Researchers from Hawaii have a suggestion for how to jump-start the healing of difficult diabetic wounds: let maggots do the work.
To allow such wounds to heal, doctors remove infected or dead tissue with scalpels or enzymes, a process they call debridement.
But these tools often fail, said Dr. Lawrence Eron from Kaiser Hospital and the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.
"These problem patients with diabetes really need better treatments in order to salvage their limbs," he told Reuters Health.
"Maggot debridement treatment is overwhelmingly effective," he added. "After just one treatment these wounds start looking better."He and his colleagues presented their findings this week in Chicago at a scientific meeting, and they still haven't been vetted by independent researchers.
Eron's team treated 37 diabetics with maggots. The patients all suffered from a type of artery disease that causes poor circulation in the limbs, and they all had stubborn wounds -- some up to five years old.
The doctors put 50 to 100 maggots (of the species Lucilia sericata) on the wounds and left them there for two days, at which time they applied new ones. They repeated this five times on average.
"We cage the maggots in a mesh-like material. Nylon panty hose might be used. And then we seal them so they don't get out," Eron explained.
Twenty-one patients had successful outcomes, defined as eradication of infection, complete removal of dead tissue, formation of robust connective tissue in the wound and more than three-quarters closure of the wound.
The treatment failed in a handful of patients. One had excessive inflammation surrounding the wound, two bled too much, and three had problems with infected bones.
Five wounds were infected with the antibiotic-mocking "superbug" MRSA, but they healed successfully with the maggot therapy. Nine wounds were infected with another bacterium called MSSA, and six of those healed up. All 10 cases with infection due to group B streptococci were successfully treated, Eron said.
Asked how he persuades patients to undergo the creepy-crawly treatment, Eron said he carefully explains the procedure and then has them sign a consent form.
"A lot of patients might be somewhat wary of having live insects placed into their wounds so we explain how it works and what possible problems might occur," he said.
Maggots secrete substances into the wounds that liquefy dead tissue and then they ingest the material to further degrade it in their gut. The wounds are cleaned, and other substances contained in the maggot secretions allow the development of granulation tissue, a type of connective tissue that forms during wound healing.
"After this, we go on to do further treatment with hydrogels, grafts of cell culture tissue, or negative pressure dressings," said Eron. "But to get to this point where these techniques will work, you really need to clean up the wound, get rid of dead tissue, and get robust granulation tissue into the wound. And this is where the maggots help."
Honey is also a great healer for wounds in people with diabetes. Essential oils help especially when there is great infection. http://www.leaflady.org/honey.htm
A Massage Technique - U.S. physician, Dr. J. B. Dawson, has discovered a simple massaging technique that can restore blood flow to skin ulcers and speed the healing process. Skin ulcerations develop in a circular pattern that resembles a three-layered bull's eye. At the center of the circle is a red, inflamed area where tissue destruction has taken place. Just around the outside of that red center, you'll usually find an area of pus formation. This area is surrounded by a rim of swollen tissue, which forms the outer boundary. To promote healing in the ulcer, Dr. Dawson gently and carefully massages the red center of the ulceration in a circular manner once a day. To block the pain of the massage, he uses a mixture of 2 percent lidocaine and an antibacterial ointment. This gentle method of massage increases circulation to the infected area. After a few days, Dr. Dawson begins to massage the area more firmly and gradually expands the massage to include the outer rim of the circle. Within a few days, if the pain caused by massaging the ulceration starts to subside, there is no longer any need to use the lidocaine and the ointment. When the infection begins to clear, you can substitute vegetable (olive oil) oil for the antibiotic ointment. As treatment continues, the increase in circulation slowly destroys the outer rim of the ulcer. The destruction of the border appears to be the key to healing diabetic lesions. Dr. Dawson reports that, with his technique, ulcers as large as 3 centimeters (a little over an inch) heal completely in one to two weeks. He has found that they heal even better if they are left exposed to the air with a thin covering of lubrication. If you can't find lidocaine, Solarcaine (the sunburn ointment containing lidocaine) should work just as well. Dr. Dawson mixes an over-the-counter antibacterial ointment with the lidocaine.
from our main domain, http://www.leaflady.org/Diabetic_Health.htm
Selections from Natural Health News
Mar 20, 2009
The theory has been that maggots are effective because they "clean out" dead tissue - a process called debridement - stimulating healing and getting rid of bugs such as MRSA in the process. But although larval therapy is being used more ...
Aug 29, 2006
The Pain Truth: How and Why We Hurt, Chronic Pain Shrinks People's Brains, Discovery Offers Hope to Chronic Pain Sufferers, Maggots and Leeches: Old Medicine is New Original Story: Ancient Minty Painkiller Worked, Modern Study Suggests ...
25 September 2011
Plant Communities
A native plant by itself is not a native plant; it is “a plant”. Native plants live in natural communities that are defined by their location aspects such as elevation, landforms, moisture level, geological characteristics, soils and are even influenced by the hand of humans over the last centuries. While we can and do enjoy them in our gardens, understanding and appreciating their role in a community is often the basis for becoming a better advocate for habitat conservation.
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| Magnolia grandiflora |
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is an example of a plant that is native to the southeastern United States but which is used in landscapes in whatever areas are warm enough to support it. I was recently vacationing in the San Francisco area and found it used quite often there.
I recently read Timothy Spira’s book “Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont” and learned a lot about 21 different plant communities in this particular region (which includes Atlanta). I highly recommend the book and hope to present here some of the things that I learned from it. This is a recent book, published in early 2011.
The region covered in the book extends from northernVirginia , a sliver of West Virginia , a slightly larger sliver of Tennessee , most of North Carolina , South Carolina , the northern half of Georgia and a small area of east/central Alabama Georgia United States
I recently read Timothy Spira’s book “Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont” and learned a lot about 21 different plant communities in this particular region (which includes Atlanta). I highly recommend the book and hope to present here some of the things that I learned from it. This is a recent book, published in early 2011.
The region covered in the book extends from northern
Twenty-one sounds like a lot of unique communities, doesn’t it? It can be a little simpler if I list the high level categories:
In the mountains there are 4 categories: High-elevation communities (6 of those), Low-elevation moist to wet communities (5), Low-elevation dry communities (2). In the piedmont (the author reminds us that “piedmont” literally means “foot of the mountains” – I love that!) there 3 categories: Moist to wet communities (3), Dry communities (3), and Roadside and Field.
The book includes some beautiful pictures and in-depth plant profiles so that it also serves as a field guide. Before one gets into descriptions of plants, however, the author lays the groundwork for understanding how these communities have come to be. He provides good background on factors as far back as when and how the mountains formed as well as the role that climate played in altering habitats and allowing species to expand or contract their range. More recent factors include the effects of human activities and invasive species.
This area of the United States is incredibly diverse – according to the author: “the southern Appalachians support more tree species than any other area of comparable size in North America ”. In general the area is considered to be a temperate deciduous forest – or would have been without human intervention. There are some particular areas that are not a forest, and these areas serve to increase the diversity of the plants even more.
The picture here was taken on the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail in the area known as The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain (Walker County, Georgia). The trail winds through a rich cove forest community.
The picture here was taken on the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail in the area known as The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain (Walker County, Georgia). The trail winds through a rich cove forest community.
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| Ferns, Trillium and dwarf Iris cristata on the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail |
The details provided in the description of the region covered by the book are fascinating. For example, the region has 3 national parks and 6 national forests; together these areas have the greatest concentration of public land in the eastern United States Canada and Carolina
Ok, that pretty much covers Part 1 of the book. The remaining parts are:
Part 2: a pictorial representation of each of the 21 communities. These collections give you a preview of the plants you might find. A sample group of plants is shown to represent each of the 21 communities:
Spruce-Fir Forest Rich Cove Forest Forest Edge (Mountains)River Bluff Forest (Piedmont )Oak-Hickory Forest (Piedmont )
Part 2: a pictorial representation of each of the 21 communities. These collections give you a preview of the plants you might find. A sample group of plants is shown to represent each of the 21 communities:
Grassy Bald (Mountains)
Heath Bald (Mountains)
High-Elevation Rock Outcrop (Mountains)
High-Elevation Red Oak Forest (Mountains)
Northern Hardwood Forest
Acidic Cove Forest
Spray Cliff (Mountains)
Rocky Streamside (Mountains)
Mountain Bog (Mountains)
Chestnut Oak Forest (Mountains)
Pine-Oak-Heath (Mountains)
Alluvial Forest (Piedmont )
Basic Mesic Forest (Piedmont )
Xeric Hardpan Forest (Piedmont )
Granite Outcrop (Piedmont )
Roadside and Field (Piedmont )
The picture below is a "roadside and field" community near my house. Roadsides can be tricky - sometimes they are full of invasive or naturalized plants - not natives much at all. But this one is good: it has at least 3 different species of Eupatorium, at least 3 species of Goldenrod (Solidago), at least 3 species of grasses (and perhaps a couple of non-native ones), several different asters, blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum), and slender leaf false foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia) - just discovered this morning!
Part 3 provides detailed descriptions of each of the communities. These profiles include Distinguishing features, Vegetation overviews, Seasonal aspects, Distribution, Dynamics, Conservation aspects, Suggested reading references, and good lists of Trees, Shrubs, Herbaceous plants, and Rare plants.
Part 4 has detailed species profiles for the plants listed in Part 3. One feature that I particularly like is the “Ecology” section of the profile. This section provides some details not found in the usual plant guides.
The book finishes up with a Glossary, a list of recommended natural areas throughout the region (with descriptions of the exceptional features to be found in each), suggested books for further reading (which includes some of my favorites), an index of scientific names and a second index of common names.
The depth of information in this book is excellent, and it is presented at a level that can be used by all levels of naturalists. Back to that Southern Magnolia - it's not listed in the book, by the way. That plant is not indigenous (i.e., naturally found) in the Southern Appalachian Mountain or Piedmont communities. You can expect to find it naturally in south Georgia - in the Coastal Plains communities.
22 September 2011
'Mommy, There's Chemicals In My Food!'
It has now been two weeks since we started our new school and daycare routines. And I gotta tell you. I am beat. Like crazy beat. Like blind and ready to feed the kids pop-tarts. Okay, maybe not that tired. Though more than ever I totally get it. Most people aren't too lazy to cook. They are just way too tired to cook from all the other stuff they have to do to keep their lives in balance.
We have been managing well enough with school food. I have packed a healthy lunch, a bottle of water and a whole fruit everyday for Thing 1. The routine of preparing lunches in the evening is getting easier. Now if I could just same the same about the morning routine!! For the most part, Thing 1 eats my food and not the school's food. He does drink the juice that the school provides almost every day. That is something I do not buy at home, so it's a huge treat!! I have not checked if their juice is additive free, but right now it is a peace keeping measure. So while I assume that there might be some yuckies in there, I can't possibly take his juice away.
I have asked several questions of my biggest Thing every day after school. Did you like your lunch? What was the school serving? What didn't you like in your lunch? Were you full enough? Many days he comes home with about one third to one half his lunch uneaten. But that's the thing about whole foods, whole grains and full fat foods, they are filling. We are so accustomed to overeating in our culture that to see a child with an already small tummy eat real food, well it can seem like they are only picking at their food. My kids could down a whole bag of potato chips in one sitting. But give them an egg and raw cheese on whole wheat and they won't finish it. It isn't because they don't like it, it is just that real food is filling. Give the kids good foods and they will figure out how much. We as caregivers can't be swayed to give them junk foods just to see them actively eat.
On the third day of school Thing 1 brought me home a present. A single serve bowl of Malt-O-Meal Berry Colossal Crunch Cereal. This sweetened corn and rice cereal contains both natural and artificial flavors. Oh joy. The cereal contains only 12 grams of sugar. There are 6 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar. And since those 12 grams include any natural sugars from the corn, 12 grams is on the low side for sweetened cereals. I was surprised enough to check the ingredient list for sugar substitutes. Nope, none. Then I thought...since the serving size is only one ounce (or three-quarters of a cup), sugar still makes up a sizable portion of the total cereal. You see, one ounce weighs in at slightly over 28 grams. This one ounce of cereal has 12 grams of sugar, so the cereal itself is around 43% sugars by weight.
Thing 1 brought home the cereal because he said he had had it for breakfast and he liked it. He said it was a present for me. So sweet. He has begun to bring home little cups of juice and other treats for DH and me. I need to do better about consuming these gifts. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but I also don't want drink artificially colored juice.
This brings me to the next part of this post. You might be asking yourself 'If you don't want your kid drinking colored juice and fake food, why not just put your foot down?' That is a valid enough question. In the first few days I told Thing 1 that he was free to choose the food he ate. He ate some food from school and some from his back pack. I didn't like the trend so much, so I had a talk with him during the weekend. I told him that Mommy would not be mad at him for eating the school food. I wanted it to be his decision. But that I wanted him to look at certain things as treats, like that cereal, as opposed to every day meal items. And then I dropped a bomb on his impressionable little mind. I told him that some of the school food has chemicals in it. And I would prefer that he eat the food that mommy makes from scratch.
I define the term 'bully' as a person who is mean because they can get away with it. A bully is someone who picks on people who are smaller, weaker or otherwise not in a position to fight back (I am sure everyone knows an office bully who hides behind some trumped-up title). I have questioned, was I bullying my child by telling him that his food had chemicals in it? On one hand, I really wasn't. The Malt-O-Meal cereal contains artificial flavors, synthetic vitamins and BHT to name a few. That cereal does indeed contain chemicals. Do I know for certain that all the food the school serves contains chemicals? No, I do not. I did notice that after our chat, far less school food was consumed. On the other hand, I know that Thing 1 does not fully understand what it is to eat food containing chemicals. Does he believe that there is cleaning solution in his favorite grilled cheese sandwiches? Does he believe that there is lighter fluid in the juice? Even the average educated adult can't explain the difference between chemicals we know are bad for us even in small doses (think posion control) and the items that the FDA says are Generally Regarded As Safe in the doses they prescribe. I certainly can't. I just know I don't want to eat ANY chemicals if I can help it.
I want my kids to want to eat clean food too. My search for a better meal isn't just about ethically treated meat, or local foods, or even pesticide free foods. There are dozens of chemicals that seep into our food supply in myriad different ways. I simply want as many of them out of my chow as possible. And I want the same for my kids. Did I resort to scare tactics when I exploited my young child's impressionable mind? I suppose I did because I didn't give him the full story. I haven't told him yet why there are chemicals in our food, how they got there or who put them there. How can he make an informed decision with only half the story? In this case I am a little too much like the New York Post.
But while I negatively motivated Thing 1 into eating clean last week, I did not accomplish the ultimate goal. I do not want my kids to be afraid of processed foods. I want them to be confident and empowered to eat clean, fresh, healthy foods. I don't want them to feel guilt when they will undoubtedly be faced with Cheetoes and Coca-Cola. I want them to have a varied experience. And while I want them to ultimately choose to eat ethically sustainable raised clean foods, I want them to choose it because it is what they want. That is true empowerment.
Of course I do still intend to TALK with them about their food choices. My children are a captive audience for me. While I want them to make good choices for themselves on their own, I do fully intend to sell my viewpoint. And considering that I work in sales for a living, this is a deal I fully intend to close. Though I promise to not be too judgemental if they grow up to be men that eat McDonald's every other day and drink Coke with every meal. Right now I think Thing 1 is squarely in my camp while Thing 2 might end up in the food industry's camp. Time will tell...I promise to keep fighting the good fight.
This Post is shared with Simple Lives Thursdays and Real Food Wednesdays
We have been managing well enough with school food. I have packed a healthy lunch, a bottle of water and a whole fruit everyday for Thing 1. The routine of preparing lunches in the evening is getting easier. Now if I could just same the same about the morning routine!! For the most part, Thing 1 eats my food and not the school's food. He does drink the juice that the school provides almost every day. That is something I do not buy at home, so it's a huge treat!! I have not checked if their juice is additive free, but right now it is a peace keeping measure. So while I assume that there might be some yuckies in there, I can't possibly take his juice away.
I have asked several questions of my biggest Thing every day after school. Did you like your lunch? What was the school serving? What didn't you like in your lunch? Were you full enough? Many days he comes home with about one third to one half his lunch uneaten. But that's the thing about whole foods, whole grains and full fat foods, they are filling. We are so accustomed to overeating in our culture that to see a child with an already small tummy eat real food, well it can seem like they are only picking at their food. My kids could down a whole bag of potato chips in one sitting. But give them an egg and raw cheese on whole wheat and they won't finish it. It isn't because they don't like it, it is just that real food is filling. Give the kids good foods and they will figure out how much. We as caregivers can't be swayed to give them junk foods just to see them actively eat.
On the third day of school Thing 1 brought me home a present. A single serve bowl of Malt-O-Meal Berry Colossal Crunch Cereal. This sweetened corn and rice cereal contains both natural and artificial flavors. Oh joy. The cereal contains only 12 grams of sugar. There are 6 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar. And since those 12 grams include any natural sugars from the corn, 12 grams is on the low side for sweetened cereals. I was surprised enough to check the ingredient list for sugar substitutes. Nope, none. Then I thought...since the serving size is only one ounce (or three-quarters of a cup), sugar still makes up a sizable portion of the total cereal. You see, one ounce weighs in at slightly over 28 grams. This one ounce of cereal has 12 grams of sugar, so the cereal itself is around 43% sugars by weight.
Thing 1 brought home the cereal because he said he had had it for breakfast and he liked it. He said it was a present for me. So sweet. He has begun to bring home little cups of juice and other treats for DH and me. I need to do better about consuming these gifts. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but I also don't want drink artificially colored juice.
This brings me to the next part of this post. You might be asking yourself 'If you don't want your kid drinking colored juice and fake food, why not just put your foot down?' That is a valid enough question. In the first few days I told Thing 1 that he was free to choose the food he ate. He ate some food from school and some from his back pack. I didn't like the trend so much, so I had a talk with him during the weekend. I told him that Mommy would not be mad at him for eating the school food. I wanted it to be his decision. But that I wanted him to look at certain things as treats, like that cereal, as opposed to every day meal items. And then I dropped a bomb on his impressionable little mind. I told him that some of the school food has chemicals in it. And I would prefer that he eat the food that mommy makes from scratch.
I define the term 'bully' as a person who is mean because they can get away with it. A bully is someone who picks on people who are smaller, weaker or otherwise not in a position to fight back (I am sure everyone knows an office bully who hides behind some trumped-up title). I have questioned, was I bullying my child by telling him that his food had chemicals in it? On one hand, I really wasn't. The Malt-O-Meal cereal contains artificial flavors, synthetic vitamins and BHT to name a few. That cereal does indeed contain chemicals. Do I know for certain that all the food the school serves contains chemicals? No, I do not. I did notice that after our chat, far less school food was consumed. On the other hand, I know that Thing 1 does not fully understand what it is to eat food containing chemicals. Does he believe that there is cleaning solution in his favorite grilled cheese sandwiches? Does he believe that there is lighter fluid in the juice? Even the average educated adult can't explain the difference between chemicals we know are bad for us even in small doses (think posion control) and the items that the FDA says are Generally Regarded As Safe in the doses they prescribe. I certainly can't. I just know I don't want to eat ANY chemicals if I can help it.
I want my kids to want to eat clean food too. My search for a better meal isn't just about ethically treated meat, or local foods, or even pesticide free foods. There are dozens of chemicals that seep into our food supply in myriad different ways. I simply want as many of them out of my chow as possible. And I want the same for my kids. Did I resort to scare tactics when I exploited my young child's impressionable mind? I suppose I did because I didn't give him the full story. I haven't told him yet why there are chemicals in our food, how they got there or who put them there. How can he make an informed decision with only half the story? In this case I am a little too much like the New York Post.
But while I negatively motivated Thing 1 into eating clean last week, I did not accomplish the ultimate goal. I do not want my kids to be afraid of processed foods. I want them to be confident and empowered to eat clean, fresh, healthy foods. I don't want them to feel guilt when they will undoubtedly be faced with Cheetoes and Coca-Cola. I want them to have a varied experience. And while I want them to ultimately choose to eat ethically sustainable raised clean foods, I want them to choose it because it is what they want. That is true empowerment.
Of course I do still intend to TALK with them about their food choices. My children are a captive audience for me. While I want them to make good choices for themselves on their own, I do fully intend to sell my viewpoint. And considering that I work in sales for a living, this is a deal I fully intend to close. Though I promise to not be too judgemental if they grow up to be men that eat McDonald's every other day and drink Coke with every meal. Right now I think Thing 1 is squarely in my camp while Thing 2 might end up in the food industry's camp. Time will tell...I promise to keep fighting the good fight.
This Post is shared with Simple Lives Thursdays and Real Food Wednesdays
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