Alternative Health & Healing December 2003 
Dr. Group's Quote of the Month: “Every
moment spent in unhappiness is a moment
lost experiencing happiness. Be confident
in yourself and have faith in God and in
yourself. It doesn’t do you or your health
any good to be unhappy. Keep a smile on
your face, your focus in the present and
enjoy every precious moment of life."
Table
of Contents for December 2003:
1.
Editorial -- Christmas is Upon Us
2. Featured Product - Oxy-Powder Colon Cleanser
3. The Glass That's Half Full: Optimism and Longevity
4. Glaxo chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients
5. Stress Is Making Kids Sick
6. Revealed:
How Drug Firms 'Hoodwink' Medical Journals
7. Learning To Like Ourselves
8. Ten Rules for a Happy Day
The Christmas
tree is decorated, the house smells of soothing
aromas, the outside lights are glowing, snowflakes
are drifting slowly to the ground, in the background
the sound of relaxing Christmas music fills
the air, the fireplace is crackling and sending
out warmth and the hot herbal tea that you are
sipping completes this wonderful setting. All
is well…or is it? For so many the holiday season
can be the most stressful time of the year.
In our search for the perfect, peaceful Christmas
experience we completely do the opposite…stressing
ourselves to the max in search of that "perfect" gift, "perfect" outfit, "perfect" dinner, "perfect" decorations,
etc. Instead of enjoying this wonderful time
of year in simplicity, many of us are on the
verge of complete burn-out…it's like just one
more burned-out Christmas tree bulb and we will
definitely go over the edge! Take heart as there
is a solution. That solution is to RELAX & ENJOY!
Find ways to calm yourself. What makes you happy
this time of year? Do it! What makes you calm
and relaxed? Do it! Starting right now, make
time to work on yourself and do whatever it
takes to get rid of the stress. Take a day for
yourself…no phone calls (that means cell, too),
no deadlines, no carpools, no housework, etc.
Impossible, you say? Negative thinking…nothing
is impossible! You will be surprised at how
well and up-lifted you will feel. In dealing
with disease, stress is often very high on the
list of symptoms and can actually be the cause
of some disease. Yes, it can be difficult to
totally eliminate, but certainly not impossible.
Ok…Nine days until Christmas. Does that sentence
stress you out? Yeah…me, too. I'll be taking "my" day
tomorrow. Remember: All IS Well…keep
your thoughts there.
Wishing
You A Blessed Holiday Season and a Happy,
Healthy New Year!
Global
Healing Center, Inc. - Worldwide Leaders In Advanced Natural Medicine
Dr.
Edward Group III & Dr. Loretta Lanphier
Featured Product - Oxy-Powder
Constipation
has met it's match with Oxy-Powder, the all-natural
high quality oxygen-based colon cleanser.
- High quality
oxygen based colon cleansing
- Natural method
of getting rid of constipation
- Aids in cleansing & oxygenating
both small & large intestine
- Aids in removing
unwanted waste matter & extra weight
- Promotes optimal
colon health
- A perfect start
to any new diet plan
- Helps promote
friendly intestinal flora
- The oxygen
therapy cleanser the stars use
- No side effects
like laxatives
- Comes in easy
to take vegetarian capsules
Purchase
your 2 month supply today and ensure optimal
colon health. Learn
more about Oxy-Powder at www.oxypowder.com.
The
Glass That's Half Full: Optimism and Longevity n
by
Barry Bittman M.D.
It's
time to emerge from the doldrums.
In fact, you don't have any time to waste - especially if you want to add
quality years to your life. Mayo Clinic researchers finally gave us the proof
we need to kick our negative friends and loved-ones where it hurts the most
- right in the attitude!
According to a recent article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the actual difference
between optimists and pessimists just might amount to about 12 years of life.
The Mayo team began by examining personality tests performed in the early
and mid '60s. They proceeded to look well into future to see how things turned
out. Actually they followed their subjects (about 30 years), to scientifically
measure the relationship between attitude and longevity. Simply stated, they've
shown what many have known all along - the mind and body are an inseparable
team!
Dr. Toshihiko Maruta, the study's chief investigator stated, "The important
thing is that we've proven the relationship scientifically, and made a correlation
between how people see the world when they're young and how they turn out
30 years later."
You might be thinking that optimism vs. pessimism depends on one's environment,
circumstances and stressors. While I'm certainly not doubting these factors
play a role, I recognize that people, even under the worst conditions, have
the innate capacity to be positive and hopeful.
Ultimately, it's not the stress that kills us. Rather, it's our perception
of stress that makes the difference.
Perception seems to determine whether that pink slip on Friday heralds doomsday
or a new chance for realizing our dreams. It has also been shown to determine
the killing capacity of specific cells in our body that fight cancer. The
scratch on your car door can only destroy your day if you allow it to do
so. Yes, we do have a choice!
In fact, we have the capacity to change and to adopt a new belief system
whenever the opportunity arises. We also have the ability to create that
opportunity. I suppose that's one of the perks of being human.
And when it comes to change, we should all be experts by now. For nothing
really stands still in life. As Tony DeFail and I noted in our book, Maze
of Life, "three things in life are certain: death, taxes and change."
Yet what changes and what needs to change are often quite different. Some
people simply don't know where to begin. I often suggest finding a role model
and discovering their formula for succeeding. The one thing I can assure
you is that no pessimist ever built a steady stream of successes. Why not
consider these basic observations:
People who believe they can't - don't. ? People who believe it's impossible
- never succeed. ? People who believe they can't win - lose. ? People who
believe life isn't worth living - die.
While we’ve heard these statements over and over again, did you ever realize
that the common denominator is "belief." The good news is that
beliefs are changeable. We can learn to cope and to de-stress ourselves.
The capacity to develop a positive attitude is within us.
The problem, however, is that attitudinal change requires work and determination.
Unfortunately, it's easier to sulk than to discover something positive. It's
far simpler to sink into despair that it is to rise above a situation. It
requires far less effort to wage war than to recreate peace.
So what is the formula for optimism?
Begin with a healthy dose of determination, add willingness to develop a
positive belief system and sprinkle in a comforting sense of hope. Find a
role model, take a class, sit in the park, watch children play and imagine
how wonderful the next moment can be. For stringing together a series of
wonderful moments is all it takes to create the future of our dreams.
You'll soon discover that when positive change begins within, everything
seems to magically change around us. The glass that was once half empty is
now the one that's half full. The obstacle we counted on (the one preventing
us from moving ahead) is now seen as an opportunity in disguise. The life
we failed to appreciate suddenly yields 12 more years of incredible moments.
All it takes is a kick in the attitude - Mind Over Matter!
© 2000
Barry Bittman, MD all rights reserved
Glaxo
chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients
By
Steve Connor, Science Editor
08 December 2003
A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that
most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them.
Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK),
said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive
drugs actually derived any benefit from them.
It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products
are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior
drugs boss has gone public. His comments come days after it emerged that
the NHS drugs bill has soared by nearly 50 per cent in three years, rising
by £2.3bn a year to an annual cost to the taxpayer of £7.2bn. GSK announced
last week that it had 20 or more new drugs under development that could each
earn the company up to $1bn (£600m) a year.
Dr Ro ses, an academic geneticist from Duke University in North Carolina,
spoke at a recent scientific meeting in London where he cited figures on
how well different classes of drugs work in real patients.
Drugs for Alzheimer's disease work in fewer than one in three patients, whereas
those for cancer are only effective in a quarter of patients. Drugs for migraines,
for osteoporosis, and arthritis work in about half the patients, Dr Roses
said. Most drugs work in fewer than one in two patients mainly because the
recipients carry genes that interfere in some way with the medicine, he said.
"The vast majority of drugs - more than 90 per cent - only work in 30 or
50 per cent of the people," Dr Roses said. "I wouldn't say that most
drugs don't work. I would say that most drugs work in 30 to 50 per cent of people.
Drugs out there on the market work, but they don't work in everybody."
Some industry analysts said Dr Roses's comments were reminiscent of the 1991
gaffe by Gerald Ratner, the jewelry boss, who famously said that his high
street shops are successful because they sold "total crap". But
others believe Dr Roses deserves credit for being honest about a little-publicized
fact known to the drugs industry for many years.
" Roses is a smart guy and what he is saying will surprise the public but
not his colleagues," said one industry scientist. "He is a pioneer
of a new culture within the drugs business based on using genes to test for who
can benefit from a particular drug." Dr Roses has a formidable reputation
in the field of "pharmacogenomics" - the application of human genetics
to drug development - and his comments can be seen as an attempt to make the
industry realize that its future rests on being able to target drugs to a smaller
number of patients with specific genes.
The idea is to identify "responders" - people who benefit from
the drug - with a simple and cheap genetic test that can be used to eliminate
those non-responders who might benefit from another drug.
This goes against a marketing culture within the industry that has relied
on selling as many drugs as possible to the widest number of patients - a
culture that has made GSK one of the most profitable pharmaceuticals companies,
but which has also meant that most of its drugs are at best useless, and
even possibly dangerous, for many patients.
Dr Roses said doctors treating patients routinely applied the trial-and-error
approach which says that if one drug does not work there is always another
one. "I think everybody has it in their experience that multiple drugs
have been used for their headache or multiple drugs have been used for their
backache or whatever.
" It's in their experience, but they don't quite understand why. The reason
why is because they have different susceptibilities to the effect of that drug
and that's genetic," he said.
" Neither those who pay for medical care nor patients want drugs to be prescribed
that do not benefit the recipient. Pharmacogenetics has the promise of removing
much of the uncertainty."
Response rates
Therapeutic area: drug efficacy rate in per cent
• Alzheimer's: 30
• Analgesics (Cox-2): 80
• Asthma: 60
• Cardiac Arrythmias: 60
• Depression (SSRI): 62
• Diabetes: 57
• Hepatits C (HCV): 47
• Incontinence: 40
• Migraine (acute): 52
• Migraine (prophylaxis)50
• Oncology: 25
• Rheumatoid arthritis50
• Schizophrenia: 60
Stress Is Making Kids Sick Stress Is Making Kids Sick
Youngsters
are burdened with too many activities
Pressure
leads to chronic pain and anxiety attacks
MARY
JO LAYTON
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
HACKENSACK,
N.J.—A kindergartener worried so much about
school, she suffered chest pains and had to
be rushed to the emergency room.
A 5-year-old was plagued by anxiety attacks that left him gasping for breath.
A 12-year-old complained of intense abdominal pains and chronic headaches.
His pediatrician blamed the dizzying pace of the boy's life: band practice,
soccer, tennis, piano lessons, homework, the hours spent preparing for his
bar mitzvah.
These children are not alone.
Physicians are seeing patients as young as 5 suffering from stress-related
health problems typically found in harried adults. Pediatricians are reporting
a rise in chronic fatigue, stomachaches and sleep disorders. Therapists say
they're treating more children for anxiety and depression.
The
stress of multiple activities, the hectic rhythms
of households, and the pressure to succeed academically,
athletically and socially are literally making
children sick.
" We're over-programming and over-scheduling our kids," says Dr. David
Namerow, chief of pediatrics at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J. "Their
bodies are crying out and saying: `Enough!'"
Teenager Gabriella Kirby suffers from daily headaches, aggravated by six
hours of weekly review for college qualifying tests. On a recent Friday,
an acupuncturist put pins into her in an attempt to ease the pain.
"I'm
a B student, and it seems like that's just not
good enough," says Kirby, 17. "So
many of the kids in my high school are completely
obsessed with getting A's."
For
many children, the aches and pains are the result
of hours spent on the SUV shuttle — racing from
hockey practice to music lessons to the tutor,
and eating take-out burgers on the way. It's
what happens when some parents hyper-manage
playtime yet fail to pencil in down time. It's
the price of being a Renaissance child.
In interviews, more than a dozen physicians and therapists agreed that a
crisis is brewing.
"We're seeing more and more of it," says Dr. Fred Hirschenfang, a pediatrician
at Hackensack University Medical Center. "There's probably a direct correlation
between the symptoms and the weight of the backpack. Somehow I managed to become
a physician without 14 hours of homework in the third grade."
So many children are suffering from stress-related illnesses that some hospitals
have begun offering yoga, massage therapy and other alternative medical services
to help youngsters relax. Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J., has
opened a centre for children under stress or with chronic illnesses.
"We
have to do something for these kids. We can
write prescriptions for Paxil and Zoloft (anti-anxiety
and anti-depression medications) until our pens
run dry. But if we don't give them the tools
to manage stress now, how will they ever handle
college, work, illness and life?" asks
Dr. Nancy Rothenberg, a pediatrician at Pascack
Valley.
A typical case is the teenager Rothenberg treated earlier this month who
had symptoms of mononucleosis: overwhelming fatigue and sore throat. Blood
tests came back negative. Rothenberg suspects the child was exhausted after
music lessons, club activities and homework.
What's
alarming to veteran pediatricians and child
experts is the pace at which over-scheduling
has accelerated and how quickly the trend has
afflicted younger children. In the last decade,
parents have pushed younger children into multiple
sports, music lessons and clubs, and paid closer
attention to their academic performance.
The result: an increase in young children suffering from irritable bowel
syndrome, chest pains, tension headaches and fatigue. And an increase in
parents asking therapists to help their preschoolers manage the stress of
their young lives.
"Parents are surprised to know that stress can do this to children," says
Hirschenfang.
The rise in pint-sized patients has prompted counseling centers to remind
parents of young children that Play-doh and dress-up might be better than
organized sports.
Tricia DeBartolome, a vice-president at Children's Aid and Family Services
in Ridgewood, N.J., is holding seminars to advise parents of preschoolers
that they can just say no. They're targeting these very young children because,
by elementary school, it's already too late.
Parents
need to look at their own motivations, says
Dr. Wayne Yankus, former president of the New
Jersey chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "This
is directly related to the parents' level of
success and the parents' level of work achievement
and how they view being busy. Parents also feel
entitled to have children who aren't just enrolled
in dance, but who can master tap, ballet and
jazz."
Yankus
is one of many who lament the intensity of elite
sports teams, music enrichment and other programs
that didn't exist 10 years ago. The rise in
year-round highly competitive sports is most
worrisome because the frequent practices stress
developing tissue and joints and rob kids of
free time.
In the late 1980s, researchers found these same structured activities would
keep kids out of trouble and enhance their academics. The result was a classic
case of overkill — a cottage industry of after-school tutors, music classes
and athletics.
"It's
spinning out of control and it's starting at
younger and younger ages," says David Elkins,
a psychologist and retired professor who has
written extensively on the subject.
Elkins recalls a bright 9-year-old he treated who was anxious, had trouble
sleeping and complained of being tired all the time. The boy's schedule rivaled
a corporate executive's.
" Kids this age should be making forts out of cardboard boxes and riding
bikes with their friends," he says.
When
Elkins suggested the boy's stressful schedule
might be at fault, the mother insisted the boy
loves everything he's doing. She enrolled her
son in the activities because her parents hadn't
done it for her.
" She told me: `No matter what it takes, he's going to have a good childhood,'" Elkins
says.
In
some children, the pressure to excel academically
can be enough to trigger anxiety, says Dr. Ellen
Schwartz, a therapist who has treated kids with
stress-induced anxiety and depression.
"The
schools are too demanding. They create a tremendous
amount of pressure," Schwartz says. "Kids
don't have as much time as they need to just
be kids."
Gabriella
Kirby's mother, Natalie, rails against the pressure. "It
doesn't come from me, I can promise you that.
The stress children have, we never knew. Everyone
has to go to college, everyone has to have A's
... and the sports last all year long."
Bert
Ammerman, principal of Northern Valley Regional
High School at Demarest, has even grown weary
of the frantic pace.
"Children are told, `You've got to do your homework, you've got to practice,
you've got to go to religious education.' Kids are told constantly, `You gotta,
you gotta, you gotta.'
"What have we done? I don't see any way out of it."
The
Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
Revealed: How Drug Firms 'Hoodwink' Medical Journals
Pharmaceutical
giants hire ghostwriters to produce articles
- then put doctors' names on them
Antony Barnett, public affairs editor
Sunday
December 7, 2003
The Observer
Hundreds of articles in medical journals claiming to be written by academics
or doctors have been penned by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies,
an Observer inquiry reveals.
The journals, bibles of the profession, have huge influence on which drugs
doctors prescribe and the treatment hospitals provide. But The Observer has
uncovered evidence that many articles written by so-called independent academics
may have been penned by writers working for agencies which receive huge sums
from drug companies to plug their products.
Estimates suggest that almost half of all articles published in journals
are by ghostwriters. While doctors who have put their names to the papers
can be paid handsomely for 'lending' the ir reputations, the ghostwriters
remain hidden. They, and the involvement of the pharmaceutical firms, are
rarely revealed.
These papers endorsing certain drugs are paraded in front of GPs as independent
research to persuade them to prescribe the drugs.
In February the New England Journal of Medicine was forced to retract an
article
