More cancer coming

On the back of the mass marketing campaign for Gardasil vaccine its manufacturer is now setting an eye on a different target group to boost sales.

I'm not going to restate information from other comments I've posted here about the hazards of Gardasil, you can be the judge. Just give this some serious thought -

About 90 percent of infections clear within two years.

Here is their plan, but most cancers take about 8-10 years to develop so a four year trial is well short of any window that will accurately determine carcinogenicity.

The women were followed for more than two years after the six-month vaccination period. The company plans to continue to follow them for a total of four years.

If the vaccine 'may' offer protection why use it and risk greater harm, if the goal is to get approval from the FDA.

Gardasil may offer protection for women up to age 45: FDA approval is the goal.

Merck says Gardasil vaccine protects older women By Julie Steenhuysen
2 hours, 21 minutes ago

Gardasil, Merck's vaccine for preventing cervical cancer in girls and women aged 9 to 26, may offer protection for women up to age 45, the company said on Sunday.

In a study of 3,800 women aged 24 to 45, the vaccine prevented 91 percent of cases of persistent infection, minor cervical abnormalities, pre-cancers and genital warts caused by four strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV.

"This is the first efficacy study in this age population," Dr. Eliav Barr, who heads the Merck HPV Vaccine program, said in a telephone interview. "The vaccine performed as we expected. It was highly effective."

Merck directed and funded the study.

Gardasil is designed to protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which are known to cause about 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer. It also protects against HPV strains 6 and 11, which cause genital warts.

It is approved for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26, but Merck is seeking to expand its use to older women.

GOAL IS FDA APPROVAL

The study, presented at the 24th International Papillomavirus Conference in Beijing, China, found that Gardasil prevented 83 percent of infections, cervical abnormalities and pre-cancers and external genital lesions caused by the cancer-causing HPV types 16 and 18.

It reduced 94 percent of abnormal Pap tests caused by these HPV types, and prevented 100 percent of these problems caused by the genital wart HPV strains 6 and 11.

The women were followed for more than two years after the six-month vaccination period. The company plans to continue to follow them for a total of four years.

Merck will use these data to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market the vaccine to women through age 45.

GlaxoSmithKline, meanwhile, said new research showed its rival vaccine Cervarix effectively induced antibodies to HPV in the cervix -- the only place where the virus can evade the immune system and replicate -- two years after vaccination.

Tino Schwarz of the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, said the finding proved Cervarix provided protection where it was most needed.

Cervarix was approved in Europe and Australia this year but is still awaiting a green light by the FDA.

Cervical cancer is the second most common type of tumor in women and the leading cause of cancer death in some countries.

More than a quarter of U.S. girls and women aged 14 to 59 are infected. About 90 percent of infections clear within two years.

(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London)
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.

Garlic linked to lower cancer risk

Garlic has a long history of being helpful in many dis-eases. It has also been shown in microbiologic research to treat drug resistant TB.

Denis Campbell, health correspondent The Observer Sunday November 4 2007

While the World Cancer Research Fund last week said red meat, sugary drinks and alcohol all increased the likelihood of the disease, it also found garlic could reduce the chance of getting bowel cancer. It concluded there was 'considerable preclinical evidence ... that supports an anti-cancer effect of garlic and some of its allyl sulphur components'.

Professor Martin Wiseman, project director for the report, said everyone should eat one bulb or head of garlic a week to enjoy the maximum health benefit. 'This is great news,' he said. 'It's a positive thing that people can do, rather than something you shouldn't do. Include garlic, onions, leeks, spring onions and other allium vegetables in your diet in order to help reduce the risk of getting bowel cancer.'

Henry Scowcroft, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'It's all about balance - and this means that, unfortunately, the negative effects of an unhealthy diet can't be offset by just eating more garlic. The best way to reduce your chances of bowel cancer is to eat a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables and fibre and low in red or processed meat and alcohol.'

Bad Fluoride

In most places in the US the establishment tries to sway you with its propaganda that you need fluoride to prevent tooth decay. Of course they never tell you the dark side of this poison, just that you need it.

This again is more junque science because fluoride is just that, a poison.

Since bacteria is the major cause of tooth decay along with poor nutrition I always wonder why so many people swallow this one, hook line and sinker.

And now since fluoride in the water supply comes from fertilizer waste you might want to think about it again.

LA is now tripling the amount of fluoride in its already naturally fluoridated water. More of this stuff you don't want, that's for sure.

Another fluoride dilemma is now the ever expanding number of drugs containing the stuff. Currently many of the most prescribed drugs contain fluoride and about 1500 more are under development. Here's an opinion you might want to consider, including many drugs for osteoporosis, not mentioned in the article.

By Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD
11-3-7
Almost everyone has at least heard the recent news stories citing links between certain antidepressant drugs and suicides and even school shootings. Several surveys have shown that a majority of school shooters were taking SSRI- type antidepressants before they committed their heinous acts. What most people have not heard is that in most cases these were fluorinated drugs (Paxil and Prozac, etc.), the chemical structure of the drug included the toxic element fluorine.

A growing number of studies are showing that fluorine added to drugs and to drinking water can have a profound and prolonged harmful effect on the brain. At present, I am reviewing all the studies done on fluorinated pharmaceutical drugs and their effects on the brain. What I have found is shocking. There is a strong link between the use of many of these drugs and violent behavior, including homicides and suicides.

In 2002, a number of murder/suicides occurred on the military base at Fort Bragg, N.C., which were linked to the fluorinated anti-malarial drug Lariam. The Canadian military experienced a similar rash of murder/suicides and uncontrollable aggression among its soldiers taking the drug as well.

According to the "Physician's Desk Reference," used by doctors to prescribe medications, the commonly used fluorinated antibiotics Floxin, Levaquin, and Cipro can cause nightmares, psychotic reactions, paranoia, agitation, manic reactions, aggression and hostility, hallucinations, and even depersonalization, all symptoms associated with acts of homicide and suicide.

In fact, in their own clinical trials, pharmaceutical companies found homicides, homicidal acts, homicidal ideation, and aggressive behavior to be a side effect of the fluorinated medications. In addition, it was found that children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) taking the medications experienced hostility episodes 17 times more often than depressed patients.

Of particular concern was the finding that 1.1 percent of healthy, psychiatrically normal people who took an SSRI anti-depressant experienced one or more hostile episodes, while none taking the placebo had such an event.medications remain in the brain for prolonged periods after discontinuing the medication, more so with fluoxetine (Prozac) than Paxil.

In 1990, about 220 fluorinated pharmaceutical drugs were on the market. Now some 1,500 are under development. With millions of people taking these classes of fluorinated drugs, events similar to those at Virginia Tech are bound to occur. This incident was a great tragedy. I send my prayers for all those who were killed and injured and especially to their families.

It has been estimated that such side effects with these anti-depressant medications, as well as other fluorinated medications, are grossly underreported to the regulatory agencies. One study estimated only 1 percent to 10 percent of cases are ever reported. Why more people are not affected may be related to the abnormal brain chemistry of depressed and OCD-affected people.

What is unusual about the effect of fluorinated drugs is that they trigger planned violence rather than just violent outburst. This is what we also witnessed in the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Make sure that the medication your doctor prescribes is not a fluorinated one.

healthcare falls short, become your own healthcare advocate

"True health and the ability to live with one's whole being can best be attained by those who become their own natural health practitioner of first resort.

The pathway to true health is full of twists and turns which require continuous counterbalancing shifts in therapeutic tactics that only the person him- or herself is in a position to facilitate.

Certainly there may be occassions when one will require the services of a professional health-care practitioner. However, the degree of benefit one derives from those services will be depend in large part by an individual's own level of healing knowledge and skills and his or her commitment to the path toward total wellness." Dr. Bruce Berkowsky

U.S. healthcare falls short in survey of 7 nations By Maggie Fox

Americans spend double what people in other industrialized countries do on health care, but have more trouble seeing doctors, are the victims of more errors and go without treatment more often, according to a report released on Thursday.

Patients in the Netherlands struggle the most with paperwork, while British and Canadian citizens wait the longest for elective surgery, the Commonwealth Fund reports in the journal Health Affairs.

The report, published on the Internet at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/w7 17T , provides an annual comparison from the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports research on health systems.

This year it may be especially important as the 2008 U.S. elections are featuring health care reform as one of the most important issues, fund president Karen Davis said.

"The survey shows that in the U.S., we pay the price for having a fragmented health care system," Davis told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Harris Interactive researchers surveyed 12,000 adults in the United States, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Of these, only the United States lacks a universal health care system.

The report said Americans spent $6,697 per capita on healthcare in 2005, or 16 percent of gross domestic product. All the other countries spent less than half of that -- $3,128 in Australia or 9.5 percent of GDP, $3,326 in Canada or 9.8 percent of GDP, down to a low of $2,343 in New Zealand or 9 percent of GDP.

Davis said the Netherlands is included for the first time and is interesting because of its mix of mandated employer-sponsored, private and public insurance.

STANDING OUT BUT NOT OUTSTANDING

The report found that the United States stands out because of its expense and people's dissatisfaction.

"The thing that struck me in this survey is the trouble that Americans have in getting to see their own doctors," Davis said. Americans and Canadians often go to emergency departments for what should be routine care, the survey found.

"As in previous surveys, U.S. adults were most likely to have gone without care because of cost and to have high out-of-pocket costs," the report reads.

"In the U.S., nearly two of five (37 percent) of all adults and 42 percent of those with chronic conditions had skipped medications, not seen a doctor when sick, or foregone recommended care in the past year because of costs -- rates well above all other countries," it adds.

"In contrast to the U.S., patients in Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.K. rarely report having to forgo needed medical care because of costs."

Patients in New Zealand and Britain had the least confidence of getting top-notch care.

German and U.S. adults had the quickest access to elective surgery. "In most countries, waits of a year or more were rare; in Canada and the United Kingdom, though, 8 percent reported waiting that long, and 15 percent reported waiting six months or more for elective surgery," the report reads.

Having a "medical home" -- such as an easily reached primary care doctor who coordinates other care -- seemed to provide the most satisfaction, said Commonwealth vice president Cathy Schoen, who led the study.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.

Persistent Pet Peeve

I read hundreds of research reports every month as part of continuing education. Most often I find, when it comes to natural health care, an almost 100% attack on this credible field, completed through manipulation of the science.

This gives way to the major myth, another persistent pet peeve, that there is no adequate science backing the use of supplements and herbs or other natural treatments.

I've posted comments in the past years that I've managed this blog, hopefully to awaken your thinking to fact, not folly.

Now today here is a very valid comment on this topic of junque science and how it is woven to become relied upon by the majority in mainstream medicine.

Remember, it is incumbent on the "publish or perish" model to publish in order to CYA in the ivory towers of academia. It keeps your status quo up to measure and that paycheck rolling in, but at what price to integrity?

I am always pleased - and relieved - to see that others are making similar observations.

Scientific Fact or Falsified Fiction?
By Robert Watson, President/CEO
At our company, we hold the word research in high esteem. Consequently, it frustrates me when I hear that researchers appear to have manipulated a study to reach their desired conclusion. This has happened a number of times throughout the years, usually by “scientists” who have a prejudice against alternative medicine.

Most recently, an example of one of these flawed reports, titled “A systematic review of randomised clinical trials of individualised herbal medicine in any indication” (Postgrad Med J. 2007;83:633–637) made headlines around the globe. The study, a review of the medical literature, was by a group of British researchers who sought to determine the efficacy of individualized herbal medicine, which combines blends of herbs specific to each patient rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.

At first glance, based on the words “systematic review” in the study’s title, it seemed as if the scientists reviewed hundreds or even dozens of studies. In reality, they reviewed only three studies! They took the initial 1,345 credible studies they had found in the peer reviewed medical literature and weeded out 98.8 percent by using criteria that guaranteed any of the positive studies—including those demonstrating herbal safety—would be eliminated.

Another flaw revolves around the use of “any indication” in the paper’s title. The three studies included in the review focused on the use of herbs in irritable bowel syndrome, knee osteoarthritis and breast and colon cancer. The results of these studies cannot be extrapolated to “any indication.” Furthermore, the short study duration—10 weeks for the knee osteoarthritis trial, 16 for the IBS trial and 12 weeks to 6 months for the breast and colon cancer study—is not a true reflection of efficacy.

It’s surprising, therefore, that the researchers felt justified in concluding, “Individualised herbal medicine… has a very sparse evidence base and there is no convincing evidence that it is effective in any indication.”

Researchers need to remember that they are supposed to be objective observers reporting on the facts, not authors of creative works of fiction.

Wireless Tip of the Day

Never keep cell phone in pocket or on hip all day. The hip produces 80% of the body’s red blood cells and is especially vulnerable to EMR damage.

Monkey Island?

Did Marc Zabludoff's current 2007 title, Monkeys, take him back nostalgically to Kim Swent's monkey room in Downingtown..?