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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - October 10th, 2007

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Taking good care of ourselves can often seem like an
expensive business if we join the gym, take lots of
supplements,have a fully organic diet then our living costs
are likely to rocket. And yet, there is simple thing we can
do to protect ourselves from heart attacks and strokes and
it won't cost a penny - though you may spend more than a few
of them! Not a riddle, just read on for more news on how to
also protect your eyesight and maybe start being concerned
about a change in the age of puberty for girls.
I wish you the very best of continuing good health - AnnA

In this issue:
- An aspirin a day keeps heart attacks at bay?
- Natural tips for avoiding cataracts
- Girls reaching puberty as early as 8 in the USA
- Easy Ways to Control High Blood Pressure


An aspirin a day keeps heart attacks at bay?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is part of the daily routine for many, but is it actually
doing you good? Aspirin prevents platelets (a type of blood
cell) from forming into clots and it is so effective that a
single tablet can increase the tendency to bleed easily for
up to a week. That's fine if all you want to do is thin the
blood, but too much blood thinning can be quite dangerous
as researchers from McGill University Health Centre in Montreal,
Canada found when they examined 4,000 cases of patients
suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding. They found that
when the anticoagulant drugs warfarin and clopidogrel were
taken with aspirin, gastrointestinal bleeding was four to
six times higher than in subjects who didn't combine these
drugs. When these prescription blood thinners are
prescribed, aspirin use is usually discouraged, but that
doesn't mean that each patient gets the message. Those who
don't may be experiencing much more harm than good.

In a previous study in 2004, UK researchers at the
University of Hull produced a Warfarin/Aspirin Study in
Heart Failure that divided patients into three groups:
one group received 300 mg of aspirin daily, one received
a standard daily dose of warfarin, and a third group
received a placebo. All the subjects in the study had
experienced either heart attack or stroke, prompted by
thrombosis. After an average follow up period of more than
two years, researchers found that neither the aspirin nor
the warfarin therapies provided any greater protection
against death, nonfatal stroke, or nonfatal heart attacks
than the placebo. In fact, subjects who received aspirin
therapy were nearly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack
or stroke compared to those who took warfarin or placebo.
Gastrointestinal problems were also elevated in the aspirin
group, confirming the findings of McGill University.

So if you're taking a daily aspirin, should you stop?
NO. Not before talking to your doctor first. In a 2003 study
that reviewed more than 1,200 cases of coronary episodes,
researchers found more than 50 cases of heart attacks or
other severe coronary problems less than one week after
patients discontinued aspirin use.


Natural tips for avoiding cataracts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is estimated that 80% of people in the UK over the age
of 75 have some form of cataract, and more worryingly some
doctors believe that it could soon be 100%. Cataracts occur
when the proteins inside the lens of the eye come under
attack from sugar molecules which attach themselves to the
proteins, causing them to clump together and become
distorted so that incoming light has trouble reaching the
eye and it can seem as if you are seeing everything through
a waterfall effect. The lens clouds over and loses its
elasticity and transparency. A preventive health tip?

Reduce your sugar intake as it can seriously
compromise your eyesight. Carbohydrates are a natural
home for many sugars so avoid refined carbohydrates,
white rice and white bread, you could also lose weight
too! Having a high-protein diet will also help as it plays
an important part in protecting and repairing eye tissues
and particularly good sources are tuna, mackerel, halibut
and sardines. Also ensure your diet has enough of the
nutrients that protect your body from the effects of free
radicals as these can also affect your eyes.Include plenty
of vegetables, garlic, nuts and berries too.


Girls reaching puberty as early as 8 in the USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Health care professionals in the natural hormone field, like
Dr John Lee, have been expressing concern for some years that
the onset of puberty in girls is happening at a much earlier
age than in previous generations. Their concern has centred
on the fact that reaching puberty at a very early age will
increase their risk of breast cancer because puberty exposes
girls to more oestrogen. High levels of oestrogen are a
known risk factor for breast cancer and indeed can cause it
to flourish. According to a report by American biologist
Sandra Steingraber, puberty is now occurring more regularly
at the age of 8, rather than at 13 which was the previous
norm. Her data indicates that if you get your first period
before age 12, your risk of breast cancer is 50 percent
higher than if you get it at age 16 and so her theory is
that for every year we could delay a girl's first menstrual
period we could prevent thousands of breast cancers. Early
puberty also has social and emotional implications for these
young girls but hard evidence on what causes it are not
known. Sandr Steingraber herself believes there are a number
of causes but that is likely an ecological disorder arising
from the increased amounts of oestrogen in our food and
water, exposure to environmental chemicals coupled with
increased childhood obesity and a substantial drop in
exercise and activity like outdoor games.


Natural Ways to Control High Blood Pressure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As there are 16 million people in the UK with high blood
pressure (hypertension), and of those nearly a third are
not aware that they have the condition, it is obviously an
issue that needs to be addressed. High blood pressure is
defined as being at a level consistently at or above
140mmHg and/or 90mmHg and it is a both a preventable and
manageable condition. You would think that as it is the
direct cause of half of all strokes and heart attacks in
the UK that those who have it would be regularly monitoring
it, but sadly only 10% of those diagnosed with the condition
have their blood pressure controlled to target levels.

Yet there is something that is so incredibly simple,
that everyone can do, at no cost and no risk that will
naturally help control high blood pressure. Hypertension
results from the balance between two factors: how hard the
heart is pumping (cardiac output) and how easily plasma can
diffuse out of your capillaries (peripheral resistance) and
most people with high blood pressure have a normal cardiac
output but increased peripheral resistance. That resistance
means you are more at risk of heart attacks and strokes and
the most likely cause is dehydration.When you are dehydrated
the level of blood in your body falls but the body has it's
own incredibly clever regulatory system where it prioritises
the maintenance of your essential organs and shuts down blood
supplies to the capillaries of non-essential areas like the
muscle and skin. The effect of this is to increase your
peripheral resistance and also to increase the production of
histamine, a hormone-like substance, and this causes your
blood vessels to narrow and this in turn further increases
blood pressure. This can be also exacerbated by the fact
that many treatments for hypertension include the taking
of diuretics and this again reduces the amount of fluid
in the body.

The remedy? Drink at least two litres of plain, still,
water every day - not tea, coffee, soft drinks as a
substitute but pure unadulterated water. Often the easiest
way to measure is to have a full bottle by the kettle and
make sure it is empty by the time you have that bedtime
drink - or even earlier for preference so you aren't then
getting up too often in the night.

If you want to try and control your blood pressure
without drugs, then one of the most effective supplements
is Co-enzyme Q10. This is a substance which is produced
naturally in the body and taking it has lowered blood
pressure as effectively as prescription medications in a
number of patients. Unlike some of the drugs, it's only
side effects are the good ones of lowering cholesterol
and preventing diabetes and gum disease and the
recommended dose for supplementation is normally between
60-120mg a day, but always start on the lower amount first
and in consultation with a natural practitioner.


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I hope you have found this information useful,
and please feel free to pass it on to others.
Remember, I am not a doctor and cannot give
you medical advice, so please always take
appropriate action by consulting your own
medical advisor if you have concerns about
your health.

Wishing you the best of good health, AnnA

www.catalystonline.co.uk

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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Health Prescription - October 17th, 2007

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Alzheimer's is a concern for many people today and sadly
it's early diagnosis is still problematic, but help may be
only a couple of years away. I am afraid I have had a rant
about the NHS in this issue, but as I don't do it often I
hope you will forgive me! Plus natural news on pain relief
and boosting your immune system through the winter. May I
wish you the very best of continuing good health - AnnA

In this issue
- Simple blood test may predict Alzheimer's onset
- Can't get an appointment?
- Pain relief on a plate
- Keeping it raw for immune health


Blood Test for Alzheimer's diagnosis?
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18 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's, but
it has been hard for doctors to make an accurate diagnosis
until the disease is well progressed. Now, researchers have
developed a simple blood test that may be able to predict
whether mild lapses of memory could be an early sign of
Alzheimer's disease. In a study published in the journal
Nature Medicine, an international team of researchers
describe 18 cell-signalling, or communication, proteins found
in blood that predicted with 90 percent accuracy whether a
person would develop Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, doctors diagnose Alzheimer's disease by ex-
cluding other potential causes of memory loss, such as
stroke, tumours and heavy drinking. They can also administer
simple paper-and-pencil tests, and sometimes use brain scans,
but this blood test could be used to detect changes in these
proteins and because they occur early on in the disease
process they could be used to predict the disease two to six
years ahead of its onset.


Can't get an appointment?
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I don't know about your surgery, but mine operates an
appointment only system and it can take several days to get
one, and up to 30 minutes hanging on the phone to actually
get to speak to the receptionist at all. That may be about
to change as The Health Minister, Lord Ara Darzi, has
proposed a three year plan where he wants more than 50 per
cent of practices in England to extend their opening hours.

The Health Minister is also proposing to set up 150 large,
GP-led practices that will be open seven days a week, from
8am to 8pm. They will be situated in easily accessible
locations offering a range of services including walk-in
services. He said funding would be available but if
existing practices refused to open extended hours other
providers would be commissioned. Can't quite imagine what
'other providers' means; is he thinking of setting up
freelance surgeries, rather like the 'walk in' doctors you
can consult at mainline stations in London? Except they are
all private and although you can see a doctor immediately,
you usually want to see your bank manager afterwards.

It sounds a bit confused to me, as he is also saying
there will be an increasing proportion of the NHS payments
made to GP practices but that these are going to be linked
to their success in attracting patients. So they want the
doctors to have more flexible hours, offer the ability to
book advance appointments and be able to see a GP within
48 hours - none of which they can manage with their
existing patient lists in my area - but they are expected
to do it only if they also have an increase in patient
numbers. Paying them more to attract new patients doesn't
exactly help the existing ones does it?


Pain relief on a plate
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Usually, if you are in pain you reach for a pill. However,
depending on the severity of your discomfort there are some
foods that you might like to try. If you prefer a natural
solution, you may want to visit your health store for white
willow bark. In 1827, a French chemist named Leroux extracted
a substance from the bark of a white willow tree that he
named "Salicin." This substance is the main active ingredient
of white willow, and it works as a pain reliever. Many years
later two other - Felix Hofman and Fredrick Bayer - found a
related compound to salicin, and later developed a synthetic
version of that compound. This led to the development of the
commercial product known as aspirin. White willow doesn't
have the side effects of aspirin because it is naturally
converted in the body to salicylic acid, which is mild and
does not upset the stomach. You can use it wherever you
would normally use aspirin: pain relief, to reduce fevers,
and as an anti-inflammatory where it is particularly useful
for arthritis and rheumatism. It is available as tablets or
capsules, though the capsule form has a faster action.


However, if aspirin is your drug of choice for pain relief,
then its effects will be accelerated if you drink a cup of
strong coffee at the same time, according to research
conducted by Dr Bernard Schachel of Yale University. If you
are a cook, then there are a range of options available to
you: eating chilli peppers can help reduce pain because
they are an excellent source of caspsaicin, a substance
found by researchers at the University of Alabama to diminish
many kinds of pain, especially chronic pains, including those
associated with pinched nerves, as in sciatica. Many everyday
foods also have a high content of salicylates, like white
willow bark, and they too have both analgesic effects and can
also combat inflammation. Good sources of foods that are
proven to have pain-reducing properties include: garlic,
ginger, onions, cherries, prunes, blueberries, curry powder,
dried currants and dates, paprika, liquorice, and peppermint.


Keeping it raw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are several reasons we are usually healthier in the
summer, but one of the prime ones is that we tend to eat
more raw food. Salads are easy when the weather is warm, but
it could help your health enormously if you carried that
habit through to the winter months. The reason? Cooked food
weakens your immune system, and this was discovered in 1930
when Dr Paul Kouchakoff observed that after eating a cooked
meal, a person's white blood cells (leukocytes) would increase.

An increase in white blood cell count usually indicates a
stress reaction by the body, which means basically that your
immune system is finishing your digestion process for you,
which is a function that it is not meant to do, and that puts
a strain on it. Eating a raw meal does not produce this immune
suppressing effect, so with every cooked meal you have try to
include some fresh, raw vegetables to go with it and try to
maintain that healthy salad habit through the winter.

Cooking also can take away the antioxidants, and reduce
the amount of bio available vitamins, so you are doubling
your benefits when you eat raw - although there are a few
vegetables that are more difficult for some to digest raw,
such as broccoli so you may need to experiment to see what
suits you. If you want to know a whole lot more, then visit
http://www.totalrawfood.com/

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I hope you have found this information useful, and please feel
free to pass it on to others. Remember, I am not a doctor and
cannot give you medical advice, so please always take appropriate action by consulting your own medical advisor if you have concerns about your health.

Wishing you the best of good health, AnnA
 

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The Healthy Newsletter from AnnA
Your Weekly Alternative Health Prescription
October 31st, 2007
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I came across some mind-blowing information this week that I
really wanted to pass on because it has such extraordinary
implications for our future, and the future of the planet.

It isn't comfortable reading, but I do think we need to be
aware of some of the developments that technology is bringing
us - and not all of them are beneficial. May I wish you the
very best of continuing good health - AnnA

In this issue:
- You don't own your own genes
- Fructose Fears
- Gum disease increases heart risk
- Psoriasis linked with Smoking

You Don't Own Your Own Genes
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Did you know that if you have children in America today you are
an international criminal? What on earth am I talking about?
Well, I do get all kinds of weird and wonderful health news from
many sources around the world, and this one came from the pen of
the pioneering, independent journalist, Mike Adams. He is a
prolific author and a natural taker on of corporations and
governments and his view on things is always surprising and often
worrying. I found what he said so interesting I wanted to pass it
on to you for your consideration. So why are you a criminal if
you are a parent? Because you have violated intellectual property
laws by infringing on the copyrights of companies that have been
granted patents on the human genome. You have replicated that
gene sequence by having children without the permission of the
owners of those gene sequences. As bizarre as it sounds, it's
absolutely true: having children is a violation of patent law.

This has come about because the U.S. Patent Office has allowed
companies and individuals to gain ownership of intellectual
property that should never have been granted to a private
organization or individual - like the gene sequence of a human
being. Intellectual property, and patents in particular, are
intended to cover inventions; things that we were the first to
create, not something we stumbled across because we have the
right equipment to detect them in the natural world.

Clearly, genes are already in existence. We did not invent them;
nature did. And yet, people and organizations have been granted
patents on seeds from nature. This first came to light when a US
company filed for a patent on basmati rice and the U.S. Patent
Office agreed to it. The result of their being given that
ownership was that the company then proceeded to try to shut down
the harvesting and farming of basmati rice in India because they
owned the patent on the seed. Happily the Indian government
intervened and thwarted the patent by having the rice listed
under the European Commission's regulations that protect
regional foods. So a food source that has been growing naturally
for centuries, and feeding millions, was with a stroke of a pen
made into a patentable commodity.

Nor is this an isolated example of corporations seeing a profit
from what has been a sustainable and staple food product.
Another example is is the Monsanto corporation who have
the distinction of developing the terminator seed - that is one
which will not produce viable seeds after the first generation,
thus forcing farmers around the world to buy seed from Monsanto
year after year. This directly hits at the way farming has been
carried out for generations where every year self-replicating
seeds have been saved to create the harvest of the future. The
really worrying thing about self-terminating seeds, apart from
the morality of it, is that it sets up a situation where the
farmers of the world potentially have only a single season of
seed. If something goes wrong in just one production sequence,
and it is not too difficult to imagine that happening, then we have
global famine on our hands and an invitation for global disaster.

So what can you do? First have your own garden and grow heirloom
plants, not hybrid plants, so you can save your seeds and use
them generation after generation. Next, do what you can to
support small sustainable farms, organic farms, family farms,
your local food co-ops and your local farmer's market. If you
are interested in seed exchange, then www.SeedSavers.org is an
interesting American site and it's UK equivalent is at
http://www.plant-traders.co.uk/news.php


Fructose Fears
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High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was developed in the 1970s, and
by the late 1990's it surpassed sugar as the primary sweetener
used in processed foods. Today, HFCS is the king of sweeteners,
but not everyone at court has been happy with that. However, over
the past five years there has been a steady increase in products
that state they are "HFCS-free" on the packaging and a survey
conducted by the International Food Information Council Foundation
in 2007 found that now half of all consumers say they're avoiding
products that contain HFCS. Huge international manufacturers like
Kraft Foods and Del Monte Foods are all removing HFCS from at least
some of their products.

So what's the problem? Well HFCS consumption has been linked to
increased body weight and fat storage, but it was also shown in
one study to decrease the body's sensitivity to insulin and to
increase the levels of LDL cholesterol, the one you don't want in
any quantity. If you have IBS symptoms, you would be well advised
to give up HFCS altogether as a gastroenterology study has
demonstrated how a one-year, fructose-free diet significantly
reduced IBS symptoms, with some subjects reporting complete absence
of abdominal pain.

So how do you spot fructose? Take your reading glasses to the super
market and read the small print on the labels. It is found mostly in
alcoholic drinks, corn, and corn-based products. It's derivatives
- such as corn oil, corn syrup, and fructose syrup - are used in a
wide variety of foods, so if you see the word fructose then treat
the product with caution.


Gum Disease Increases Heart Risk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Never has that daily brushing seemed so important with the latest
US study confirming that people with gum disease face a
significantly increased risk of developing heart problems.

This is no lightweight study either, as Chicago Medical School
assessed the results of 15 studies, involving more than 100,000
participants, which examined the link between gum disease and
coronary heart disease. Their report was published in the
American Heart Journal where they observed "Since the late
1980s, a number of... studies have reported that periodontitis
[gum disease] may be associated with cardiovascular events."

Their analysis has now shown that people with gum disease are
between 1.1 and 2.2 times more likely to develop heart disease
than people with good oral hygiene. Apparently it is because
bacteria from diseased gums may increase blood vessel
inflammation levels in people with periodontitis, therefore
increasing their risk of heart disease.

Get out that toothbrush and book an early appointment with the
hygienist at your Dentist's surgery to make sure you have
good oral health techniques.


Psoriasis linked to smoking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As if smokers haven't had enough to contend with, breaking news
reported in a study of 79,000 nurses by researchers at the
Harvard Medical School in Boston and the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, found that smokers have a higher
risk of developing the skin condition psoriasis.

Smokers had a 37% higher risk than non-smokers, even when they
had given up, and if they were still smoking then it rose to a
staggering 78% higher risk.

Psoriasis is a disease that affects the skin and joints and causes
red scaly patches to appear on the body. It is known to affect
millions of people with varying degrees of severity and is thought
to be related to the body's immune system. It is not contagious but
is a chronic recurring condition and fingernails and toenails are
often affected as well.

The exact cause of psoriasis is unknown, but it is believed to have
a genetic basis and several factors are thought to aggravate the
condition including stress, excessive alcohol consumption, and
smoking. The U.S. researchers suggest that heavy smokers have a
greater risk of the skin condition and this risk remains for as
much as 20 years years even after they have stopped smoking.

Cigarette smoke contains a complex number of chemicals, hundreds
of which are toxic, and it believed that these toxins affect
parts of the immune system associated with psoriasis. Even if you
don't smoke yourself, you could still be at risk as the team also
found that exposure to passive smoke during pregnancy or childhood
was associated with an increased risk of psoriasis.

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I hope you have found this information useful, and please feel free
to pass it on to others. Remember, I am not a doctor and cannot give
you medical advice, so please always take appropriate action by
consulting your own medical advisor if you have concerns about any
aspect of your health.

Wishing you the best of good health, AnnA

www.catalystonline.co.uk
www.writeyourlifestory.co.uk
www.procrastinationkiller.co.uk