|
E-Mail Edition Volume 6 Number 4 |
|||
|
Originally published Fall, 2009 Published by Piccadilly Books, Ltd., www.piccadillybooks.com. Bruce Fife, N.D., Publisher, www.coconutresearchcenter.org |
|||
|
If you would like to subscribe to the Healthy Ways Newsletter
|
Contents
|
||
|
|
The New Arthritis Cure
"I have had chronic pain for 10 years," says Barbara Moody of Redmond, Washington. "Because of the pain I had to end my career as a firefighter." She also was an avid rock climber and runner, but had to give those up too. Barbara suffered from severe arthritis in her knees and back with accompanying nerve involvement in her feet. Walking summoned pain with every step. Over the years she endured four back surgeries and a spinal fusion. Despite medications and surgeries, her condition continued to worsen. Doctors recommended a fifth surgery and second fusion. Conventional treatments for arthritis rely on drugs and surgery to calm inflammation and deaden pain. Doctors have yet to fully understand what causes arthritis. Treatment consists of trying to ease symptoms. This approach may help reduce the pain and discomfort temporarily but does nothing to stop the progression of the disease. Although arthritis can occur at almost any age, the risk of developing this degenerative disease increases as we get older. Many doctors consider it an unavoidable part of the aging process. They give their patients pain killers and tell them to "learn to live with it." Over the years many theories have been proposed as to the cause of arthritis, including food allergies, genetics, trauma, and infection. Scientists are now coming to the opinion that many cases of arthritis, if not all, occur in individuals who have an "arthritis gene." This gene is triggered by an infection, such as the flu, a urinary tract infection, candidiasis, or even an abscessed tooth. However, many people who don't have the so-called "arthritis gene" still develop arthritis, and many that do have the gene never develop arthritis. Why is this? Scientists don't have a clue, but they do recognize the importance of an infection initiating the process. As evidence mounts it is becoming evident that arthritis occurs as a consequence of infection, regardless of genetic susceptibility. Researchers have identified numerous bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the various forms of arthritis.1-4 Lyme disease is a good example of arthritis developing from an infection. Lyme disease is caused by a bite from a deer tick that carries the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. If the bacteria happen to invade joint tissue, arthritis develops. Even after the systemic disease is gone, arthritis can remain indefinitely as a chronic condition. Food poisoning has often been associated with the onset of chronic arthritis. The bacterium salmonella is a known troublemaker.5 In one notable instance in 2005, at least 592 individuals in Ontario, Canada developed acute gastroenteritis after consuming bean sprouts contaminated with salmonella. Approximately 46 percent of the victims afterwards developed chronic reactive arthritis. Many of the organisms that are known to attack the joints are normal inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract such as salmonella, E. coli, and Proteus mirabilis. Proteus is also the most frequent cause of urinary tract infections, accounting for more than 80 percent of these infections. In one study, for instance, out of 76 rheumatoid arthritis patients, 33 percent showed evidence of Proteus or E. coli infection in the urinary tract. In 48 controls without arthritis, only 4 percent were infected.6 Another inhabitant of the intestinal tract that is known to cause joint trouble is Candida albicans. If researchers want to study the effects of osteoarthritis in animals, they can induce the disease by injecting Candida into the bloodstream. Osteoarthritis develops within days.7 Candida or yeast infections are very common. Many people are plagued by chronic Candida overgrowth. Women are the ones most troubled by Candida infections; likewise, they are the ones most affected by osteoarthritis. Vaccinations are another source of infection that can affect the joints. Vaccines are preparations which consist of dead or weakened infectious microorganisms. They are injected into the bloodstream to stimulate a person's immune system to produce antibodies that can fight off the disease. Unfortunately, vaccines can also cause the diseases they are meant to protect against. These infections are often low-grade and mistaken for the flu or some other malady and mostly ignored. There are numerous case reports of people developing arthritis soon after receiving vaccinations.8-10 Perhaps the most deceptive cause of arthritis is from infected teeth and gums. It is deceptive because so many people have oral infections without knowing it and don't realize to what extent oral infections can influence the health of the entire body. Although pain is a good indication of an infection, infections are not always accompanied by pain or any noticeable symptoms. Teeth that are sensitive to heat or cold, gums that bleed easily, teeth that are discolored, chronic bad breath, receding gums, red (inflamed) gums, and root canalled teeth all indicate the presence of an active infection and potential for involvement in the joints. Infection in the teeth and gums can easily filter into the bloodstream and cause secondary infections elsewhere in the body, such as the joints.11 In fact, researchers familiar with the connection between oral health and arthritis state that the vast majority of arthritis cases are caused by dental infections.12 There is an overwhelming amount of evidence to suggest a microbial cause to most forms of arthritis. Whether other factors influence the initiation of the disease, such as genetics or allergies, doesn't matter. The fact is that microorganisms initiate and perpetuate the disease. If microorganisms are involved, you might think antibiotics would be an easy solution to the problem. While antibiotics can help with the systemic infections, they often have little effect on the joints. One of the reasons for this is that joints do not have a blood supply like other organs. Our joints are encased in a tough protective membrane. Blood cannot pass through this membrane, but bacteria can. Consequently, joints make good hiding places for them. Without circulating blood, white blood cells and antibiotics are less effective in fighting off invasion. If the infection is caused by a virus or fungus, antibiotics are completely useless. Chronic infection in the joints can cause arthritis during or immediately after an illness, or it may not show up for months or years. Infections can flare up whenever the body is put under stress. Therefore, people with no apparent symptoms or who have only a mild case of arthritis can go along fine without problem and then suddenly be hit with an attack of arthritis. The pain can be set off by anything that stresses the body, such as poor diet, allergies, illness, excessive physical or emotional trauma, exposure to toxins, and even aging. If antibiotics are of little value in combating the arthritic infections, what can be done? Knowing what causes arthritis provides a key to understanding the cure. My newest book The New Arthritis Cure: Eliminate Arthritis and Fibromyalgia Pain Permanently outlines several important steps you must take to overcome this crippling disease, stop the pain, and restore flexibility and motion. The first step is to strengthen your immune system so it can more effectively fight off chronic infection. The primary way to do this is by dietary modification. In fact, a poor diet is a major contributing factor to the development of arthritis. A lack of good nutrition depresses immune function, allowing infection to spread and migrate into joint tissues. A diet consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, organic meat, eggs, and dairy and the reduction or elimination of overly processed foods is a must. Sweets and refined carbohydrates are the worst offenders. They contain little nutritional value, deplete essential nutrients during metabolism, and feed oral and intestinal microorganisms that cause most of the trouble. The second step is to actively fight the infection within the body and the joints. Antibiotics have only a limited ability. They cannot fight viruses, fungi, or drug resistant bacteria. However, there is a natural product that can. That product is coconut oil. Coconut oil is composed predominately of a unique group of fat molecules known as medium chain fatty acids. These fatty acids possess potent antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral activity. Taking 2-4 tablespoons of coconut oil daily, with meals, can help rid your body of chronic infection. The third step is to address your oral health. Since the vast majority of arthritis cases involve oral infections, this is an essential step. If you have any known dental issues you need to get them taken care of. Regular tooth brushing, flossing, and the use of mouthwash are not enough to remove infection and keep it out. Many people with good oral hygiene habits still get infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90 percent of the population has some level of tooth decay. So apparently these methods aren't working. What does work is a process called oil pulling. Oil pulling is basically rinsing your mouth with vegetable oil, much like you would a mouthwash. However, in this case you would rinse your mouth for 15-20 minutes at a time at least once daily, before breakfast. After breakfast you would brush your teeth as usual. The oil attracts and collects the microorganisms in your mouth along with toxins, mucus, and pus. After swishing the oil in your mouth for the allotted time, spit it out, then rinse your mouth with water. Your mouth will feel clean and refreshed. There are other steps described in the book, but these are the most crucial. |
||
|
|
Barbara, who was mentioned at the beginning of this article, followed these steps. "Here are the results I have noticed so far," she says after only four weeks. "Reversed documented nerve impingement and foot drop. Reversed documented osteoarthritis of my spine and knees. Avoided my fifth spine surgery and threatened second fusion. Restored my ability to exercise. I am able to walk down a flight of stairs without pain, limping, or gimping. I can also walk two miles without knee pain!...My prior problems were well documented with MRI and PET scans that showed nerve impingement, lack of ankle reflex and foot drop (inability to heel walk), inability to resist downward pressure on my great toe and foot. Then only four weeks later, I had a perfectly normal EMG; I could kneel walk; and I had a normal ankle reflex and good toe, foot, and ankle strength. The fact that this was so well documented, my doctors were completely amazed |
|
|
|
|
and interested. The doctor who did my EMG wanted the name of your book as did my surgeon." A diagnosis of arthritis is not a life sentence. There now is a cure for arthritis. The same is true for those with fibromyalgia. Although fibromyalgia is not a form of arthritis, it has a similar origin and those with this condition respond well to the protocol outlined in the book. ■
References 1. Toivanen, A. Alphaviruses: an emerging cause of arthritis? Curr Opin Rheumatol 2008;20:486-490. 2. Kobayashi, S., et al. Molecular aspects of rheumatoid arthritis: role of environmental factors. FEBS J 2008;275:4456-4462. 3. Amital, H., et al. Role of infectious agents in systemic rheumatic diseases. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2008;26:S27-S32. 4. Kozireva, S.V., et al. Incidence and clinical significance of parvovirus B19 infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2008;35:1265-1270. 5. Rohekar, S., et al. Symptomatic acute reactive arthritis after an outbreak of salmonella. J Rheumatol 2008;35:1599-1602. 6. Senior, B.W., et al. Evidence that patients with rheumatoid arthritis have asymptomatic 'non-significant' Proteus mirabilis bacteriuria more frequently than healthy controls. J Infect 1999;38:99-106. 7. Amanai, T., et al. Micro-CT analysis of experimental Candida osteoarthritis in rats. Mycopathologia 2008;166:133-141. 8. Benjamin, C.M., et al. Joint and limb symptoms in children after immunisation with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. British Medical Journal 1992;304:1075-1078. 9. Mitchell, L.A., et al. Chronic rubella vaccine-associated arthropathy. Archives of Internal Medicine 1993;153:2268-2274. 10. Nussinovitch, M., et al Arthritis after mumps and measles vaccination. Arch Dis Child 1995;72:348-349. 11. Liao, F., et al. Porphyromonasgingivalis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis-associated rheumatoid arthritis. Med Hypotheses 2009;72:732-735. 12. Fife, B. Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing. Colorado Springs, CO: Piccadilly Books, Ltd., 2008.
|
||
|
Clostridium difficile |
Deadly Germs Unleashed by Antibiotics By Tara Parker-Pope
Earlier this year, Harold and Freda Mitchell of Como, Miss., both came down with a serious stomach bug. At first, doctors did not know what was wrong, but the gastrointestinal symptoms became so severe that Mrs. Mitchell, 66, was hospitalized for two weeks. Her husband, a manufacturing supervisor, missed 20 days of work. A local doctor who had worked in a Veterans Affairs hospital recognized the signs of Clostridium difficile, a contagious and potentially deadly bacterium. Although the illness is difficult to track, health officials estimate that in the United States the bacteria cause 350,000 infections each year in hospitals alone, with tens of thousands more occurring in nursing homes. While the majority of cases are found in health care settings, 20 percent or more may occur in the community. The illness kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people annually. "It's been the worst thing I've ever tried to get through in my life," said Mrs. Mitchell, who remains weakened by the ordeal. "I really did think I was going to die." What is so frightening about C. difficile is that it is often spurred by antibiotics. The drugs wipe out the targeted illness, like a urinary tract or upper respiratory infection, but they also kill off large portions of the healthy bacteria that normally live in the digestive tract. If a person comes into contact with C. difficile, or already has it, the disruption to the beneficial bacteria creates an opportunity for the harmful bacteria to flourish. The public health community has been sounding the alarm for years about the overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of "superbugs" — bacteria that have developed immunity to a wide number of antibiotics. But the C. difficile problem shows that the threat is not generalized or hypothetical, but immediate and personal. "One of the things that we counsel consumers about is to make sure that an antibiotic is really necessary," said Dr. Dale N. Gerding, an infectious disease specialist at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University in Chicago. "There are many good reasons for taking an antibiotic, but an illness like sinusitis or bronchitis winds up being treated with antibiotics even though it will go away by itself anyway." Even appropriate use of antibiotics can put a person at risk. Dr. Gerding said his own adult son came down with a C. difficile infection after taking antibiotics for tonsillitis. The typical treatment for C. difficile is another course of antibiotics, typically the drug vancomycin. But the situation can quickly turn tragic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported on several cases of pregnant and postpartum women who developed life-threatening C. difficile infections after being treated for minor infections. In some instances, a C. difficile infection can be treated only by emergency surgery to remove the patient's colon. Doctors say many patients report that they continue to suffer from regular bouts of diarrhea even after the infection is gone. About 20 percent of patients with the infection suffer a relapse, and C. difficile support groups have emerged on the Internet. In the case of the Mitchell family, Mr. Mitchell had been taking antibiotics for another health problem, and the treatment apparently led to his C. difficile infection. Mrs. Mitchell probably contracted the illness from her husband. The spores from C. difficile are hardy, and contaminated surfaces must be scrubbed down with bleach to eradicate the germ. Doctors say Mrs. Mitchell's illness is unusual because most people are protected by their own bacterial flora and wouldn't be vulnerable to C. difficile if they had not been taking antibiotics, even after close exposure. The risk of contracting C. difficile outside the health care setting remains low, at about 7 cases per 100,000 people, studies show. C. difficile is not a new illness, but it appears to be spreading at an alarming rate. The rate of C. difficile infection among hospital patients doubled from 2001 to 2005, according to an April 2008 report from the C.D.C. The rise in C. difficile cases around the world is linked with the growing use of all antibiotics, particularly a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones, which came into widespread use around 2001. The use of acid-suppressing drugs, including proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec, also may be a risk factor, although studies have been contradictory. In addition to becoming more common, C. difficile is also becoming more deadly. Several years ago, the mortality rate from a C. difficile infection was around 1 to 2 percent. But today, various studies estimate that the death rate is 6 percent. The reason is that a hypervirulent strain has emerged that emits higher levels of toxins than earlier strains. Many patients are far more familiar with another superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which can cause a severe and potentially deadly skin infection. MRSA started off primarily as a hospital-based infection but has become increasingly common in the community. Hospitals may become more motivated to control C. difficile if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decide to withhold reimbursement for cases of hospital-acquired C. difficile infections. The system already withholds reimbursement for certain other preventable hospital infections. In addition to careful use of antibiotics, patients and hospital visitors should always be vigilant about hand washing, and visitors should not sit on a patient's hospital bed or use a patient's restroom if it can be avoided. Patients should always report severe diarrhea symptoms to a doctor, particularly if they have taken antibiotics recently. "Up until about 2002, this was a very mild disorder and very few people ever died from it," said Dr. Perry Hookman, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. "But in the past few years the bugs have become hypervirulent, more severe, and now it's a global threat." ■ Article reprinted from The New York Times.
Dr. Fife's Comments For years, health officials have sounded the alarm about overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of so-called "supergerms" that resist antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics also allow for the proliferation of yeasts such as candida to flourish, causing a secondary fungal infection. One of the major benefits of consuming coconut oil on a regular basis is the protection it provides against antibiotic resistant bacteria as well as yeasts and viruses. When consumed in conjunction with antibiotic therapy, your risks of developing secondary infections are greatly reduced. Not only does the coconut oil help protect against secondary infections, but it enhances the effectiveness of the antibiotics by assisting in the deactivation of the target bacteria.
|
||
|
|
Tooth Decay Sending More Children to the Hospital Every Year, Study FindsBy David Rose
Children are being admitted to hospitals with serious tooth decay in growing numbers as a result of sugary diets, the failure to brush properly, and poor care from dentists. Hospitals in England are treating more than 30,000 children for dental problems every year, and the number of teeth being pulled out under general anesthetic has risen by two thirds in less than a decade, a study reveals. The most common age for a child having a rotten tooth extracted in a hospital is five. Previous reports suggested that rates of tooth decay had increased only slightly among children in recent years. But the latest study, published in the British Dental Journal, indicates that some toddlers and children have such poor oral hygiene (and/or diets) that they are ending up in the hospital as emergency cases, or having their teeth pulled. The dangers of severe or delayed dental treatment were illustrated recently by the case of Sophie Waller, an eight-year-old with a fear of dentists who starved herself to death because she refused to open her mouth after having eight milk teeth removed by a pediatric hospital consultant. The researchers from Peninsula Dental School, Plymouth, and University College London, examined data from Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) to identify a "disturbing trend" of increasing hospital admissions for children up to the age of 17 with caries (dental cavities) and other dental conditions between 1997 and 2006. The number of teeth being pulled because of tooth decay among the under-18s increased from about 20,000 in March 1997 to 33,500 in April 2006, they found. The study period predates the introduction of new contracts for NHS dentists in 2006, but analysis of the most recent HES data, for 2007-08, shows that the trend for hospital referrals is continuing, with 36,000 admissions for caries among those aged 14 and under. The findings may support calls from Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, and others for fluoride to be added routinely to water supplies as a key means of tackling tooth decay. This already happens in some areas of England, but has been opposed as "forced medication" in others. Overall, 470,113 children were treated in hospitals for dental problems during the study period. More than half involved a primary diagnosis of dental caries and 80 percent involved extractions. More than 5 percent of those required two or more teeth to be removed—one teenager was admitted to the hospital to have teeth taken out seven times in nine years. The use of general anesthesia in dentistry was moved from dental practices to hospitals as a safety measure in 2001, but the researchers said that this would not explain the year-to-year increase in the numbers. David Moles, Professor of Oral Health Services Research at Peninsula Dental School, who led the study, said that several factors may have contributed to the rise in hospital admissions, including dentists choosing to refer children to hospital to be sedated if they did not feel able to manage them in their own surgery. "But if children are ending up in hospitals having their teeth pulled, it suggests they are not receiving the appropriate care and treatment at an earlier stage," he said. Young children given a general anesthetic could be exposed to an unnecessary risk of complications or even death, he said. One child in ten experiences minor side effects after an anesthetic but about one in 20,000 develops a serious allergic reaction. Poorer children were twice as likely to need treatment as those from more affluent areas, he added. ■ Article Adapted from The Times (London)
Dr. Fife's Comments Tooth decay is not just a British problem; Americans have just as much trouble. Studies indicate that 90 percent of the population has experienced tooth decay. Although poor dental hygiene is certainly a contributing factor, a much bigger problem is diet. The book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price, DDS, revealed the connection between diet and dental health. Diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates are the major contributing |
||
|
|
factors to poor dental health. Dr. Price discovered that populations that maintained their traditional diets void of sugar and refined grains had excellent dental health, despite the fact that they never brushed or flossed their teeth. A good diet, he discovered, was more important than good hygiene. The typical British and American diets are overloaded with sugar and refined grains. No amount of brushing or flossing is going to compensate for a poor diet. Significantly reducing the amount of sugar and refined grains in your diet can make a dramatic difference in your dental health. Another step you can take to prevent tooth decay and gum disease is to add oil pulling to your daily dental hygiene routine. Studies have shown that oil pulling is more effective than either brushing or using antiseptic mouthwash in preventing dental plaque and gum disease. It has also been shown to even be able to stop tooth decay and gingivitis (gum disease) and restore the teeth to good health.
|
go here for more information on oil pulling
|
|
|
Do you have friends who would like this newsletter? If so, please feel free to share this newsletter with them.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend and you would like to subscribe, click here.
Copyright © 2009, Bruce Fife. All rights reserved.
|
|||
