A Cynic!??!

No...not me! Ha! Yes, in my community of the chronically ill, we tend to become cynics. We grow tired, very soon, of allopathic Dr.s who shrug their collective shoulders and tell us "we have nothing for you." So, when something is found that does help some, it is so very appreciated. And then this...

For many years (over 20)a person could get a prescription, if they had a compassionate Dr., for 4-AP. It had to be filled by a compounding pharmacist, but it helped some people and normally cost under $100.00 per month. Well, now a pharmaceutical company has recently announced, that they have been approved by the FDA to manufacture 4-AP. Whoopee!! Right? Not really. The same 30 day supply will now cost over $1000.00! Yes, that is one thousand! All they did was run a few tests to prove that what this drug has done for over twenty years is true. Didn't change the formula, just put it in pill form, and they now have a 17 year exclusive on this product. It's not something that would be useful to me, but for some, yes. And now that it is FDA approved it can be dispensed by the average neurologist and paid for by insurance, mostly medicare. $$$$$$$$

I could go on about the natural products that the FDA pulls from the shelves and declares dangerous and illegal, and then a large business comes out with a similar manufactured product, gets a patent for many years, and when the patent expires, the FDA declares said dangerous product OK again. Why do you think that the pharmaceuticals got the government to agree to no importing of products in the health care bill, that is apparently not dead? Money, money, money!!!

At least I was able to get outside today for a few minutes! I escaped before the warden left for the day. It was wonderful to feel the sun on my back and have my hands in the shrubs! Didn't last long enough, but I was ready when I was shooed back in. It has been way too warm here in the Pacific NW. Some freezing weather would be good. Not too much, mind you...just a little frost would be good.

As always...Healthy Days to You...Your Smiling Maven

Ancestors and More!

I have been wanting to enter this post for a while now, but have been too tired to even think, let alone type! My sister sent me a very special Christmas Present and I have been working to add the few items needed to finish it. It is a history of my female ancestors, on my mothers side, back to the early 1800's. It is names and dates and places and pictures and stories. It is so very unique and amazing! Now I need to add some more pictures and stories for my daughter and her daughters and then they will do so in kind. Hence, I have been going thru pictures and becoming overwhelmed by the volume! The dedication, persistence and patience that something like this takes is not something that I come by naturally. Thankfully, my sister does! I told my daughter that I would get all of these pictures of she and her brother organized, instead of leaving them to her to take care of, after I'm gone. So now I'm committed . So many memories!

I have been reading while resting in my chair. A very different idea came thru the other day about getting vitamins into teenagers, especially during the winter months. This dad, who is also a molecular scientist, puts out bowls of vitamins to snack on, kind of like fruit or candy bowls. The kids and even their friends pop the pills as they walk by and they have begun to realize that all of them feel healthier and are having fewer illnesses!

His research has shown that vitamins are very safe and it has been repeatedly shown that proactively controlling micro-nutrients is necessary to optimize health. Sounds like a man after my own heart. Optimal nutrition is one of my mantras!

Another newsletter was talking about changing our health insurance in this country and around the world. This theory maintains that until we start taking personal responsibility for our chronic diseases, ie., diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc., no amount of insurance can keep up with the costs, because of the aging societies, the money spent on chronic illnesses and the shrinking younger generations. This is happening around the globe. China is really about to hit the wall. Remember that one child rule, it's about to bite them! Personal responsibility...the cynic in me says, "Yeah, when pigs fly!" I've been saying that for years, but most people just rely on the prescription that the Dr. will write for them. Maybe a brainwashing campaign is in order! Oh, I forgot, there's already one going on, just not about health as a personal responsibility!

As Always...Healthy Days to You...Your Smiling Maven

Another Piece to the Puzzle??

Well…maybe. On one of the MS message boards, that I frequent, there was an article about a Dr. in Italy who has done some research on a “twisting” or blockage of the jugular veins. His theory is that most MS patients have this blockage or narrowing which causes a build up of iron in the brain. He has had some success by having these veins enlarged with angioplasty. Some people have reported a complete remission and others only a slight improvement in symptoms. So, MSers, who know their way around a computer, were off and running! Seems that iron overload was being researched as a cause of MS way back in the 1940’s. Then of course, as we all know, the pharmaceutical industry took off and when the Dr. died, so did his research. Well, the investigators kept looking and wondering. Now they are looking into a disease called hemochromatosis. This is a hereditary disease, primarily effecting people of northern European descent, which is also something that causes iron overload. It is very rarely diagnosed and is sometimes referred to as the “bronze” disease. Apparently one of the symptoms is a bronze looking skin tone. And then again, as with most diseases, not everyone will have the same symptoms. At any rate, iron overload, especially of the brain, could definitely be part of the puzzle. The hemochromatosis does not match my symtoms too much, but the blockage part would be interesting to know. I understand that there is more research going on now, even in the US and Canada. Time will tell if anything comes of it. My cynical opinion is that if big pharma is going to lose their $1000.00 a month therapies, the research will be discounted, as has started already!

It has been suggested that MS people should not take iron supplements (I never have) and do not eat foods that contain a high amount of iron. One of the foods that help to chelate iron is broccoli. Good, I eat a lot of that. The supplement that is recommended to help remove some of the iron is alpha lipoic acid. I just started taking that a few weeks ago. Maybe I will up the dosage. The suggestion just came across the board today, so I’m sure there will be a discussion soon. Alpha lipoic acid has been recommended for MSers as an antioxidant for quite awhile. The chelation is something new. Life is interesting to say the least!

Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year. On these gray days, I look forward to the next sunny days. We are getting longer and longer days and the sun will be warmer when we see it again! I love looking forward to spring!

Healthy Days to You...Your Smiling Maven

It's Twenty-Ten!!!

Well, HI! It’s the second of January, 2010, already! I understand that we, the “corporate” we, are saying twenty-ten, not two thousand and ten. It does make it seem easier to say. However we say it, it is here and moving on, already. That is the way December went. It just moved on! Getting ready for Christmas and a birthday and being ill, just took up all of the days and Christmas was here and gone before I knew it! Looking back I did enjoy most of the days, even with our uninvited illness. I think maybe children will do that for adults. They certainly do charm me and MDH.

It is said that our habits and personalities are formed by the time we are 6 years old. I think that for the most part this must be true. For me, New Years Eve is not a big deal. When we were younger, MDH and I attended our share of New Years Eve Parties, but we haven’t for quite awhile. Not interested and truth be told, we didn’t really enjoy most of the ones that we went to. Well, NYEve was not a big deal with my parents, as I was growing up, either, so I don’t feel as though I am missing anything. However, New Years Day was always a time of having a special meal and having family over. It was the last big meal of the Christmas Holiday Season at our house. So, that’s the way MDH and I have celebrated New Years for quite awhile now. Time with family and a lovely meal. Apparently, the new tradition for NYEve is lots and lots of fireworks. We have talked to two other people who said the same thing happened in their neighborhood. There was as much fireworks, from 9PM to 12:30AM, as there was on the Fourth of July! Quite amazing, really.

On Christmas Eve, my daughter and daughter-in-law both remarked about the actress Brittany Murphy's sudden passing. I said to them that I had read that they thought that perhaps the gal was taking a lot of Prescription Medications. Well, it has been confirmed, that 10 different prescriptions were found in and around her bedroom and bath. The poor girl didn’t have a chance. There were anti-depressives and anti-seizure and anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory drugs and a bipolar drug and a pain reliever and something for high blood pressure, too. Yes, I know that’s not ten. There were duplicate prescriptions for the same ailment for some of them. Apparently, it’s not cool to push narcotics if you are a film director or producer anymore. But it is certainly seems to be "Okey Dokey" to hook your star up to a pill pushing Dr. or Drs. and have them write out all sorts of prescriptions. Get the actor on the set, no matter the cost! That’s at least 4 actor/singers that I know of who have gone out on a legal drug overdose! There was at least one mother who didn’t have a Happy New Year or Merry Christmas! I have witnessed people in break rooms practice the game of “one-up-man ship” regarding who was on the most prescriptions or who had the highest dosage. This is a game that needs to be stopped! No one was ever born with a “prescription” shortage! (I read that somewhere)

Well, it is the time of year that people make resolutions. I haven’t ever been a fan of that either, but I have decided, in the last few weeks, that I need to “Be still and Know that I am God”. I know that in my brain, but with all that is going on in this country, I have allowed that truth to only be in my brain and not in my soul. So, I will make a conscious effort to block out the world this year and allow the Lord to speak to me and allow His truths to rule my life. I have been so blessed in this life. It’s time for me to appreciate it more.

May you all have a Blessed Year and Healthy Days to You...

Your Smiling Maven

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We’ve had a lovely day…more sun than rain. Hooray!! We had family Thanksgiving last weekend and a relative just out of the hospital yesterday, so we have stayed home today. However, I am almost as tired as I might be had we gone out! Had a busy day, doing “stuff.”

My main goal was to get the felted appliqué snowmen finished before Thanksgiving…and I did! They took more of my time than I expected, but they turned out cute and the girls love them. It’s now on to the next project!

It’s not going to be the one that I had planned. This Grandma is a softy! My granddaughter, who will be 4 in December, was telling me about sending out her birthday party invitations, and who was coming and that she was getting a new party dress, etc. Well, her mom had already said that she wasn’t getting a new dress. As we chatted on there was still more talk of this dress. It was going to be purple with butterflies on it. I suggested that her Mom had said no to the dress. She was undeterred. More birthday party talk and, of course, everyone knows that a new dress is part of the deal. She was so sincere, as any 4 year old can be…the sun will rise tomorrow…Mom and Dad will be there….syrup goes on pancakes….and a birthday party calls for a new party dress. She was not being coy or manipulative, just 4 years old. So, I called her Mom the next day and told her I would sew the new dress. She said, ”Mom, you are such a sucker!” Guilty as charged. Granddaughters do that to a person…. hence the next project.

My project for the last month, when I wasn’t working on the snowmen ornaments, was checking out recipes and ingredients needed to cook completely sugar free and fungal free. The more I look into this, the more convinced I am that I am on the right track. I’m sleeping better and my eczema keeps getting better, as does my husband’s. Eczema, psoriasis, dandruff, nail fungus, and just about any other malady that we might have, are all related to the condition of the intestines. The more good bacteria we have, the less bad bacteria will be in control, and most of us in the US have too much bad bacteria. Antibiotics have been lifesavers, but they also ruin our interior terrain! And, as all countries become more modernized, we (the collective, We) have left our traditional methods of preparing food behind. All cultures used to eat some kind of fermented food on a daily basis. A national campaign to encourage probiotics, like they have for Vit D, would be a good start.

So, I’m on to Christmas...decorating, cooking, ordering gifts, and more projects, I’m sure. Hope you all will have a very blessed, happy, and healthy Holiday Season!


Healthy Days to You...Your Smiling Maven

"Bitamins"

We took care of two of our Granddaughters this weekend. There is a reason that “young” people have children. They are such good kids, but even so, we were exhausted by the time their Mom and Dad picked them up. So much fun to have them come, but glad it’s only for awhile. We’ve had naps and now we’re fine! The little one, who’s almost four, and still has some speech difficulties, wants to do everything big people do. When I put out my vitamins before dinner she wants her vitamins put out, too. So, I’ve put her bottles on the counter and she can now get them, with Grandma’s permission. She asks, “Bitamins”?, I say “yes” and she is now so proud to be able to do for herself. When we get sat down at the table she tells me that “Bitamins keep me healthy.” Of course, I agree and am so glad that she is learning now. I don't correct her speach. She's just too funny and cute, to boot!

I haven’t heard a Dr on TV or anywhere else, for that matter, not suggest that everyone should be taking a good daily multivitamin, at the least. These days they usually add that we should all have our Vit D levels checked and then add Vit D, too. It’s interesting that the latest statistics, (2007) from the U.S. National Poison Data System, about death from Vitamins and Minerals is ZERO. Pharmaceuticals, is 1,597. The numbers can speak for themselves.

Also, I read an article about making sure that if you are in the hospital, you have an advocate at your bedside the whole time that you are there. They can ask questions like, “What is that medications? What are the side effects? What are you doing?’ Apparently, too many meds are being dispensed incorrectly at hospitals and patients get mixed up and the wrong care can be given to you, instead of the intended patient. In today’s world, a holistic Dr, like Dr. Weil, can quote statements about an herb, that has been published by many peer reviewed journals, and he can be threatened with prison and the loss of his business. He must have gotten more popular and was making enough money that Big Pharma’s were feeling threatened. Good grief!!...An herb that has been used for thousands of years to treat many different illnesses, needs a double blind, placebo controlled study and the H1N1 vaccine can be given with only the scantest of testing. OK…Sounds good to me. (Sarcasm, intended)

Love the cooler weather. The rainy NW is just fine with me. Those who are dreading possible floods, not so much! But the rain is BACK and will likely be here for quite awhile. Glad that I can stay indoors.

As Always...Healthy Days to you, Your Smiling Maven

Have a Shot.....or Not!

I’ve been asked recently about the H1N1 Flu Vaccine. “Are you getting one or what?” Well, after reading all of the articles that come across this computer, and listening to TV Docs, I have come up with some options for everyone and my personal preference.

Some of the recommendations are to get a regular flu shot and an H1N1 shot, also. Some say absolutely do not have both. Some say the adjuvant that is in the H1N1 shot is extremely dangerous, some say not. And on and on it goes. So, I have come up with 3 courses of action. My opinion only.

#1…All Pharmaceutical and All Government
Take both the regular and the H1N1 shot. That’s it and call it good.

#2…Part Pharm and Part Natural
Take the H1N1 shot, but in addition, take a good daily multivitamin,
a good probiotic, and take at least 5,000IU’s of Vitamin D3 per day.

#3…All Natural
Take a good daily multivitamin, a good probiotic, and 5,000IU’s of
Vitamin D3. Also add 1500 to 2000 mg of vitamin C. Then have
on hand a bottle of 5,000IU of VitD. (The other VitD that you would
be taking will probably be in 1,200 to 2,000 IU doses) Another tool in
your arsenal would be a product called Beta Glucan, an immune
modulator. Some suggest having a bottle of “nano colloidal silver”
available, too. At the 1st sign of the sniffles or even if you think that
you’ve been exposed, take 40,000 to 50,000 IU’s of VitD and some
Beta Glucan. The nano silver is in case all else fails.

#3 will be my choice because all authorities say that those with blood-brain barriers that have already been crossed or are immune compromised, should not take the H1N1 vaccine. That would be me. I’m already an advocate of natural medicine, so that’s the way I’m going. Hope I have answered satisfactorily those who were curious.

On a personal note. I’m doing a felt appliqué stocking for Granddaughter #5. I’m about ½ done with it. That will give all grandchildren the same kind of stocking. Then I will be learning how to operate my new serger. Thank the Lord for You Tube. Lots of “How To” videos on there. Supposed to make sewing so much faster.. Hope so, as it is all about the energy or lack of! I’ll find out soon. Dear daughter has promised to help me if I get stuck!!

As Always…Healthy Days to You…Your Maven