FOODS TO AVOID

Most of us know that food itself cannot be considered poisonous. Very few of us know that pleomorphic bacteria, yeast, and fungus and their toxins, which are characteristically present in stored and fermented food, are using our food chain as a Trojan Horse.

The following list of foods are high in pleomorphic bacteria, yeast, fungus and mold and produce mycotoxins that have been documented to cause specific diseases and very specific organ lesions in both animals and in humans and should never be ingested and if any only in small amounts AND never cold. Most of the foods listed if cookly throughly will kill most of the fungus. However, refrigerating them or using them cold, you are literally putting fungus into your body. Continue Reading >>

Red Meat Linked to Breast Cancer

Consume red meat in moderation, a new study suggests. As part of the long-running NH-funded Nurses Health Study II, researchers surveyed 90,000 women in their 20's to 40's about their eating habits for more than a decade.

They found that women who ate more than 1 1/2 servings a day of beef, lamb, or pork had nearly double the risk of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer than those who ate three or fewer servings per week.

The researchers theorize that factors including carcinogens found in cooked or processed red meat and growth hormones given to cattle may contribute to the higher rate of breast cancer incidence.

In my own research, I have found that eating meat increases acidic residues of nitric, uric, phosphuric and sulphuric acid that will also increase your risk for breast cancer. Acidic breasts are cancerous breast.

Eliminate the acid and you will reduce your risk for breast cancer.

So, if you want to prevent or reverse breast cancer then you must reduce your acidity by eliminating all animal meat from your diet.

The cure for cancerous breasts will not be found in its treatment of the tissues but will be found in its prevention of acidic residues from acidic foods like meat, milk, cheese and yogurt.

More informations here:

• Live_blood Analysis
• Live_Blood_Analysis Darkfield Microscopy Courses
• dark field microscopy
• pleomorphism
• Günther Enderlein

more discussion: Forum· Addiction Forum · Ask the Doctors Forum · Ayurveda Forum · Ayurvedic & Thai Herbs Forum · Colon Cleansing Forum · Dental Forum · Diabetes Forum · Diet Forum · General Cleansing Forum · Hepatitis A, B. C Forum · Integrated Medicine Forum · Live Blood Analysis Forum · Ozone-Oxygen-Forum · pH - Alkaline - Acidity Forum · Weight Loss Forum

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Raw food Diet and it help cures Asthma Interview

Rawfoodmedia.com Documentary on a women that has kids that have been eating raw food and it has cured their asthma (interview in Nov. 2006 New York City)

Discuss more on this topic at Live Blood Analysis Forum

Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen: Spanish Breakfast Scramble

Education Not Medication

"There is no scientific proof of the safety or the effectiveness of drugs and/or vaccinations.

According to the journal, BMJ Clinical Evidence, about 2,500 drug treatments offered in conventional medicine produce the following results (including the latest drug killer,
Heparin):

1) 13 percent are beneficial to the patient

2) 23 percent are likely to be beneficial

3) 8 percent is a trade-off between benefits and harm

4) 6 percent are unlikely to be beneficial

5) 4 percent are likely to be ineffective or harmful, and

6) 46 percent have unknown effectiveness.

There is a 64% risk that the drug or the vaccine treatment you or your child receive will cause harm, will be ineffective or may have unknown side-effects.

The leading cause of death in America is not Cancer - NO!
It is not Heart Disease - NO! It is not diabetes - NO!
The leading cause of death in America is caused by pharma drugs -YES!

American does not need more medicine. What America needs is more education. That's right! Education not medication.
Education on how to maintain the alkaline design of the body and prevent ALL sickness and dis-ease!

Say NO TO ALL DRUGS! Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food, as stated by Hippocrates.

The safe and effective way to have health, energy and vitality is to simply maintain the alkaline design of the body with an alkaline lifestyle and diet.

"Health is all about maintaining the delicate alkaline pH of the blood and tissues," states Dr. Robert O.
Young, of the pH Miracle Living Center.

ALTERED IMMUNITY & THE LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

The leaky gut syndrome is the name given to a very common health disorder in which the basic organic defect (lesion) is an intestinal lining which is more permeable (porous) than normal. The abnormally large spaces present between the cells of the gut wall allow the entry of toxic material into the bloodstream that would, in healthier circumstances, be repelled and eliminated.

The gut becomes leaky in the sense that bacteria, fungi, parasites and their toxins, undigested protein, fat and waste normally not absorbed into the bloodstream in the healthy state, pass through a damaged, hyperpermeable, porous or ÒleakyÓ gut. This can be verified by special gut permeability urine tests, microscopic examination of the lining of the intestinal wall as well as the bloodstream with phase contrast or darkfield microscopy of living whole blood.

Why is The Leaky Gut Syndrome Important?

The leaky gut syndrome is almost always associated with autoimmune disease and reversing autoimmune disease depends on healing the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Any other treatment is just symptom suppression. An autoimmune disease is defined as one in which the immune system makes antibodies against its own tissues. Diseases in this category include lupus, alopecia areata, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Sjogren's syndrome, vitiligo, thyroiditis, vasculitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, urticaria (hives), diabetes and Raynaud's disease. Physicians are increasingly recognizing the importance of the gastrointestinal tract in the development of allergic or autoimmune disease. Understanding the leaky gut phenomenon not only helps us see why allergies and autoimmune diseases develop but also helps us with safe and effective therapies to bring the body back into balance.

Due to the enlarged spaces between the cells of the gut wall, larger than usual protein molecules are absorbed before they have a chance to be completely broken down as occurs when the intestinal lining is intact. The immune system starts making antibodies against these larger molecules because it recognizes them as foreign, invading substances. The immune system starts treating them as if they had to be destroyed. Antibodies are made against these proteins derived from previously harmless foods. Continue reading >>

More informations here:

• Live_blood Analysis
• Live_Blood_Analysis Darkfield Microscopy Courses
• dark field microscopy
• pleomorphism
• Günther Enderlein

more discussion: Forum· Addiction Forum · Ask the Doctors Forum · Ayurveda Forum · Ayurvedic & Thai Herbs Forum · Colon Cleansing Forum · Dental Forum · Diabetes Forum · Diet Forum · General Cleansing Forum · Hepatitis A, B. C Forum · Integrated Medicine Forum · Live Blood Analysis Forum · Ozone-Oxygen-Forum · pH - Alkaline - Acidity Forum · Weight Loss Forum

No More Heart Attacks or Strokes

Unlike most medical doctors, natural healers do not look to pharmaceutical companies as their first line of defense against heart disease. Instead, they turn to natural means of lowering risk.

If a patient has angina caused by acid bound cholesterol forming blockages to the heart, a cardiologist might use angioplasty to compress or remove the blockages, and prescribe a statin drug to lower cholesterol.
But in addition to the risks involved in the procedure itself, results are often temporary and the blockages return in a few short months because the main cause of the blockage has not been dealt with - dietary and metabolic acid. Acidic Statins also cause stage 4 acidic side effects, including severe muscle pain or weakness and sleep disturbances.

A natural healer would prescribe lifestyle and dietary changes to restore blood flow to the heart by naturally lowering acid bound cholesterol and decreasing acidic artery-clogging deposits. Below are the steps that a pH Miracle Life Coach might use to lower acidity and thus lower cholesterol levels to protect the body from heart attacks and strokes. I refer to this plan as the C.O.W.S. Plan which is an acronym which stands for a lifestyle and diet of chlorophyll, oil, oxygen, water, salt and sunshine. To be truly healthy you need to start eating like COWS.

1) Chlorophyll - A diet high in green vegetables and green fruits. I also recommend fresh green juices and liquid chlorophyll in alkaline water everyday. You can add the liquid chlorophyll to your green juices or green powders. A man, woman or child should drink at least 1 liter of green drink for every 25 kilos of weight or 50 pounds. I have created the first liquid chlorophyll fresh from alfalfa grass, without alcohol, chemicals or sugars that can be added to water, green drinks and green shakes. You can order this liquid green by calling 760-751-8321. It comes in a 4 ounce bottle and is 100% pure and organic.

2) Oil - I recommend at least 2 to 3 ounces or 100 to 150 mL of cold pressed omega 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9 oils.
My favorite is the avocado oil and the pomagranate oil.
I also recommend flax, hemp, pumpkin, olive, primrose.
sesame and borage oil.

3) Oxygen - The best way to increase oxygen is through exercise. The second best way to increase oxygen is with sodium, magnesium, potassium,calcium bicarbonate, and potassium hydroxide.

4) Water - The single most important thing that one can do is to drink more 9.5 alkaline pH water and at least 1 liter per 24 kilos of weight or 50 pounds.
The best drinking water is purified, alkalinize, and energized. You can learn more about the right kind of water to drink by going to our website at:

5) Salt - Without salt there would be no life. Salt is the catalyst of electron transport. It is what keeps your heart beating and energy flowing to every anatomical element that makes up every cell. I recommend eating at least 1 gram of salt for every
5 kilos or 10 pounds of weight. The best salt in the world is whole, unprocessed sea salts in a colloidal form. Such a salt exists and is called pHlavor by Young pHorever.

6) Sunshine - Just like salt without sunshine all life on earth would cease to exist. I recommend at least
1 hour of daily exercise and the best way to get 1 hour of exercise is while you are walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming, running, playing tennis, rebounding, etc. outside in the sun. The sun releases photons which the body converts into electrical energy via the eyes and skin. This is a natural and effective way to energize the body.

The following are some additional ways to help keep your body and heart healthy from dietary and metabolic acids:

1) High fiber diet - A daily high-fiber intake would include five to ten grams of soluble fiber. This also helps to keep the bowel clear of undigested food and acidic toxins which are adsorbed and absorbed by the fiber. I would also recommend magnesium oxide with sodium bicarbonate in a product I call pHlush.

2) Co-Q-10 - Research has indicated that taking Co-Q-10 everyday may help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

3) Nuts - All nuts, but especially walnuts and almonds, contain heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and soluble fiber. Studies have shown that people who eat nuts twice a week lower their risk of heart disease by 30 to 40 percent.

4) Plant Sterols - Sterols, which are found naturally in many plant foods, decrease the amount of acidic bound cholesterol absorbed by the body. The most important and the most powerful plant sterol of comes from green fruits and vegetables, such as avocado and broccoli.

5) Glutathione - the most powerful antioxidant for buffering dietary and metabolic acids that can make your heart weak. I would suggest 1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid glutathione every day to keep your heart and body healthy and strong.

Dr. Robert O. Young

Blood-Thinner Contaminant Traced to Chinese Plant

(HealthDay News) -- The contaminant found in the blood-thinner heparin, which has been linked to hundreds of allergic reactions and possibly 19 deaths in the United States, has been traced to a Chinese plant that processed raw ingredients for the drug, U.S. health officials said Friday.

As a result, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will start testing all heparin products to be imported into the United States. The announcement comes as the agency continues its investigation into the contamination with heparin produced by Baxter Healthcare Corp., of Deerfield, Ill.

The heparin was supplied to Baxter by Scientific Protein Laboratories of Waunakee, Wisc., and its Changzhou SPL plant in Changzhou City, China. The company is Baxter's main supplier of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in heparin.

"The active pharmaceutical ingredient comes from the Changzhou SPL plant in China," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said during an afternoon teleconference.

"The FDA conducted an inspection in this plant, and we obtained 28 samples of the active pharmaceutical ingredient," Woodcock said. "We found 20 of these samples had a heparin-like contaminant."

In light of the finding, the FDA has placed the Changzhou SPL plant on "import alert," Woodcock said, meaning the plant has agreed not to export any more heparin to the United States.

In a statement released late Friday, Baxter said its staffers "have been working seven days a week since late December 2007" trying to determine the nature of the contaminant. The company has so far ruled out a number of infectious pathogens, dioxins or the pufferfish toxin (tetrodoxin).

"While Baxter's analysis is not complete, the company has evidence that the unknown material is a highly sulfated glucosaminoglycan-like (GAG-like) material," the company said. "While heparin-like, the material is structurally different from naturally-occurring heparin. The unknown material has approximately the same molecular weight as heparin and is similar in other ways, which is why standard testing would not detect its presence."

In the meantime, all other heparin destined for the United States from abroad must be tested for the contaminant by the manufacturers of the drug, the FDA's Woodcock said. Five manufacturers have agreed to such testing. Any manufacturers that don't agree to test will have their products withheld by the FDA for testing by the agency, she said.

These five manufacturers that have agreed to the testing make up a "substantial" portion of the heparin supply in the United States, Woodcock said. "Manufacturers making this test commitment will be able to import the active product ingredient from overseas sources without delay to avoid shortages in supply of heparin, which would also be a very dangerous situation for patients," she said.

Heparin is a blood thinner often given to dialysis patients and people undergoing heart surgery. The raw materials for the drug come from the mucous lining of pig intestines. Many of those pigs come from rural farms in China, with the intestines often processed by unregulated mom-and-pop workshops before further processing at Scientific Protein's plant in Changzhou.

The FDA hadn't uncovered a direct link between the contaminant and the adverse reactions and deaths. "We know that some of the suspect batches of heparin that were causing the adverse events have this contaminant in it. So there is an association between the contaminant in the presence of adverse events, but it is not a direct causal link yet," Woodcock said at a March 5 press conference.

Since the end of December, there have been 785 reports of allergic reactions associated with Baxter's heparin product. This compares with less than 100 reports of adverse reactions in all of 2007.

There also have been 46 deaths among heparin users, 19 possibly linked to the drug and four more conclusively so, according to the FDA.

Adverse reactions included difficulty breathing, nausea or vomiting, excessive sweating and falling blood pressure, which can lead to life-threatening shock.

A German company that recalled its heparin products last week found that some batches contained the same heparin-like contaminant in China, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Rotexmedica GmbH tested its recalled heparin and found that ingredients purchased from the Chinese company Yantai Dongcheng Biochemicals were contaminated, Olaf Schagon, head of quality management at Rotexmedica, told the Journal.

Contaminated products from China have been an ongoing worry for the FDA. If the heparin contamination turns out to be deliberate, it would be reminiscent of last year's scandal when a Chinese company was charged with adding the toxic chemical melamine to an ingredient used in U.S. pet food that killed thousands of dogs and cats. The melamine let the ingredient pass chemical inspections for protein content, the Associated Press reported.

More information
For more on heparin, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Testing Urine and Saliva pH

We are receiving many questions on how
to best monitor the pH of the saliva and urine.

Here is how to test your own pH..........

The pH Miracle Living Acid/Alkaline Saliva and Urine Test:

1. First, upon waking test your saliva with the pHydrion paper. When you get out of bed, lick and wet the end of a pHydrion test strip with your saliva. Note the color change and write down the pH number.

Do this before brushing your teeth, drinking, smoking, or even thinking of eating any food.
The optimum saliva pH should be 7.2.

2. Next, test your first urine of the morning.
This is urine that has been stored in your bladder during the night that is ready to be eliminated when you get up. You need to pee on a strip of pHydrion paper, note the color change and write down the pH number.

The first urine should run optimally at 7.2 of greater.

If your first urine pH is lower than 7.2 you are deficient in alkaline buffers and need to move to a more alkaline diet rich in fresh green vegetables and fruits. If your first urine pH is higher than 7.2 your alkaline buffers are sufficient to neutralize the acidic foods and drinks you ingested the day before.

To increase urine pH which is a direct indicator of tissue pH take 3 tsp. of pHour salts in 4 to
6 ounces of purified water.

To balance the pH of the urine you need to move away from acidic foods and drinks and begin ingesting liberal amounts of electron rich green vegetables, low sugar fruits and healthy polyunsaturated fats. I call this way of eating and drinking the cows program which stands for chlorophyll, oil/oxygen, water and salts.

3. Next, test your second morning urine before eating any food. This number should be the pH of your second urine after you have eliminated the acid load from the day before.

The acids should be gone the second time you go to the bathroom so your urine pH should be ideally 7.2 or higher.

If the pH is lower than 7.2 then you are in a state of latent tissue acidosis and you are deficient in alkaline buffers such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium bicarbonate.

The lower pH is also indicative of a diet high in protein and an increase in acids from proteins including nitric, sulfuric, phosphoric and uric acids. Eliminate from the diet proteins from beef, chicken, turkey, pork and fish to normalize pH at 7.2 while eating liberal amounts of green foods and green drinks, healthy polyunsaturated fats and alkaline mineral salts, like pHour salts.

4. For breakfast eat an avocado soup, vegetable soup, the healing soup or drink some fresh almond milk or a fresh green drink. Wait five minutes and then check your urine and saliva again. Write these pH numbers down also. The pH numbers will go up from the first and second morning urine and saliva if you have sufficient alkaline reserves to buffer acids. If you do not then the pH numbers will show very little change or even go down from the early morning pH numbers.

5. Make sure you check your urine and saliva pH between meals, i.e., between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. The pH should always be between
7.2 to 8.4, right after meals and 7.2 a couple of hours after meals.

The five tests above show the following:

1. The efficiency of the digestive or alkaline buffering system to deal with what you ate the night before, i.e., the first and second AM urine and saliva pH.
These numbers will change from day to day if you are living an eating acidic. When you begin The pH Miracle Living Plan and start eating the COWS Plan you will see the pH of the urine and saliva become more constant and balanced at a pH of 7.2 or higher.

2. How well you treat yourself in general, i.e., how 'strong'
the salivary glands, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder and liver are in dealing with excess acidity. This is once again the AM urine and saliva pH. This number shows the overall state of your health, the condition of the alkaline reserve of your body which reflects the diet you have been eating over the last months and years.

This pH number stays rather constant and will only change after some work has been done in alkalizing and energizing the body as outlined in the pH Miracle books. Since the saliva and urine pH is an indicator of extracellular and interstitial pH, saliva and urine pH readings should never be below the pH of the sodium bicarbonate buffer system, 7.2. (See below).

The most accurate readings of saliva and urine pH is recorded immediately upon awakening--after sleeping at least five hours and before brushing your teeth.

It is during sleep that the body removes waste and is in an anabolic state restoring and replenishing the body.
For example, if you have a saliva or urine pH of 5.5 and only 5.6 after eating, you know that you are deficient in alkaline reserve and your body is devoid of the minerals necessary to process food properly -- your body cannot adequately respond to the physiological crisis of handling food or drink that is acidic.

3. The pH of your saliva and urine after you eat or drink gives you an indication of your alkaline mineral reserves and your body's ability to deal with the acid residues created from the digestion of that food or drink. It is normal for your pH number to increase after you eat or drink not stay static or decrease.
This once again indicates your inability to deal with acid, the deficiency of alkaline reserves and the buildup of latent tissue acidosis.

Even if you think of a food like an avocado or a lemon the pH of your saliva should increase by a whole point or ten times. This simple test indicates you have sufficient alkaline reserve minerals to pull into your alimentary canal to begin the alkaline buffering process.

The ideal urine and saliva pH pattern is 7.2 on awakening, 7.2 before eating and 7.2 to 8.5 following any alkaline meal or drink.

A simple test can be done at most any time of the day by eating a few almonds.

This will check the adequacy of the alkaline reserve of the body. When a healthy person with adequate alkaline reserves eats a few almonds, the saliva pH almost immediately goes up to a pH of 8.4.
The more acidic the food that is eaten, the more rapid the response of the alkaline reserve, and the higher the saliva pH should be following a meal.

4. The pH of the saliva and urine between meals should be kept in the basic range, pH 7.2 or higher.
After one eats, the stomach releases its necessary sodium bicarbonate to help alkalize the food. While doing this, it makes an equivalent amount of base or baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, that is picked up by the blood stream and delivered to the alkaline glands of the body, the saliva, the pancreas, the gallbladder, the pylorus glands in the stomach and the liver. The maximum amount of base in the blood and therefore in the urine and saliva occurs one to two hours after you eat.

This rhythm of the acid and base flow of the body is called by Frederick F. Sander, the Base-floods and the Base-tides of the Acid-Base household.

This information was first published in 1930, by Frederick F. Sander, a German scientist, in a book called, The Acid-Base Household of the Human Organism and its cooperation with the nail circulation and the rhythm of the Liver.

In his book he states that the body fluids and therefore the urine is most acid at 2:00 A.M.
(pH 5.0 to 6.8) in the morning (the base tide) and most alkaline at 2:00 P.M. (pH 7.0 to 8.5) in the afternoon (base flood).

'The ideal pH numbers depend on the time of day.
Plotted on a curve it looks like the double hump of the back of a camel. Two times a day the urine should be alkaline and that is the top of the humps and corresponds to 10 A.M. and 2 P.M., the alkaline tide after meals. During the rest of the day the pH should be between 6.8 and 7.2. This is optimal urine. The first urine in the morning should be more acidic because of the decalcification that takes place during the night in neutralizing excess acids.'

If all the acids generated in a day from digestion, respiration, metabolism, degeneration, emotions, and toxic environments are not all flushed out during the night they accumulate, day after day. The results are the expression of states of imbalance as the body desperately tries to maintain the alkaline fluid pH at 7.365. The day to day buildup of acids affects each of us differently depending on our genetics, lifestyle and diet.

I have found that acids settle in the weakest parts of the body and if not eliminated through the bowels, urinary system, lungs or skin, acids are then bound to fat and stored on our hips, thighs, stomach, breasts and brain. Bottom-line acids are the expression of all symptomologies and the direct cause of ALL sickness and disease.

Monitoring your saliva and urine pH puts the responsibility of caring for your health back into your hands. Measuring the saliva and urine pH guides your therapy and shows you how living, eating and drinking determines the quality and quantity of your life.

You should monitor your saliva and urine each day for at least 12 weeks or until you establish your balanced pH at 7.2. Once you have established a balanced saliva and urine pH at 7.2 or higher you can reduce the number of tests to once a day or
2 to 3 times a week.

Heart Attack Seldom Leads to Healthier Diet

(HealthDay News) - Having a heart attack is apparently not sufficient reason for most people to change to a heart-healthy diet, a new study finds.

"We found that diet quality is poor after a coronary heart disease event," said study author Dr. Yunsheng Ma, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in Worcester.

But he warned that patients' failure to eat healthier puts them at risk for another cardiac event.
"Coronary heart disease [CHD] is the number one cause of mortality in Americans," the study noted. An estimated 13 million Americans have survived a heart attack or have coronary heart disease symptoms, the researchers added.

The findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

In the study, Ma's team surveyed 555 patients averaging 61 years of age, 60 percent of whom were men. All of the participants were diagnosed with coronary heart disease and had already experienced a heart attack, angina or arrhythmia. The researchers queried the patients on their diets one year after they had undergone coronary angiography linked to some kind of coronary event.

According to the researchers, only 12.4 percent of the patients met the recommended consumption of vegetables. Similarly, only about 8 percent met daily fruit intake recommendations and just 8 percent were getting a heart-healthy amount of cereal fiber. Little more than 5 percent were limiting their intake of dangerous trans fats to recommended levels, the team said.

Compounding this, the researchers found that worst diets were associated with smoking and obesity. Poor diets were also closely correlated with lower levels of education.

Research has confirmed that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lowered risk of heart disease, the researchers noted. The American Heart Association currently recommends "an overall healthy diet" that is rich in fruits and vegetables, high-fiber foods and limited amounts of saturated fat and trans fats, with an eye to maintaining a healthy weight.

The study concluded that "it may be helpful for physicians and health-care providers to refer CHD patients to behavioral interventions that include both diet and physical activity components, such as cardiac rehabilitation." Rehab by itself might not be enough, the study adds, urging consultation with registered dieticians to learn about how to make the necessary changes in diet.

Ma said that currently about 80 percent of patients do not go to rehabilitation after a coronary heart disease event such as angina, arrhythmia or heart attack. But even if patients do enter rehabilitation, many of these programs do not include dietary modifications, he added.

Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, of Tufts University, helped craft the American Heart Association's dietary recommendations. She questioned whether the new study produced truly conclusive results, noting that the study subjects may have under-reported their consumption of unhealthy foods.

That's because the participants' mean calorie intake was a relatively healthy 1,775 calories but their average body-mass index was 30, which is in the obese range, Lichtenstein noted.

She said that instead of trying to calculate the exact amount of fat or saturated fat in their diet, it may be easier for people to simply concentrate in the types of healthy foods they should be eating -- items such as fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and fish. Americans have a wide range of such foods to choose from, so "it is easier now to consume a diet consistent with a heart-healthy pattern than it's ever been before," Lichtenstein said.

More information
There's more on heart-healthy eating at the American Heart Association.

14 New Blood-Typing Tests Approved

(HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it's approved 14 new tests for determining a person's blood type, a process that's essential to a safe blood supply and safe transfusions.

Mismatched transfused blood can cause serious, potentially fatal reactions.

"These 14 new tests will provide blood establishments and transfusion services with additional choices to help assure safe, well-matched transfusions," Dr. Jesse L. Goodman, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement. "The tests offer a broader diversity of reliable blood-typing tests and will help protect against product shortages."

The Olympus PK System Blood Group and Phenotyping Reagents use monoclonal antibodies to test for the A, B, O and Rh factors, as well as for other factors that signify rarer blood types.

The tests are manufactured by a French company, DIAGAST.

More information
The American Red Cross has more information about blood types.

Health Tip: Living With Lactose Intolerance

(HealthDay News) - Lactose intolerance makes it difficult for someone to digest a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products.

Here are suggestions, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation, to help a child who is lactose-intolerant:

• Try consuming dairy products in moderation.
• Try cheese and yogurt, which may be easier for lactose-intolerant children to digest than milk.
• Try lactose-free or lactose-reduced milk.
• Try a lactose enzyme supplement before eating dairy products, to help the body digest lactose.
• Try eating dairy products along with non-dairy foods, which may help ease digestion.
• Try getting extra calcium in the form of calcium-fortified juices, broccoli, beans, tofu and soy milk.

Why Obese Men Post Lower PSA Levels

(HealthDay News) -- In recent years, doctors have learned that they need to adjust the results of blood tests to properly diagnose prostate cancer in obese men, but now researchers think they know why.

It turns out that larger men have more blood, which dilutes the levels of the protein called PSA -- a key indicator of prostate trouble.

The new study doesn't definitively prove why overweight and obese men with prostate cancer tend to score lower on the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, but it does give doctors an idea about what may be going on, said study co-author Dr. Stephen Freedland, an assistant professor of urology and pathology at Duke University.

"PSA is not a bad test for obese men. We just need to know how to use it," he said. "If we use it correctly, it will be just as good as in normal-weight men."

Prostate cancer strikes one in six men, mostly those over the age of 65, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Older men often routinely undergo a PSA blood test that looks for an antigen made by the prostate that helps it function. The antigen leaks into the bloodstream at a steady rate, and the amount is higher in men with prostate cancer, Freedland explained.

Recent research has revealed that PSA levels are 20 percent to 25 percent lower in overweight and obese men than in men of normal weight. This can translate into diagnostic problems with bigger men, Freedland said.

"You may call him normal and not worry about him and wait another year or two or longer, and that gives time for the cancer to grow," he noted.

According to Freedland, it's not clear if there's any impact on PSA levels from being underweight.

In the new study, researchers tested a theory that the reason PSA levels are lower in larger men is because the antigen gets diluted in larger volumes of blood. "It's like taking a little bit of a drug and putting it in a cup of water versus a bowl of water," Freedland said.

The study authors looked at the records of about 14,000 men with prostate cancer who underwent removal of their prostates between 1988 and 2006. The findings are published in the Nov. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers found that men who were fatter had larger blood volumes, which the study authors said supports their theory that dilution caused their PSA levels to lower.

The same thing could hold true for blood markers of other cancers, Freedland said. "As we develop blood tests for other cancers, we should be keeping this in mind," he added.

However, Dr. Nelson Stone, a clinical professor of urology and radiation oncology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is skeptical of the results, because the research just focused on men with advanced prostate cancer. That and other factors may have skewed the results, he said.

"I don't think they've proved their point," he said. But he added, "We need to be a little bit more careful when we evaluate a patient who is larger, and we look at his PSA and compare to a patient who is thinner. The PSAs are not the same."

More information
For advice on losing weight, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Nitrite, Nitrate-Rich Foods Boost Heart Attack Outcomes

(HealthDay News) -- Eating nitrite/nitrate-rich foods such as vegetables and cured meats may help improve the chances of surviving a heart attack and of recovering more quickly.

That's the finding of a preliminary study in the Nov. 12 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers found that mice fed extra nitrite and nitrate had 48 percent less cell death in the heart following a heart attack than mice fed a regular diet. Mice fed a low nitrite/nitrate diet had 59 percent greater cell death.

The study also found that 77 percent of mice fed extra nitrite survived a heart attack, compared with 58 percent of mice fed a low nitrite diet.

"This is a very significant finding, given the fact the simple components of our diet -- nitrite and nitrate -- that we have been taught to fear and restrict in food can now protect the heart from injury," lead author Nathan S. Bryan, a cardiovascular physiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, said in a prepared statement.

"Simple changes in our daily dietary habits such as eating nitrite and nitrate-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables and some meats in moderation can drastically improve outcome following a heart attack," said Bryan, who is also an assistant professor at the university's Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases.

He explained that nitrite forms nitric oxide gas during a heart attack, which reopens closed or clogged arteries and reduces the amount of permanent damage to the heart muscle.

"This paper provides the first demonstration of the consequences of changes in dietary nitrite and nitrate on nitric oxide biochemistry and the outcome of heart attack," Bryan said.

The next logical step in this line of research would be to determine if increasing nitrite/nitrate intake in patients with known cardiovascular risk factors would decrease the incidence and severity of heart attack and stroke, or enhance recovery, he said.

While some studies have linked nitrites/nitrates with cancer, Bryan said many of those study findings were based on weak epidemiological data.

More information
HeartHealthyWomen.org has explains the use of nitrate medicines.

FDA Issues New Warnings for Anemia Drugs

(HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved new "black box" warnings on labels of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, which are drugs used to treat certain types of anemia.

The warnings cover the drugs Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit, and detail their dangers to patients with cancer and patients with chronic kidney failure. Those dangers include heart attack, stroke, heart failure and cancer tumor growth and shortened survival.

The drugs had been touted as a treatment to lessen fatigue and improve quality of life among cancer, HIV and other patients with anemia, but the new label says there's no evidence to back that claim.

"Today's labeling changes are being made to make clear recommendations about the safe and effective use of these products and to strengthen the information about the risks that these drugs pose to patients with cancer and to patients with chromic kidney failure," Dr. Richard Pazdur, the FDA's director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said at a Thursday teleconference.

This is the fifth time the FDA has called for label changes for these drugs -- also known as ESAs -- since Procrit was approved in 1989, Pazdur said.

"We are emphasizing that ESAs should be used at the lowest dose necessary to avoid blood transfusions, since that is the only identifiable benefit for ESAs," Dr. John Jenkins, director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs. "Doctors should have discussions with their patients about whether to use ESAs at all."

These drugs are synthetic versions of a protein made in the kidney that tells bone marrow to produce red blood cells. The drugs are manufactured by Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif. Procrit is marketed and distributed by Ortho Biotech LP of Bridgewater, N.J., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, Amgen's executive vice president of research and development, said in a prepared statement that his company "has been working closely with the FDA and J&JPRD [Pharmaceutical Research and Development] to ensure that the information contained in the approved labeling for ESAs accurately reflects the current state of knowledge of these important products and to develop a comprehensive and feasible clinical study program to complement our existing pharmacovigilance program.

"In the current label revisions, we have endeavored to include as much information as possible so physicians and their patients can make informed treatment decisions," he added.

For cancer patients, the new warnings emphasize that the drugs can cause tumor growth and reduce survival among patients with advanced breast, head and neck, lymphoid and non-small cell lung tumors. This is especially true when the dose is designed to produce a hemoglobin level of 12 grams per deciliter of blood or more.

For hemoglobin levels less than 12 grams per deciliter, the label will say there is no evidence to determine if the drugs cause any of these problems, the FDA said.

"We recommend that prescribers talk to their patients about the risks that ESAs might cause cancer to grow or shorten survival before they prescribe these drugs or continue ESA therapy, Pazdur said. "The risks should be weighed against blood transfusions and their associated risks."
The new label will also make it clear that ESAs should be used in cancer patients only when their anemia is caused by chemotherapy and not from other causes. Also, ESAs should be stopped when the patient's chemotherapy has ended, the FDA said.

For patients with chronic kidney failure, the new black box warning says that ESAs should be used to keep hemoglobin levels between 10 grams per deciliter to 12 grams per deciliter. Higher hemoglobin levels in these patients can increase the risk for death, stroke, heart attack or heart failure, the FDA said.

The new labeling also gives instructions for dosage adjustments and hemoglobin monitoring for chronic kidney failure patients who do not respond to ESA treatment.

The new label also says there is no evidence that ESAs improve symptoms of anemia, quality of life, fatigue, or patient well-being in cancer patients or patients with HIV taking the drug AZT.

"There are no data from controlled trials demonstrating that ESAs improve symptoms of anemia, quality of life, fatigue or patient well-being," Pazdur said.

The FDA is working with Amgen on new clinical trails and is also reviewing a Medication Guide that will explain the use of these drugs to patients, Pazdur said.

Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp are used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure and anemia caused by chemotherapy in some cancer patients. Epogen and Procrit are also used in some anemic patients who are undergoing surgery to reduce the need for blood transfusions. These drugs are also used to treat anemia in HIV patients taking AZT.

More information
For more information on ESAs, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Eye on Safety Makes Halloween Less Scary

(HealthDay News) -- Some simple safety measures can help ensure that Halloween is a treat for both children and adults, according to experts at Prevent Blindness America, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago.

"We can keep Halloween safe for everyone by taking a few easy precautions," Daniel D. Garrett, the group's senior vice president, said in a prepared statement. "Our vision can be compromised by costume accessories, make-up, or simply by being out at night without proper lighting."

Prevent Blindness America offers the following tips:

• Never wear costumes or accessories such as masks, wigs, hats or eye patches that block vision.
• Use only hypoallergenic or non-toxic makeup. Adults should apply it to children and remove it with cold cream or eye makeup remover instead of soap.
• False eyelashes and costume make up can also irritate eyes. Follow directions on how to apply and remove them safely.
• Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping and falling.
• Select costumes made of flame-retardant material and do not use any props or accessories that have sharp or pointed edges, such as pitchforks, knives, swords, spears or wands.
• Remove tripping hazards (such as hoses and potted plants ) from your porch and walkway. Place jack-o-lanterns well out of the way of trick-or-treaters.
• Trick-or-treaters should wear bright, reflective clothing or reflective tape/patches should be added to their costumes. They should carry a bright flashlight to improve visibility.
  Adults should accompany children. Only go to homes you know and that have the porch light on.
• Check all trick-or-treat items for signs of tampering before you allow your children to eat them. Toys or novelty items should be inspected to determine whether they pose a choking hazard to young children.

More information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more Halloween safety tips.

Study Reveals E.Coli's Grip on Gut U.S

(HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists have discovered how a potentially deadly form of E. coli bacteria adheres to and colonizes the gut.

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7A, or E. coli, is a common cause of food poisoning.
The authors of the study hope the breakthrough will one day help with disease prevention strategies. But others say breakthroughs like that are still far off.

"The study was conducted in vitro, not in an animal model, human or otherwise," noted Dr. Pascal James Imperato, distinguished service professor and chair of the department of preventive medicine and community health at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City. "Whether this in vitro result is reflective of what happens in vivo [in the gut] remains to be demonstrated."

There are several strains of E. coli and one in particular, E. Coli 0157:H7, can be deadly.
Human infections most often result from eating uncooked ground beef, because cattle carry the pathogen in their intestines without getting sick. E. coli can also be acquired from consuming contaminated dairy products, vegetables, unpasteurized juice, through person-to-person contact and through either swimming in or drinking water contaminated with sewage.

Infection with E. coli 0157:H7 can result in abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea and, less commonly, a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is characterized by anemia and kidney failure and can end in death.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 73,000 infections and 61 deaths are attributable to E. coli 0157:H7 each year. The very young and the very old are particularly prone to developing life-threatening HUS.

For this study, the researchers at the University of Arizona, Tucson, found that several proteins bind together to form a structure known as an adhesive type IV pilus, that they call hemorrhagic coli pilus (HCP). This HCP bundle allows the bacteria to attach to human intestinal epithelial cells, the researchers said.

The authors also found that individuals with HUS had an immune response to one component of HCP.

The research group is now looking to start experiments in animals and/or humans. "In our lab, we did in vitro experiments, but we are trying some collaboration with other universities to do some in vivo [in animals/humans] experiments," said Partha Samadder, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Jorge A. Giron, the study's lead author.

"Overall, it all has to be corroborated by others," Imperato said. "All that said, meaningful therapeutic interventions to prevent this cascade of molecular biological events will be years off. Meanwhile, the key is to prevent these infections in the first place."

There are ways to help prevent foodborne illness. They include:

• Make sure ground beef and other meats as well as eggs are well cooked before you eat them.
• Wash raw fruits and vegetables with soap. Pay particular attention to leafy greens as there are lots of crevasses and cracks where E. coli can hide.
• Don't chop vegetables on the same block where you just made beef hamburgers or prepared other meat. Keep raw meat separate from ready-to-eat foods.
• Keep raw and ready-to-eat foods completely separate.
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly.
• Avoid bruised produce such as tomatoes.
• Make sure all cooking utensils including meat thermometers and cutting boards are thoroughly cleaned with soap and hot water after you've handled them.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and hot water.
• Drink only pasteurized milk, juice or cider.
• Drink municipal water that has been treated with chlorine or another disinfectant.

More information
There's more on E. coli at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost a Third of U.S. Kids Use Supplements

(HealthDay News) -- More than 30 percent of American children take some kind of dietary supplement, mostly multivitamins and multiminerals, a U.S. National Institutes of Health study finds.

The study analyzed data on more than 10,000 youngsters from the 1999 to 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The study found that 31.8 percent of children 18 and younger had used dietary supplements in the previous 30 days. This included 11.9 percent of those younger than 1 year, 38.4 percent of those ages 1-3, 40.6 percent of those ages 4-8, 28.9 percent of those ages 9-13, and 25.7 percent of those ages 14-18.

Among American adults, 57 percent of women and 47 percent of men take dietary supplements.
Among the other study findings:

• Supplements were used by 38.3 percent of non-Hispanic white children, 22.4 percent of Mexican Americans, and 18.8 percent of non-Hispanic blacks
• Multivitamins and multiminerals (18.3 percent) were the most commonly used supplements, followed by single vitamins (4.2 percent), single minerals (2.4 percent), and botanical supplements (0.8 percent)
• 83.9 percent of children who took any supplements took only one, 11.8 percent took two, and 4.3 percent took three or more
• Supplement use in children was associated with higher family income, a smoke-free environment, lower body mass index, and less daily television, video game or computer time
• Underweight children or those at risk for being underweight were most likely to take supplements.

The study is published the October issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The researchers in the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements said their findings show that "dietary supplements provide a consistent daily source of nutrients for nearly one-third of U.S. children, yet individual and national-level estimates of nutrient intake rarely account for them."

"Dietary Reference Intakes and Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide recommended nutrient intakes and advice on food choices that promote health and reduce the risk of disease.

To truly assess the nutrient status and estimate the potential health risks of U.S. children, we must include nutrient intakes from dietary supplements as well as from food," the study authors concluded.

More information
To learn more, go to the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Mediterranean Diet May Boost Alzheimer's Survival

(HealthDay News) -- Consuming what's known as a Mediterranean diet -- one loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil -- may help Alzheimer's patients live longer, a new study suggests.

The observation comes after researchers tracked the dietary habits of people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's. It follows on earlier work by the same team that suggests these diets may lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's in the first place.

"This time, we found that Alzheimer's patients who were following the Mediterranean diet had longer survival as compared to those who were following the diet less," said study lead author Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, an assistant professor in the department of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

The study is published in the Sept. 11 issue of Neurology.

According to the American Heart Association, diets native to the 16 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea varies somewhat region to region. However, most regimens include a high intake of fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.

More than half of all fat-sourced calories in the Mediterranean diet come from monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil. Dairy, fish, poultry, and other sources of saturated fats are eaten at low to moderate levels, the AHA say.

Heart disease rates in Mediterranean nations are lower than in the United States, the AHA adds, although it's not clear that diet alone is responsible for the difference.

To further examine the potential health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, Scarmeas' team compared nutrition and disease progression between 1992 and 2002 among 192 patients with early-stage Alzheimer's, all of whom lived in New York City.

All the patients were 65 and older, most were non-white, and all underwent initial physical and neuro-psychological exams to assess their cognitive capacities. Such evaluations were repeated every 18 months.

In addition, the patients completed questionnaires regarding their food consumption over a one-year period. Daily caloric intake was tallied for seven categories, including dairy, meat, fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and fish.

At no time were patients given any information about nutrition, or instructions about what to eat or how much to eat of any particular food group.

Throughout the full study period, the researchers tracked patients for an average of four-and-a-half years, during which time 85 patients died.

Scarmeas' group found that patients whose consumption habits most closely tracked that of the Mediterranean diet were 76 percent less likely to die in the study period than those whose food intake least mimicked the diet.

Compared with those whose diets most closely resembled a Western diet, Alzheimer's patients who most closely followed the Mediterranean diet lived an average of four years longer.

A more moderate degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet still translated into extra 1.3 years of survival, the researchers said. That's equal to a 29 percent to 35 percent reduced risk for dying during the study period.

The findings appeared to hold up regardless of patient body mass index, gender, ethnicity, or educational background. Age differences had a nearly imperceptible impact on the findings.

The researchers did not examine how differences in end-of-life care protocols -- such as the possible use of artificial feeding mechanisms and antibiotic therapies -- might have affected survival in some patients.

Scarmeas emphasized that more work needs to be done to tease out the diet's effects.

"For now, we can only speak about the tendency we found in a whole population," he cautioned.

"It is possible that particular people happen to have a constellation of several other factors that contribute to a risk for dying or delay their mortality. So, right now, we can only say that in this observational study we found, in general, that the more you follow this Mediterranean diet, the later you die, even after the onset of Alzheimer's disease."

Greg M. Cole is associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and a neuroscientist with the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System. He described the findings as provocative but not definitive.

"It could be that the Mediterranean diet is slowing the progression of Alzheimer's," he acknowledged. "But there could also be other explanations. For example, a lot of people who have Alzheimer's also have cardiovascular disease. The risk factors for both illnesses show a lot of overlap. And it is a pretty well established benefit that the Mediterranean diet protects against heart disease."

"So, it could be that the Mediterranean diet is actually slowing down the accompanying spectrum of vascular problems that lead to stroke and heart attack and other problems associated with a cardiovascular disease that lead to mortality," explained Cole. "So, death is not as good a measure here as the progression of cognitive decline. Is the diet actually slowing down the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's itself? That's the next question. And, if so, that would certainly be a very significant result."

More information
For additional information on the Mediterranean diet, visit the American Heart Association.

Researchers Find Better Way to Deliver Blood Thinner

(HealthDay News) -- A new gene-based dosing formula for the anti-clotting drug warfarin should make it easier to prescribe the correct dose of the blood thinner, researchers say.

Up to this point, doctors have had to engage in a trial-and-error process over several weeks that left patients at risk of hemorrhaging from low doses or developing blood clots with too-high doses.

"We already knew these genes affected warfarin dosing, but we didn't know how to use that information clinically," researcher Dr. Brian Gage, medical director of Barnes-Jewish Hospital's Blood Thinner Clinic, said in a prepared statement. "But with this study, we've established a simple way to combine these genetic factors with clinical factors in a dosing algorithm."

Gage and colleagues developed the formula based on study participants who had undergone hip replacement or knee surgery. The study team focused on two genes, VKORC1 and CYP2C9, which are known to affect the way warfarin operates inside the body.

Using the new method, physicians head to a Web-based tool to calculate a patient's initial dosage more accurately.

Writing in the September issue of Blood, Gage and colleagues said the calculated dose will cut down on the number of dose changes patients will need before the amount is correct.

The method follows on the heels of an Aug. 16 requirement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that labeling for warfarin include information about the effect of the two genes.

The FDA also called for studies to determine the correct dosage for people with each genetic variation. This is the first study to address that request.

Warfarin, sold under the brand name Coumadin, prevents blood clots and reduces the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, artificial heart valves, deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary emboli. It is also used to prevent clots in people who recently had certain orthopedic surgeries.

More information
To learn more about blood clots, visit Deep Vein Thrombosis: What You Should Know.