Patient Power... will bring change.

Conrad and I just returned from the International College of Integrative Medicine Conference in Washington DC.  Conrad was the program chair and I was an impressed member of the audience.  The speakers were tops, the energy was over the top and one thing impressed me above all else.   Through the presentations the truth of the passion and care for patients of these doctors screamed out at you.  Each presenter, each participant brought home to me how we can change medical care in this society for good, how we could have the treatments we seek.  Talk with your doctors and tell them what you want.
Want real care – full of solutions to your problems?  Want off the prescription pad for good? Talk to your doctors and tell them what you want.  During this conference physician after physician, some with tears in their voice, describe how much their patients meant to them.  It did not matter if they were talking about a case that improved or someone who asked them to look at a treatment they did not know about, or directed them to an important book.  These caring physicians were deeply motivated in a thousand ways by the life and times of their patients.  One special physician fought an expensive battle to make sure a treatment she knew was crucial to patient health survived attack by orthodox medicine.   Even if one more person could be helped it was worth it to her … that one more patient had an incredible story of recovery and she is grateful she fought on and did not give up.

Please realize it is you… you are the change this country needs.  It will be you that brings the kind of care you seek to continue, it will be you that brings down the costs and it will be you that moves the political winds out of the way.  Please have a talk with your doctor.  If you can’t talk to your doctor you need another one, find one.  A good place to start in the ranks of the icimed.com, the International College of Integrative Medicine.  Read all about this conference on facebook and on the website.

SWINE FLU, YIKES! VACCINATE OR NOT

First of all my viewpoint on vaccinations is from the perspective of clinical family practice and our anti-aging medical philosophy.  I want all our patients, young and old, to research for themselves the information available on vaccinations, how  they work , and potential side effects so they can make up their own minds.  Your health is your responsibility and doctors should be trusted advisors who leave the ultimate decisions regarding your health to you.
Challenges to your immune system are actually good, mild flu can stimulate your immune system and increase your resistence to a more virulent strain of flu.  The current news is that H1N1 or the swine flu currently circulating could be losing potency and is a mild form to begin with.  It is also true that people whose immune system is weak and who have some conditions are especially susceptible to complications, including death, from contracting this flu strain.  Keep in mind, one more thing, during a “normal” winter flu season we can expect 35,000 deaths in the U.S., from common influenza.  The deaths from this current strain of swine flu through August was less than 600.  We are now experiencing a break out of this flu in our area schools.

Here is the rub.  Read for yourself the information provided by the CDC  on the fact that the manufacturers have several formulations and some will contain thimerosal as a preservative.  Multi dose vials of seasonal influenza vaccine also contain thimerosal to prevent potential contamination after the vial is opened.   Sooooooo… this fact alone should alarm you just a tad.  If you have a strong immune system and you want to protect  your kids who are otherwise in good health consider this.  Your body and the bodies of your children already have a toxic burden interrupting immune function to some extent, you are polluted with various pesticides, chemicals from food and the air and water, medical and street drugs.   Do you have a gauge of your current toxic body burden?  Some doctors will site studies that “prove” thimerosal is safe.  Mercury to scientists is the most toxic element on earth.  I know, there are different forms of mercury.  So what.  Some are simply more toxic than others.  The problem is how do we know at which point the accumulated toxic exposure pushes a person over the edge into health problems.  It is not one exposure but many you need to worry about.  So you need to weigh the benefits and risks for yourself.   Mercury is a neurotoxin and is toxic to the immune system in that it interrupts normal healthy function.  It also changes cells in your arteries and can lead to cardiovascular disease.   A past article in the Journal of Cardiology cited evidence of 22,000 times more mercury in heart muscle cells in people with a certain heart disease than others without it.

 I am not a research physician, I read the research of others, I have clinical experience dealing every day with my patients.  My patients have noticed the health of their children drastically changing after a course of childhood immunizations.  I think there is no better observer of childhood problems than their parents.  I side with parents and so do other like minded physicians.  We are bombarding our children with vaccination schedules that are rigorous and could be causing serious harm.

This is a long talk and it should be a research project for your family.  Keep in mind the first swine flu scare was 1976 and a similar vaccine campaign resulted in claims for 1.3 billion dollars for vaccine damage including paralysis.  Why would that be?  Vaccine constituents can attack the nervous system.   We wish you, as always, all the best in coming to your decision.