Holistic Pediatrics Education for Parents

Health and Wellness for Infants and Children

David M. Markowitz, M.D. - "Did you know that close to $10 billion was spent on antibiotics in the U.S. last year? Did you know that many bacteria have become increasingly resistant to these drugs and that many drugs are outdated as soon as they are released for use? Have you seen the many articles in Time and Newsweek (and many medical journals) about the variety of plagues caused by infectious agents throughout the world? What can we do to protect ourselves in a safe and natural way against this ever-increasing threat? Have you had a child or patient who has required multiple drugs to deal with one or several ear infections? This is how this threat touches our daily lives."

In a clinical study, pediatrician, David M. Markowitz, M.D. reports an 84% reduction in antibiotic use when children used transfer factors

Related: Antibiotic Crisis - Antibiotic Resistance and Side Effects

James Howenstine, MD. - "Excessive antibiotics in children almost certainly stops normal maturation of a healthy immune system. Lack of healthy bacteria in the intestines caused by antibiotics creates an environment in which pieces of partially digested proteins are able to penetrate the barrier of the intestinal lining. When these abnormal proteins enter the blood the body properly reacts to them as foreign substances. The foreign proteins cause an antigen antibody reaction producing symptoms and setting the stage for a possible auto-immune illness to develop. Food allergies can also appear along with impaired absorption of nutrients which may lead to poor health."

"Antibiotics and ear tubes treat symptoms of a problem. They do not strengthen the organism so that it can fight the infection itself, nor do they make the organism less resistant to future infection."

Related: Natural Treatment and Prevention of Childhood Ear Infections (Chronic otitis media)

Drug resistant bacteria

After 40 years of pushing antibiotics for any ailment, physicians are now confronting bacteria that have built defenses against those same drugs. Some infectious bacteria that were once treatable are stronger and often deadly. The reappearance of highly infectious bacteria is caused in part by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, but the resilience of bacteria also stems from the ingenious biochemistry of the microorganisms themselves. To survive, microorganisms and fungi mutate into resistant strains. Most Ear Infections Clear Up Without Antibiotics - A newly released report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) suggests that children may not always need antibiotics to treat a middle ear infection (otitis media).

Taking Out Adenoids Does NOT Help Ear Infections - Conclusions from a study showed that removal of the adenoids, often associated with swollen tonsils, as the first surgical treatment with children the ages of 10 to 24 months with recurrent middle ear infections, was not effective in preventing further episodes. British Medical Journal February 28, 2004; 328:487 (Free Full-Text Article)

Think twice before giving Steroids (cortisone, prednisone) to your children "Doctors tell you that steroids (cortisone/prednisone/prednisolone) only cause side effects after many years. But new research shows that permanent damage is immediate and devastating. Studies show that steroids cause permanent, debilitating effects after a single dosage. 'Steroids are probably the most sleazy of modern day medications,' says John Mills, former professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and chief of infectious diseases at San Francisco General Hospital.

According to a Harvard study, Americans now pay more visits to alternative practitioners in a year than they do to primary care physicians.... They're spending $250 million a year on homeopathic remedies, and close to $4 billion on nutritional supplements.... But is this stuff safe for kids?" Yes, claim physicians Ditchek and Greenfield, practitioners of "integrative pediatrics" There is a lot you can do, inexpensively at home, to improve your children's health.  Boost Your Child's Immune System

Vaccines containing Thimerosal

The FDA admits that the 12,000 reports it receives annually on pharmacologic side effects from vaccines represent only a fraction of what actually occurs. Congressman is calling for criminal penalties for any government agency that knew about the dangers of thimerosal in vaccines and did nothing to protect American children.

Congressman Dan Burton (R-Indiana) during Congressional Hearing: "You mean to tell me that since 1929, we've been using Thimerosal, and the only test that you know of is from 1929, and every one of those people had mennigitis, and they all died?" For nearly an hour, Burton repeatedly asked FDA and CDC officials what they knew and when they knew it. (Thimerosal contains a related mercury compound called ethyl mercury. Mercury is a toxic metal that can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions.)

Detecting, understanding, and treating children's allergies and environmental illness

Dr. Doris Rapp MD - "There are hundreds of thousands of parents who have seen their children become wild and uncontrollable from a highly colored beverage or cereal."

Dr. Doris Rapp - Children's Allergies to Food & Environment In her breakthrough book, "Is This Your Child's World?” - Dr. Rapp identifies the major symptoms of potentially unrecognized allergies in children and adults, suggesting possible sensitivities to dust, mold, pollen, foods or chemicals. Allergies are much more than high fever, asthma and itchy skin. It is possible to identify allergies by simply looking at someone. At times it is surprisingly easy to find and eliminate the cause. The typical clues of allergies and environmental illness can include any combination of the following: Rubbing Nose Upwards; Eye Wrinkles; Dark Eye Circles Sudden Aggression; Scarlet Earlobes A Spacey Look; Extreme Activity Changes Wiggly Legs; Red Cheeks A Mottled Tongue.

For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Doris Rapp, MD, has been treating children whose lives have been hampered sometimes critically by allergies and chemical sensitivities. Everyone knows about the role of allergies in problems such as asthma and hay fever, but very few people are aware of the staggering variety and extent of the illnesses triggered by allergic responses and sensitivities to substances of various kinds, natural and (increasingly) unnatural. Dr. Rapp knows, and has probably done more than any other person to make the general public more able to understand and cope with allergies of all kinds. She has stepped back for now from her incrediblydemanding private practice, but is as active as ever in trying to spread understanding of and effective responses to allergies. Dr. Doris Rapp MD - Children's Allergies to Food & Environment Dr. Rapp is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric allergy.

Dealing with the fever

A fever is a helpful and necessary part of the process of healing in a childhood illness, in any illness for that matter. During a fever the healing reactions of the body are speeded up; the heart beats faster, carrying the blood more quickly to all the organs; respiration is quicker, increasing oxygen intake: and perspiration increases, helping the body to cool down naturally. A high temperature generally indicates that the body's defense mechanism is fighting an infection and temperature variations indicate how it is coping. Attempts to suppress or control a fever artificially with Tylenol, or even with homeopathic remedies, are likely to confuse the body’s natural efforts to heal itself.

Very high fevers - those above 106°F (41°C) - can harm the heart and brain. Some authorities, however, say that fever is unlikely to cause brain damage in a previously healthy child. During most infections, the brain keeps body temperature at or below 104°F (40°C). So in most - not all - cases, you don't need to be afraid that your child's temperature is going to continue to rise above that point.

Fever in Children - A Blessing in Disguise

It may help parents to remember that fever is only one part of the picture of an illness. In fact, for children under eight years of age, and especially for infants, the severity of a fever is an unreliable indicator of the severity of the child's illness. For example, infants and toddlers canbe very sick with a low or even subnormal temperature. Conversely, children three to eight years old can be running about quite cheerfully with a fairly impressive fever.

Fever increases the amount of interferon (a natural antiviral and anticancer substance) in the blood. A mild fever also increases the white blood cells that kill cells infected with viruses, fungi, and cancer, and improves the ability of certain white blood cells to destroy bacteria and infected cells. Fever also impairs the replication of many bacteria and viruses.

Bottom line: A moderate fever is a friend, but not one you want to spend a lot of time with. So it makes sense to avoid suppressing moderate fevers with drugs, while continuing to monitor your child for dramatic increases in temperature and worsening of any other of his symptoms.

Fever may be beneficial

Conventional doctors have been taught to treat every symptom that comes to their attention. For instance, medication is often prescribed to reduce childhood fever. Yet fever is the body's mechanism for destroying viruses and bacteria. "If we do no more than take the edge off the fever to make the child comfortable," says Dr. Smith, "we may be prolonging the illness."

According to Dr. Moskowitz, producing a fever is one of the signs of a healthy child. The remedies Dr.Moskowitz recommends do not take away fever, but rather help the immnue system to finish it's job of healing. These remedies may include Aconite, Belladonna, Ferrum Phosphate, Gelsemium, Pulsatilla and Bryonia.

Dr. Sodhi also considers a fever below 102 F to be beneficial in a child, and he does not like to give children medication such as aspirin or tylenol for it. He does recommend a light, nutritious diet, and cold sponging or homeopathic remedies such as Belladona, Aconite and Sulfur.

According to Dr. Ni, traditional Chinese medicine treats a fever by inducing sweating and treating the accompanying infection. A hot bath can be used to induce a fever.

David Hoffman believes that a fever may be beneficial in a young child, and that a low-grade fever does not need to be reduced. The child should be given a lot of support and comfort along with plenty of fluids. Herbal teas such as peppermint, elder flower and even yarrow will help the body cope with the fever, but will not surpress it the way aspirin does.

The Common cold

Because your child's immune system is in the process of developing, it is not unusual for a child to seem to catch a cold week after week. As your child grows, her immune defenses evolve from an uncoordinated series of safeguards to an intricate set of responses designed to defend the body against foreign substances. In the meantime, boosting your child's immune system with diet and herbs can lessen the frequency of illness.

An Encyclopedia of Natural Healing for Children and Infants

This comprehensive, user-friendly volume by one of the most highly trained medical herbalists in America has all the information parents need to safeguard and improve the health of their babies and children utilizing proper diet, supplementation and herbs. Particular emphasis is placed on strengthening the young immune system, with chapters on managing allergies and avoiding the damaging overuse of antibiotics. The heart of the book features an A-to-Z compilation of more than 50 common childhood complaints from colic and cradle cap to warts and whooping cough, with remedies for easing discomfort and healing from the inside out.

Cancer and Children

In memory of our son, Alexander Horwin On August 10, 1998 at age two, our son Alexander Horwin was diagnosed with the most common pediatric brain tumor, medulloblastoma. After Alexander endured two brain surgeries, my husband and I located the best non-toxic therapy that had proven successful in treating brain cancer. However, on September 21, 1998, the FDA denied Alexander access to this potentially life-saving treatment. The oncologists told us that without their "state-of-the-art" chemotherapy, the cancer would soon return. We knew nothing of the history, efficacy and actual danger of chemotherapy but instinctively knew it was a poor choice for therapy. Alexander completed his third month of chemotherapy in December 1998 and died on January 31, 1999. He was just two and a half years old.

Related: Mom saved her 4 year old daugther from Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with natural diet and natural supplement that boosts the immune system

The "state-of-the-art" chemo protocol that the oncologists had administered to our son had proven its ineffectiveness in pediatric brain tumors many years before. In fact, in 1994, the exact same chemo drugs Alexander received in 1998 had been administered to children the same age with the same brain tumor (medulloblastoma) as Alexander. This experiment proved so unsuccessful that tumors spread within five months and the oncologists terminated the protocol. It was incredible to us to discover that chemotherapy that had already proven so ineffective that it required termination was being presented to parents as "state of the art" years later.

We were never informed about the failure of this therapy. We also discovered that we weren't the only parents being purposefully misinformed. Today, parents are still being misled and children with brain cancer are still getting these same toxic drugs that have proven their ineffectiveness in the past. But even if you are informed that orthodox therapy does not work you still may not have a choice. When we hesitated to bring Alexander in for chemo the oncologists were already gearing up to take him from us by court order. Learn more: read about the Horwin's story and their journey into research.

Big Pharma Bribes Doctors to Hook Your Kids on Drugs

For decades, the majority of American doctors, mental health professionals, the media, and the general public have yielded to the disseminations of Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Biedeman who successfully evangelized for more children -- and younger children -- to be medicated with powerful psychiatric drugs.

The blowback from ADHD drugs is reported in the current July 2009 Scientific American Mind article "Do ADHD Drugs Take a Toll on the Brain?" a comprehensive report of the long-term dangers of ADHD drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall, and Vyvanse. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated in 2005 that 9% of boys and 4% of girls in the U.S. were taking ADHD stimulant medications; and according to a 2007 study, ADHD-drug prescriptions rose by almost 12 percent a year between 2000 and 2005. ADHD drugs are either the "amphetamine-like" methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin and Concerta) or actual amphetamines (e.g., Adderall and Vyvanse), so it should not be surprising that long-term use is associated with many hazards.

The current Scientific American Mind piece, authored by Edmund S. Higgins, clinical associate professor of family medicine and psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina states, "Methylphenidate has a chemical structure similar to that of cocaine and acts on the brain in a very similar way." In February 2009, neuroscientists at the Rockefeller University reported cocaine-like structural and chemical alterations in the brains of mice given methylphenidate.

Medical Fascism in the USA - Courts Order Kids To Take Drugs

Judges can constitutionally order controversial drugs to be given to a child over the opposition of his parents. Parents are medicating their children for fear of having them hauled away by Child Protective Services.

Questioning Chemotherapy : A Critique of the Use of Toxic Drugs in the Treatment of Cancer

"I started as a believer in chemotherapy. As a science writer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, I wrote articles praising the latest advances in chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy drugs were general cellular poisons, they could be terribly toxic. They were also very expensive for patients and for society as a whole. When I learned about the links between the pharmaceutical industry and the cancer establishment (later detailed in my book, The Cancer Industry) I understood the commercial reason that such an inadequate modality was so heavily promoted."Ralph W. Moss

What Doctors Don't Tell You : The Truth About the Dangers of Modern Medicine

Safe and effective alternative cancer therapies

Law Firm now focuses on protecting the rights of children who have been injured or killed by toxic and ineffective cancer treatments administered by oncologists

Chemotherapy in Pediatric Brain Tumors: This document cites the medical literature and demonstrates the toxic failure of chemotherapy in treating malignant pediatric brain tumors over the last 25 years. It also discusses how the FDA did not permit Alexander have access to a potentially life saving therapy a policy decision that sentences many children with cancer to death. This document was provided to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform as written testimony for a congressional hearing that took place on June 7-8, 2000 in Washington D.C.

Lots of drugs must be sold

Guylaine Lanctot, M.D - "The medical establishment works closely with the drug multinationals whose main objective is profits, and whose worst nightmare would be an epidemic of good health. Lots of drugs MUST be sold. In order to achieve this, anything goes: lies, fraud, and kickbacks. Doctors are the principal salespeople of the drug companies. They are rewarded with research grants, gifts, and lavish perks. The principal buyers are the public - from infants to the elderly - who MUST be thoroughly medicated and vaccinated...at any cost! Why do the authorities forbid alternative medicine? Because they are serving the industry, and the industry cannot make money with herbs, vitamins, and homeopathy. They cannot patent natural remedies. That is why they push synthetics. They control medicine, and that is why they are able to tell medical schools what they can and cannot teach."

Forced Drugging of Children - Parents may face jail over compulsory drug orders
In the US judges can constitutionally order controversial drugs to be given to a child over the opposition of his parents. Parents are medicating their children for fear of having them hauled away by Child Protective Services. In the UK Parents of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will face jail under proposals in the new Mental Health Bill if they refuse to drug their children, a psychiatrist has warned.

Dr. Robert Titzer, Ph.D.-"Babies as young as three or four months old can be taught to read."

Now with the help of an early childhood brain-training program, you can accelerate the development potential of your child's brain, rom age 3-month and above, quickly and naturally. Your child's mental capabilities can progress faster than you ever thought possible

Do you know that the best time to teach a child to read is when they are still a baby? Unbelievable as it may sound, but research has clearly shown that children who start learning to read as a baby before beginning formal education tend to gain better self-esteem and higher confidence levels compared to others who begin their formal education in a more conventional manner.

Dr. Robert Titzer, Ph.D. "We have babies who by nine months of age, who can read many words." In more than 15 years of teaching, Dr. Titzer has worked extensively in researching and developing a method that takes advantage of your baby's natural learning skills. He believes that babies can learn to read as soon as they have visual tracking with their eyes. That's somewhere around 2-3 months old. Dr. Titzer says it's up to parents to work with their baby at home. He doesn't believe in waiting to let teachers at school do the work- because about 90-percent of brain development happens in the first five years of life.

In the first year, your baby’s brain triples in weight. By the end of the second, your toddler’s brain weighs three quarters that of an adult’s. The brain’s activity increases with its weight. The metabolism of a baby’s brain, as measured by how much blood sugar it uses, builds steadily from birth until the age of 3. At that point, your child’s brain is more than twice as active as yours, and it will remain so until he or she reaches puberty. All that internal energy and growth is matched by the toddler’s external activities: exploring the world, reaching out for objects, gurgling and practicing sounds (the building blocks of language).

The essence of the matter is to keep the process simple so that the baby can follow it, and to keep it enjoyable so that the baby follows it out of self-interest. If you are trying to force lessons into your tiny baby, then you are simply digging your way for a permanent fear and hatred of your kid towards reading. You don't have an option to force, you must make the sessions fun. It must be in an environment that the baby wants to live and relive in. The idea is that after your baby goes through one or a few of reading sessions, the baby will start looking out for the next reading session out of own. This can happen only if the reading session is an enjoyable experience. The best is to identify a session of around 30-40 minutes every day at a fixed time, so that it becomes a routine for the baby. The time can be more or less depending on the age and health of the baby.

Related: Articles on Enhancing Your Child's Intelligence

Why Children and Teens Should Stay Away From Cell Phones

While years ago scientists were dismissive of any risks associated with cell phone use, the accumulated amounts of studies showing health risks for long-term users now paint an entirely different picture. In addition to the Toronto Department of Health advisory, the U.K., Belgium, Germany, France and Russia have already introduced precautionary policies regarding cell phone usage due to potential health risks. For example, one Swedish review of 11 studies found that using your cell phone for 10 years or longer will double your risk of getting a tumor on a nerve connecting your ear to your brain (acoustic neuroma). And because children have thinner skulls than adults, and their nervous systems are still developing, children are particularly vulnerable to this type of tumor and should not use cell phones at all.

Related: Cell Phone and other Wi-Fi Radiation Exposure - Germany Warns Citizens to Avoid Using Wi-Fi

Beware of Infant Soy Formulas and Other Soy Products - Precocious (Early) Puberty

Contrary to popular belief that soy is a health food, evidence reveals that soy consumption has been linked to numerous disorders, including infertility, increased cancer and infantile leukemia, Type1 diabetes, and precocious puberty in children have been fed soy formula. (early maturation, such as breast development and menstruation as early as 6 years of age). Scientists have known for years that the isoflavones in soy products can depress thyroid function and cause goiters in otherwise healthy children and adults. A combined research team of Cornell University Medical College and Long Island Community Hospital medical experts have found that children who develop Type1 diabetes are twice as likely to have been fed soy formulas as those fed all other foods This confirms concerns based on animal studies raised in the 1980's and 1990s by Health Canada researcher Dr Fraser Scott and led to the American Academy of Pediatrics issuing their warning to pediatricians against any use of soy based formulas.

"Considering all of soy's health benefits, it is tempting for new and expectant mothers to see soy-based infant formula as a "miracle food" and to stock their pantries sky-high with the stuff. Well, hold on there mama. That most vulnerable member of the population, an infant unable to breastfeed, stands at great risk of developing a serious thyroid disorder due to a diet based entirely on soy formula. That disorder is hypothyroidism, or an under-active thyroid and it is a common cause of fatigue, depression, obesity, constipation, extreme sensitivity to cold and a number of other symptoms, most so common that the disorder can go undiagnosed for years." - Katie Mehrer

Dr. Mercola - "Soy formula is one of the worst foods that you could feed your child. Not only does it have profoundly adverse hormonal effects as discussed above, but it also has over 1000% more aluminum than conventional milk based formulas. It is becoming increasingly common for young children, even 5- and 6-year-olds, to go through precocious puberty (aka early sexual development). The introduction of this report even states that studies have found girls as young as 2 years old entering puberty! This is clearly a multi-faceted problem, but I believe one of its main causes stems from your environmental exposure to a whole slew of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Even the conservative US government has recognized that soy formula is a potent endocrine disruptor. There is absolutely no reason to ever give your child soy formula or soy milk. It is one of the worst foods you could possibly give your child and the long-term health complications can be quite significant. Prostate and breast cancer, early puberty, endometriosis and infertility, irregular and painful menstrual periods are only a few of the things your children will have increased risk for if they are given soy formula or soy milk. If you have already given your child these foods the best way to reverse the damage is to have them rigidly follow the eating plan. The nutrition from whole organic foods is the most potent corrective force for these disruptions in hormones. If you still aren't convinced of the dangers of soy you might want to review the protest letter two FDA experts wrote earlier this year which points to studies that show a link between soy and health problems in certain animals."

Related: More about the danger of soy products

Diethylene glycol Effects on Organs

The kidneys fail first. Then the central nervous system begins to misfire. Paralysis spreads, making breathing difficult, then often impossible without assistance. In the end, most victims die. Many of them are children, poisoned at the hands of their unsuspecting parents. The syrupy poison, diethylene glycol, is an indispensable part of the modern world, an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze. It is also a killer. And the deaths, if not intentional, are often no accident. Over the years, the poison has been loaded into all varieties of medicine cough syrup, fever medication, injectable drugs a result of counterfeiters who profit by substituting the sweet-tasting solvent for a safe, more expensive syrup, usually glycerin, commonly used in drugs, food, toothpaste and other products. Toxic syrup has figured in at least eight mass poisonings around the world in the past two decades. Researchers estimate that thousands have died. In many cases, the precise origin of the poison has never been determined.

Nutrition for Children and Babies

A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that children who experience malnutrition exhibit strikingly increased behavioral disorders and aggressive behavior as they grow older. Children who suffered certain nutritional deficiencies demonstrated a shocking 41% increase in aggression at age eight. At age 17, they demonstrated a 51% increase in violent and antisocial behaviors. And the only difference is their diet.

There are many serious consequences of generation after generation having diets deficient in an element essential for normal development of the nervous system. In 1996, Laura J. Stevens, of the Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, and co-investigators published an extremely important paper in Physiology and Behavior. The researchers found that boys with lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood showed more problems with behavior, learning, and health than those with higher levels of total omega-3 fatty acids.

Childhood obesity, diabetes, and related illnesses are becoming major health problems in America. Nutrition journalist Critser presents a critical analysis of the many social and economic factors that make Americans, contrary to the book's subtitle, the second-fattest people in the world (the South Sea Islanders are fatter). He blames parents' reluctance to monitor their children's eating habits; the marketing tactics of fast-food companies, which influence us to overeat; the preponderance of fad diets; the phasing out of physical education programs in schools; and the sale of fast foods at schools to save money on dining facilities. Lower-income families have higher rates of obesity regardless of race, ethnicity, and gender, which the author attributes to lack of information about diet and exercise and the wide diversity of cultural beliefs about weight, body size, and self-esteem. Critser urges Americans to tackle obesity head on, concluding with descriptions of initiatives that worked when communities launched a cooperative effort to change their eating habits and avoid the path to lifelong obesity. An important work that belongs in all nutrition and public health collections.

The VelociTea Holy Detox Tea Weight Loss Program is much more effective than Chinese Green Tea Just drinking the Holy Tea regularly often results in a reduction in the amount of stored fat in the body, and a significant reduction in the size of the abdomen or belly. For some people, the weight loss has been achieved quickly and rather dramatically, but individual results will vary. When the excess weight is actually from impacted fecal matter stuck to the inside wall of the colon and small intestine, no amount of dieting or fat loss or exercise can reduce the size of the belly. But Holy Tea can! If you have bloat, midriff bulge, or a "beer belly" then Holy Tea can help you shed pounds and lose inches around your waist. Dr. Miller's Detox VelociTea ingredients include persimmon leaves which can inhibits weight gain and lowers lipid levels. The VelociTea is a safe, good-tasting, detoxifying herbal tea which has been used with great results for over 20 years in Dr. Miller's two clinics by thousands of persons who suffered with:

* Acid Reflux Disease (GERD) or Heartburn
* Indigestion / Stomach Ache
* Irregularity / Constipation / Hard Stools / Hemorrhoids
* Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) / Crohn's Disease
* Abdominal Pain / Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs)
* Spastic Colon / Colitis / Ileitis
* Excess Gas / Flatulence
* Bad Breath / Bad Body Odor
* Belching / Bloating
* Enlarged Abdomen / Protruding Belly
* Excess Stored Fat / Excess Weight / Obesity
* Skin Conditions / Itchy, flakey skin or scalp
* Inflamed Skin / Dermatitis / Eczema / Psoriasis
* Allergies and Hay Fever / Food Allergies
* Fibromyalgia / Sciatica
* Joint Pain / Arthritis / Migraine Headaches
* Insomnia / Restless sleep
* Low Energy / Loss of Mental Clarity and Concentration / "Brain Fog" / Forgetfulness

Related: Learn more about healing teas and VelociTea

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
Generational Consequences of Nutritional Deficiency - Dr. Price traveled to the far corners of the world to find the most primitive cultures on each continent, and compared their traditional diets to the standard Western diet. Photo after photo in his book points up the glaring difference between the health and APPEARANCE of the natives of whatever culture nourished on their traditional diet and those whose diets had been disrupted and "displaced" by the "white diet"...a diet high in refined foods like white sugar, bleached white flour, polished rice, and synthetic fats. He also carefully laid out the guidelines for a natural unrefined diet that would be suitable for modern Americans. Too bad all that careful research and excellent advice has been ignored. Today's SAD (standard American diet) is a god-awful, unbalanced grain-heavy (65% "complex carbohydrates") piece of tomfoolery that bears no resemblance to the diet that nourished and nurtured our ancestors.

Do you have a question about Natural Health or need assistance? Contact Shirley
Call 323-522-4521 or 323-989-3372

FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Cautions for Use of Antidepressants in Adults and Children

Poor mood, depression, and low energy have become epidemic in America. There are literally tens of millions of American men, women and children that suffer from some level of emotional disturbance. Although day-to-day stress can be considered a precipitating factor, there are multiple studies in the medical literature indicating that proper nutrition is critical to maintaining emotional health. Stress, anxiety, tension and depression are intimately connected with most illness.

The Food and Drug Administration today issued a Public Health Advisory that provides further cautions to physicians, their patients, and families and caregivers of patients about the need to closely monitor both adults and children with depression. The drugs under review include bupropion, citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, mirtazapine, nefazodone, paroxetine, sertraline, escitalopram and venlafaxine. It should be noted that the only drug that has received approval for use in children with major depressive disorder is fluoxetine (Prozac).

According to the first comprehensive scientific review to include all available studies, including negative data that have long been withheld from public scrutiny by the pharmaceutical industry, four popular antidepressants being used to treat thousands of depressed American children are unsafe, ineffective or both. Those antidepressants are: Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Celexa. This is damning evidence of the drug companies' patent disregard for the safety of humans and focus on profits. GlaxoSmithKline was found to be concealing evidence that shows that these drugs do not benefit children in any way and only increase their risk of killing themselves. This was confirmed in an article in the Canadian Medical Journal. Drug companies do the research and learn that the drugs don't work, yet are willing to sell and market them to children even when it is clear that they are causing many children to commit suicide.

Antidepressants, Diet and Aggressive Behavior

A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that children who experience malnutrition exhibit strikingly increased behavioral disorders and aggressive behavior as they grow older. Children who suffered certain nutritional deficiencies demonstrated a shocking 41% increase in aggression at age eight. At age 17, they demonstrated a 51% increase in violent and antisocial behaviors. And the only difference is their diet.

Lendon Smith, M.D. - "Most of the children I treated with diet and supplements no longer needed the Ritalin they had been taking. Their problem was not a Ritalin deficiency. They had mineral and vitamin deficiencies. Their behavior good mornings and terrible afternoons; either sleepy or restless and inattentive were easily explained by their diet. Along with a better diet, they needed minerals to act as co-enzymes for basic metabolism. As I expanded my research with reading and using nutrition as treatment for patients, I noted that the nutritional approach was valid for other conditions not just the hyperactive child."

Direct link between the violent shootings and the increased and indiscriminate use of popular antidepressant drugs. Dr. Whitaker M.D points out that many of the gun-related massacres that have made the headlines over the past decade have a common thread: they were perpetrated by people taking Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox,Paxil, or a related drug. A documented side effect of these drugs -- known clinically as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- is akathisia, or physical and mental agitation. Dr. Whitaker says "akathisia is to violence what a match is to gasoline. And this condition has been reported in a significant number of Prozac users." Moreover, the Food and Drug Administration has received over 40,000 reports detailing adverse effects related to Prozac. - The Scourge of Prozac by Dr. Julian Whitaker MD

Dr Peter Breggin M.D. the eminent psychiatrist and author (Toxic Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac, Talking Back to Ritalin), told me: "With Luvox, there is some evidence of a four percent rate for mania in adolescents. Mania, for certain individuals could be a component in grandiose plans to destroy large numbers of other people. Mania can go over the hill to psychosis."

Related: Discovery of How Anti-Depressants Cause Psychotic Breaks

Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies in Children and Adults

Doris Rapp offers a simple yet effective approach to handling "problem" children.Is This Your Child? shows parents how to identify the common foods, chemicals, or common allergic substances that could be the culprits that cause some children or adults to feel unwell or act inappropriately. If your child is always sick, hyperactive, a slow learner, or cranky, the first question you should ask is not "What drug should be prescribed?" or "What have I done wrong as a parent?" Instead, find out the cause. Dr. Rapp gives sensible suggestions about how these reactions to foods and environmental factors can be recognized, prevented, and treated. With this information, many affected children should feel, act, behave, and learn better. If you can detect unsuspected environmental illness in your child--or yourself--you can change your lives so you're more content, happy, and free of illness.

"This book was an eye opener for us. Our daughter had many ADHD type symptoms; angry outbursts, emotional meltdowns, and was fidgety, restless, and unable to stay focused. After following the book's recommended rotational diet, we figured out what foods she reacted to. Avoiding those foods (especially corn) produced dramatic positive results. She is now an alert, attentive, angel of a child. This book is a must for any parent with a problematic child." an amazon.com reviewer: Dale Sherman from Syracuse, NY

Dr. Doris Rapp is a board certified environmental medical specialist and pediatric allergist. She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the founder of the Practical Allergy Research Foundation. She is the author of The New York Times best seller, 'Is This Your Child?'

Conventional Drugs may impair immune function

Dr. John Mills MD - "Conventional drugs used for treating asthma, particularly steroids, can impair immune function and lead to more serious health problems. "Doctors tell you that steroids (cortisone, prednisone) only cause side effects after many years. But new research shows that permanent damage is immediate and devastating. Studies show that steroids cause permanent, debilitating effects after a single dosage. Steroids are probably the most sleazy of modern day medications" John Mills, former professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and chief of infectious diseases at San Francisco General Hospital.

Related: Natural Alternative Treatments for Asthma and Allergies

Mark Stengler ND - "Conventional medicine seeks to reduce this inflammation by using anti-inflammatory medications, or use pharmaceutical inhalants to temporarily dilate the passageway. There are two limitations to this approach. Firstly, every drug has the risk of side effects. Secondly, the drug approach does not offer a long term solution. In my opinion, there are natural approaches that work to treat the cause of asthma and offer long term success."

Dr. Doris Rapp MD - "There are hundreds of thousands of parents who have seen their children become wild and uncontrollable from a highly colored beverage or cereal."

Is This Your Child's World?

This is a great book that details how environmental hazards along with food allergies affect children. It analyzes schools and homes to inform people of the chemicals, paint, carpeting, spices, etc. cause symptoms of Learning Disabilities or behavior problems. The chapters in this book are broken down specifically to help you target your concerns. I loved the pictoral and writing samples given in this book. As a special educator, I found this book extremely helpful in my school building and with my own family.

Dr. Rapp, whose appearance on the Donahue showseveral years ago brought the largest response in the show's history (140,000 letters!), and whose subsequent book on children's allergies, Is This Your Child?, has been a best-seller for many years, distills vital information into simple suggestions for dealing with the complexities of allergies.

Related: More about Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity: Safe and Effective alternatives to drugs

Do your children use sugar free products?

H. J. Roberts, M.D.: "I have observed severe intellectual deterioration associated with the use of aspartame products (NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful/Canderal/Benevia, etc.) It was usually manifest as great difficulty in reading and writing, obvious problems with memory and grossly impaired orientation to time, place and person."

James Bowen, M.D. told the FDA years ago "Every known metabolite of aspartame is of marked or questionable toxicity and patently unsafe for human use." In Aspartame Murders Infants he said: "At every point in the fertility process aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful/Canderal/Benevia, etc.) destroys. ....It ruins female sexual response and induces male sexual dysfunction. Beyond this, aspartame disrupts fetal development by aborting it or inducing defects. And if a live child is born aspartame may have heinously damaged the DNA of the baby cursing future generation." See his paper on Sperm Warfare. We are now taking case histories for class action on aspartame starting with seizures, brain tumors, eye deterioration and blindness, etc. Learn about the Legal class action against aspartame

Thyroid disorder and Fluoride Poisoning

Two main thyroid disorders: Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid. The thyroid hormones regulate (1) metabolism, (2) growth and developement,(3) the activity of the nervous system. An under production of these hormones is a hypothyroid condition, while an overproduction creates a hyperthyroid condition .

Protecting The Thyroid Gland of Your Children In Radiation Emergencies "The toll of thyroid cancer carried by the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster could have been prevented, new evidence suggests. And a British cancer expert agrees that had a simple supplement been given to young children in the former Soviet Union who were in the path of the radioactive cloud which covered much of Eastern Europe, much suffering could have been prevented. The disaster, in 1986, happened when a reactor at Chernobyl, in the now-independent state of Ukraine, melted down, throwing large quantities of radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. One of these, radioactive iodine, is absorbed by the thyroid gland, particularly in very young children, where it can cause cancer, in some cases many years later."

Water The Great Healer

"Every function inside the body is regulated by and depends on water. Water must be available to carry vital elements, oxygen, hormones, and chemical messengers to all parts of the body. Water is also needed to carry toxic waste away from the cells. Medical professionals have been educated to treat pain and disease with medications---they do not understand the problems associated with dehydration." Batmanghelidj, M.D.

Even infants are at risk. Babies often cry when they are thirsty

Do you have a question about Natural Health or need assistance? Contact Shirley
Call 323-522-4521 or 323-989-3372

Infant Circumcision: the hidden trauma

Benefits of routine infant circumcision have been thoroughly disproven. Studies have shown that circumcision, far from being a harmless and painless procedure, is one of the most painful procedures that can be performed on an infant and has potentially far-reaching detrimental physical and psychological consequences.

Infant Circumcision: "What I Wish I Had Known"

I didn't know what circumcision was when I consented to have my three sons circumcised. My doctor had told me the surgery was a necessary health measure, that it didn't hurt, and that it only took a moment to perform... like cutting the umbilical cord, I thought. I certainly wasn't prepared when, in nursing school several years later, I saw the surgery for the first time.

"We students filed into the newborn nursery to find a baby strapped spread-eagle to a plastic board on a counter top across the room. He was struggling against his restraints tugging, whimpering, and then crying helplessly. . . . I stroked his little head and spoke softly to him. He began to relax and was momentarily quiet. The silence was soon broken by a piercing screamthe baby’s reaction to having his foreskin pinched and crushed as the doctor attached the clamp to his penis. The shriek intensified when the doctor
inserted an instrument between the foreskin and the glans (head of the penis), tearing the two structures apart. The baby started shaking his head back and forththe only part of his body free to moveas the doctor used another clamp to crush the foreskin lengthwise, which he then cut. This made the opening of the foreskin large enough to insert a circumcision instrument, the device used to protect the glans from being severed during the surgery. The baby began to gasp and choke, breathless from his shrill continuous screams. . . . During the next stage of the surgery, the doctor crushed the foreskin against the circumcision instrument and then, finally, amputated it. The baby was limp, exhausted, spent."...

Dental Fluorisis - Children at Risk

Have you seen children and young adults among your family and friends with those whitish spots or flecks on their teeth or, in more extreme cases, dark streaks that look like decay? This is the effect of dental fluorosis, the first visible sign of overexposure to fluoride. In some communities, the incidence of dental fluorosis is 30 to 60 percent or more. Fluoride ingestion from mouth rinses and dentifrices in children is extremely hazardous to biological development, life span and general health. Research from China has shown a correlation between exposure to low doses of fluoride and diminished IQ in children.

Research is beginning to show that the cavity-fighting power of fluoride may have been overstated. Recent studies in the Journal of Dental Research conclude that tooth decay rates in Western Europe, which is 98 percent unfluoridated, have declined as much as they have in the United States in recent decades. Indeed, it's only in the United States that fluoride is championed by the government.

Most European nations -- including Germany, France, Sweden and Holland -- prohibit fluoride on public health grounds.

Homeopathy for Children and Infants

growing number of parents are concerned about the potential side effects of conventional drugs and are now turning to the safer medicine-homeopathy. Infants and children respond so well to homeopathic medicines that the good results they experience often encourage the parents to try the remedies themselves. It is time that parents and physicians seek safe, natural and effective alternatives to conventional, potentially harmful drugs. Homeopathic medicine is one such alternative. Learn about homeopathic medicine for childhood ailments such as bedwetting, chicken pox, measles, colds, flus, teething, constipation, sore throats, earaches, diarrhea, and much more.

Do you have a question about Natural Health or need assistance? Contact Shirley
Call 323-522-4521 or 323-989-3372