Prescriptions for Health "Fastrack" October, 2011

Monday    October 3, 2011

Acid Blockers Triple Risk of C. Diff Infections

Use of proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, Aciphex and others were associated with a 320% increase in C. diff enterocolitis after just 30 days of treatment. PPIs block the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron and B12 and increase the risk for osteoporosis, senile dementia, and cardiac rhythm disturbances as well.

Tuesday    October 4, 2011

Wednesday     October 5, 2011

Many MD's Believe they Overtreat

A survey of US primary care MDs revealed that 42% believe they administer too much medical treatment. The reasons are related to malpractice concerns, clinical performance measures, inadequate time with their patients. They believe that are paid more to do more and exposed to legal punishment if they do less. Medicine is now a business first and a service when convenient or when there's no other choice.

Thursday    October 6, 2011

Potatoes are the Richest Veggie Source of Potassium

The potato has gotten a bad rap! It is good for lowering blood pressure and it is the richest and most economical veggie source of potassium. It has many other vitamins, minerals, and nutrients such as vitamin C and catalase. The cost of potassium rich white potatoes was half that of most other veggies. It is what we put on the potato that can get us into trouble. We don't need the trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, and other unhealthy condiments. What I like on a potato is a bit of organic butter, flax seed oil, minced garlic, sea salt, and different herbs and spices. One medium sized potato several times a week is a very healthy delight.

Friday    October 7, 2011

Serum B12 Levels Do Not Assess Deficiency Adequately

A new study documents that poor vitamin B12 status is a risk factor for brain atrophy and cognitive impairment and  highlights the importance of its metabolites that are not routinely assessed. Higher levels of several markers of vitamin B12 deficiency, especially methlmalonic acid (MMA), homocysteine, 2-methycitrate, and cystathionine, are associated with low B12 activity. Vitamin B12 is intimately related to energy production, red cell metabolism, protection against cancer and in immune function. Elevated levels of these metabolites was associated with decreased brain volume at 5 years.

Monday    October 10, 2011

Health Insurance Premiums Are on the Rise

 

According to a Kaiser Foundation study, the cost of health insurance premiums continues to climb for companies and workers, with annual family premiums this year (2011) growing at a pace triple of 2010 and outpacing wage increases. Family premiums in employer sponsored health plans increased 9% in 2011 and single premiums increased 8% compared to3% and 5% last year. Since 2001 premiums have increased 113% and now average more than $15,000 per year! 31% of those insured are paying $1000 before insurance even kicks in. One of the few benefits is that young adults under age 26 can still get health insurance under their parent's family plan.

Tueesday    October 11, 2011

Acetyl l-carnitine Speeds Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

Severe spinal cord injury recovery times can be significantly shortened by using acetyl l-carnitine early after the injury. Damaged mitochondria can be resuscitated and begin making ATP by speeding the delivery of long chain fatty acids across the mitochondrial cell membrane, where they can be used for making cellular fuel.

Another mechanism to consider to resuscitate mitochondria is to also add near infrared light therapy at about 870 nm because this has been shown to stimulate cytochrome C oxidase and increase the production of ATP. When I read this article I forwarded an email to the authors of this publication...no response so far.

Wednesday    October 12, 2011

The Role of Spirit in Healing

Mainstream medicine does not take into account the role of spirit in healthcare. In fact is discounts it because it cannot be understood in scientific language. By doing so it deprives the practitioner from considering the spiritual aspects of patients. Our reductionistic approach cannot consider the wholeness of each human being let alone the wholeness of everything in the universe.

Mainstream medicine also cannot understand that physical disease is the physical expression of psychospiritual dysfunction. It is not clear that the body reflects our psychospiritual function and provides us with somatic issues that are intended to reflect our deeper psychospiritual challenges. When we see our physician often times our symptoms are resolved, but the deeper inner healing is rarely even addressed.

There is a big difference between curing symptoms and healing the whole person. Until we include this aspect of the practice of medicine we are undoing the messages of the universe that have offered physical disability as a reflector of deeper issues we're not able to resolve without growing spiritually.

Thursday    October 13, 2011

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome is defined, its diagnosis, and mechanism of action described. The role of the microflora of the intestinal tract in maintaining normal sized intestinal pores is reviewed. The physiology and pathology of leaky gut syndrome is reviewed.

Friday    October 14, 2011

A  Return To Healing Chapter 1: A Surprise Healing of My Wife's Illness

"A Surprise Healing of My Wife's Illness" describes the factors leading to a turning point in my relatiohship to medical practice. I can no longer restrict my practice to conventional medicine and begin a new journey of natural healing of the whole person.

Monday    October 17, 2011

Occupy Wall Street: Effects on Health Care

Occupy Wall Street is now a global movement to stop the greed of corporate America that is oppressing 99% of the middle class and poor. The effects of this greed on health care are reviewed as Dr. Len points out that even though there are 30 million more Americans who'll quality for Medicaid, that the quality and extent of services are being soundly compromised. Health care has never been more expensive and corporate profits have never been higher.

I have witnessed the systematic dismantling of health care as HMOs and hospitals have purchased nearly all doctors' practices. The practice of medicine has become a business where the good of the patient is no longer the primary factor.

Tuesday    October 18, 2011

Environmental Toxins Linked to Heart Attacks and Strokes

Environmental toxins such as dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides can increase the risk for heart attacks and strokes. These fat soluble toxins accumulate in blood vessel walls and are slow to be excreted. We need to clean up our environment and practice intelligent detoxification if we want to deal with this potentially massive issue.

Wednesday    October 19, 2011

Medical Buzz Words Signal Economic Take Over of US Health Care

When the buzz words of medical practice change, they reflect a change in how it works. Today's medicine now looks at hospitals as factories and office visits as economic transactions. Patients are no longer patients but consumers or customers. Doctors and nurses are considered providers. Reducing medicine to economics makes a mockery of the bond between the healer and the sick. Further treatment protocols are created subjectively and work as factory blueprints far too often. Who is left to listen and care to us when we're sick?

Thursday    October  20, 2011

Can Supplements Cause Cancer

In previous studies it has been shown that certain vitamins and minerals can lower the risk of prostate cancer. Now a study shows that vitamin E at 400 IU/day for several years actually increased the risk of prostate cancer by 17%.

We tend to assume that supplements are entirely safe when the data is not in. This thinking is no different from big pharma's position that drugs are safe. Granted there's a major difference in the annual mortality from supplements (about 50) and pharmaceutical drugs (about 400,000). So it still pays to be on the conservative side about the use of supplements. Lifestyle is our most powerful medicine...and its completely safe!

Friday    October 21, 2011

Mammogram Overview

There is considerable confusion about the role of mammograms in breast cancer detection in premenopausal women. The US is the only country in the world making the recommendation that they be done on women under the age of 50. The people standing to profit from doing mammograms in this age group are the mammogram industry, Big Pharma in the sale of chemotherapy, and health care practitioners who treat people for cancer. Too many early cancers are found that do not progress and which do not kill are found and unnecessarily treated (DCIS). Recent data shows that it is necessary to do 1800 mammograms to save a single life. This would lead to far too many biopsies and treatment.

Monday    October 25, 2011

The Aids Blunder with David Rasnick PhD

Is AIDS caused by HIV? There is a longstanding debate between scientists and clinicians about the cause of HIV/AIDS that relates to what causes it. HIV is a retrovirus; none have ever been shown to cause disease in humans. All known viral disease have demonstrable viral particles that can be isolated and shown to infect other humans. This has never been done with AIDS. The HIV virus is a passenger virus that is a marker of AIDS, but it is not its cause. 

Retroviruses are not sexually transmitted. There is a selective population of people who get AIDS that makes it difficult to conclude it is an infectious disease. There are no scientific studies showing that AIDS is sexually transmitted.

Tuesday    October 25, 2011

Autoimmunity

There is an epidemic of autoimmune diseases that include hay fever, asthma, diabetes, collagen vascular diseases, and hypothyroidism. The causes of this epidemic range from heavy metal toxicity to drugs and environmental toxins. Our immune system attacks our tissues and we use drugs to suppress our immune system. There are other options for treatment that relate to GI immunity (leaky gut syndrome), lowering the antigenic load (discussed), preserving a high antioxidant load, balancing pH, and supporting a healthy lifestyle.

Wednesday    October 26, 2011

What You Should Know About Blood Pressure Pills

The goal of Big Pharma is to sell drugs, whether safe or not. It is always advertising new on-patent drugs because they have the greatest potential for profit. The most effective drug for blood pressure control has been around for 50 years, is off-patent, is about $10 per month; it is called hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ). Even HCTZ causes problems that include elevated cholesterol, insulin resistance, loss of potassium and magnesium, and an increased risk for gout.

Thursday    October 27, 2011

Chiropractic Care Superior to Medical Treatment with Physical Physical Therapy

A recent study conducted by medical professionals outside the chiropractic profession concluded that chiropractic care is more effective for common, work-related, low back pain when compard to treatment by a physical therapist of physician. Overall chiropractic patients had lower medical expenses, fewer disability recurrences, and shorter initial periods of disability. It also uses less medication and results in fewer surgeries.

Friday    October 28, 2011

Embracing our infinite potential & living abundantly everyday with Francesco Garripoli

Aloha my friends... I don't agree to interviews all that much as you know... but when Lilou Mace of www.JuicyLivingTour.com approached me - with several friends making a good case for it - I conceded... Here's what this amazing woman just posted... You'll see that Nana enjoyed the experience too! I pray we always do our best to inspire others to rise to their personal potential and empowerment... Keep dreaming... wide awake... Peace... Francesco

Monday    October 31, 2011

Wellness Buffer

The "wellness buffer" is a range on a spectrum between ideal / perfect health and when the symptoms of disease begin. It takes loss of considerable reserve function before things deteriorate to the point where you first develop symptoms. We should all be working hard to preserve this buffer between perfect functionability and where dysfunctionality begins to become apparent. Unfortunately we've been convinced by the business of health care to wait until we get sick before we take action to preserve our wellness.

Prescriptions for Health Radio Show: Fastrack Archives

This archive is a work in progress. At the end of every week, the most recent editions of Prescriptions for Health, Fastrack edition, will be posted on the DoctorSaputo.com Radio page. Shows from the previous week are then archived. There can be as many as 40 shows archived for a month.

Fastrack Archive January 2011

Fastrack Archive Febuary 2011

Fastrack Archive March 2011

Fastrack Archive April 2011

Fastrack Archive May 2011

All "Fastrack" Archives starting in June are in video!

Fastrack Archive June 2011

Fastrack Archive July 2011

Fastrack Archive August 2011

Fastrack Archive September 2011