NEWSLETTER Dec 2008

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Happy Holidays!!

The office will be closed from December 23rd through January 4th. No one will be checking the office phone (813-919-5211) or the office email manager.abh@gmail.com) until January 5, 2009. If something urgent arises that cannot wait until January 5th, please contact Dr. Camp directly on her cell phone.

We are still raising funds to help get NDs licensed in Florida, and we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has donated. Our immediate goal is to raise $85,000 so we can find a sponsor and hire a lobbyist. Long-term we need to raise $265,000 so our first year after licensure is a smooth one. If anyone is looking for a good cause to donate to, please keep the Florida Naturopathic Physicians Association (FNPA) in mind and help make Naturopathic care available to everyone. Every state that is added to the licensed pool ensures we are that much closer to Naturopathic Medicine becoming a choice for everyone in America.

Dr. Camp has had to postpone her trip to Oklahoma to see patients until February and will not be speaking at the Parent's Fighting Autism meeting on January 19, 2009. Mercedes will send an email out when it is time to start scheduling for her February visit.

Fluoride and Health

  • Is fluoride really so good for us? Like many of you, I grew up believing that fluoride helped prevent tooth decay and that I should brush my teeth with fluoride toothpaste. So, I used it every day. The dentist gave fluoride treatments and fluoride was added to municipal water supplies, so tap water and anything made with it contained fluoride too. If it was not healthy why would people add it to toothpaste and water? If it was not good for us, surely government regulatory agencies (such as the EPA) would have banned its use. But it turns out, this is a false sense of security...
  • Consider the following:
    • Fluoride
      • occurs naturally in the earth's crust. It is found in natural water supplies, usually in very low levels (less than 1 part/million) and in small amounts in all our food because plants absorb fluoride from the soil.
      • is commonly used in pesticides, so plant foods grown with pesticides have an even higher concentration.
      • is highly toxic to humans, more than lead. Just 2-5 grams of sodium fluoride (typical amount in toothpaste) can be lethal if consumed all at once.
      • builds up in the tissues of animals and so the highest dietary source is in animal foods and processed foods, especially fish. Other sources include, toothpaste, tap water, dental supplements and as an additive in some bottled waters.
      • is not an essential nutrient for your body and there is no such thing as fluoride deficiency.
  • So what about our teeth? Well, when used topically (mouth rinse, toothpaste) it is believed that fluoride can help prevent cavities by literally poisoning the bacteria in your mouth. Unfortunately, because fluoride is so toxic, you're taking a big risk because you not only poison the bacteria in your mouth but your other cells as well. Fluoride only works topically. If you swallow fluoride, it won't help your teeth at all except to the extent it touches them. So fluoride supplements are utterly worthless.
      • Consider this statement: "Fluoride inhibits enzymes that breed acid-producing oral bacteria whose acid eats away tooth enamel. This observation is valid, but some scientists now believe that the harmful impact of fluoride on other useful enzymes far outweighs the beneficial effect on caries prevention." - UNICEF, Dec 1999
      • Aside from the risk of death, other conditions can arise from the use of fluoride such as Fluorosis. Dental fluorosis occurs at a young age, and the main symptom is discolored and/or pitted teeth, but the outward signs on the teeth are believed to be linked with a deeper neurological impairment and skeletal fluorosis. Skeletal fluorosis is an arthritic disease caused by a build-up of fluoride in the bones that can cause the bones to become brittle. Studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that hip fractures are more common in communities that fluoridate their water supply.
      • There is a growing link between fluoride and underactive thyroid conditions:
      • Also, fluoridated water is linked with reduced cognitive ability in children. Over 30 animal studies showed that fluoride is a neurotoxin which reduces learning and memory. Other complications from fluoride include kidney damage and cancer.
      • More health effects: Fluoride Health Effects Database
  • So why did we start adding fluoride to water and toothpaste? It is a long story, but one that is riddled with fraud and misrepresentation. Follow these links to the stories:
  • As Steve Pavlina summarizes, "the bottom line is that fluoride is an industrial pollutant which became a serious problem several decades ago, and this problem was essentially solved by devising ways to feed the stuff to humans. Today it's become a difficult issue that involves big business, large sums of money, the ADA, the FDA, and somewhere near the bottom of the political food chain… health."
  • Water fluoridation has been banned in Japan, China, India, and most European countries. In Europe, the levels of tooth decay are no worse than in the USA.
    • "All of the recent large-scale studies on fluoridation and tooth decay show that fluoridation does not reduce tooth decay. Studies from New Zealand, Canada, Europe, and the US have confirmed no difference in decay rates for permanent teeth of residents of fluoridated vs. non-fluoridated communities." (source)
    • "In summary, we hold that fluoridation is an unreasonable risk. That is, the toxicity of fluoride is so great and the purported benefits associated with it are so small - if there are any at all - that requiring every man, woman and child in America to ingest it borders on criminal behavior on the part of governments." - Dr. J. William Hirzy, Senior Vice-President, Headquarters Union, US Environmental Protection Agency, March 26, 2001
    • "I am quite convinced that water fluoridation, in a not-too-distant future, will be consigned to medical history." - Dr. Arvid Carlsson, Winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine
  • There are no health reasons for fluoridation and, in fact, there are many, many health reasons to avoid it at all costs.
  • Fluoridation is simply a combination of business and politics.
  • Be aware that some bottled water companies do fluoridate their water. Sparkletts and Trinity Springs do and Arrowhead does not. If you want to know, call the company you use and ask them how much fluoride is in their water and whether or not they add fluoride. You can use a reverse osmosis water filter to reduce fluoride from tap water, as well as distillation, but keep in mind you need to re-mineralize both types of water.
  • Wouldn't you expect your dentist to know this information? Most dentists learn about fluoride from the same people that market it to consumers. By simply by reading this article and the links you may indeed know more about fluoride than your dentist does, unless your dentist happens to be exceptional. And if he or she is, their advice will be to stop using fluoride.
  • Look beyond the fluoride hype and decide if fluoride is something you want in your body. To control cavities, address the root cause. Reduce the acidity of your diet and help prevent your teeth from dissolving. Especially cut out refined sugar and coffee and eat more raw fruits and vegetables.
  • Fluoride sites with articles, information, and research:

 

NAC - a little miracle

  • N Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) highlights
    • stimulates glutathione synthesis, promoting detoxification
    • helpful in conditions where we see decreased glutathione and oxidative stress: HIV infection, cancer, heart disease, and cigarette smoking
    • acts directly as a free radical scavenger
    • used historically as a mucolytic [mucus dissolving] agent in a variety of respiratory illnesses
    • useful alongside chemotherapy to reduce memory loss, increase focus and concentration
    • prevents nephropathy (kidney pathology)
    • may prevent toxicity to the kidneys during x-ray testing after injection with a contrast material
    • for liver damage due to acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose
    • being looked at as an Alzheimer's preventative supplement
    • NAC Side Effects: nausea with large doses
    • safe nutrient as long as the dosage is kept to less than 500 mg

 

Toxic Toys - Oh No!

  • NPR — Report: Toxins Found In One-Third Of Toys Tested — By Wendy Kaufman — (Wednesday, December 03, 2008) — Morning Edition, December 3, 2008
  • Link to Story
  • One in three toys tested by a Michigan nonprofit group contained medium or high levels of toxic chemicals, according to a report released Wednesday. And U.S.-made children's toys didn't necessarily contain fewer toxins than their imported counterparts.
  • The Ecology Center tested 1,500 stuffed animals, books, games, action figures and other products. Jeff Gearhart, who led the Healthy Toys study, said one-third of the toys — about 500 — contained significant levels of lead, arsenic and other chemicals. The results showed no consistent correlation between the presence of toxic chemicals in toys and where they were made or how much they cost.
  • "The one exception to that rule would be cheap children's jewelry," he said. "We found that jewelry is five times as likely to have elevated levels of lead in it than any of the other products we tested."
  • Infant books and bath toys are among other products that received poor scores.
  • Last year, a number of toys made in China were recalled because of toxic chemicals. In the most recent survey, 21 percent of toys made in China and 16 percent made elsewhere contained high or moderate levels of lead. Of the U.S.-made toys tested, 35 percent had detectable levels of lead.
  • However, Gearhart said about half as many of the toys tested this year contained lead, compared with last year. Still, toys containing certain plasticizers — which will be banned beginning in February — remain on store shelves.
  • At a Seattle-area drug store, Natasha Freidus, the mother of a 1-year-old, was frustrated to find vinyl baby books that may contain the soon-to-be-banned chemical. "It's not just about not knowing what's in the toys," she said. "As a parent, I feel like I shouldn't have to know exactly what's in the toys. I should know that if it's a toy for a baby, I can give it to my baby and feel comfortable with it."
  • She and other parents will get some relief when stricter regulations and new government oversight go into effect next year.
  • Healthy Toys - check out this very cool web site!

 

Tasty Smoothie - thanks for sharing Twila!!!

  • Sarma's Cilantro Shake - (source)
  • Ingredients:
    • Pink Grapefruit
    • Cucumber
    • Cilantro
    • Lime
    • Pineapple
    • Agave Nectar or stevia
    • Vanilla Extract
    • BIG pinch of Cinnamon
    • Pinch of salt
  • Directions
    • In a blender, (Vitamix if you have one) throw a pink peeled grapefruit, peeled cucumber, lots and lots and lots of cilantro - like half a bunch, a lime, some pineapple, agave nectar or stevia, vanilla extract, BIG pinch of cinnamon, and pinch of salt.
  • More Love for Cilantro
    • Free radicals are everywhere - in the water we drink, food we eat, and in the air we breathe. The main defense to free radicals (coming from pollution, x-rays, radiation, chemicals, heavy metals) are antioxidants. Cilantro leaves are rich in calcium, iron, carotenes, and vitamin C, which it happens are great antioxidants. A Japanese investigator, Yoshiaki Omura, has made the revolutionary discovery that cilantro can mobilize mercury and other toxic metals from the central nervous system if large enough amounts are consumed daily. Reuters reports that cilantro contains a chemical which has been found to kill the Salmonella bacteria that cause food borne illness. The heavy metal detox capabilities of cilantro should also make it of great use in the treatment of depression, Alzheimer's disease, lack of concentration and other related disorders. In other words, this herb can apparently help to keep you happy, focused, and sane!

FDA approves Stevia

  • (Austin, TX) December 19, 2008. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the herb stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) as a safe food additive.
  • "This is historic news," said ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. "Given the FDA's earlier attempts to keep stevia from the market in the early 1990s, the agency's approval of stevia as a safe food ingredient is good news for millions of American consumers who are seeking a safe, natural, non-caloric sweetener."