What Causes Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes usually develops due to an autoimmune disorder. This is when the body's immune system behaves inappropriately and starts seeing one of its own tissues as foreign. In the case of type 1 diabetes, the islet cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are seen as the "enemy" by mistake. The body then creates antibodies to fight the "foreign" tissue and destroys the islet cells' ability to produce insulin. The lack of sufficient insulin thereby results in diabetes.

It is unknown why this autoimmune diabetes develops. Sometimes it is a genetic tendency. Sometimes it follows a viral infection such as mumps, rubella, cytomegalovirus, measles, influenza, encephalitis, polio, or Epstein-Barr virus. It has been shown through studies that children who develop DM 1 have a higher number of life stress events than controls. Cow's milk has been implicated. Other less common (very rare) causes of type 1 diabetes include injury to the pancreas from toxins, trauma, or after the surgical removal of the majority (or all) of the pancreas.

The medical community still does not know the cause of DM 2, or what makes one person's cells become resistant to insulin and not another person. However, there are various factors that have been shown to increase the risk of getting DM 2.

The first risk factor is genetics. About 5 to 11% of people who have DM 2 have a family history of it. People who have DM 2 in their family history are 25% more prone to getting it than those who don't.

The medical community claims that eating sweets does not cause diabetes. They do admit, however, that if eating sweets leads to obesity, then eating sweets may be related to diabetes because there is a much increased risk of DM 2 when a person is obese.

Increasing age is another risk factor, as is smoking and drinking caffeine. Interestingly, using artificial sweeteners has also been shown to increase the risk of DM 2.

Race is also a risk factor. Native Americans, Eskimos, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and those of Pacific Island descent are at increased risk of DM 2.

High emotional stress has also been shown to be a risk factor, because elevated levels of cortisol which comes from chronic stress increase the insulin levels. Also, adrenaline from anxiety causes a rapid release of glucose into the bloodstream, causing chronic elevation of blood glucose.

My personal theory is that diet DOES play a very important role in creating the disease process of DM 2. The two problems in diet are 1) eating too much, and 2) eating too many refined carbohydrates. If a person has a family history or other risk factors, a poor diet can often “turn the switch” and start the disease process. It can also affect those without a family history.

Eating too much puts a strain on the pancreas in both digestive enzyme production and in insulin production. It increases fat cells which also cause impaired glucose uptake.

Eating too many refined carbohydrates (sugar, sugar sweets, processed foods with a lot of sugar and flour, eating a lot of bread—flour is a refined carbohydrate) causes a rapid rise in blood glucose. This causes an excess of insulin to be secreted.

Too much insulin drives the blood glucose down so quickly that often low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) results. When a person has low blood sugar they crave more refined carbohydrates, and there is a yo-yo effect of blood sugar and insulin levels bouncing up and down.

The brain doesn't like low blood sugar. The rest of the body has ways to make energy when glucose isn't available, but the brain doesn't. That's why we often feel tired and can't think straight when our blood sugar is low. If it goes too low, the brain shuts down and we can go into a coma (a diabetic coma is not caused by the blood sugar being too high, but by being too low because of medication or insulin usage).

Symptoms of low blood sugar can include (most people don’t have all of these but they do have some): anxious feelings, unusual tiredness or weakness, difficulty in concentrating, drowsiness, excessive hunger or cravings, headache, shakiness, nausea, anxiety and nervousness, blurred vision, cold sweats, confusion, cool pale skin, fast heartbeat, nightmares, restless sleep, slurred speech, and behavior change similar to being drunk. Blood sugar that drops too low can lead to complete unresponsiveness (coma).

So the body tries to compensate for the problem of low blood sugar by becoming resistant to the elevated levels of insulin. If the cells don't respond to the higher levels of insulin so easily, then the blood sugar doesn't drop as rapidly, saving the brain from problems.

However, the insulin resistance keeps the higher levels of glucose (from eating too much or from eating too many refined carbohydrates) in the bloodstream. This causes hyperglycemia, and leads to DM 2.

This theory explains the rapid rise in cases of DM 2 in the last fifty years, and why it is still rising. Up to 75 years ago, sugar was not as easily available. There were few processed foods with sugars and refined carbohydrates. People ate whole foods and cooked from scratch. Desserts were a treat, not a diet. The amount of high fructose corn syrup in sodas, drinks and other treats has dramatically increased in the last ten years. High fructose corn syrup has been shown to cause obesity, diabetes and heart disease even above table sugar.

Since that time, with an increase in sugar and processed food and drinks, children are eating sugar cereal (both the sugar and the cereal are refined carbs) for breakfast, sandwiches and chips and chocolate milk and desserts for lunch (bread and chips are refined carbs, and a hamburger, fries and a sugary or artificially sweetened caffeine soda for dinner (fries are also considered a refined carbohydrate). Even so-called “healthy” snacks like fruit snacks and granola bars are usually made with high-fructose corn syrup and other refined carbohydrates.

The diet of the modern first-world countries with an ever increasing amount of refined carbohydrate processed foods, high-fructose corn syrup drinks, chemicals and sweeteners is predisposing our population to a dramatically increased risk of insulin and blood sugar problems. Add to that the chronic, increased stress of our modern society and we have an excellent recipe for the creation of diabetes.


My next blog will be on how diabetes is diagnosed.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

What is diabetes?

We all like sugar. Our bodies are programmed to love the sweet taste because we need sugar in the form of glucose. Glucose is the sugar that the body uses to make energy. When we eat the body breaks down the food into glucose, which then enters the bloodstream to be taken to all of the cells in the body.

As the level of glucose rises in the blood, insulin, a hormone, is released from the pancreas, which is a gland that sits behind the stomach and also helps digestion. The insulin attaches to the body’s cells, which opens channels in the cell walls for glucose to enter. The cell then uses the glucose to make energy in the form of ATP in little organelles called mitochondria. The body needs this energy to be able to function.

Therefore, insulin lowers the glucose in the bloodstream by opening the cells so that the glucose can leave the bloodstream and enter into and help feed the cells. If we didn't have insulin, the glucose in the blood would remain high and the cells would starve.

Diabetes Mellitus (diabetes, or DM), is a group of metabolic diseases which is characterized by hyperglycemia (too much glucose in the blood). This happens when there either isn’t enough insulin (Diabetes type 1), or the cells become resistant to allowing the insulin to open the glucose channels (Diabetes type 2). When glucose can’t get into the cells, the levels in the blood increase, and the cells starve, being unable to make adequate energy for the body’s needs. The elevated levels in the blood vessels can then cause damage to those vessels.

Symptoms of high blood sugar can include: blurred vision; drowsiness; dry mouth; flushed and dry skin; fruit-like breath odor; increased urination; loss of appetite; stomachache, nausea, or vomiting; tiredness; troubled breathing (rapid and deep); and unusual thirst.

When insulin levels are too low and glucose levels too high, there is weight loss because the glucose can't enter the cells (type 1 diabetes). When the cells are resistant to insulin, the insulin levels rise. Insulin causes the body to hold onto fat, and there is weight gain (type 2 diabetes).

When the glucose is too high in the bloodstream, the glucose begins to “glycosylate,” or attach, to proteins in the blood and blood vessels, causing damage to the vessels. This is what causes the damage in the body related to diabetes. Over time, this glycosylation can lead to blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage (neuropathy). These types of damage are the result of damage to small vessels, referred to as micro-vascular disease.

Diabetes is also an important factor in accelerating the hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), leading to not enough blood to the legs and feet, strokes, coronary heart disease, and other large blood vessel diseases. This is referred to as macro-vascular disease.

There are two main types of diabetes, simply named as type 1 and type 2. Diabetes Mellitus type 1 (DM 1) is generally a disease that starts in childhood, though more rarely it can start in adulthood as well. No one knows the absolute cause of DM 1, but it is characterized by a destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin. There seems to be an autoimmune problem in which the body starts to destroy its own cells. Therefore, in DM 1 there is not enough insulin, and insulin shots are necessary for the patient to survive. If the patient does not have enough insulin, he/she will go into a condition called ketoacidosis, and will die without help. This is a very serious condition.

Symptoms of ketoacidosis that need immediate hospitalization include: flushed dry skin, fruit-like breath odor, ketones in urine, passing out, troubled breathing (rapid and deep) and possibly fever.

Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (DM 2) is much more prevalent. About 90% of the diabetes in the United States is DM 2. DM 2 is a condition in which the cells become resistant to the insulin, so that the glucose cannot get into the cell even when the insulin attaches to the cell receptor. Often the body makes more insulin to try and get the cells to open, so most people with DM 2 will have higher than normal levels of insulin. These patients will not develop ketoacidosis, and so do not die quickly if their blood sugars rise, but usually die from the long-term complications of glycosylation. The medicines for DM 2 are designed to either increase insulin or assist the cells to be more receptive to the insulin.

DM 2 has been considered a genetic disease, but recently many people have been diagnosed that do not have a family history. I believe that this disease is a disease of our modern lifestyle, and comes on much easier if there is a genetic tendency towards it.

In my next blog we will discuss the possible causes of diabetes.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

Dealing with Diabetes

Blindness, amputations, kidney dialysis, chronic pain from neuropathy, heart attacks, depression and mental decline...no disease is more debilitating to so many people as is diabetes.

Two of my grandparents died of complications of Diabetes Mellitus type 2. Many of my aunts and uncles have suffered from the disease. I have a grandson who has Diabetes Mellitus type 1. A few years ago, my blood sugars were in the diabetic range, though they are now normal.

The next series of blogs are going to be on diabetes. They will be taken from my new microbook, "Diabetes: Don't Depend on the Medical System to Keep you Healthy." This e-book will be available on this site soon.

I learned about diabetes in medical school, but what we learned was, in my experience, inadequate. We were taught about medicines to help with the disease, and how to do bypass surgery and amputations when the arteries in the legs were blocked, and dialysis when the kidneys shut down, and do laser surgery for the eye complications, and how to treat the heart attacks that resulted.

But we were told that the disease was chronic and the patients would eventually die from the complications of diabetes. The only hope we had was to preserve their ability to function a little longer through medication, surgery and other interventions. We were not taught much about diet or any of the other major things that can have a tremendous impact on diabetes. There is a belief that the patient won’t stick to a diet, anyway. There was also a belief that there was nothing that could prevent the disease.

In 2007 the American Diabetic Association estimated that there were 17.5 million people in the United States that had been diagnosed with diabetes, and an additional 5.8 million that have not yet been diagnosed but still have the disease (for a total of about 8% of the population, or 10% of those 20 and older). The numbers are rising rapidly, and the age of onset is becoming younger. Almost 200 thousand teenagers are now suffering with Diabetes type 2, which used to be a disease of older adults.

From an economic perspective, the total annual cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be over $174 billion dollars in the United States, a per capita cost of $17,750.00. 2.7 million days of hospital stay a year, and 28.6 million physician office visits were attributed to diabetes. Remember, these numbers reflect only the population in the United States. Globally, the statistics are staggering and growing rapidly.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States; however, the first leading cause of death, heart disease, is often related to diabetes. Clearly, the medical mainstream has not found the answers to this rapidly growing and enormously expensive and deadly problem. The medications help lower blood sugar but often do not reduce the problems associated with diabetes. The medical community does very little to prevent diabetes and claims to not know the cause except for genetics. However, most people being diagnosed with diabetes today have not had it in their families.

Because this disease has personal implications to me, I have taken up a study of diabetes. I have learned a lot more than what I learned in medical school and I would like to share what I have learned with you: what diabetes is, what it does to your body, how to prevent it, and the many ways to treat it, some better than others.

I feel that it is tremendously important for people with diabetes, or who have diabetes in their families, to understand their bodies and to understand the disease, so they can take control of their own prevention and treatment, assisting the doctors who are treating them, rather than completely depending on the doctors to do it for them. I am not advocating that people with diabetes stop seeing their doctors. Medical care is important. But I am advocating that patients take a greater role in their own care, bringing things to their doctors’ attention so that their care can be improved.

My next blog will answer, "What is Diabetes?"

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

Government Protection?

Many of us don't like the government interfering in our lives, but we often expect the government to protect us. Police, firemen, etc. are government employees. We expect the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to keep our food safe and tell us which medications are safe and effective. We expect the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)to keep us safe from toxic chemicals in our food, water and environment.

I've written in recent blogs about the effect of heavy metals on the body, and how heavy metals and chemicals are ubiquitous in our food, water and environment. The following statement by Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the EPA, shows us how ineffective the EPA really is. She states that the EPA has the authority to control only around 200 chemicals out of the 80,000 currently being manufactured.

We really have no idea how these chemicals are affecting our health. With dramatic increases in autoimmune diseases, mental illness, autism, ADHD, etc., could there be a correlation? Wouldn't it be good to find out? Again, I am a proponent of less government intrusion, but as I've studied this, the businesses really have no concern whether these chemicals are affecting our health or not. They are concerned with the financial bottom line.

Please read the following and form your own conclusions. Comments are welcome.

Legislative Hearing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

CONTACT:
EPA Press Office
press@epa.gov
202-564-4355
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2009

Statement of Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Legislative Hearing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
December 2, 2009

WASHINGTON – Chairman Lautenberg, Chairman Boxer, Ranking Member Inhofe and other members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak about how we can improve our framework for assessing and managing chemical risks.

Understandably, the public is turning to government for assurance that chemicals that are ubiquitous in our economy, our environment and our bodies have been assessed using the best available science, and that unacceptable risks have been eliminated.

But, under existing law, we cannot give that assurance. Restoring confidence in our chemical management system is a top priority for me, and a top environmental priority for the Obama Administration.

EPA is the agency tasked with ensuring that the chemicals used in the American economy are safe. But, Mr. Chairman, the current law that gives EPA that authority is outdated, and does not provide the tools to adequately protect human health and the environment as the American people expect, demand and deserve.

Chairman Lautenberg, I commend you for your long standing leadership on this issue and look forward to working with you, Chairman Boxer and other Members of this committee as you consider ways to improve the safety of chemicals.

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was signed into law in 1976 and was intended to provide protection of health and the environment against risks posed by chemicals in commerce. However, when TSCA was enacted, it authorized manufacture and use, without any evaluation, of all chemicals that were produced for commercial purposes in 1976 or earlier years. Thus, manufacturers of these “grandfathered” chemicals weren’t required to develop and produce the data on toxicity and exposure that are needed to properly and fully assess potential risks. Further compounding this problem, the statute never provided adequate authority for EPA to reevaluate existing chemicals as new concerns arose or as new scientific information became available.

TSCA does provide some authority to EPA to mandate industry to conduct testing, but even in these cases it has taken years to obtain data and information. As a result, there are large, troubling gaps in the available data and state of knowledge on many widely used chemicals in commerce.

TSCA also doesn’t place any legal obligation on producers to conduct testing on new chemicals being introduced into commerce. They are required only to supply existing data to EPA and are not required to provide all the data necessary to fully assess a chemical’s risks.

In the rare cases where EPA has adequate data on a chemical, and wants to protect the public against well-known, unreasonable risks to human health and the environment, there are too many legal hurdles to take quick and effective regulatory action

For example, in 1989, after years of study, EPA issued a rule phasing out most uses of asbestos – a chemical whose health effects had been exhaustively studied and demonstrated to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis in humans. Yet, a federal court overturned the rule because EPA failed to clear the many hurdles imposed under TSCA before existing chemical risks can be controlled

Due to these legal and procedural hurdles in the law over the last 30 years, EPA has only been able to require testing on around 200 chemicals produced and used in the United States, and it has only issued regulations to control five existing chemicals determined to present an unreasonable risk under Section 6 of TSCA. Five from a total universe of more than 80,000 existing chemicals listed on the TSCA Inventory. Though many of these chemicals likely pose little or no risk, the story is clear---we’ve only been able to effectively regulate a handful of chemicals and we know very little about the rest.

TSCA must be updated and strengthened.

Earlier this fall, I announced the Obama Administration’s legislative principles for how this law should be revised and modernized. Let me highlight the Obama Administration’s principles:

First, chemicals should be reviewed against safety standards that are based on sound science and reflect risk-based criteria protective of human health and the environment. Safety standards should be driven solely by scientific evidence of risks. EPA should have the clear authority to establish safety standards that reflect the best available science while recognizing the need to assess and manage risk in the face of uncertainty.

Second, the responsibility for providing adequate health and safety information should rest on industry. Manufacturers must develop and submit the hazard, use, and exposure data demonstrating that new and existing chemicals under review are safe. If industry doesn’t provide the information, EPA should have the necessary tools to quickly and efficiently require testing, or obtain other information from manufacturers that are relevant to determining the safety of chemicals, without the delays and obstacles currently in place, or excessive claims of confidential business information.

Third, EPA should have clear authority to take risk management actions when chemicals do not meet the safety standard, with flexibility to take into account a range of considerations, including children’s health, economic costs, social benefits, and equity concerns. EPA and industry must include special consideration for exposures and effects on groups with higher vulnerabilities – particularly children. For example, children ingest chemicals at a higher ratio to their body weight than adults, and are more susceptible to long-term damage and developmental problems. Our new principles offer them much stronger protections.

Fourth, EPA should have clear authority to set priorities for conducting safety reviews. In all cases, EPA and chemical producers must act on priority chemicals in a timely manner, with firm deadlines to maintain accountability. This will not only assure prompt protection of health and the environment, but provide business with the certainly that it needs for planning and investment.

Fifth, we must encourage innovation in green chemistry, and support research, education, recognition, and other strategies that will lead us down the road to safer and more sustainable chemicals and processes. All of this must happen with transparency and concern for the public’s right to know.

Finally, implementation of the law should be adequately and consistently funded, in order to meet the goal of assuring the safety of chemicals, and to maintain public confidence that EPA is meeting that goal. To that end, manufacturers of chemicals should support the costs of Agency implementation, including the review of information provided by manufacturers.

I know that legislative reform may take time. Consequently, I have directed my Assistant Administrator of Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substances, Steve Owens, to utilize our current authority under TSCA to the fullest extent possible, including Section 6 authority to label, restrict, or ban a chemical, to ensure that we do everything we can to protect the American people and the global environment from dangerous chemicals. While fundamental reform is needed to fully protect against chemical risks, this is a step forward.

Specifically, EPA is currently evaluating an initial set of chemicals based on available hazard, exposure, and use information, for potential action. We will complete and make public “action plans” for the chemicals which will outline the risks that the use of these chemicals may present and what steps we may take to address those concerns. Following this, we aim to complete and make publicly available a group of chemical action plans every four months. EPA intends to engage stakeholders and dialogue with other federal partners, as well as the public, in the discussion about prioritizing chemicals for future risk management action over the coming months through public notices and public meetings.

But let me be clear – this is no substitute for meaningful reform of the underlying law. The need for fundamental TSCA reform has been recognized by industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council, environmental groups, public health groups, several States and cities, and many other groups who have all called on Congress to Act. I too call on Congress to act on this issue and give EPA the tools to adequately protect human health and the environment.

The time has come to bring TSCA into the 21st Century. EPA looks forward to working with this committee on this very important issue.


Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

Oil In My Lamp

January 1, 2010. Happy Birthday Mom!

This blog is written in extreme gratitude to my dear family, extended family, friends and especially my caring Heavenly Father and my Friend, Brother, and Savior Jesus Christ, who have all carried me through this past year.

2009 was quite a year. It started with the funeral of my mother who died in late December. My father had died 6 months earlier. Then my daughter's husband died, leaving her with three sons and no life insurance. Then my youngest son's wife left him, and because of her difficult situation and finances couldn't take their four children. My son had to stop working evenings and weekends because he needed to watch the kids and couldn't afford to pay his mortgage. So he and the children moved in with me while we worked on renting out his condo to help pay for the mortgage. It didn't rent. I put quite a bit of money into fixing it up and it still didn't rent. After several months he eventually moved back in but is still struggling with his mortgage and making enough money to pay for babysitters while he works long hours.

I left my employment and started my own practice in August, which I had been planning for awhile, and didn't have an income while we paid start-up costs. Then my middle son's wife left him and she came from San Diego to Utah to be with her parents while she worked things out, and he left a good job to come up here to be close to his children, and is looking for a job. Then the business I owned with my oldest son failed, leaving a very large debt, and him looking for work with 6 children to support.

I felt in my heart to assist my children who were struggling, emotionally and financially, and was able to do so for awhile, but then my new business did not bring an income as quickly as we expected it to (true of all new businesses), and I ran out of money and couldn't pay my own bills and the heavy debt from the failed business.

But this is written not to disclose my weaknesses and those of my family, but to show that all of us are going through problems and difficulties right now. Everyone I talk to is going through serious struggles, whether in their relationships, financial situation, illness--physical or emotional, etc.

I believe in the Law of the Harvest--what we sow we shall reap. So I was pondering on why life seems to have been so difficult this year, and what I have been sowing that would reap such results. And while learning the lessons of many mistakes made, the Lord also opened my mind to the myriad of blessings I have received this year. I have truly been enriched this year. I was given to know that this past year was to assist me in filling my lamp with oil.

The parable of the Ten Virgins tells how ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom. When he finally came, 5 of them had not prepared well enough and didn't have enough oil in their lamps to attend the wedding procession. There have been many interpretations of what this parable means, and what kind of preparation is needed to fill our lamps as we await the coming of the Bridegroom and deal with the difficult times that are upon us and what may be coming in the future.

My lamp has been filled this year in the following ways:
1. A stronger faith that I am not alone. As I would pray about my difficult financial situation, I would be led to the scripture in Matthew 6: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not better than they?" And "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

Over and over again, even though I wouldn't know how I was going to pay my next bill, the Lord would promise me He would take care of me. And He did, mostly through other people. Every time it was important, some money showed up to pay the next bill. My sister started a part-time job and has been sending me all of her income every two weeks. My brothers have sent checks as gifts. A great friend paid for some of my property taxes and sent extra payments on a car he had bought from me because he knew I needed the money. Some unexpected money came in from my parent's estate. My business partner paid money out to me without taking any herself so both I and the business could keep going. My middle son, while looking for a better job, has come in to help us organize our business and make it profitable. The Lord has touched the hearts of so many, many people, and they have responded and truly blessed my life.

2. A greater knowledge that all is in Divine Order. So often, when I was concerned about my children or grandchildren, or myself for various reasons, the Lord would fill my heart with peace and a knowledge that whatever was happening was for our best good, and to accept whatever came. I came to have an incredible peace in my heart that even if there was no one to assist me, and I lost everything, all would be well and I could find joy, peace and happiness. I came to a peaceful knowledge that God and angels were watching over my children, their spouses and my grandchildren; that each was learning the lessons they came here to learn; that they didn't come to have perfect lives but to learn through their experiences, and that we were all learning the lessons of repentance and forgiveness, what love truly is, and trusting more in the atonement of the Savior.

3. A greater knowledge that I WILL be able to handle whatever comes because the Lord WILL strengthen me. There is often a lot of anxiety and fear over the future. We don't know what may be coming and if we will be able to handle it. I came to know that these difficult things I have gone through and am going through now are teaching me how God strengthens me to meet the challenges I am given. I never thought I could survive my house burning down, going through medical school with six children, dealing with some of the problems I have dealt with in my children, going through an unwanted divorce, surviving on my own, losing my parents, having no money, etc.; but I have. Through each challenge, I have been strengthened to meet it. Often in the middle of the challenge I didn't feel strong, and often felt like giving in and giving up, but looking back on each event, I can see how I was carried through, time and time again.

4. A greater faith in the Atonement of my Savior. I have made many, many mistakes. But through the Love and Mercy extended to me, the Lord has paid for them and helps me through the affect they have had on me and those around me. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden [through your own mistakes], and I will give you rest." The perfect plan has been created so that I can learn through my own choices and experiences, and can learn by experiencing the results of my own weaknesses and the weaknesses of those around me, and as I lean on Him and have faith in His atoning Love the burdens that come upon me because of those choices and weaknesses are lightened, and I become stronger and more able to make better choices; to choose love, light, wisdom, trust, joy and peace because I have learned what it feels like when I choose the opposite.

"Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing" -Helen Keller

I trust in the Lord with all my heart. I lean not unto mine own understandings. In all my ways I acknowledge Him, and He directs my paths.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

Paper Roses

I was in Las Vegas this last week, and in Phoenix the week before. I had the privilege of seeing Marie Osmond in her Las Vegas show with Donny. She was kind enough to see me back stage for a hug before she had to go to a photo shoot, and yes, she was just as beautiful as these pictures show!

I remember hearing her first hit on the radio, Paper Roses. She sang that song in her show, and it was fun to remember. "But they're only...imitation..."

But this blog isn't just about Marie, though I love her dearly; it's about all of the things I learned in Las Vegas at the conference for the American College for the Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) and in Phoenix at the conference for the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. They were both about Autoimmune Diseases, and the speakers at both conferences presented many studies showing the profound effect the pollution in the environment is having on our health.

Below are some of the things that I learned. This isn't just hype but backed by rigorous scientific studies.

Arsenic, a toxic chemical often found at low levels in U.S. public drinking water,usually due to leaching into ground water from pesticides and fertilizers, may increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study showed Americans with high levels of arsenic in their urine were almost four times more likely to have diabetes than those with trace levels. The risk was apparent at levels in the water which were generally considered harmless and grew with increasing exposure.

While previous research showed chronic exposure to high levels of arsenic could lead to diabetes, the new report is the first to show that even levels that meet U.S. regulations may be dangerous. Arsenic in drinking water is also shown to increase risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Lead levels in the blood of children are considered safe if they are below 10 mcg/dL. However, a recent study of men of an average age of 67 and an average blood lead level of 2.85 mcg/dL had lead levels taken from bone samples, where lead tends to congregate over time in the body. Those with higher levels were six times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those with lower levels in their bone. Their blood levels were not indicative of the amount of lead in their bones. What does that say about children with a blood level of 10 mcg/dL? Other studies also are indicating that there is no safe level of lead.

One study (I'm not sure where it was done), showed that up to 200 chemicals were found in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. Mercury blood levels in cord blood were twice as high as levels in maternal blood. For some reason the levels are concentrated in the fetus.

Pesticides have an estrogen-like effect on the body. Endometriosis has been highly linked to dioxin, which has been banned in this country, but still seems to show up in the blood. There is evidence that young girls with increased pesticide exposure have early puberty. Animal studies have shown that pregnant mothers exposed to these pesticides at specific times during fetal growth have offspring that exhibit same sex attraction.

There are greater levels of autism in the areas of coal burning plants, which emit a lot of mercury. Pregnant women exposed to pesticides also have a higher number of children with autism. Pregnant women who eat a lot of fish have a higher number of children with genetic defects and autism. And the current multidose vial of flu vaccine STILL has thiomerisol in it, which contains ethylmercury.

Up to 60% of the population are gluten sensitive to some degree, but most do not know it. A person has to be off of gluten for 6 months to lose the effects that it has on the body. Even eating gluten once a month can bring back the effects. The effects can be celiac disease, increased allergies, eczema, asthma, cognitive problems, etc.

The elevated levels of gluten sensitivity are thought to be related to several things: the hybrid forms created over the last 50 years are much different than what our ancestors were eating and the high levels of pesticides with heavy metals that are found on the wheat, causing sensitization.

People who are gluten sensitive have much higher rates of autoimmune diseases, especially thyroiditis. A majority of those with autism and ADHD are gluten sensitive.

These are just a few of the things we learned. It seems quite scary, especially when we seem unable to do anything about it. The United States and all of the world has ADHD--poor impulse control. Industry has grown and developed and utilized multiple chemicals without considering the long term consequences of their behaviors. Some of them had no idea what they were creating, many of them were in denial, and some of them knew exactly the risks they were taking for humanity but did it anyway for profit. There is still mostly denial in industry of the effects they are having on their communities and in the world.

But there are things we can do. We can live as clean as we can, drink filtered water, grow our own organic gardens, detoxify ourselves, consider gluten sensitivity and staying away from wheat,etc., be tested for chemicals and heavy metals BEFORE pregnancy by a knowledgeable doctor, keep chemicals out of our homes as much as possible, and be as pro-active as possible in keeping our communities safe. It was the citizens of Love Canal that rose up in arms and finally had their homes moved because of the severe toxicity of the Niagara River. Because of them the Superfund was created to clean up toxic sites. Be aware of what is going on in your community. Be aware of what is in your water and what your home is built on.

Up until now much of industry has been giving us paper roses; promises of safety that are only imitations of reality. They can no longer hold up under scrutiny. They are going to have to do business a different way in order for our children and children's children to survive.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

To Flu or Not to Flu

As autumn rolls around (these beautiful trees are in my back yard!) the big health concern on everyone's mind (besides the so-called new health plan Congress will never agree on) is the H1N1 influenza virus. I would say Swine flu, but that's no longer politically correct, so we can please the hog farmers :-) Even though this new strain of flu is generally very mild, it has been surrounded by a lot of fear. It is quite a friendly little virus, passing easily from one person to another, so if it comes around your neighborhood, you are quite likely to be visited.

Joking aside, there have been deaths from this virus, just as there are every flu season. This one seems to be more serious for pregnant women, which is a major concern. So there is a rush to get a vaccine out to protect those at risk.

And the question on everyone's mind is, should I get the vaccine or not? Is it safe? Will I have problems if I get it? Will I get pneumonia, or even die, if I don't vaccinate?

The hard fact is, no one knows. Ever since there was a higher number of people who suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (ascending paralysis) who had received the 1976 flu vaccine, the safety of the flu vaccine has been suspect in the minds of the public. And because the flu vaccine causes an inflammatory reaction that often feels like the flu, a lot of people say they feel worse when they get the shot than they do from the flu.

But there are others who swear by the flu shot, and feel it has made a big difference for them. They are ready to be vaccinated yearly, because they have had good results.

For most people, getting the flu can cause them to feel miserable and often put them to bed for a few days, but rarely is it serious. It is generally more serious for those with weakened immune systems, such as the chronically ill and the very elderly, and infants who are not being breast fed. And rarely, someone seemingly healthy gets very sick and may die. But this is rare enough that most of us don't worry a lot about getting the flu.

But because of the hype surrounding the H1N1 flu virus, more of us are considering the possibilities of ourselves or our loved ones being possible victims of a more severe illness.

However, the vaccine for the H1N1 virus is being pushed through trials quickly, and no one knows the long-term effects. Is it going to be safe? We hope so, but we don't really know.

So what do we do?

This is a decision that each person must make within their own heart. There is something inside that will give us guidance about if the vaccine is the best thing for us and our families.

However, whether we get the vaccine or not, there are many things we can do to protect ourselves and prepare our immune systems to be able to fight whatever may come. Here are a few things that may help prepare you:

1. Wash your hands. With soap. Frequently. Of course. We've known this since kindergarten. But it works! Better than the alcohol anti-bacterial gels. However, both hand washing and alcohol gels work only to kill the germs in that moment. The next thing you touch will contaminate again. So I recommend a product called PureWorks Antibacterial Foam. It is non-toxic, and not only kills germs for several hours, but kills the germs on things you touch as well. I'm not a distributor, but I buy and use the product in my office.

2. A good multi-vitamin mineral supplement. Making sure the body has what it needs to be healthy is important. I would recommend my new line of supplements, but they are still in manufacturing. But even the CostCo or Sam's Club brand are good. If you do get sick, take two a day.

3. Extra Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin D. These are all important for a healthy immune system. Unless you are pregnant, consider taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin A during the flu season. If you get the flu, increase the dose to about 100,000 IU a day for 3 days (not longer). Vitamin A has virus fighting properties. If you are pregnant, it is recommended you take no more than 5,000 IU a day, or it could be toxic to the baby.
Take about 1,000 mg. of Vitamin C a day. If you start to get sick, increase it to 1,000 mg. every hour while you're awake. It that gives you diarrhea, back down to the level where it stops.
Vitamin D is very important for a healthy immune system, and most of us are deficient, even if we get enough sun. I recommend in general 1,000 IU a day, though some may need more. Ask your doctor to check your 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels.

4. Dramatically reduce sugars and refined carbohydrates this flu season. Sugar, besides using up essential minerals, has a depressing effect on the immune system. The sugar from one soda can inactivate the macrophages (that destroy viruses and bacteria) for up to four hours.
And don't depend on artificial sweeteners as a substitute. They have some toxic effects and are stressful to the body.
However, raw honey and xylitol have anti-bacterial and viral properties. And stevia and agave nectar are safe to use. Xylitol comes in a nasal spray as well to reduce bacteria in the nose and sinuses.

5. Take time for relaxation and Get enough sleep. Stress, more than anything else, makes us susceptible to getting sick. When we burn the candle at both ends and don't allow time to rebuild, we are more apt to get sick. Our bodies break down during the activities of the day (catabolism) and use the rest and sleep time to rebuild (anabolism). Make sure your body has adequate time to rebuild itself.

These simple things can be extremely effective in keeping us well this fall and winter. Take care and be flu-proof!

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi