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Bill Sardi
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Posted March 24, 2011: by Bill Sardi
When a political commentator like Ann Couler weighed in on FoxNews about the radiation hazard posed by nuclear power plants damaged by a severe earthquake and tsunami in Japan, you can be sure there will be questions over what motivated her to speak out on this topic. According to Coulter, a little bit of radiation is good for you.
The timing of this pronouncement appears to be particularly insensitive to Japan where food is contaminated and there is direct radiation exposure to people in the immediate area of damaged nuclear power plants. Did the nuclear power industry somehow influence Ann Coulter to spread disinformation that would be a partial cover for their culpability in the recent leak of radiation in Japan? Hardly.
In the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, a global map which erroneously showed lethal doses of radiation could be carried in the atmosphere to North America spread via the internet, spread fear throughout North America. The demand for the antidote to radiation-induced thyroid cancers, potassium iodide pills, far exceeded the supply.
Posted in Uncategorized ; No Comments »
Posted March 19, 2011: by Bill Sardi
This week a striking report issued by university-based researchers convincingly reported that not only had they discovered a major cause of breast and prostate cancer, but that two natural molecules, a sulfur-based molecule (N-acetyl cysteine) and a red wine molecule (resveratrol, pronounced rez-vair-ah-trawl), commonly found in red wine, almost completely abolish DNA mutations that precede these cancers.
However, there was no special announcement from the National Institutes of Health for these two lowly molecules like there was for tamoxifen in 1998, a drug that also purports to do the same thing, with disappointing results. Tamoxifen inhibits an enzyme (aromatase) that is required for the production of estrogen. At the height of its sales before its patent expired in 2002, tamoxifen was generating over $1 billion in sales. Early on, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was criticized for its premature approval of a tamoxifen that had not been thoroughly studied. Tamoxifen actually increases the chance of more aggressive and difficult to treat forms of recurrent breast cancer.
The FDA approved anti-cholesterol statin drugs even though there has never been evidence that any statin drugs lowers mortality for coronary artery disease.
Posted in Dietary Supplements ; No Comments »
Posted March 18, 2011: by Bill Sardi
Knowledge of Health, Inc. (March 18, 2011) – Researchers at the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, now explain how an imbalance in estrogen metabolism leads to improper repair of broken DNA which in turn produces gene mutations that promote breast, prostate and other cancers.
These researchers then go on to identify two natural molecular antidotes, a sulfur compound (N-acetyl cysteine) and a molecule found in red wine (resveratrol), which can completely block the initiation of these cancers. Both of these molecules are widely available as dietary supplements. When used together these antioxidants completely abolished the formation of DNA-adducts (cancer-causing chemicals that are coupled with DNA), which is the initiating step in these cancers.
Posted in Cancer, Dietary Supplements ; No Comments »
Posted March 16, 2011: by Bill Sardi
At the time of the writing of this report Japan is in a state of chaos, living on a rationed supply of electricity, shutting down their manufacturing plants, hoping six nuclear reactors that are facing cooling problems won’t fully meltdown and release fissionable material into the atmosphere, and the Japanese people are skeptical of reports that the power companies in Japan have everything under control. And to make matters worse, incurring over $100 billion of damages, Japan may be forced to sell some of the $1 trillion of U.S. Treasury Notes it owns which could create financial disturbances across the globe as value of the U.S. dollar would be dumped with it.
Meanwhile in the U.S., many Americans are being falsely panicked over a crisis that is, for now, isolated within Japan. The increased radiation exposure in areas surrounding the overheated nuclear reactors is just a few rads (radiation absorbed dose) or microsieverts (~100-to-1100; needs to be 100,000 to present a health hazard). One news report said approximately 200 people were given potassium iodide tablets, but frankly their low exposure did not warrant medication.
Posted in Dietary Supplements ; No Comments »
Posted March 6, 2011: by Bill Sardi
Skin fungus is a common problem in humid areas and occurs more frequently among obese individuals. An estimated 10-20% of people will develop a fungal skin infection during their lifetime. Doctors classify fungal skin infections according to the affected body site, such as tinea capitis (scalp), tinea barbae (beard area), tinea corporis or athlete’s foot (skin other than bearded area, scalp, groin, hands or feet), tinea cruris or jock itch (groin, perineum and perineal areas), tinea pedis (feet), tinea manuum (hands) and tinea unguium (nails). So if your doctor writes these down on your chart as your diagnosis, you will know what he means. People with toenail infections are more likely to develop fungal infections elsewhere, like jock itch.
Incessant itching is usually the first sign and if ignored, it can get out of control. A big problem is that it can be quelled but is likely to return if personal hygiene measures aren’t increased. Use of fresh towels, drying off with a hair dryer, elimination of exposure to fungal growth in shower rooms, etc, are all important in preventing relapse. Failure to heed personal hygiene measures results in some people suffering with chronic infections.
Posted in Dietary Supplements, Germs ; No Comments »
Posted August 24, 2010: by Bill Sardi
In 1998 author Scott Van De Mark wrote a novel entitled Elixir, which was about a biologist who invented a youth pill. The novel wasn’t so much about the pill but the enormous opposition to it.
In the book, Dan McEllis, the name of the scientist who invented the pill, won a Nobel Prize, acquired a drug company to market his pill, became a billionaire, and had millions of Americans taking his youth pill for $199 a month.
But this fictional scientist also had his product banned by the Catholic Church, initially opposed by the American Medical Association and population control groups, temporarily removed from sale by the Food & Drug Administration, and faced a Constitutional Amendment against it.
Posted in Anti-Aging ; No Comments »
Posted August 9, 2010: by Bill Sardi
The dietary supplement industry is such a mixed bag these days. It has such promise, but often fails to deliver. For example, garlic pills were once the number one herbal supplement. But studies showed most garlic pills failed to deliver the active ingredient produced by fresh-crushed garlic cloves. Subsequently garlic pills fell from their top-seller spot. Turns out that stomach acid destroys the enzyme (alliinase) that produces the active ingredient allicin. Only if a garlic clove is crushed outside the acidic stomach is allicin produced. Only enteric-coated or buffered garlic tablets produce what a fresh-crushed clove of garlic delivers
This is not to say that there haven’t been a plethora of negative studies that were designed to unfairly smudge the reputation of dietary supplements. Namely, the infamous beta carotene/smokers study, released just prior to the 1994 vote in Congress on the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act which falsely claimed beta carotene increased the risk for lung cancer. Beta carotene was just ineffective (no benefit, no harm), that’s all.
Then there were those contentious vitamin E studies which manipulated statistics in an attempt to show miniscule differences in health risks would kill millions of Americans if they took too much vitamin E. However, subsequent re-analysis and inclusion of data from additional studies reveals statistical variation between studies (a higher proportion of male subjects in these trials) which explains the slightly increased mortality rate among vitamin E supplement users. Researchers now conclude that “high dose vitamin E supplementation can not be regarded proved to increase mortality.”
Posted in Minerals, Vitamins ; No Comments »
Posted June 5, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Health authorities don’t foresee any cancer cures on the horizon. The World Health Organization estimates annual cancer cases will rise from 12.7 million to 21 million, and cancer deaths will jump from 7.6 million to more than 13 million, by the year 2030. That’s over 35,000 people dying of cancer every day. Over those two decades, world population is projected to increase from 7.01 billion to 9.30 billion, a rise of about 30%, while cancer cases and deaths will increase by 65—70%.
Despite concerns over carcinogens in the environment — cancer-causing agents such as herbicides, asbestos, and hormones — cancer is an age-related disease. Cancer was not a major health problem when life expectancy was 48 years for a newborn American child in the year 1900. But the life expectancy of Americans has risen upwards to nearly 80 years today and cancer affects nearly every extended family in America.
Posted in Cancer, Health Care System ; No Comments »
Posted June 1, 2010: by Bill Sardi
In a politically-motivated operation, the General Accounting Office has chosen to launch a witch hunt against dietary supplements, employing frightening headlines that inaccurately warn the public of heavy metals in herbal supplements and of misdirected advice offered by health store clerks, at a time when legislation is pending in Congress to usher in greater enforcement and restrictions over these popularly-used products.
The GAO report itself fails to provide adequate evidence of a public hazard. The GAO report, entitled “HERBAL DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, Examples of Deceptive or Questionable Marketing Practices and Potentially Dangerous Advice,” presented before the Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate, says:
Posted in Uncategorized ; No Comments »
Posted April 28, 2010: by Bill Sardi
So much is said about antioxidants these days. The public has been educated to believe antioxidants are generally beneficial when consumed in foods and dietary supplements. Antioxidants counter the effects of what are called free radicals, unstable species of oxygen, and to a lesser degree, nitrogen. These free radicals can damage tissues in the body.
Yet, in recent years, a growing body of data points to certain health benefits from employing mega-dose antioxidants, such as vitamin C, curcumin and resveratrol, to actually generate free radicals to treat disease.
But before we get to these recent discoveries, maybe it is best to briefly background readers in the science of antioxidants.
Read the whole post »
Posted in Resveratrol, Vitamins ; No Comments »
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