Worms infect more poor Americans than thought

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roundworms may infect close to a quarter of inner city black children, tapeworms are the leading cause of seizures among U.S. Hispanics and other parasitic diseases associated with poor countries are also affecting Americans, a U.S. expert said on Tuesday.

Recent studies show many of the poorest Americans living in the United States carry some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert at George Washington University and editor-in-chief of the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Writing in the journal, Hotez said these parasitic infections had been ignored by most health experts in the United States.

“I feel strongly that this is such an important health issue and yet because it only affects the poor it has been ignored,” Hotez said via e-mail.

He said the United States spent hundreds of millions of dollars to defend against bio-terrorism threats like anthrax or smallpox or avian flu, which were more a theoretical concern than a real threat at present.

“And yet we have a devastating parasitic disease burden among the American poor, right under our nose,” Hotez said.

He noted a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, presented in November, found that almost 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara roundworms, which dogs and cats can pass to people.

“Urban playgrounds in the United States have recently been shown to be a particularly rich source of Toxocara eggs and inner-city children are at high risk of acquiring the infection,” Hotez wrote, adding that this might be partly behind the rise in asthma cases in the country. Up to 23 percent of urban black children may be infected, he said.

“Because of its possible links to asthma, it would be important to determine whether covert toxocariasis is a basis for the rise of asthma among inner-city children in the northeastern United States,” he added.

“Cysticercosis is another very serious parasitic worm infection … caused by the tapeworm Taenia solium, that results in seizures and other neurological manifestations,” Hotez wrote.

He said up to 2,000 new cases of neurological disease caused by tapeworms are diagnosed every year in the United States. More than 2 percent of adult Latinos may be infected, and with 35 million Hispanics in the United States, this could add up to tens of thousands of cases, Hotez said.

“In the hospitals of Los Angeles, California, neurocysticercosis currently accounts for 10 percent of all seizures presenting to some emergency departments,” he wrote.

“We need to begin erasing these horrific health disparities,” Hotez wrote in the paper, available online at www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000149.

As living beings we are left opening to harboring many different bugs and critters, and often parasites.
I know what you might be thinking, parasites are only common to tropical areas and third world countries, or at the very most, the impoverished in our own country, but you are mistaken.
Parasitic infection or infestation (seems more appropriate in some cases) is one of the most un-diagnosed problems within healthcare.  There are approximately over 300-400 different kinds of parasites alive and well in the U.S., including pinworms, tapeworms, hookworms, ringworms, whipworms, roundworms and giardia. 
Some estimates report that up to 80% of Americans may have some form of parasitic infection, but most do not know it.  Parasites are responsible for many of our major illnesses.  Every year, parasitic infections are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
If you have a parasite infection, you may experience many different types of symptoms.  These symptoms are often passed off as due to something else, such as poor diet or aging.
So what are some common parasitic symptoms?
Abdominal pain, allergies, anemia, anorexia, B12 deficiency, diarrhea, constipation, blurred vision, coughing, chest pain, heart disease, dizziness, puffy face, indigestion, nausea, night sweats, nervousness, irritability, rashes, ulcers, insomnia, cancer, weight loss and weight gain.
So where do we get parasites? 
Statistics show that 35% of all children attending daycare centers contract giardia, a very resistant parasite causing lots of stomach and abdominal problems.  As adults, it’s no longer possible to simply avoid parasites through good hygiene as once believed.  Parasites can be found on plates, silverware, door knobs, all types of food and even present in handshakes. 
Diagnosis of parasitic infections has proven to be very difficult.  It is believed that not all parasites have been identified, thus adequate testing not yet developed.  Even in advanced clinical stool testing and active parasite infection can be missed over 80% of the time.  There are new clinical tests that search for parasite excrement and DNA strands, which are believed to be more accurate, though still not 100%.  We feel QRA (Quantum Reflex Analysis) offers the most sensitive and accurate assessment of an individuals parasite load.
If you have found your self going down a dead end road and many of the symptoms of above are familiar to you; (1) Read our book, Health Warrior, Secrets to Conquering the Inner Game of Health www.healthwarriorbook.com, and (2) Find a qualified practitioner to adequately assess you parasite load.
 

If you have read our article on the Hierarchy of Healing you would have seen that we put Vastu as number one importance.  Vastu is the true science of cosmic energy flow in the home, office and other living environments.  Basically it is taking into account all aspects that affect the energetics in which one spends their time.
Vastu is the precursor to feng shui, with a creation through the Ayurvedic culture over 7500 years ago.  Some say that feng shui degenerated from the True Science of Vastu.

An interesting story was on CBS’s The Morning Show.  It was about Michael Gill who wrote the book, “How Starbucks Saved My Life, a son of privilege learns to live like everyone else.”  What we think the book should be titled is, “How Good Vastu Saved My Life, why I was born into privilege and how I unconsciously found my way back.”  After this article, you will see why.
The show highlighted Michael Gill who was born into privledge in New York.  Michaels father was a writer for New Yorker magazine and was friends with many of the influential and famous faces of the area.
As a youngster Michael’s family moved to the affluent area of Bronxille into a suburban mansion consisting of 25 rooms, a gym, and a 2 story library.  Remember this move as this article leads on.
Michael attended Ivy League schools and was a top executive in a major advertising firm.  When he was 53, everything turned around.  First, he was let go from his job.  He tried to start his own consulting firm with no success.  His marriage ended of 20 years after a female he was having an affair with gave birth to a son.  And then the capper, 4 years ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
One day he felt he should go back to his old child hood neighborhood, where he lived before his family moved into the 25 room mansion.  He wandered around and made his way into a Starbucks coffee house.  As he sat with a latte, a woman asked if he would like a job, he responded yes.
He immediately became a favorite as a Starbucks barista, becoming known for his happiness, and cheerfulness, and being great with people.  He began renting a small upstairs apartment within walking distance, back in his old neighborhood.
He credits his children always being there to support him, and mentions how his daughter recommended he journal everything that was happening in his life.  He did so and this became his book, “How Starbucks Saved My Life.”
He was quoted as saying in the interview,   “I’m alive. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. And I have a chance to share my story, and maybe somebody, hopefully younger than me, can say, ‘Hey, if you ever get a chance, and you feel stuck, leap to a new life.”
Now what he did was leap back into his original life, the life that was of good Vastu.  His father created success in this first neighborhood before moving to Bronxville.  This success did allow Michael to go through Ivy League schools and get a prominent position at an advertising firm, but in the true essence of Vastu (Health, Wealth, and Happiness) he lost it all.
As you recount, all he did was visit his childhood neighborhood, his original life, and within a few minutes the key to the door was presented to him that has given him so much more.  The important thing to notice is that he took the key and turned it.
Another note is that the brain tumor is not a health risk to him anymore.  We would have to question if this would be the case if he did not move back to his childhood neighborhood.
There are many accounts of these instances.  Take a look at the great Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.  Vince chose to stay in his original neighborhood and house after he acquired all his fame and success.  When asked by the press, why not move out to bigger and more affluent things, he replied that this house made me what I am today, and I dare not leave it.
Anyone else with a similar story?  How about Warren Buffett?
What can good Vastu do for you?

In our book, Health Warrior, Secrets to Overcoming the Inner Game of Health, we spoke of putting together you Health Team.  These are primary and auxillary personnal to help you attain limitless health. 

Lately we have been receiving disturbing information that a local nutritional practitioner, has been putting fear into his clients about the readings he does for them.  He offers his services for free, but then recommends a bunch of nutrients, which is fine, but remember, you get what you pay for.

People are told, “wow, you have been getting worse and I see something that looks pretty bad, though I dont want to say what it is.”  The people then leave in a horrific state of fear.  Now, fear sells….IN THE SHORT TERM.  This is tactic that is used by charlottens and should not be part of a health care practitioner programs who should be motivating and inspiring you towards health.

We have always heard stories of this in the allopathic community, via cancer and other health maladies, and now I am seeing a nutrional practitioner doing it!

In Motivated Health,

R-n-A

Since 2000 Merck has been presenting the FDA evidence on why they think their statin drub Mevacor should be approved in a low dose for OTC (over the counter sales.)

Fortunately the FDA has denied them once again.

As I have written before and you will find in many printed books, publications and other scientific studies that there is an inherent risk with these statins where individuals should not go unmonitored.  Honestly with the practice of prescribing medications these days by most physicians, these risks are still very high because patients are not being properly warned or even monitored. 

Aside from all this, statin drugs are only treating the symptom of high cholesterol, and in many cases can be totally avoided, for the patients better welfare.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, cholesterol management still has not been conclusively proven to prevent cardiovascular disease.

It has been said, introducing coffee enema’s to individuals with high cholesterol could bring the statin industry to it’s knees.

So, in Mercks latest attempt to bring Mevacor to the OTC market here are a few comments made from various sides of the issue:  

Too many of the wrong people would use the drug if it no longer required a prescription, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration concluded in a 10-2 vote against nonprescription sales of the medication. 

“The patients couldn’t figure out whether the drug was for them,” said one FDA adviser, Dr. William Shrank of Harvard Medical School. 

Merck argued that offering a low dose of Mevacor on open drugstore shelves, next to the aspirin, would persuade millions of people with moderately high cholesterol levels to take a pill that might prevent a first heart attack.

Health Warrior Comment:  They key word here is might prevent, remember this has not been proven and with the inherent risks of depleting coQ10, a necessary nutrient for cardiovascular health, why run the risk.  And a quick aside, did you know that Merck has held a patent for a combo of Mevacor and coq10 and has never allowed it to come to market–EVIL!

The FDA’s advisers, however, were struck by how many people, in a study of almost 1,500 potential customers, wanted to buy the drug even though they were bad candidates. 

One-quarter of people who wanted the pill did not have a high enough risk of heart disease to qualify, meaning they would face unnecessary side effects. 

Worse still, 30 percent of very high-risk people — those who have heart disease or diabetes or had survived a stroke — wanted Mevacor; these are people who should be under a doctor’s care. Merck says many of them are not seeing a doctor and that a little treatment is better than none. 

Yet more than 30 percent of patients already taking prescription cholesterol-lowering drugs said they wanted the over-the-counter version. One-half said they would drop the more potent drug in favor of low-dose Mevacor. To the FDA advisers, that raises big questions about previously protected people setting themselves up for a heart attack.

Health Warrior Comment:  Please keep in mind, less might not be more when comparing a lower dose to a higher dose.  The damage it could cause might be cumulative, regardless of the dose. 

“That’s not good,” said Dr. Kenneth Burman of Washington Hospital Center. “They’re not getting monitored, they’re not getting other medications and they’re not getting counseling.”

Health Warrior Comment:  Taking into consideration that Mevacor can increase significant stress upon the liver, combinations with other OTC drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) could be tremendous.

Arthur Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers in New York, told Merck: “What I keep hearing from you is, ‘It’s good to be on a statin, it’s good to be on a statin.’ Don’t you think that’s a risk, that they may misdiagnose themselves and take too low a dose?”

Health Warrior Comment: The scary thing is it almost sounds like he would be petitioning for a higher dose?

Britain allows nonprescription sale of the cholesterol-lowering statin Zocor, but only if customers get it directly from a pharmacist — meaning behind-the-counter sales.

Health Warrior Comment: This itself is scary for most pharmacists do not know the inherent short and long term risks of statins. 

Merck wants Mevacor to be sold over-the-counter, arguing that with heart disease still the nation’s No. 1 killer, people have become sophisticated enough about artery-clogging cholesterol to try.

Health Warrior Comment: Or maybe it is because it can bring them billions at the expense of individuals health?

But others told the advisers that a drug known to have few serious side effects should have a shot at reaching the millions of people now getting no treatment for high cholesterol.

Health Warrior Comment: Few serious side effects?  What do they consider serious, or for that matter a side-effect?  This is where your health care has gone folks!

“We’re still failing to prevent this epidemic. It’s time to take bolder action, to try new approaches,” said Dr. Valentine Burroughs of New York’s Mount Sinai Medical School, a Merck consultant.

Health Warrior Comment:  I agree with the above comment, and this “bolder action” should not be throwing more drugs at people. 

“You should put this drug in the drinking water,” said Dr. David Nash of Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson Medical College.

Health Warrior Comment:  This guy is abvisouly ignorant to the facts, hoodwinked by the biased stats given to him, doesnt read complete studies, or has the pharmaceutical industry padding his pocket.  I hope he was joking, and if not, please question such frightening attitudes and comments.  And if you know someone who is attending Thomas Jefferson Medical College, give them a gift for the holidays of a nutrition 101 book.

In Health

There is an inherent ability for one to heal, taking into account 7 key factors that must be addressed for ultimate health.  The order they are placed is the order of importance of how these factors can influence our health. 

1.   Vastu
2.   The Inner Game of Health
3.   Electromagnetic Field Exposure (EMF’s)
4.   Nutritional Needs (food and supplements)
5.   Sleep
6.   Interference Fields (IF’s)
7.   Chemo toxic Body Burden (Detoxification Needs)
Vastu- Vastu energetic’s supply and regulates the full spectrum of universal bio-energies essential for human health. (i.e. solar, lunar, stellar, geomagnetic, etc.)  This spectrum, through unseen, dictates the health, longevity and mental prowess of all humans as well as their prosperity and success.
 

The Inner Game of Health- The Inner Game of Health is what allows you to conquer your outer game.  The Inner Game of Health is the process and manifestation that creates your physical health.  The formula for manifestation of health, beginning with the Inner Game consists of past and present conditioning, beliefs and perceptions, thoughts, emotions, actions and habits.
 

Electromagnetic Filed Exposure (EMF’s) - Electromagnetic fields are a combination of an electric field and a magnetic field.  An electric field is created by the movement of electrons from one atom to another, this force moves around the earth.  A magnetic field is created by magnetism that radiates out from the center of the earth through the atmosphere and back to the center of the earth.  These two fields pulse information and interact together creating an electromagnetic field. 
Electromagnetic Radiation is the presence of an electromagnetic field that is stronger than the earth’s field.  Electromagnetic radiation is most commonly created when electricity is used to power an electrical appliance like a computer.  The electricity in the wire interacts with the magnetism of the earth creating a field.  This artificial field over powers the earths electromagnetic field and disrupts the proper functioning of the human body, specifically the nervous system.  EMF toxicity can be argued to be the most over looked toxic exposure and at the same time the most detrimental.

Nutritional Needs- Our food sources are void of the nutritional value that they once had.  On top of this, add in refined foods which are further stripped of any nutritional value that they once had, pesticides, herbicides, and the irradiation of our food sources, our nutritional needs constantly need to be reevaluated and additionally supported through whole food sources and vitamins and nutrients.
Sleep- Our bodies repair themselves when we sleep.  Our bodies require a stream of uninterrupted sleep to allow such healing to take place.  The amount of sleep though is unique to each individual and is fully dependable on the other elements of the hierarchy of health.  The more we have strengthened the other elements, the less sleep we may require.  Reasons why someone might not sleep adequately are; unhealthy energetic’s in ones sleeping environment (Vastu), over stressed lifestyle, medication therapy, and more.
Interference Fields- An interference field is an area of the body where there has been previous trauma such as an old scar or a whiplash from a car accident.  Even though a trauma may be very old and is no longer painful, it can still act like a powerful short-circuit of the body’s natural energy flow to an  specific organ or gland, thus creating many problems- often un-resolvable even with many types of treatments.
Detoxification- Our bodies are under a tremendous burden of toxic assault,   from herbicides and pesticides in our foods and on our lawns, to petroleum based fumes filling our houses from our furniture and flooring, to heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead that infiltrate our air, water, land and natural food sources.  In our current age of constant exposure to such a myriad of toxic chemicals, one of the biggest keys to a long, healthy life is periodic, ongoing detoxification.
 

I was just getting ready to write a blog that will be posted as “Same seed”, and was interupted during the NFL game day by a Dr. Robert Jarvik who is the creator of the artificial heart. 

This guy is on T.V. making people believe that taking lipitor will prevent someone from acquiring heart disease.  He also conviently, in a subtle manner, lays out the side effects like it may happen and if it does, no big deal, just stop.

The cholesterol scare is one of the biggest financial motivated programs that has ever been placed upon our health care system, in my mind second to only vaccinations and dental amalgam fillings.

Now, I would not want anyone to just stop taking their cholesterol medications, but what you need to do is educate yourself, because your doctor probably wont do it for you, on the inns and outs of heart disease, cholesterol mangement, and these poisons you are prescribed to take. 

A few things on drugs like Liptior, otherwise known as statins.  They should not be taken by people with liver disease.  What does this tell you?  Yes, that it is hard on the liver.  If you have a healthy liver why would you want to punish it.

One of the biggest problems is how it dramatically depletes coQ10 out of your system.  Coq10 is an integral component in the body’s ability to produce energy.  It is crucial for muscle health and strength, and what is the heart, you guessed it, a big muscle.

Please educate yourself, there is abundant information on cholesterol, statins, etc.

If you scan down to the right of your website here there is a book called Stop worrying about cholesterol by Dr Richard Tappert. 

For those inclined to read the studies themselves go to medline and search coq10, statins, etc,

In Health

Now where not saying that…..well you can make your decision.

Before we explain the chain of events that happened, let us preface with,

• The flu shot has never been shown to be effective and the safety is questionable. 
• The current years formulation is based off of last years flu strain, giving the scientists a guestamation of what will protect during this coming year.
• Fear sells.
• When ones immune system is challenged (dealing with a cold or general virus) an injection of a virulent strain of any form might open the door for a more severe infection.
• It is profitable for pharmacies and doctors offices.
• You should ask your doctor, pharmacist, nurse, etc…where is the proof?

Ok, so let us start by saying, yes we sometimes watch the Regis and Kelly show.  They can be quite entertaining at times.

Here is the time line of facts that took place:

A couple of weeks ago, Regis and Kelly mentioned they were going to have a health care practitioner in to give them their flu shots.

At this time, Kelly’s daughter was already dealing with a week long flu bug. (could this have weekened Kelly’s immune system in addition to her long hours of work?)

Now, they are at Treasure Island in the Bahama’s, and you bet living here in MI with our November weather that we are going to watch.  It turns out on Monday during taping that Kelly came down with the flu and ended up vomitting. (Tape was shown on celebrity show Extra)

So we ask you, given the time line of events and facts, could Kelly’s immune system have been weekened enough to allow a virulent injection take hold and turn her maybe nothing into something?

Aside note:  The above was written last week, as of this weekend and Monday, Regis has been dealing with a bit of a stomach thing.