"No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any." 
(Thomas Jefferson)

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER  (Vol. 5, No. 11 for August, 2005)
"Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A."

Copyright 2005 by Andrew W. Saul of http://www.doctoryourself.com , which welcomes over 1.5 million visitors annually. Commercial use of the website or the contents of this Newsletter is strictly prohibited.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1) CAFFEINE PSYCHOSIS
2) VITAMIN WARS and a must-see free online documentary
3) CODEX AND CAFTA UPDATES
4) VITAMINS ENHANCE CHEMOTHERAPY by Erik T. Paterson, M.D. 
5) HOW TO FIND A DOCTOR WHO OFFERS INTRAVENOUS (IV) VITAMIN C
6) CANCER, DIET, AND DOCTORS
7) DRY SKIN
8) THE VALUE OF HIGH-DOSE VITAMIN THERAPY by Bo Jonsson, M.D.
9) HEPATITIS
10) FLUORIDATION
11) ENURESIS (BEDWETTING)
12) READERS SAY
13) FREE RESOURCES
14) UNSTRESS YOUR LIFE, Part Five, by John Mosher, Ph.D.

A POPULAR SERIES OF 1950's MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS for decaffeinated coffee depicted husbands so afflicted with "coffee nerves" that they were more like beasts than men. One such cartoon illustration actually showed the hubby in a cage, raging and railing against his terrified family from behind bars.

But it's not funny. Caffeine, the most common and most unrestricted of stimulant drugs, has diverse and adverse effects on the human body. Ruth Whalen, a medical lab technician, learned this the hard way. She suffered for over twenty years from various psychoses that, she discovered, were eliminated when she eliminated caffeine. A new book, Welcome to the Dance, is her story. It is also an intensely personal and medically comprehensive look at just how severe caffeine's negative effects can be. Admittedly I am biased; I published Ms. Whalen's first two papers on the topic (Caffeine Induced Anaphylaxis: A Progressive Toxic Dementia; and Caffeine Allergy: Past Disorder or Present Epidemic?) in 2002. They remain among the most read articles at my website, www.doctoryourself.com. Her work has subsequently appeared in medical journals, including The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.

I recall my first pharmacologically memorable encounter with caffeine. I was in my teens, in London, and spotted a little old lady (really) going down a long flight of steps with a cane in each hand. It was the classic Boy Scout opportunity, for it truly looked as if she was going to topple over any second. I caught up with her (that being easy) and helped her across the street. Across the street turned out to be her hotel. She graciously invited me, the touring Yankee, to have coffee with her in the hotel's elegant sitting room. I had seen red-coated waiters and dazzling silver tea services in the movies, but this was the time I was living it live. She turned out to be a real hoot and a brilliant conversationalist.  Hours went by, and in that time I downed eight cups of coffee.

I felt just great. 

Back at my hotel that night, I went to sleep, sort of.  It was not long before I awoke, my eyes opened wide. I tried to close them, and they instantly leapt open again.  It was as if my eyelids were on springs. This went on for some time, as I lay there and figured out, eventually, what might have transpired.

I'd had about 1,000 milligrams of caffeine, that's what. And it was working.

Caffeine, an alkaloid methylxanthine, is incredibly well absorbed when taken orally: ninety-nine per cent of it goes straight into your body. It passes easily through the blood-brain barrier. It would stand to reason that any drug that is a central nervous system stimulant; a skeletal muscle stimulant; a cardiac stimulant; that induces hypoglycemia (1); and that causes agitation, insomnia, altered mental states, rigidity, tremors and seizures would be more suspect. But, as Bart Simpson has observed, "Nobody suspects the butterfly." In other words, the familiar is often the last to be fixed.

Nothing is more familiar than caffeine. Caffeine is consumed worldwide at an estimated 120,000 tons per year. A Medline search for "caffeine" yields over 19,000 results; "caffeine toxicity" will bring up more than 900 journal articles. One review paper, describing how caffeine causes birth defects in rodents, states: "Maternal exposure to caffeine induces also long-term consequences on sleep, locomotion, learning abilities, emotivity, and anxiety in rat offspring." (2) One study indicated that nine out of ten high school students consumed caffeine, mostly from soft drinks. (3) Another paper recognized caffeine as a major cause of bedwetting. (4)
 
We could go on and on about this, and Ms. Whalen does. That is good. Citing study after study, she builds the case from all directions. Her book provides a thorough 42 pages of medical references, plus an additional 30 pages of recommended reading material. I like her writing style, which alternates between review textbook and tell-all memoir. The author is almost painfully honest as she narrates how she lost 27 years of her life to unrecognized caffeine-induced psychosis. And then she cured it, not by taking an exotic pharmaceutical drug, but by refusing to take a common dietary drug.

Caffeine is said to have a half-life in your body of three to seven hours. Not only does that vary among people, it also needs a comment. Using five as the average of three and seven, this means that 10 hours after consumption, 25% of the drug is still in you. At least. Women on the birth control pill take twice as long to metabolize caffeine as women who are not. And some persons are vastly more sensitive to caffeine than others.
 
If you are going to use a drug, caffeine is certainly better than nicotine, cocaine or narcotics. Adults can freely choose to have their blast of caffeine in their morning coffee. But it's not just coffee that's the caffeine culprit. Tea, chocolate, many pain relievers, and soft drinks contain caffeine. An increasingly large number of children, and I mean little children, are having that same xanthine blast as Mom and Dad. "Nearly three-quarters of all children over the age of 6 months regularly use caffeine," writes Jean Carper. (5) The Center for Science in the Public Interest has reported that about half of all children drink soda pop; those between ages six and eleven drink nearly a pint a day. 20% of toddlers drink soda pop, nearly a cup daily. And, of the seven best selling soft drinks, six have caffeine in them. (6)

Lendon Smith, M.D., frequently said that if your child craves something, it's probably not good for him. Caffeine is a stimulant, not as powerful as Ritalin or amphetamine, but a stimulant nonetheless. Where, exactly, does "just say no to drugs" begin? By law, nicotine use is prohibited until age 18. Alcohol use is prohibited until age 21. There is never a legal age for dangerous street drugs, such as crack, PCP and heroin. And yet I know of no age restrictions on caffeine. 

If there were an age restriction on caffeine, it would have to start even before birth. Caffeine crosses the placenta, causing overactive fetuses in pregnant mothers. The developing baby gets as much as the mother. Babies so affected cry more and sleep less. Women who drink more than a cup of coffee every day are only half as likely to conceive as those who drink less than a cup a day. If women down more than two and a half cups daily, then they are nearly 5 times less likely to be able to get pregnant as women who drink none. (7) Furthermore, if a pregnant woman drinks 2 or 3 cups of coffee each day, she is more likely to have a premature baby, or a full-term infant with low birthweight.

The list of troubles related to chronic caffeinism is very long. I do not think Ms. Whalen missed a one. From Anxiety, Anorexia, Anaphylaxis and ADHD to Schizophrenia, Suicide, Vertigo and Violence, Welcome to the Dance's 123 compact chapters provide ample variety to keep the reader's interest.

If you are an adult caffeine user and your life is fine, I am not out to change you. But if you or someone you care about is a caffeine user and life is a mess, read Ms. Whalen's book before things get any worse. If a person is psychotic, bipolar or suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, perhaps the answer is not to take more drugs, but to take fewer. Start by stopping caffeine. 

Welcome to the Dance: Caffeine Allergy - A Masked Cerebral Allergy and Progressive Toxic Dementia
by Ruth Whalen. (Victoria, B.C. Canada: Trafford Publishing, 2005) 338 pages plus index. Foreword by Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.

Review reprinted with permission of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol 20, 2005, in press.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, or to order Welcome to the Dance: Caffeine Allergy - A Masked Cerebral Allergy and Progressive Toxic Dementia ($33.95 plus S/H) you may contact the author at ruth_w@localnet.com

References:
1. Cheraskin E, Ringsdorf WM Jr, Setyaadmadja AT, Barrett RA. Effect of caffeine versus placebo supplementation on blood-glucose concentration. Lancet. 1967 Jun 17;1(7503):1299-300. And: Cheraskin E, Ringsdorf WM Jr. Blood-glucose levels after caffeine. Lancet. 1968 Sep 21;2(7569):689.

2. Nehlig A, Debry G. Potential teratogenic and neurodevelopmental consequences of coffee and caffeine exposure: a review on human and animal data. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1994 Nov-Dec;16(6):531-43.) 

3. Valek M, Laslavic B, Laslavic Z. Daily caffeine intake among Osijek High School students: questionnaire study. Croat Med J. 2004 Feb;45(1):72-5.

4. Jalkut MW, Lerman SE, Churchill BM. Enuresis. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2001 Dec;48(6):1461-88.) 

5. Carper J. "Your food pharmacy." Syndicated column, June 15, 1994.

6. Jacobson MF. Liquid Candy: How soft drinks are harming Americans' health. http://www.cspinet.org/sodapop/liquid_candy.htm Accessed June 2005. 

7. Wilcox A, Weinberg C, Baird D. Caffeinated beverages and decreased fertility. Lancet. 1988 8626-7:1473-1476, December 24/31.

(end of review)

EVEN TODDLERS DRINK SODA, and Plenty Of It
Excellent article posted at: 
http://www.cspinet.org/sodapop/liquid_candy.htm

VITAMIN WARS, EPISODE THREE: The Fight Intensifies

Your access is to nutritional supplements will likely be restricted in the next few years. 

The Doctor Yourself Newsletter has been discussing (some would say harping on) this looming health threat for years. If you still wonder why, may I recommend you watch a superb, free, online health freedom documentary called "We Become Silent." The highly-professional, 28 minute video includes some exceptionally brilliant moments. My two favorites are the famous Mel Gibson SWAT-team arrest scene ("Hey, guys, it's only vitamins!") and the FDA Deputy Commissioner, while under interrogation about supplement safety vs. drug dangers, saying "Turn the camera off and we can talk." 

Watch "We Become Silent" right now at http://www.welltv.com or http://herballure.com/Special/WeBecomeSilent/QuickTime.html

UPDATES 
Many of my readers have requested news updates on the national (and international) government anti-vitamin agendas. This has already been done by others, and I urge you to go to these links, do a Google search for more, and see for yourself.

CAFTA 
CAFTA stands for Central American Free Trade Agreement, which makes the USA even more susceptible to more supplement restrictions. Be sure to read http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/update07.13.05.htm 

The US House of Representatives vote on CAFTA is expected within days. CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN NOW and say "Vote NO on CAFTA."

CODEX
The United Nations CODEX unit wants everyone on earth to have non-prescription access only to low dose supplements. Take a look at these:
 
"Your dietary supplements: Under attack again"
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44713

A Physician's Summation of Vitamin Regulation:
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/dshea.htm

"Controversial EU vitamin ban to go ahead"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1690686,00.html

ACTION
If you do not mind losing your access to your vitamins, you can relax: all you have to do is nothing. 

But if you want to keep nutritional supplementation freely available for yourself, and particularly for your children and grandchildren, there are two things you need to do right away:
 
First: 

WRITE, AND CALL, CONGRESS. A congressional directory is posted at http://capwiz.com/liberty/dbq/officials/ Tell your representative, "There is not even one death per year from vitamins. Vitamins supplementation saves lives and saves healthcare dollars. Do not limit my access to vitamin supplements! No to CODEX. No to CAFTA."

Then: 

WRITE TO YOUR NEWSPAPERS. Short letters to local papers have the best chance of being published. 
Tell everyone, "There is not even one death per year from vitamins. Vitamin supplementation saves lives and saves healthcare dollars. Do not limit my access to vitamin supplements!"

Here is just one more big reason why we need supplements:

VITAMINS ENHANCE CHEMOTHERAPY
by Erik T. Paterson, M.D. (Creston, British Columbia, Canada)

A recent article (National Post of Canada, 6 June 2005) gave an interesting account of problems with the use of supplements with cancer therapy.

As far as the antioxidants are concerned, the article is far from as balanced as it would like the readers to believe. In low doses, those usually advocated by conventionally minded professionals, there is little or no value in the use of such substances. In high (remarkably safe) doses they can be highly valuable. For example, high dose vitamin C given experimentally to cultures of any type of cancer cells is lethal to them, but entirely harmless to similar cultures of normal cells. 

In clinical practice, when prescribed by knowledgeable doctors, high dose vitamin C does not ever interfere with chemotherapy, helps to protect against the adverse (often enough lethal) effects of chemotherapy, enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy, and frequently induces complete remission of cancer (disappearance of all clinical signs of tumour) where chemotherapy cannot. The evidence for this efficacy of high dose vitamin C is voluminous, a good starting point being Hoffer, A. & Pauling, L., Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, recovery, controversy, Quarry Health Books, 2000. But similar research shows the value of the other antioxidant supplements, but only when given in high, but safe doses.

I am living proof that this works, having fallen ill with a near lethal Acute Mylegenous Leukemia nearly nine years ago. The effects of the chemotherapy nearly killed me. Once in remission (not cure) I have kept myself healthy with vitamin C 8,000 milligrams, niacin 3,000 milligrams, vitamin E 1000 units, vitamins A and D (in Halibut liver oil) and selenium 500 micrograms, along with other supplements all per day.

I advocate that people ought to READ, READ, READ but not just journals with a bias against the unconventional use of vitamins.

(Editor's note: Our thanks to Dr. Paterson for his excellent and encouraging article.)

HOW TO FIND A DOCTOR NEAR YOU WHO OFFERS INTRAVENOUS (IV) VITAMIN C
by a Doctor Yourself staff volunteer
Go here http://www.acam.org/dr_search/index.php and type CT in the search box.  Click on the circle to the left of "Specialty" and then click on "Search." In mid-June, 641 doctors with their contact information appeared in the search result. In order to narrow the search results to your state, now click on the circle to the left of "State (2 letters) or Province" and type your two letter state abbreviation in the Search box. Click on "Search".  The results will be doctors in your state who offer Chelation Therapy and these doctors are also usually trained and offer intravenous vitamin C.  Contact the doctor of your choice in the search results to verify he or she offers vitamin C IV treatment.

Note: Doctor Yourself does not maintain a database of physicians, and does not provide addresses, referrals or recommendations.

How to Get Intravenous  Vitamin C Given to a Hospitalized Patient
http://www.doctoryourself.com/strategies.html

Intravenous vitamin C is available from Merit Pharmaceuticals, 2611 San Fernando, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Telephone: In California: 800-696-3748; Out-of-State: 800-421-9657. If you know of other sources, please let me know.

ANY DOCTOR CAN SUPERVISE INTRAVENOUS VITAMIN C
http://www.doctoryourself.com/naturedoc.html

CANCER, DIET, AND DOCTORS
by James Burnett, Doctor Yourself volunteer in Mission, Texas

A recent study printed in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (March 1, 2005) stated that the researchers were surprised to find that colorectal cancer patients who had individual nutritional counseling had a better quality of life and a reduction in symptoms and suffering.

There were three groups of colorectal cancer patients in the study; the number of patients was not given.  One group ate a "normal" diet, one group ate a high protein liquid supplement in addition to the normal diet and one group ate a diet with individual nutritional counseling.  The patients who had the individual nutritional diet counseling had less nausea, vomiting and diarrhea then the other two groups.

The researchers may have been surprised but those of you who are familiar with the positive impact proper nutrition can have on the body are not in the least surprised.

I am surprised at the doctors' lack of knowledge about the effects of proper nutrition.  Apparently during their College of Medicine studies so much time was taken on the study of drugs that there was little time left for the study of nutrition.  How sad.  Even doctors themselves think it is shocking that physicians were so clueless about nutrition. http://www.mercola.com/2005/apr/16/nutrition_cancer.htm 

Sometimes it is up to the patient to help the busy doctor become aware of what is going on in the field of orthomolecular/natural health material.  Print out some of the information found on the Doctor Yourself web site, including a brief bibliography and give it to your busy doctor "to read in your spare time" and see what happens.  I gave my oncologist several studies about 5 weeks ago and am waiting for his reaction at my next appointment with him.

More information about the value of nutrition in the treatment of cancer is available at the following websites:

Gerson Therapy http://www.doctoryourself.com/mgerson.html
The Greson Miracle http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersontherapy2.html
Nutritional Cancer Therapy  http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersontherapy.html
Dr. Hoffer's Articles  http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_hoffer.html
Cancer  http://www.doctoryourself.com/cancer.html
Nutritional Therapy for Cancer  http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonspeech.html
Overview of Some Nutritional Approaches to Cancer http://www.doctoryourself.com/cancer_2.html
Vitamin C Versus Cancer  http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_vitc_can.html
Megavitamin Treatment of Cancer  http://www.doctoryourself.com/cancer_hoffer.html

DRY SKIN
By Robert, Doctor Yourself volunteer in Tennessee

I had dry skin for many years, particularly in the winter. My back was rough and scaly, my wife would apply cream to my back after my showers in an effort to relieve the dryness and I had various back scratchers to use for relief.  It was a minor but annoying condition. I read on the Internet that evening primrose oil often helps relieve dry skin conditions and I decided to give it a try. A year ago I bought a bottle of 100 evening primrose soft gels (500 mg each) for $4 at a large discount store. I started taking one soft gel every three or four days (twice a week). My back soon started itching less. I still take two evening primrose oil soft gels a week and the skin on my back has returned to normal hydration. It is smooth instead of rough, it has normal skin moisture content and there is no itching. 

Recently I saw an article that explains why evening primrose oil worked for me. "Evening Primrose, Black Currant and Borage Oils: These contain the essential fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which is useful for treating arthritic pain. These are the exception to omega-6 fats that are necessary to have in your diet. It is reasonable for many to take these as a supplement, particularly if you struggle with dry skin in the winter, as this is a strong indicator that you are deficient in these fats."  http://www.mercola.com/2005/jan/12/anti_inflammatory.htm.  

Dry skin can be caused by many conditions such as lack of omega-3 fats in the diet, dehydration or a thyroid condition.  A search at http://www.mercola.com for "dry skin" produces almost 200 hits.  The Mercola site is commercial and perhaps some of the information encourages purchase of their products. However, a thoughtful evaluation of information on commercial sites is prudent. (More on this topic next month in the Doctor Yourself Newsletter.)

If you have dry skin, consider taking some evening primrose oil.  It's cheap, safe, and convenient.  It may solve your dry skin problem, too.

THE NEED FOR HIGH-DOSE VITAMIN THERAPY
by Bo Jonsson, M.D.

The statement that a well balanced diet is enough for optimal health is problematic. In this area people in general often have a great interest. This is less so within health care, a fact which may promote patients to choose complementary or alternative treatment. Knowledge from conventional and complementary medicine needs integration if medical service shall be credible in the field of diet. 

For supplements, pharmaceutical drugs and other measures, knowledge is needed about effects and side-effects. To get a comprehensive view all pros and cons need to be weighed together. 

In his short comment (1), Becker states that two recent meta-analyses (2, 3) have flaws, but still claims that the results without a doubt speak against positive effects! Contradictory results need critical analysis. One of the meta-analysis (2) included studies with so different treatments and populations that the work deviates from basic criteria for meta-analyses (4). Bringing together studies with unequal antioxidants with large differences is like mixing apples and pears. In the other meta-analysis (3) the material was dominated by ill patients or populations in risk groups. The authors mention that there are different forms of vitamin E, but then ignores this fact. A recent review claim a clearly better safety for high-dose vitamin E (5). 

Problems with intervention studies

Epidemiologic studies are criticised for their doubtful value (6), but so are randomised treatment studies (7). A common explanation for unsuccessful interventions have been that a well-composed diet contain more healthy nutrients in a natural complex than supplements with single nutrients. But there are other problems with intervention studies. Millions of dollars have been used for research where patients have been given single antioxidants in inadequate doses. Two British researchers maintain that most treatment studies with vitamin C have not considered that ascorbate in high-dose has a half-life in plasma of only 30 minutes (8). Therefore, in treatment ascorbate 100mg five times a day may be more effective than 1,000 mg once daily. 

When using essential nutrients it is important to clearly differentiate treatment of illness from prevention of the originally described deficiency diseases, which may not be so common in Sweden today (9). But separate nutrients act and participate in large numbers of different biochemical processes. 

Is a well-composed diet enough?

For decades it has officially been asserted that a well-composed diet provide necessary nutrients in sufficient amounts. Good food is, together with other lifestyle factors, important for the individual's total health. However, several factors lead us to question if a well-composed diet is enough for optimal health.

The concept recommended daily allowance is generally associated with the idea that all humans have the same need for different nutrients. In medical research an implicit assumption is often that an imagined average individual may represent a group, or all humans, irrespective of the distribution within a population. However, in clinical practice we treat individuals which are all different (except identical twins). In reality we never meet a human being identical to an average individual. To give a good treatment for separate patients evidence and guidelines need supplementing with individual or personal knowledge. One hundred years ago Garrod wrote about chemical individuality (10) and coined the concept "inborn errors of metabolism" (11). Half a century later Williams used the expression biochemical individuality (12, 13). His hypothesis was that there is a considerable variability in the need for separate nutrients among different individuals as well as among other animals. Patients respond individually to pharmacological drugs, and an understanding for the importance of genetics in this respect is becoming more dispersed (14). Knowledge generated from research on the human genome supports individualisation of recommendations for food and nutrients (15). 

Vitamin reports have been ignored

Positive reports about the effects of high-dose vitamins have since long been ignored by the medical establishment instead of being further examined scientifically. One hundred years after Garrod's paper (10) Ames published a review explaining how fifty diseases may benefit from higher doses of vitamins (16). The principal explanation is the importance of vitamins in enzymatic reactions. 

There is an old knowledge about relationships between the chemistry in our environment and the nutritional status in our bodies. Toxins, artificial fertilizers, cultivation techniques and refining of foods affect the nutrients in different ways. The nutritional value of food may have deteriorated according to some studies. In the UK minerals in fruits and vegetables were found to decrease between the 1930's and the 1990's (17, 18). Data from the US also show a deteriorated nutritional value in vegetables (19). These studies have limits, but this does not make the problem less important. Ecologically grown vegetables may in some respects be more nutritional compared to non-ecological (20). Similarly, meat from wild animals has been found to be healthier compared to meat from domesticated animals bred on concentrated feed (21). Globally seen, deficiencies of minerals as iodine, iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc are often described

A poorly balanced food intake is common also in Sweden. Food may be poor in important nutrients and contain too much sugar, fats and white bread. The order of meals is often bad. Certain groups in the population have more of these problems. 
Disease, stress, physical activity and light affect our needs for nutrients in ways which need more investigation.
Nutrients are not uncommonly affected by drug therapy. Examples are effects of statins on coenzyme Q10 and antibiotics on the intestinal flora with consequence for the nutritional uptake (22). 

Comments

An evaluation of nutritional status is warranted for most patients. People in general are today more positively interested and expect something more than stock answers to questions on nutrition and health. Lack of knowledge as well as uninterested and negative attitudes among doctors and other nursing staff may contribute to the fact that patients increasingly choose complementary and alternative treatment. Knowledge from conventional and complementary medicine must be integrated if health care shall make a reliable contribution in the field of food. Sweeping alarming reports about risks with natural nutrients will probably not increase the trust from people in general. 

(Jonsson BH, Dalén P, Arfors KE. Lakartidningen The lack of interest within health care for the effects of nutrients must be ended. (article in Swedish). Journal of the Swedish Medical Association, 2005 (20) May 18;102:1559-60.)

References:

1. Becker W. Stora vitamindoser kan vara riskabelt! Läkartidningen 2005;102:728. 
2. Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Simonetti RG, Gluud C. Antioxidant supplements for prevention of gastrointestinal cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2004;364:1219-28.
3. Miller ER III, Pastor-Barriuso R, Dalal D, Riemersma RA, Appel LJ, Guallar E. Meta-analysis: high-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Ann Intern Med 2005;142:37-46.
4. Lipsey MW, Wilson DB. Practical meta-analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2001.
5. Hathcock JN, Azzi A, Blumberg J, Bray T, Dickinson A, Frei B, et al. Vitamins E and C are safe across a broad range of intakes. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:736-45.
6. von Elm E, Egger M. The scandal of poor epidemiological research. BMJ 2004;329:868-9.
7. Altman DG. Poor-quality medical research. What can journals do? JAMA 2002;287:2765-7.
8. Hickey S, Roberts H. Ascorbate. The science of vitamin C. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Press, 2004. 
9. Becker W. Vitaminbrist mycket ovanligt i Sverige. D-vitamin till barn för att undvika rakit. Läkartidningen 1997;94:2936, 2939-40.
10. Garrod AE. The incidence of alkaptonuria: a study in chemical individuality. Lancet 1902;160:1616-20.
11. Garrod AE. Inborn errors of metabolism. Lancet 1908;172:1-7.
12. Williams RJ, Beerstecher E, Berry LJ. The concept of genetotrophic disease. Lancet 1950;255:287-9.
13. Williams RJ. Biochemical individuality: the basis for the genetotrophic concept. New York: Wiley, 1956. 
14. Müller M. Pharmacogenomics and drug response. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 2003;41:231-40.
15. Stover PJ, Garza C. Bringing individuality to public health recommendations. J Nutr 2002;132:2476S-2480S.
16. Ames BN, Elson-Schwab I, Silver EA. High-dose vitamin therapy stimulates variant enzymes with decreased coenzyme binding affinity (increased Km): relevance to genetic disease and polymorphisms. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75:616-58. 
17. Mayer A-M. Historical changes in the mineral content of fruits and vegetables. Br Food J 1997;99:207-11.
18. Thomas D. A study on the mineral depletion of the foods available to us as a nation over the period 1940 to 1991. Nutr Health 2003;17:85-115.
19. Davies Dr, Epp MD, Riordan HD. Changes in USDA food composition data for 43 garden crops, 1950 to 1999. J Am Coll Nutr 2004;23:669-82. 
20. Worthington V. Nutritional quality of organic versus conventional fruits, vegetables, and grains. J Altern Complement Med 2001;7:161-73.
21. Cordain L, Watkins BA, Florant GL, Kelher M, Rogers L, Li Y. Fatty acid analysis of wild ruminant tissues: evolutionary implications for reducing diet-related chronic disease. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002;56:181-91.
22. Pelton R, LaValle JB, Hawkins EB, Krinsky DL. Drug-induced nutrient depletion handbook (2nd Ed). Hudson: Lexi-Comp, 2001.

HEPATITIS links:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hepatitis.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/germs.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/levy.html
http://www.orthomed.com

FLUORIDATION: 
http://www.theomnivore.com/Water_Flouridation.html 

"Many published studies that had conclusions favoring fluoridation were later found unsupported by their raw data. There is evidence that fluoridation increases the incidence of cancer, hip fractures, joint problems, and that by causing fluorosis it damages both teeth and bones. Other medical problems may also occur, including neurological damage. . . Fluoridation of municipal water should cease." (Joel Kauffman, PhD, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Volume 10 Number 2, Summer 2005)

READ DR. KAUFFMAN'S COMPLETE PAPER FOR FREE: http://www.jpands.org/vol10no2/kauffman.pdf

FAST FLUORIDE FACTS
www.FluorideAction.net

1)  Fluoridation is unethical. It violates the individual's right to choose one's own medicine.
2)  Fluoridation is ineffective. There is little difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.
3)  Fluoridation is dangerous. Fluoride is toxic and accumulates in the body; it makes our bones more brittle, as well as increasing the risk of bone cancer in young boys.
4)  Fluoridation is unnecessary. Our youngsters (and all of us) are already getting too much fluoride.
5)  Fluoridation doesn't make sense. Even the CDC now concedes that the (intended) benefit of fluoride is topical, not from ingesting fluoridated water.
6)  Fluoridation is a waste of taxpayers' money. The money would be better spent on targeting vulnerable children with better education, better diet and better dental services.
7)  Fluoridation is a diversion of the real problems. For example, 80% of dentists won't treat kids on Medicaid.  Dentists should be treating our kids with care, not our water with toxic fluoride chemicals.

Dr. Paul Connett, paul@fluoridealert.org, 315-379-9200 http://www.fluoridealert.org

DOCTOR YOURSELF HAPPY-HOME HINT OF THE MONTH:
ENURESIS (BEDWETTING) 

If you have a bedwetting child, try immediately changing his or her diet in two major, clinically proven ways:

1. No caffeine
2. No junk food

Medical research supports such action. Pediatric urologists "recommend a treatment program for children with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis that includes removal of caffeine from the diet." (Jalkut MW, Lerman SE, Churchill BM. Enuresis. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2001 Dec;48(6):1461-88. PMID: 11732125) 

See also: Edelstein BA, Keaton-Brasted C, Burg MM. Effects of caffeine withdrawal on nocturnal enuresis, insomnia, and behavior restraints. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1984 Oct;52(5):857-62. (PMID: 6501671)

Robson WL, Jackson HP, Blackhurst D, Leung AK. Enuresis in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. South Med J. 1997 May;90(5):503-5. (Pediatric Nephrology Service, Children's Hospital, Greenville, SC) 
"ADHD children at age 6 were 2.7 times more likely than controls to have nocturnal enuresis." (PMID: 9160067)
 
Egger J, Carter CH, Soothill JF, Wilson J. Effect of diet treatment on enuresis in children with migraine or hyperkinetic behavior. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 1992 May;31(5):302-7. (Hospital for Sick Children, London, England.) 
"Nine children were subjected to a placebo-controlled, double-blind reintroduction of provoking foods. Six children relapsed during testing with incriminated foods; none reacted to placebo. Enuresis in food-induced migraine and/or behavior disorder seems to respond, in some patients, to avoidance of provoking foods." (Randomized Controlled Trial: PMID: 1582098)

For more information:
http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_feingold.html and especially 
http://www.feingold.org 

READERS SAY:

SPIDER BITE AND VITAMIN C 
"I think I was bitten by a Brown Recluse recently(due to the size, etc of the spot formed). I started to panic, and then thought, "I know what to do. VITAMIN C!" I took many grams without ever coming close to bowel tolerance. By the next morning, the bite site was much improved. A week later, I have a nickel sized area that looks like a fading bruise with a small spot in the 
middle. Thank you for having a web site where I can learn, learn, learn!"

READERS ASK:

MEDICAL SCHOOL
"Is there any medical school program that offers an orthomolecular-based education? I have not been able to find one in the United States."

If there is a medical school with an orthomolecular-based curriculum, I am certainly not aware of it. I think the only way to find out would be to contract schools and ask them flat out. If anybody finds one, please let me know at drsaul@doctoryourself.com (Applies to accredited MD-degrees only, please.) I'd be interested in seeing replies you may receive. 

MORE FREE HEALTH RESOURCES!

Two more full-text papers from the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine now online for free reading:

UPPER LIMITS FOR NUTRIENTS: A Critique
http://www.malterinstitute.com/NAS%20article%202000.htm

PREVENTING POSTPAFRTUM DEPRESSION
http://www.malterinstitute.com/ppd_1.htm

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The TIDBITS alternative health newsletter has attitude! If you are not on this mailing list and wish to subscribe, please send an email to Tidbits@sustainablespirit.org with "Subscribe" in the heading.

Here is a recent "Tidbits" excerpt:
THE REAL DRUG WAR IS VIOXX
New statistics reveal a mounting death toll from the blockbuster pharmaceutical drug Vioxx. The highly touted pain killer is estimated to have caused roughly 140,000 heart attacks, 44% of which led to death. The total number of U.S. deaths from this pharmaceutical drug that the FDA had claimed was "safe", is over 60,000, which is about the same as the combined number of deaths of all U.S. soldiers killed in the Vietnam war, Desert Storm, and Iraq. www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/medicine052605.cfm

UNSTRESS YOUR LIFE, Part Five
by John Mosher, PhD
Biology Professor Emeritus, State University of New York

WHIPPING THE HORSE
Have you taken notice that there are natural cycles?  We can see these cycles in action even in our own bodies.  One might sum up this fact by saying there is the cycle of REST and ACTIVITY. If you were to observe an animal such as a dog or cat you would notice that they have periods when they are active and times when they rest or sleep.  Through out the day the animal has periods of rest and activity.  Do you follow this natural cycle?  Or is your life one of go all day long into the night with no definite periods of rest?

It has been my observation that we tend to override the healthy natural tendency to rest from time to time by using stimulants such as coffee or various other prescription or non-prescription substances.  The mind may want what the body does not want! So the mind in charge whips the body, just as a relentless driver might whip a horse beyond its endurance until it drops.  Therefore it is important to recognize the natural cycles of rest and activity.  If your horse (body) gives out, what have you gained?

When I was growing up on a farm, I noticed that the older men would work at a relatively slow steady pace and take frequent rests.  The younger and inexperienced men would tend to work fast and intensely and be tired out long before the older men were.  One day when I was about 10 years old my grandfather pointed this out to me. He said, "Watch how the older men will get more done and be working long after the younger men are exhausted." He was right. The older men had learned that by pacing themselves and resting occasionally they could get as much as, if not more, work done without unduly stressing the body.   My grandfather and my father were great proponents for working SMARTER and not HARDER.  

Another thing: I never observed coffee breaks on our farm.  There was coffee at breakfast and maybe green tea at the noon meal but water was drunk through out the rest of the day.

Most of my grandfather's work on the farm involved horses.  He always rested the horses each time he came to the end of a row of crops he was cultivating. He would stop the horses in the shade of the hedge row. The horses would stamp their feet and blow their lips then hang their heads and close their eyes. My grandfather sitting on the cultivator would nod with his eyes closed for a minute or two. Then, he'd turn the team into the next row where the horses plodded on to their next short rest.

I asked Grandpa once why he didn't use a whip on the horses and make them finish the job faster.  He said, "Why, that kind of treatment would soon ruin a good horse and eventually would kill them."

I have read statistics claiming that most stress is self generated. To me, that means the mind is whipping the horse: the body.  I guess grandpa's comment about ruining a good horse by whipping it could apply to us.  It seems that many a good body has been damaged and even killed by the relentless driving and whipping by the desires of the mind.  By returning to the wisdom of nature and following the cycle of REST and ACTIVITY and practicing relaxation techniques saves our bodies for a longer happier healthier life.

The mind can get any idea or desire. If the mind is put in charge it can ruin the body.  So often the mind wants what the body does not want.  The body wants to follow the natural cycles. The mind and mind-created ego might follow anything. If what the mind is trained to follow is consistent with the harmony of nature, then you will enjoy a happier, healthier life.

(Counselor and professor of biology John I. Mosher, PhD, is the author of several articles at the DoctorYourself.com website, all easily searchable.)

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