Naturally Pure and Simple, By Elisa

Swine Flu cure worse than the disease?

Half of Kids Given Flu Drug Have Side Effects

More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side effects such as nausea and nightmares.

Studies of 103 children showed that 51 to 53 percent had one or more side effects from the medication. Read the rest of this entry »

Nurse a baby and avoid cancer!

Breastfeeding may protect at-risk women from cancer

Women with a family history of breast cancer may have a new weapon against the disease: breast-feeding. In a new study of more than 60,000 women, nursing a baby for at least three months cut the risk of breast cancer in half for those who had a family history of the disease.

For women with at least one close relative with breast cancer, nursing cut breast cancer risk by 59 percent.

The researchers say that breast-feeding could be the equivalent of taking the drug tamoxifen for five years, which is a well-known way to cut breast cancer risk in women with a family history of the disease.

“For women at high risk right now, the things we have to offer are tamoxifen, prophylactic mastectomy — that’s about it,” says Alison M. Stuebe, M.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who conducted the research while at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “This study is really good news for women with a family history of breast cancer who are looking to reduce their risk.” The study was published Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Peroxide

Peroxide
(safer and healthier than bleach)

By Becky Ransey (a doctor’s wife)

My husband has been in the medical field for over 36 years, and most doctors don’t tell you about peroxide. Have you ever smelled bleach in a doctor’s office?  No!! Why? Because it smells, and it is not
healthy! Ask the nurses who work in the doctor’s offices, and ask them if they use bleach at home. They are wiser and know better!

Did you also know bleach was invented in the late forties? It’s chlorine, folks! It was used to kill our troops in World War II. Peroxide came into popular use during and after WWI. It was used to
save and help cleanse the needs of our troops and hospitals. Please think about this.

1. Take one capful and hold in your mouth for ten minutes daily, then spit it out. No more canker sores, and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes. Use it instead of mouthwash.

2. Let your toothbrushes soak in a cup of peroxide to keep them free of germs. Read the rest of this entry »

Is Milk really your best Source of Calcium?

You Have a Right to know these Facts about Chemicals

• “A major portion of the toxic and hazardous chemicals that you have and use in your home can be found in your cleaning products” (Source – Prosperity without pollution; Hirschorn and Oldenburg, 1991).

• Cleaning chemicals are the most frequent type of chemicals involved in poisonings reported to ‘Poison Control Centers’ in the United States. Most occur in children under the age of 6.

• “Indoor air is often two to five times more contaminated than outdoor air” (American Lung Association). In addition to industrial and outdoor air pollutants, the Canadian Lung Association highlights residential pesticides and indoor chemical pollutants found in many common household products as causes and triggers of respiratory illnesses.

• “The toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than air pollution” - Environmental Protection Agency, 1985.

• “Women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work away from home.” The 15-year study concluded it was a direct result of the much higher exposure rate to toxic chemicals in common household products (Toronto Indoor Air Conference 1990).

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission on ”CHEMICALS COMMONLY FOUND IN THE HOME” identified 150 as linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities.

• The EPA tallied close to 10,000 chemical ingredients in cosmetics, food and consumer products. Very few of these chemicals were in our environment or our bodies just 75 years ago…and except in the case of foods, drugs or pesticides, companies are under no legal or regulatory obligation to assess how these products might harm human health…and most have not been tested as such.

• Recent medical and scientific studies suggest that chronic exposure to low levels of synthetic chemicals and “toxins” found in indoor air pollution may be linked to numerous health concerns, including but not limited to: allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, cancer, Alzheimer’s, ADD ( Attention Deficit Disorder ) ; and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Unfortunately, people overlook the cumulative effect of repeated exposure to cleaning chemicals since no one is really affected by a single exposure of handling them.

The prolonged use of mobile phones doubles the risk of malignant brain tumors

Two leading brain surgeons in Australia are saying there has been a dramatic increase in brain tumors due to the use of cell phones.  They believe this is the biggest health issue since tabacco.

You wouldn’t consider holding your ear up to your microwave for hours at a time every day.  But that is exactly what most of us do with our cell phones.  Check out this link.  http://protectkidsfrom.emf411.com/

8 Pesticides in Your Own Kitchen

Midwife Story Video: “Like Heaven Into my Hands”

Check this link out. It’s the sweetest story about a midwife and her journey. It’s not too long and it’s worth watching. http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~tm322203/Midwife/soundslider.swf?size=2

Intestinal Flora in Breast-Fed Babies

I’ve been aware for some time that 75% of a person’s immune system is in their gut.  A healthy person likely has a healthy balance of bacteria in their intestines.  So it doesn’t suprise me to learn that breast-fed babies have a healthier gut.  After reading an article like this, why would anyone NOT want to breastfeed their baby?  Breastmilk is the best baby food there is!

Breastfeeding newborns, like the evolutionary process of vaginal birth, is about bacteria. The breast milk of a human mother, like other mammalian mothers, is species-specific, having been adapted over eons to deliver specific and sufficient nutrition to guarantee proper growth, health, and immunity development. Researchers have long known that breastfed babies possess an intestinal flora that is measurably different than formula-fed infants. Of specific interest is a group of bacteria known as bifidobacterium. Some of you may immediately recognize the name, as they are often added to dairy-based foods such as yogurt, often advertised as “live cultures” on the packaging. These are probiotics.

Studies have shown that at one month of age, both breastfed and formula-fed infants possess bifidobacterium, but population densities in bottle-fed infants is one-tenth that of breastfed infants. The presence of a healthy and robust population of bifidobacterium throughout the first year or two of life contributes significantly to the child’s resistance to infection and overall development of defense systems—not to mention the physical development of the intestinal system in general. Aside from the substances secreted by these specific bacteria that are known to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, they also work to make the intestinal environment of the infant more acidic, creating an additional barrier against invading pathogens. In short, breastfed babies are sick less, are less fussy, have fewer and shorter duration of bouts of diarrhea, and have more frequent—and softer—bowel movements.

— Jeff D. Leach
Excerpted from “C-sections, Breastfeeding and Bugs for Your Baby: What the doctor probably won’t tell you,” Midwifery Today, Issue 79

The Pill Is Not Your Best Option

I quit using the pill when I realized it was making me nauseous and depressed.  I’m never going back.  I would rather educate myself about how my body works.  Tony Weschler’s book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” has been a great help.

Here are some reasons whyI will never take the pill again:

• Cancer: Women who take birth control pills increase their risk of cervical and breast cancers, and possibly liver cancer as well.

• Fatal blood clots: All birth control pills increase your risk of blood clots and subsequent stroke. And if your prescription contains the synthetic hormone desogestrel, your risk of fatal blood clots nearly doubles!

• Thinner bones: Women who take birth control pills have lower bone mineral density (BMD) than women who have never used oral contraceptives.

• Impaired muscle gains: A recent study found that oral contraceptive use impairs muscle gains from resistance exercise training in women.

• Long-term sexual dysfunction: The Pill may interfere with a protein that keeps testosterone unavailable, leading to long-term sexual dysfunction including decreased desire and arousal.

• Heart disease: Long-term use of birth control pills may increase plaque artery buildups in your body that may raise your risk of heart disease.

The birth control pill was first introduced to the American public for contraceptive use in 1960. By 2002, 11.6 million U.S. women were on the Pill, making it the nation’s leading method of contraception.

But oral contraceptives can have negative health effects. The Pill’s relationship with blood-clot risk and stroke is well-documented, and that risk increases when a woman is a smoker, particularly a smoker over age 35. In addition, studies in recent years have found that birth control pill use:

• Impairs muscle gains in young women
• Increases the risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women
• Increases the risk of cervical cancer

And the Pill may interfere with a protein that keeps testosterone unavailable for women’s physiologic needs, thus causing long-term health problems, including sexual dysfunction.

Since 2000, death rates have increased in women between the ages of 35 and 44. All other age groups, meanwhile, have seen a decline. Research on this fact cites the significant increase in the use of birth control pills as a possible contributing factor.

Sources:

Mercola.com

Live Science May 7, 2009