The Health Plus Letter
July 10, 2008 Vol. 6, No. 14
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
http://www.1healthyworld.com

You can read all back issues of The Health Plus Letter at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ezine.

Table Of Contents
New This Issue
Quote of the Day
Fast Fact
Mind/Body Approaches for Healing Arthritis (Part 3)
Pot Bellies and Heart Disease
Self-Care Tips for Preventing and Managing Cellulite
Recommendations
Medical Freedom
Contact Information

New This Issue

Welcome to another issue of The Health Plus Letter. This week, I’m concluding the discussion of how you can use the techniques of mind/body medicine to heal arthritis. In addition, you’ll also find an important article on why potbellies are dangerous, along with self-care tips for dealing with cellulite.

Be sure to also check out the websites and links I’ve recommended to learn about other things you can do to safeguard your health and find physicians who can assist you in doing so.

As always, please continue to send me your comments and suggestions. And please spread the word about The Health Plus Letter by passing it along to your friends and inviting them to subscribe.

Quote Of The Day

“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.”
-- Kahlil Gibran

Fast Fact

An estimated 225,000 deaths are caused by U.S. health-care system annually.

Source: Dr. Barbara Starfield, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Unabashed Plug

Protect Yourself From Energy Pollution With the BioElectric Shield^TM. Energy pollution is all around us in the fo/rm of harmful electromagnetic frequencies and radiation (EMFs and EMR) emitted by power lines, cells phones, computers, and many other so-called modern conveniences. By wearing the BioElectric Shield pendant, you can protect yourself from the harmful effects of EMFs and EMR. To obtain a BioElectricShield, visit http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=408491. To learn more about how and why the BioElectric Shield works, see my article about it at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ezine/vol4no9.cfm.

Mind/Body Approaches for Healing Arthritis (Part 3)

[The following article is an excerpt from the eBook Burton Goldberg’s Definitive Guide to Arthritis. It is available at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Arthritis-Book-Info.cfm]

Mind/Body Therapies for Healing Arthritis

According to Hans Selye, M.D., whether a person experiences stress as a positive motivational force or as a negative detrimental one depends on their perception of the stress. People who perceive that they are in control of their lives and generally feel good about themselves (referred to as an "inner locus of control") will use life’s stressors in a positive fashion. However, those who feel that their life circumstances are controlled by outside forces and other people ("outer locus of control") tend to react negatively to stress. The locus of control can be consciously shifted by deliberately "reprogramming" the mind, with positive instead of negative thoughts, through meditation, cognitive therapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Relaxation therapies, such as biofeedback, hypnotherapy, guided imagery, flower remedies, and aromatherapy, among others, can help reduce your stress levels and relieve arthritis pain.

Meditation

Meditation is a safe and simple way to balance a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states. It is easy to learn and can be useful both for treating stress and in pain management. Meditation, in the broadest sense, is any activity that keeps the attention focused in the present. When the mind is calm and focused in the present, it is neither reacting to past events or preoccupied with future plans, two major sources of chronic stress. There are many forms of meditation, but they can be categorized into two main approaches, concentration meditation and mindfulness meditation.

Concentration meditation focuses the "lens of the mind" on one object, sound (mantra), the breath, an image, or thought, to still the mind and allow greater awareness or clarity to emerge. The breath is one of the most popular objects of focus in this type of meditation. As the person focuses on the ebb and flow of their breath, the mind is absorbed in the rhythm and becomes more placid, tranquil, and still. Mindfulness-based meditation entails bringing the mind to a still point, tuning out the world and bringing the mind to a halt as much as possible. Mindfulness meditation helps us practice non-judgment. The meditator sits quietly and simply witnesses whatever goes through the mind, not reacting or becoming involved with thoughts, memories, worries, or images. This helps the person gain a more calm, clear, and non-reactive state of mind.

Transcendental Meditation™ (TM), a popular type of concentration meditation, is the most well-documented regarding the physiological effects of meditation, with over 500 clinical studies conducted to date. Research shows that, during TM practice, the body gains a deeper state of relaxation than during ordinary rest or sleep. Brain wave changes indicate a state of enhanced awareness and coherence and TM has been found to increase intelligence, creativity, and perceptual ability and reduce blood pressure and rates of illness by 50%. TM also causes decreased blood levels of cortisol, a hormone responsible for many of the deleterious physiological changes seen with stress. By reducing cortisol levels, the adrenal glands are allowed to heal, which positively influences pain and inflammation.

A direct effect of meditation in arthritis is the reduction of pain. "Chronic pain can erode the quality of life," says Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder and director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the Univ/ersity of Massachusetts Medical Center, and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are. In one study performed by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, 72% of the patients with chronic pain achieved at least a 33% reduction in pain after participating in an eight-week period of mindfulness meditation, while 61% of the patients achieved at least a 50% reduction in pain and perceived their bodies as being less problematic (suggesting an improvement in self-esteem).

A Simple Meditation Exercise

The first step to practicing meditation is learning to breathe in a manner that facilitates a state of calmness and awareness. Dr. Kabat-Zinn recommends the following exercise for achieving a sense of calmness—find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and practice for several minutes each day:

Assume a comfortable posture lying on your back or sitting. If you are sitting, keep the spine straight and let your shoulders drop.

Close your eyes if it feels comfortable.

Bring your attention to your belly, feeling it rise or expand gently on the in-breath and fall or recede on the out-breath. Keep the focus on your breathing.

When your mind wanders off the breath, notice what it was that took you away and then gently bring your attention back to your belly and the feeling of the breath moving in and out. If your mind wanders away from the breath, your "job" is simply to bring it back to the breath every time, no matter what it has become preoccupied with.

Practice this exercise for 15 minutes every day, whether you feel like it or not, for one week and see how it feels to incorporate a disciplined meditation practice into your life.

Cognitive Therapy

It has been estimated the average human being has around 50,000 thoughts per day, according to Dr. Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff…And It’s All Small Stuff. Unfortunately, he reminds us, many of them are also going to be negative—angry, fearful, pessimistic, or worrisome. Up to 85% of the thinking we regularly engage in is negative and self-defeating.

The basis of cognitive therapy is to identify—through maintaining a journal and by introspection—the negative, self-defeating inner dialogue of thoughts (what cognitive therapists refer to as "automatic thoughts"). Positive, coping thoughts can then be used to counter the negative thoughts. The goal is to pull yourself out of reflexive self-destructive mental behavior that may be exacerbating your illness and to bolster the positive, self-reliant aspect of your personality.

Cognitive therapy does not focus on the root causes of psychological problems, rather it seeks to support health by interrupting the flow of negative thoughts. Countering each negative thought on paper with a list of positive responses to the same problem enables the mind to reframe the situation. For arthritis sufferers, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones can help facilitate healing. Cognitive therapy may also be helpful for dealing with pain. The intensity of pain is partly determined by how you perceive it—if you "catastrophize" the pain, you may actually make it worse. Cognitive therapy can be used to gain control of your thought processes and allow you to alter your perception of pain.

How to Stop a Thought Attack

One technique to stop a ‘thought attack’ is to keep a rubber band around your wrist. When you are aware of a negative thought, snap the rubber band in order to "snap" your consciousness out of its negative pattern. Then replace the negative thought with a positive affirmation that you means something to you personally. "I am making progress in treating myself as a friend," for instance. This coping technique helps you to become aware of your "automatic thoughts" and begin to change them consciously.

Success Story: Cognitive Therapy Helps a Case of Stress-Induced Arthritis

Ray came to the office suffering extreme pain due to chronic psoriatic and gouty arthritis. It was clear that he had a very stressful life—he was in bankruptcy, contemplating divorce, had very low self-esteem, and had problems with his teenage children. He was so depressed that he had even contemplated suicide. Not surprisingly, the patient felt like he was caught in a downward spiral, with little he could do.

The first thing we realized about this patient is that his sense of hope was low and helplessness was high. Ray’s team of rheumatologists offered little else but higher doses of medication and opiates to control his pain. We explained to Ray that chronic pain is a complicated mixture of physical, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, environmental, and other factors. Pain is actually an individual experience and is real, regardless of whether or not an organic cause can be found.

We stabilized Ray’s depression with a combination of kava-kava (Piper methysticum), Botanodyne (from Nature’s Answer), DL-phenylalanine (an amino acid helpful in pain management), and cognitive therapy. We made a list of his negative thoughts and brainstormed with him on a list of positive, coping thoughts to replace them. Every time Ray would catch himself in the act of a negative thought, he would snap the rubber band kept around his wrist as a reminder, then repeat his coping thoughts as a present tense, personal, and positive affirmation.

The combination of naturopathic arthritis treatment, diet changes, and cognitive therapy helped tremendously. Ray began to transform himself into a positive thinker; he became less critical of himself and others. He felt strong enough emotionally to be able to manage his pain and cure himself of arthritis. He ended his dysfunctional marriage (a major component of his constant stress) and was able to begin to work from his home again. He smiled more and became angered less frequently. He occasionally would slip back to his old habit of worrying, but when he became conscious of doing it, he would snap the rubber band, then go for a walk or, in some way, interrupt his downward spiraling vortex of negative thoughts. After ten months, Ray was not only "completely out of pain," but also in possession of a different self-image. "Not only is my arthritis better, but I’ve learned to manage my emotions, and become a better, happier person," he said.

Mind-Mastery-Book-Info.cfm.

Pot Bellies and Heart Disease

When it comes to protecting yourself from heart disease, you need to take a look at the size of your belly. That’s the latest finding of researchers studying the risk factors that contribute to heart disease.

For years, physicians and patients alike have relied on overall body weight and the body-mass index (a calculation of the body's fat to lean muscle ration) as reliable measures for determining a person's current health. Physicians also rely on both weight and BMI readings to help assess patients’ future health risks. Weight and BMI measurements are also commonly used to determine patients’ current and future risk for developing heart disease. That's because both weight and BMI measurements provide accurate indicators of how much fat is carried on the body. The greater amount of fat, it was believed, the greater the risk of developing heart disease, as well as various other chronic health conditions, including cancer and diabetes. According to a new research study, however, how much fat a person carries is not as important as where in the body that fat is primarily stored. What researchers who conducted the study found is that the real danger zone for stored fat is in the waist and belly.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and published in the August 21, 2007 Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), examined data from the still ongoing Dallas Heart Study, which is evaluating the various risk factors for heart disease. The study’s researchers then worked with over 2,700 participants between the ages of 30 and 65, all of whom had completed a general health survey, had their weight and BMI measured, provided blood and urine samples, and had their hips and waistlines measured. The participants then received noninvasive imaging tests, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure their levels of atherosclerosis, and electron-beam-conducted tomography (EBCT) to measure the amount of calcium in their coronary arteries.

583 of the study participants were found to have calcium deposits in their arteries, and 976 were found to have arterial plaque. Both calcium deposits and arterial plaque are significant risk factors for heart disease. The researchers then analyzed various other factors related to the participants with calcium deposits and arterial plaque, including their age, blood pressure levels, cholesterol levels, overall medical history, and whether or not there was a presence of any disease conditions among them, including diabetes. Taking all of these considerations into account, the researchers determined that the shape of a person’s body, especially his or her belly, is a more accurate indicator of, and greater risk factor for, the presence of calcium deposits and arterial plaque.

Specifically, what the researchers found was that the if a person’s belly is wider than his or her hips – a measurement known as the “waist-to-hips ratio,” or WHR – there is a much greater risk of calcium deposits and arterial plaque, and therefore a greater risk for heart attack, stroke, and other types of heart disease.

The relationship between WHR and heart disease risk was further confirmed when the researchers separated the study participants into five groups, ranging from the highest to lowest WHR measurements. This revealed that those with the highest WHR has twice the risk of having calcium deposits, and three times the risk of arterial plaque, compared to those with the lowest WHR measurements. This was true even among participants whose overall weight was within normal ranges that previously were considered safe. So long as they had a higher than normal WHR, they were at greater risk for heart disease. According to James de Lemos, MD, one of the researchers who conducted the study, “Even a small pot belly puts us at higher risk when compared to a flat tummy.”

Alarming as the study’s findings are, they also provide you with a simple way of assessing our risk for developing heart disease that can easily be performed at home. All you have to do is get a tape measure and measure the circumference around your waist and hips. If the measurement for your waist is higher than that for your hips, you need to take action to reduce the width of your waist and belly. Such action steps include adopting a healthier diet and increasing the amount of exercise and physical activity you get during the week. Also be sure to get an adequate amount of restful sleep every night – at least 7 to 8 hours – since additional research has found that lack of sleep can also cause fat stores to increase in the body.

Unabashed Plug

Learn the Truth about Heart Disease, Stroke and Hypertension. Most of what conventional medicine has to offer for treating these conditions is based on faulty and potentially dangerous assumptions. Discover the real causes behind these diseases and learn what you can do today to prevent and reverse them using safe and natural alternatives that have been scientifically proven to be effective. Read the critically-acclaimed eBook Burton Goldberg’s Definitive Guide to Heart Disease, featuring the contributions of Dr. Garry Gordon, Dr. Stephen Sinatra, and many other leading heart specialists. To order or to find out more about this potentially lifesaving guide, visit http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Heart-Book-Info.cfm.

Self-Care Tips for Preventing and Managing Cellulite

Cellulite is really not a health condition, but a lay term for unsightly looking dimples in various parts of the body, especially the thighs, knees, buttocks, stomach, and arms.

Symptoms: Loose, dimpled skin.

Occurrence: More frequently in women, but can also affect men.

Special Notes: In general, cellulite is considered to be due to an increased ratio of fat cells to lean body mass. Based on this assumption, reducing body fat content and building up muscle mass is imperative. Spot reducing, aimed at fat reduction at specific body sites, is extremely difficult. Most experts say that it is not possible.

Cellulite is formed by fibroid masses of protein that have accumulated in the spaces between the cells due to faulty elimination through the lymph system. Some alternative practitioners have had success in the elimination of this condition using lymphatic therapy. Since gravity is the primary force that creates cellulite, the following exercise is beneficial: First, gently jump on a mini-trampoline or rebounder (if available) to create pumping action in the lymph system. Then, using gravity to drain the lymph system, place your legs up against a wall or over a chair and massage, very lightly, the crease formed by the legs and the abdomen in order to open the deep inguinal lymph nodes, which is where all of the accumulation that forms the cellulite must pass to be eliminated from the body.

Self-Care Approaches

Diet: Whole foods diet with less complex carbohydrates and sugars than is usually recommended for the average person. Large amounts of filtered water. Decrease fats to below 20% of the total diet and avoid as much as possible animal fats and processed fats. Also, do not eat protein at night as unused protein in the body puts a greater load on the lymph system.

Herbs: Combine equal parts of horse chestnut bark and gotu kola tinctures and take 1/2 teaspoon three times a day. Topically apply a compress made with white birch oil, morning and evening, or apply an ointment or lotion made from horse chestnut twice a day.

Aromatherapy: Juniper, rosemary, lavender, lemon, or geranium.

Bodywork: Self-massage: massage affected area regularly.

Flower Essences:Crab Apple if negative body image. Add two drops to pure drinking water, four times a day. Continue until restoration of positive body image.

Note: The information above was adapted from Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, 2^nd Edition, co-authored and edited by Larry Trivieri, Jr. (Celestial Arts, 2002).

Recommendations

Books
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes. This debut novel is one of the more inventive I’ve read in a while. Imagine a theatrical Sherlock Holmes accompanied by a golem rather than Dr. Watson thrown into a mix of the macabre and horrific. Add humor and wit and you have a very entertaining read.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Written more than 40 years ago, when the author was a teenager, this remains one of my favorite novels of all time, one that perfectly captures the sense of alienation and self-discovery that is so poignant at that age.

Websites and Links:
http://www.icimed.com and http://www.acam.org - Readers often email me to ask for referrals to alternative and integrative physicians in their area. These two websites – of the International College of Integrative Medicine and the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) – can both be very helpful in that regard.

http://www.truefoodnow.org - Genetically-modified foods and organisms (GM foods and GMOs) have become all too common in our food supply, thanks primarily to the lobbying clout of Monsanto, the leader in this field, and this trend is spreading to other countries as well. Yet so far only one human study on GMOs has been conducted and what it showed is very alarming. To whit: genes from GM soy foods “jumped” into the DNA of human intestinal bacteria and continued to function long after GM soy foods were eaten, meaning that people who eat GM soy are continuously producing GM proteins afterwards. (Monsanto is the primary owner of America’s soybean crop, nearly all of which is now genetically-modified.) The website above can help you avoid GM foods and GMOs when you go food shopping and dine out.

http://www.geneticroulette.com and http://www.responsibletechnology.org - Both of these sites provide extensive information on the dangers of GM foods and GMOs.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/144951 - a good interview with Dr. James Gordon on why treating anxiety and depression with antidepressants is usually not a good idea and what works much better instead in most cases. Nice to see this in the mainstream press.

Medical Freedom

Please contact and support the following organizations dedicated to protecting our health freedoms.

Citizens for Health - http://www.citizens.org

Alliance for Natural Health – http://www.alliance-natural-health.org (The leading organization fighting to preserve health f/r/e/edom in England and the EU.)

Institute for Health Freedom – http://www.ForHealthF/r/e/edom.org

International Advocates for Health Freedom (IAHF) – http://www.iahf.com

And to learn how corrupt and extensive Big Pharma’s monopoly is, visit http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/index.html the website for the Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research. In particular, read their in-depth report The Pharmaceutical Drug Racket that you will find there.

That’s all for this week.

Health and Blessings!

Larry Trivieri, Jr.

Contact Information: Due to the inordinate amount of spam my email account receives, I no longer use it to receive emails. To contact me, please visit www.1healthyworld.com/contactus

Disclaimer: The Health Plus Letter is a weekly eZine published by Larry Trivieri, Jr. and Library of Health, LLC (dba www.1healthyworld.com) 3 Greenwood Court, Utica, NY 13501. It is made available without charge for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical care. If you are experiencing a health problem, seek prompt medical attention.

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Legal Notice: The information in this eZine may be freely and widely disseminated so long as full attribution is made as follows: The Health Plus Letter, July 10, 2008, Vol. 6, No. 14. Copyright © 2008 by Larry Trivieri, Jr. All rights reserved.

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