Have You Been Hoodwinked by This Dangerous "Medical Con Artist"? This "Mafia-like" company conned the world into popularizing this treatment that has a proven link to paralysis and death. Now even this leading medical journal is suggesting you boycott this company until "missing information" is supplied...

Story at-a-glance

• St. Louis County, Missouri hospital employees are required to get a flu shot, or they will become ineligible for a raise in 2013, as well as face corrective action in the form of a written warning.
• In Switzerland, some health care workers are not only personally refusing to get vaccinated for the flu, but they’re reluctant to offer the vaccine to their patients either, due to lack of effectiveness data and side effect concerns.
• The flu vaccine is, at best, only effective against influenza A and B, which represents only about 10 percent of all circulating viruses. This means that even if you get a flu shot, and it happens to be effective for you, you’re still completely vulnerable to 90 percent of the flu-like viruses that are circulating in your area…
• State health department officials are increasingly joining with medical trade association lobbyists in many states to severely restrict or eliminate medical, religious and conscientious belief vaccine exemptions for not only health care workers but all children and their parents.By Dr. Mercola
  

  An employee of Mercy Hospital in West St. Louis County, Missouri recently spoke with CNN about her frustrations surrounding their flu shot policy.¹
  Employees are required to get a flu shot, or they will become ineligible for a raise in 2013, as well as face corrective action in the form of a written warning.
  Despite being happy with her job otherwise, this particular employee noted well-founded fears over proven adverse reactions linked to the shot, and feels her personal freedoms are being violated.
  It's a sentiment echoed not only across the United States, but also around the globe, as health care workers are increasingly being asked to get a flu shot against their will – or forfeit their jobs.

  Health Care Workers Are Refusing Flu Shots and Are Hesitant to Offer Them

  In Switzerland, some health care workers are not only personally refusing to get vaccinated for the flu, but they're reluctant to offer the vaccine to their patients either. Teaching hospitals in Geneva, Switzerland led a study last year that found many health care workers viewed the seasonal flu as "a benign disease not really requiring any special [prevention] effort."
  Others believe the risks and lack of proven effectiveness raise questions over the flu shot recommendations. As Swissinfo reported:²
  

  "Pascal Büchler is a homeopathic physician in Yverdon-les-Bains and a member of a group that offers "nuanced and critical" thoughts on vaccines.

  'I'm certainly not a dogmatic anti-vaccinist,' he says. 'But vaccines against seasonal flu have been shown to be ineffective for elderly people, who are also the greatest risk group.'

  A Swiss-German gynecologist explained to swissinfo.ch that he refuses to vaccinate pregnant women against influenza, as ordered by the Federal Office of Public Health, 'because we cannot rule out the risk of resulting fetal abnormalities.'"

  A Needle in a Haystack...

  Even if you were to overlook the risk of side effects, which I'll discuss below, getting a flu shot to prevent the flu is very much like finding a needle in a haystack. There are over 200 viruses that cause influenza and influenza-like illnesses. Both produce the same symptoms, such as fever, aches and pains, headache, cough and runny nose, so the only way a physician can tell what is actually the flu and what is another viral illness is with laboratory testing.
  The flu vaccine is, at best, only effective against influenza A and B, which represents only about 10 percent of all circulating viruses.³ This means that even if in the best case scenario you get a flu shot, and it happens to be effective for you, you're still completely vulnerable to 90 percent of the flu-like viruses that are circulating in your area...
  If you happen to come down with symptoms of the flu, it's actually far more likely that you have a flu-like illness than the actual "flu" for which the flu shot is designed against. And that doesn't even mean you're definitely protected against all flu viruses.

  Major Medical Journal Questions Flu Drug Tamiflu's Effectiveness

  Tamiflu is one of two drugs (the other is Relenza) that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends for treating the flu. The drug has also been included in a list of "essential medicines" put out by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  The CDC claims Tamiflu can shorten the duration of flu symptoms and lower your risk of complications and hospitalization, but a British Medical Journal (BMJ) open data campaign is calling on Roche, the drug's maker, to release full clinical trial reports to prove it.⁴
  In 2009, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) conducted a major review of available data and found no evidence Tamiflu can prevent healthy people with flu from suffering complications such as pneumonia.⁵ Tamiflu may shorten the bout of illness by a meager day or so, the investigators said, but it was impossible to know whether it prevents severe disease, because the published data was insufficient. In October 2012, BMJ editor in chief Fiona Godlee sent a letter to Roche board member John Bell,⁶ noting that the findings in their 2009 report could not be relied upon because:
  

  • Eight of the 10 Tamiflu trials upon which its effectiveness claims were based were never published

  • The two that had been published were funded by Roche and authored by Roche employees and Roche-paid external experts

  She further noted:
  

  "The Cochrane reviewers now know that there are at least 123 trials of Tamiflu and that the majority (60%) of patient data from Roche Phase 3 completed trials remain unpublished. There are concerns on a number of fronts: the likely overstating of effectiveness and the apparent under-reporting of potentially serious adverse effects."

  Roche made a promise to release full clinical trial reports in 2009, but has yet to do so, hence BMJ's most recent request for the full data. Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency is investigating Roche for improper reporting of side effects, including deaths, related to Tamiflu and 18 other drugs.⁷ Side effects of Tamiflu include convulsions, delirium and delusions. Deaths in children and adults have been reported, as have neuropsychological effects such as altered behavior and nightmares. Other rare side effects such as toxic epidermal necrolysis and blindness have also been reported.

  You Might be Surprised by the Science Surrounding Flu Shots' (Lack of) Effectiveness

  The evidence against flu vaccines is rapidly mounting as well. Most people simply assume that flu shots "work," but even a cursory review of the science shows otherwise. A review published earlier this year, for instance, found that the elderly, in particular, do not appear to receive measureable value from the flu shot,⁸ which is the same conclusion reached by several previous studies. According to the authors:
  

  "Influenza vaccines can provide moderate protection against virologically confirmed influenza, but such protection is greatly reduced or absent in some seasons. Evidence for protection in adults aged 65 years or older is lacking."

  In essence, if you're a senior, you're taking a health risk for a theoretical health benefit that can't be confirmed and, if you're a healthy adult, it's truly a shot in the dark. Trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines also didn't offer much protection to children over the age of 7, while the effectiveness of inactivated flu vaccine for children under 2 has also been questioned.⁹ In the latter study, only one study on flu vaccine in children under 2 could be found, despite the fact that it is now a standard recommendation. The author noted:¹⁰
  

  "It was surprising to find only one study of inactivated vaccine in children under two years, given current recommendations to vaccinate healthy children from six months old in the USA and Canada."

  Further, the notion that giving health care workers the flu shot will protect hospital patients from the flu is another unproven case of wishful thinking. A Cochrane Database Review—which is the gold standard for assessing the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of commonly used medical interventions – concluded:¹¹
  

  "There is no credible evidence that vaccination of healthy people under the age of 60, who are HCWs [health care workers] caring for the elderly, affects influenza complications in those cared for."

  As for the general adult population, Cochrane published the following bombshell conclusion last year:¹²
  

  "Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission. WARNING: This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines.

  The review demonstrated that reliable scientific evidence confirming that influenza vaccines are effective is thin and there is plenty of reason to suspect that there may be a manipulation of conclusions when the studies are funded by drug companies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding."

  No One is Exempt From Flu Shot Risks

  Forcing a health care worker to receive a flu shot or face disciplinary action is not only an assault to their personal freedom, especially given the startling lack of proven effectiveness, but it's also a potential risk to their health.
  While infants and young children are at greatest risk, NO ONE is exempt from the potential serious complications of vaccination, one of which is Guillaine-Barre syndrome (GBS). In the video above, Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), interviews a Connecticut artist and her mother, a former professor of nursing, who developed GBS after getting a seasonal flu shot in 2008 and today is permanently disabled with total body paralysis.
  This family has chosen to share their heartbreaking story to help those who have had the same experience feel less alone, and to educate others about what it means to be vaccine injured. What happened to this family is a poignant reminder of just how important it is to make well-informed decisions about vaccinations.
  The inactivated influenza vaccine has been associated with development of GBS since 1976, when an inactivated "swine flu" shot given to millions of healthy Americans caused GBS in several hundred previously healthy Americans and there were 30 deaths.¹³
  Not to mention, research published in the Journal of Virology¹⁴ in November of last year also confirmed that the seasonal flu vaccine may actually weaken children's immune systems and increase their chances of getting sick from influenza viruses not included in the vaccine, which is to say all but three! And in September, the Canadian press broke the story that new research confirms initial findings that the flu vaccine appeared to actually increase people's risk of getting sick with H1N1 "swine flu," and cause more serious bouts of illness to boot.

  Your Right to Choose is Under Attack

  It is not only health care workers who are being pressured into making a health care decision they oftentimes don't agree with...
  In the states of Connecticut and New Jersey, mandates are already in place that force parents to give their 6-month-old babies a flu vaccine or be banned from daycare. And state health department officials are increasingly joining with medical trade association lobbyists in many states to severely restrict or eliminate medical, religious and conscientious belief vaccine exemptions for all children and their parents, notes Barbara Loe Fisher.
  The partnership between government health agencies and big Pharma, based on ideology, profit-making and bad science, is moving closer and closer to discriminating against those who want to exercise their right to informed consent and abstaining from participating in an ever-expanding vaccine schedule. This is a pressing issue for health care workers in the immediacy, but it's one that is quickly snowballing into the general population as well.

  Is Diabetes Triggered by the Flu Virus?

  Although most cases of diabetes (type 2) are caused by diet and lifestyle choices that cause your cells to become insulin resistant, some cases of diabetes (type 1) occur when the immune system destroys pancreatic cells needed to produce insulin.
  Because type 1 diabetes often seems to "appear" after an infection, it's been suggested a virus may trigger the disease, and cause the immune dysfunction that leads to diabetes. Now researchers have determined that the flu virus may play a role in causing both pancreatitis and diabetes in humans and animals.¹⁵ The press is using this as another scare-tactic for why you should get the flu shot... but rest assured, there is another way.

  How to Stay Flu-Free, Naturally

  Fortunately, avoiding a serious case of the flu doesn't require a flu vaccination. By following these simple guidelines, you can help keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with or, if you do get sick with the flu, you are better prepared to move through it without complications and soon return to good health.
  

  • Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I've previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency may actually be the true culprit behind the seasonality of the flu – not the flu virus itself. This is probably the single most important and least expensive action you can take. Regularly monitor your vitamin D levels to confirm your levels are within the therapeutic range of 50-70 ng/ml.
  Ideally, you'll want to get all your vitamin D from sun exposure or a safe tanning bed, but as a last resort you can take an oral vitamin D3 supplement. According to the latest review by Carole Baggerly (Grassrootshealth.org), adults need about 8,000 IU's a day.
  
  • Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods. Sugar impairs the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a healthy immune system is one of the most important keys to fighting off viruses and other illness. Be aware that sugar (typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup) is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.
  • Optimize Your Gut Flora. The best way to do this is avoid apply the step above by avoiding sugars, processed foods and most grains, and replacing them with healthy fats and taking regular amounts of fermented foods, which can radically improve the function of your immune system
  • Get Enough Rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you're tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.
  • Have Effective Tools to Address Stress. We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness. If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using an energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique, which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma.
  • Get Regular Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. Be sure to incorporate high-intensity interval exercises like Peak Fitness into your routine.
  • Take a Good Source of Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response.
  • Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap for this – antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.
  • Tried and True Hygiene Measures. In addition to washing your hands regularly, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. If possible, avoid close contact with those, who are sick and, if you are sick, avoid close contact with those who are well.
  • Use Natural Antibiotics. Examples include oil of oregano and garlic. These work like broad-spectrum antibiotics against bacteria, viruses, and protozoa in your body. And unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, they do not appear to lead to resistance.
  • Avoid Hospitals. I'd recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you're having an emergency and need expert medical care, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds. The best place to get plenty of rest and recover from illness that is not life threatening is usually in the comfort of your own home.

  Protect Your Right to Informed Consent and Vaccine Exemptions

  With all the uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of vaccines, it's critical to protect your right to informed consent and to abstain from vaccinating by exercising vaccine exemptions in state public health laws. The best way to do this is to get personally involved with your state legislators and the leaders in your community.
  

  

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an ounce of prevention is better (Flu &Colds)

an ounce of water is better than pounds of drugs

a glass of fresh juice cure better than manufactured drugs.

Drinking freshly made juices and eating enough raw whole foods to provide adequate fiber & oxalic acids is a sensible approach to a healthful diet daily. Incorporating fresh juice into your life does so much more.

The abundance of live, uncooked foods flushes your body of toxins, leaving you feeling refreshed, energized , and relaxed all at the same time.

The pure foods make your skin glow, your hair shine naturally, your breath fresh, and your entire system so regulated you will never have to give it another thought.

Colds and flu become fewer and farther between ; many people report that arthritic joints loosen with renewed flexibility ; and gums and teeth become less prone to bleeding and cavities.

Who can argue ? i believe juicing is the ideal way to consume these valuable vegetables raw uncooked and in quantity so that the important nutrients get right to work.

Try as we may, we cannot duplicate chlorophyll in the laboratory. Eat more spinach and broccoli. I have provided more recipes for fresh, delicious fruit and vegetable juices that will ultimately benefit your good health and wealth.

And that is all there is to it ---- there are no tricks, no special formulas to buy , no foreign foods to seek out in weird shops/pharmacies, no pills, no powders to mix with water.
Easy ? Sensible ? Delicious ? You bet !

Citrus Fruits : Grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges, and tangerines.

Citrus fruits are bursting with vitamin C. When you juice citrus fruits, the vitamin C will dissipate/lose quickly. Should be drunk within minutes of juicing for optimal benefits. What about the bottled and concentrated frozen citrus juices in the supermarkets? Read the labels carefully ; they often say "vitamin C enriched." Meaning the real vitamin C was removed and substitute vitamin C is added in the process of bottling. You will get some vitamin C if you drink them, but it is not the original vitamin from the fruit itself but instead a synthetic vitamin from a test tube. Phony vitamins cannot fool the human body, but only unsuspecting consumers.
Eating the white rind and membranes of lime and lemon. Leave these on the fruit when you peel it for juicing or eating to benefit from the natural occurring vitamin C and bio-flavonoids - named "vitamin P" by the late Hungarian Nobelist Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi who discovered vitamin C. Combined with vitamin C, bio-flavonoids strengthen capillaries and blood vessels, help the body fight colds, and increase antiviral, anti-allergy, and anti-inflammatory activity.

Jordan Rubin's extra ordinary health

from www.extraordinaryhealth.com

Jordan Rubin

What's New With the Flu?

Since this new strain of flu virus, the H1N1, reared its ugly head and was first detected in the United States in April, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been posting updates on the flu situation. One of the most recent updates indicates that H1N1 is still alive and well and circulating throughout our nation.

It’s still early in the flu season, but visits to doctors for flu-like symptoms continue to increase in some areas of our country, with higher than average levels for this time of year. Additionally, hospitalization rates are on the upswing, too, compared to what is normative for this time of year. Interestingly, hospitalizations for those of younger ages—children 5-17 and adults 18-49—exceed average flu season rates as well.

The CDC says that 37 states report present widespread influenza activity, which is also highly unusual for this time of year. Those states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

Perhaps your state is one in the lineup.

The first of the flu vaccinations are arriving, too, but nearly one-third of the parents in an Associated Press poll don’t want their kids to be vaccinated against this circulating flu strain. Parents cite concern about the effects of the vaccine and a belief that this flu strain isn’t any worse than the regular flu.

This flu, however, can turn deadly—“death by cytokine storm” says The Scripps Research Institute. In an illustrated overview, Scripps explains why and how this new flu strain attacks the lungs and sometimes results in death.

They explain that moist air joins with the flu virus and turns lung cells into virus-making factories. This viral invasion pushes the body’s immune system to stop the infection by destroying those compromised cells without destroying the host first.

White blood cells go into high gear, attempting to kill the flu virus. T-cells join in and produce a deluge of cytokines, which cause inflammation. This aggressive response can cause the lungs to become unable to exchange oxygen, and that can lead to death.

John Cannell, M.D., executive director of the Vitamin D Council, says that virologists are concerned with three aspects of any flu viruses: novelty, transmissibility and lethality. Cannell says the current H1N1 strain is, indeed, novel since we don’t have any antibodies to this strain. It’s easily transmitted, too, but its lethality is low, with the exception of Mexico. Cannell believes the lethality of this strain is still anyone’s guess, since a virus’ lethality can change over a short period of time—weeks to months.

As we enter the winter months—notoriously known as flu season—you may want to make sure you’re doing all you can to prevent the flu. That includes staying as healthy as possible, washing your hands often, not touching your eyes, nose or mouth, avoiding others who are sick and staying home if you are ill.

Are You D-ficient?

The results of a study published in the June 2009 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine may cause your heart to flutter.

The study indicates that there is a possible connection between vitamin D levels and heart health—especially in men.† Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc. D., professor of medicine and nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health teamed up with some of his colleagues to explore this further.

Their study involved 454 men between the ages of 40 and 75 who struggled in the area of heart health. The researchers then did a comparative with an additional 900 men who were strong in the area of heart health. Their findings were eye-opening.

The researchers believe that their results indicate that adequate dietary levels of vitamin D are correlated with overall heart health in these men.† While more studies need to be done, these findings are encouraging to this team of scientists.

The takeaway? The researchers in this study suggest that sufficient dietary vitamin D intake can have a positive effect on heart health.† That may be interesting news to the three-quarters of teenagers and adults in America who lack enough vitamin D.

James H. O'Keefe MD, cardiologist and Director of Preventive Cardiology, Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, agrees with this study’s findings. He says, “Vitamin D deficiency is an unrecognized, emerging part of heart unhealth, but vitamin D is easy to assess and getting enough of it is simple, safe, and inexpensive.”†

But that’s not all the heart-stopping studies going on about not getting enough vitamin D and overall heart health. Framingham Heart Study researchers in an article published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association believe that the same vitamin D that can support bone health can also support heart health.†

Assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, Thomas Wang, M.D., was a lead researcher in this study and whole-heartedly believes in the connection between a healthy heart and healthy dietary vitamin D levels. In fact, he believes that vitamin D may play a more important role than what we think.†

In a study of 1,739 offspring from the Framingham Heart Study participants, with an average age of 59, researchers noted a distinct nutritional deficiency as it relates to vitamin D. They say that those who had inadequate vitamin D blood levels were twice as likely to encounter heart issues compared to those who had sufficient vitamin D levels from their diets.†

This is, of course, a new topic in research, so there’s more to be established and examined. In the meantime, when you think about maintaining your heart health, you may want to consider your intake of dietary vitamin D. You don’t want to come up short.

We Should avoid the Flu Shot

Source: www.drbrownstein.com

Why You Should Avoid The Flu Shot
I decided a week ago that I was not going to write about the flu vaccine anymore. However, every time I see our Government spinning lies about the flu vaccine I get irritated. Due to this week's heavy media push about the flu vaccine, I feel the need to write one more article (or…perhaps a few more) about this vaccine.

This is truly an unusual time we live in. The U.S. government is spending billions of our dollars promoting the mass vaccination of the U.S. population for the flu virus and the swine flu virus. The U.S. government is making the vaccines widely available and virtually free. They are spending our hard-earned money to ‘educate’ us that the flu vaccine should be taken by all, from babies to the elderly, and that it will save many thousands of lives. Furthermore, they have begun a major public relations blitz criticizing those of us that give a differing opinion on the value of these vaccines.

Let’s look at some of their claims and the research behind them. The U.S. government and pretty much all mainstream groups claim that the flu shot prevents the flu in those that get the vaccine. However, the flu shots have not been shown to be effective in healthy babies, children with asthma, adults, and the elderly.

In Children: A review of 51 studies which included more than 294,000 children found “no evidence that injecting children 6-24 months of age with a flu shot was any more effective than placebo. In children over two years of age, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the flu. (Chochrane Database of Systemic Reviews 2. 2008).

In asthmatic children, the flu shot was found to not provide any benefit in preventing asthma exacerbations. The authors of this study compared 400 asthmatic children who were vaccinated with a similar number of asthmatic children who were not vaccinated. They found no difference between emergency visits, clinic visits, or hospitalizations in the vaccinated versus the non-vaccinated group. (Arch. Dis. Child. 2004. Aug;89(8):734-5). If this study wasn’t enough to get your attention a new study found that “Children who get the flu vaccine are three times more at risk for hospitalization than children who do not get the flu vaccine.” (American Thoracic Society 105th International Conference, May 15-20, 2009, San Diego, CA.).

According the CDC, the elderly are a population at increased risk for acquiring the flu and developing complications of the flu. In nursing homes or for the elderly living in the community, researchers found the flu shot was ineffective for preventing the flu. (Chochrane Databse of Systemic Reviews. 3(2006). In fact, the flu shot has never been shown to lower the rate of mortality from the flu in any population, including the elderly.

Clearly, there is NO reason to get the flu shot. It doesn’t prevent the flu and has not been shown to prevent complications from the flu.

This article used information from “The Truth About The Flu Shot” informational sheet from Dr. Sherry Tenpenny. She has been lecturing about the problems with vaccines for years. More information about the flu vaccine can be found at www.drTenpenny.com.

The scandalous promotion for H1N1 vaccines is dying naturally, so...

The scandalous promotion for H1N1 vaccines is dying naturally, so...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 23 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to help rush through approval of new vaccine to fight the pandemic H1N1 virus, promising to watch more closely than ever bad effects from the immunization, officials said on Thursday.
The FDA said it would help companies design ways to quickly test experimental versions of the vaccine, which experts say is likely to be given to people alongside the seasonal flu vaccine.

Getting a vaccine approved as soon as possible is important, the FDA's Dr. Wellington Sun told a committee of experts who advise the FDA on vaccine policy.
"Time is really not on our side," Sun said. "We have to prepare for the worst."
He noted that the companies making H1N1 swine flu vaccine had a proven track record of safety and had been making seasonal flu vaccines for the U.S. market for years.
But FDA's Dr. Hector Izurieta said the agency would watch carefully for what are called adverse events from vaccination.

"If something happens after vaccination, the vaccine will be accused," Izurieta told the meeting. "There will be many, many reports of things that could be, or not, associated with vaccination."

Five companies making H1N1 vaccine laid out their plans for testing various formulas for the U.S. market.
AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit,
Australia's CSL Ltd ,
GlaxoSmithKline Plc ,
Novartis AG and
Sanofi-Aventis SA all are making H1N1 vaccines.

LOWER YIELD
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department said it had bought 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine for a possible autumn vaccination campaign, and the National Institutes of Health outlined its plan, announced on Wednesday, to start testing swine flu vaccines in people.

Dr. Robin Robinson of HHS predicted 160 million doses of vaccine could be ready for the U.S. public in October.

Most of the vaccine makers are struggling to make the swine flu vaccine because they get a yield of 30 percent from H1N1 compared to seasonal flu vaccine strains, Dr. Jerry Weir, the FDA's director of the division of viral products told the meeting.

This means makers may end up with fewer doses than expected to fight the pandemic strain. But MedImmune's Dr. Raburn Mallory said his company was getting a better vaccine yield than other companies -- and could make more vaccine than it could put into spray bottles to deliver.

MedImmune's FluMist uses a live, weakened virus that is sprayed into the nose.

MedImmune's Ben Machielse told Reuters the company could make 200 million doses of bulk vaccine but only had 40 million sprayers.

GlaxoSmithKline's Dr. Bruce Innes told the meeting his company would test a vaccine with and without adjuvant -- a compound that stimulates the body's response to the vaccine -- while Dr. Theodore Tsai of Novartis said tests on 3,000 young children showed no bad side-effects from its seasonal flu vaccine with adjuvant.

H1N1 flu, first identified in March, spread globally in a matter of weeks to cause the first pandemic of the 21st century. It is still causing illness globally, including in the Southern Hemisphere, which is in its winter influenza season.

While it is about as bad as a moderate seasonal flu, it is attacking younger people than seasonal flu usually does. Seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally in an average year.

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Forewarned is forearmed:premature death under the hands of 'sick'care systems in the country. Unlike many of its predecessors, "Hippocraic Oaths": Medicine and its Discontents, on the ills of present medicine is not so much a polemic as a balanced and highly personal search for the reasons why a profession that has achieved so much for the benefits of patients during my lifetime is now at such a low ebb.

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I concentrate much of my attention on the rise of consumerism and with it the inexorable rise of political interference and control in matters which i see as best belonging to the profession.

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This blogger knows his subject intimately, writes beautifully and is very very angry.

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As a doctor, it is not often that I read as clear and thoughtful an analysis of the medical profession and the National Health Service as that given in this blog . . . a brilliant analysis of modern medicine.

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ECHINACEA - From Snake Oil to Modern Medicine

Echinacea is also known as purple coneflower.

The Native Americans - 'Indians' who first embraced the healing power of echinacea. They used echinacea internally as a treatment for colds, measles, mumps, and arthritis. As an external poultice they applied it to wounds, insect bites, stings and even snakebites.

Later date, white settlers arrived, then employed their pioneer mentality and soon adopted echinacea as their own.

Indeed, one travelling salesman of patent medicine, a doctor Meyer used it in his 'Meyer's Blood Purifier'. He claimed this medicine to be 'an absolute cure' for rattlesnake bite, blood poisoning and we may guess 'whatever else ails you'. It was claims like this that gave patent medicines the term 'snake oil'.

The medical establishment of the 1870s was understandably sceptical
of such medicine and their claims.
Dr Meyer was so confident of echinacea's capacity to protect against rattlesnake bite that he offered to let a rattlesnake bite him in another doctor's presence and then use his 'Blood Purifier' to cure him. Dr Meyer was not taken up on his offer but soon echinacea had been taken up by the establishment as a medicine.

The same is happening to water-cure protocol formula: not many doctors wanted to teach the public about it's proven claims that water cured may incurable diseases where drugs approach had failed.

Echinacea is useful in treating wounds, venomous bites and stings, blood poisoning, meningitis, chicken pox, malaria, influenza, syphilis and gangrene. (Source: M.Castleman, The Healing Herbs, Bookman, Melbourne,1991)

Echinacea enjoyed a prized place in medicine for some time which only waned with the advent of antibiotics in the 1930s.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, echinacea has made a comeback. This plant is certainly effective in boosting the body immune system and is a useful healing tool.

Healing with Echinacea

Its benefits for humans are varied and impressive. It decrease the amount of colds caught and also to have the effect of making symptoms that do appear less severe and shorter in duration.

One study of 80 adults found that echinacea shortened cold duration by 33 per cent. (Source: B.Schulten et al., Arzneimittel-forschung Drug Research, 51(7), 2001,pp.563-68.)

The effects of echinacea on the common cold are due to a twofold action.
1.In the first place, echinacea boosts your body immunity so it is better able to deal with infection. Echinacea does this by stimulating the release of certain chemicals, such as interferon, which get your immune system going.

So effective is echinacea at doing this that it has even been shown to reduce the incidence of leukaemia in mice. I know we humans are not mice, hence the detractors downplay this study. I wonder what those same drug manufacturers used in their drug experiments and studies prior to their synthetic drugs can be approved for human consumption? (Source:I.Hayashi et al., Nihon Rinsho Meneki Gakkai Kaishi, 24(1), February 2001,pp.10-20.)

Echinacea also stimulates various cells of your immune system. In net effect then, echinacea gets your body as ready as it can be to defend against infection and it also goes a step further in warding off disease.

This herb is safer and more effective than the World Health Organisation's approved Tamiflu (proven not effective )vaccine/drug for the H1N1 pandemic.

2.Echinacea has the valuable capacity to restrict the activity of viruses. This is an unusual quality, which echinacea achieves by blocking the release of a substance known as hyaluronidase.

It is this hyaluronidase that viruses use to cut out the highways and byways by which they move about your body and spread their infection. Echinacea then is a very viable treatment for the common cold or flu since viruses cause a majority of these conditions.

One particular species of echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia ) also appears to have a mild antibiotic effect, which is capable of directly killing bacteria such as golden staph (Staphylococcus aureus ).(ource: A.Menograph Alternative Medicine Book, 6(4), August 2001, pp. 411-14)

For one moment, it is worth considering claims made in some quarters that a lot of echinacea's effect may arise from a placebo effect because people taking it expect it to work. How about Tamiflu,then? As we know, the human mind does play an undeniable role in the body's physical responses but it only takes a quick look at one study to demonstrate that echinacea has a real physical effect.(Source: W.O'Neill, Equine Vet, 34(3), May 2002, pp. 222-27)

Horses were given echinacea for a period of 12 weeks. At the end of this time the horses had boosted levels of immune cells and the cells were more active. We can assume that the horses had no knowledge of what they were taking and no expectations that it would work. This will rule out the placebo effects, if there is any at all.
I challenge the Tamiflu promoters to try this same experiment on the horses and report their result.

Finally, since the immune system is also involved in wound healing, echinacea is very useful to help heal everything from cuts to burns and ulcers. (Source:R.Bauer et al., Economic and Medicinal Plant Research, 5, 1991, pp.253-321.)

As a final bonus, echinacea has also been shown to have antioxidant properties. (Source: B.D. Sloley et al., Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 53(6), June 2001, p.849-57.)

DOSAGE with echinacea is not a simple issue.

To begin with, there are three(3) species of echinacea that have the medicinal qualities outlined here. They are :
1. Echinacea angustifolia,
2. Echinacea purpurea, and
3. Echinacea pallida.

The root of the plant has traditionally been used medicinally although the flowers, stems and leaves (aerial portions) have also shown immune boosting properties.

Dosage is very different for the varying varieties available.

Echinacea root should be taken at a level of 500-1000 mg three times a day.

Dry, powered extract (standardised to 3.5 per cent echinacoside) should be taken at 300 mg three times per day.

The juice of the aerial portions of echinacea should be taken at 3-4 mls (3/4 to 1 teaspoon) three times a day.

Always look for a standardised product. On a long-term basis, take echinacea on a three-month rotation of two months on, one month off, two months on, etc.

Be aware that if you have an allergy to daisies, then you should use echinacea with caution as it is a member of he daisy family and may induce an allergic response.

Do check your daily water-quota requirement is met regularly. Many cases of allergies were due to chronic dehydration of the body. Use water-cure protocol formula then. You can find it in previous posts at Health Wealth blog here http://theinnozablog.blogspot.com

As echinacea can increase fever, do not take it during an active fever. Since enchinacea is an immune stimulant, caution should be used in combining it with immunosuppressive drugs (if you are taking them) such as corticosteroids, cyclo-sporine, amiodarone, methotrexate and ketoconazole.

Only 500 of 1000 (total of 1400) clinics in Singapore are ready?

But only half meet the criteria — that is, they have been trained to deal with a flu pandemic, and have Internet access.

Experts say the lack of Internet access will hinder the ministry’s pandemic response plan.

Dr Chong Yeh Woei, president of Singapore Medical Association, said: "The broadband connection is necessary for them to check the system; there will be a health—stats system to check if the patient had already been prescribed Tamiflu in the last few days. I think this is to prevent doctor—hopping; we certainly don’t want patients moving from clinic to clinic, picking up boxes of Tamiflu."

What are GPs main concern? Profitability or public health protection?

Since 1954, the ostensible mission of Plum Island's Animal Disease center has been to protect America's $100 billion livestock industry and defend it from foreign viruses, like the foot-and-mouth disease virus epidemic that ravaged Europe in 2001. After September 11, 2001, its mission returned to biological warfare. Michael Christopher Carroll spent seven years researching and writing LAB 257 . He is now general counsel of a New York-based finance company. He lives on Long Island and in New York City.

Helping people to learn and know the human body physiology is the better way to stay in sanity than to just take any drug-based medication. See and learn more again, recommend http://theinnozablog.blogspot.com to friends again.

WARNING :before taking Tamiflu vaccine read this link
This article may save your life if you have the flu. http://www.brojon.org/frontpage/the_tamiflu_myth.html

Wednesday, June 17

SINGAPORE : Medical practitioners have warned that the next wave of the H1N1 flu is already here, with the Southern hemisphere experiencing cooler months.
And in Singapore, they predict the country could move away from its containment strategy to the mitigation phase — that is, caring for those who are ill — as early as in a week or two.

In a span of just under three weeks, Singapore has detected some 50 confirmed H1N1 flu cases. And the numbers are expected to surge with the rapid movement of the virus brought about by travel patterns during Singapore’s traditional mid—year school holidays.
Health experts said Singapore’s current strategy of containment — that is, quarantining H1N1 cases — may no longer be sustainable.

The Health Ministry has said it will move to the mitigation stage only when there is sustained community spread. So far there has only been one local H1N1 transmission in the country.

Dr Chong Yeh Woei, president, Singapore Medical Association, said: "We will be going into the mitigation phase sooner rather than later. I say this because I think that the resources of contact tracing, and quarantining people and isolating people — all these resources, I believe are being stretched to the limit right now.
"We have 74 countries that have the H1N1 virus, we have 10 countries that are put on the hot list. I think it is a matter of time before our resources are overwhelmed and we will have to go to the mitigation phase. Coupled by the fact the we have the school holidays, and the children coming back from holidays will be coming back to school."

The infection rate for H1N1 is relatively high — for every confirmed case, the virus may infect another 2.2 or 3 patients.

Mortality rate is about double that of seasonal flu. So death occurs in about two in every 1,000 patients.

So as a precautionary measure, doctors said it may be practical to keep schools closed for at least another week.

Dr Lee Yik Voon, family physician, said: "This may be based on what is experienced by other countries when the students come back from school holidays...you have a very high infection rate, like Japan, like Australia.

"For flu to spread, it requires close proximity. School is a place where kids get together. If you can prevent that for two weeks, I think you can break the chain of infection."

And since Home Quarantine Orders will no longer be enforced once mitigation sets in, experts said the onus is on the individual to act responsibly — meaning voluntary home quarantine if you are infected.

Dr Chong said: "The onus will be on the individual. He will have to make sure that if he is unwell, he will be getting early treatment, he will be looking after his loved ones and family members. He will make sure that he isolates himself, he will not infect his family members and he waits till he is completely well before he goes back to work."

Dr Philippe Barrault, group medical director, Asia, International SOS, said: "We need to remember this is very much an unknown virus with the ability to mutate very rapidly, to catch the patterns of virus it may meet in the process of going from, for example, one hemisphere to the other one.

"So far the severity is not one of the main issues, but it may become a big problem."

Doctors said they would be looking out for certain groups of vulnerable patients, including pregnant women, those between the ages of 30 and 50, and those with respiratory and cardio diseases. Also at risk are immuno—compromised patients such as those undergoing chemotherapy.

Dr Lee said: "You no longer have the fear of being ferried or pushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital anymore. What happens is that you will probably be tested in that clinic. We will probably do a swab to test to see whether you are Influenza positive, and if you are, and you belong to a high risk group, we start treating you with Tamiflu."

Doctors here said that as soon as the alert button is pushed and Singapore moves to the mitigation stage, the Health Ministry will issue a stockpile of Tamiflu to all 900 or so Pandemic Preparedness Clinics. Already, the clinics have been issued Personal Protection Gears by the the Ministry, in an exercise conducted about two weeks ago.

Some virologists are warning of a potentially more lethal and stronger spread of the virus when the Northern hemisphere experiences winter at the end of the year.
They are watching to see how the virus mutates and reacts. But doctors said the hope could really lie in the development of a vaccine to counter—act against the effects of the H1N1 flu. — CNA/ms