Terry Chappell, MD
Celebration of Health Association
Bluffton, Ohio
419-358-4627 www.healthcelebration.com
I don’t do a lot of testing, but rather try to designate resources for treatment as much as possible. To test for yeast imbalance, I usually do a Stool culture. Some refer to do Organic acid testing of the urine, which I do occasionally. The advantage is that in addition to yeast it tests for other imbalances, such as oxalic acid (this was the cause of my kidney stones). It is a urine test, pretty expensive and sometmes hard to interpret. Yeast is most commonly present if a child has had a lot of antibiotics, has abdominal complaints, or craves sugar. I usually do an Elisa food allergy test for 99 foods (from the blood). Food allergies are usually a signifcant factor in treatment. We treat either with an elimination diet, injections, or by tapping on acupuncture points, called SRT (Symptom Reduction Technique), which is quite effective. A hair analysis for toxic metals is pretty much outdated because it has been shown that a problem with some kids is that they accumulate lead, mercury, aluminum and other metals by not excreting them, so they do not show up in the hair. I do some kind of challenge test. With kids, I often a collection of stool after taking an oral spray called metal free for a few days. Metals can play a big role for ADHD if present.
Rather than test for vitamins and minerals, which is not very accurate, I just treat with a multivitamin. I also use fish oil or other essential fatty acid and a homeopathic called mental clarity routinely. Amino acids can be important. Testing can be helpful to identify specific imbalances, but the treatment is difficult, sometimes requiring supplements several times a day. This applies to testing for neurotransmitters, like dopamine, seratonin, and adrenalin. Another avenue is to do a simple spot urine for all amino acids. A compounding pharmacy can then mix up replacement powder taylored for that specific child. The aa testing is not expensive, the treatment is fairly pricey, but easy to take. We sometimes do an adrenal stress index to look for abnormal cortisol levels. Cortisol helps you deal with stress, and abnormalities are easily treated with natural supplements.
Home use of vitamin B12 shots (methylhydroxycobalamine) are usually very helpful but have to be continued. These are cheap and easy. Finally and primarily, I would teach most children the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which they can do themselves to quiet down and focus.
MY BASIC APPROACH TO ADD AND ADHD
March 10th, 2010
Two Uncomplicated Reasons to Choose Organic Eggs and Milk
March 9th, 2010If you are thinking about making the switch to organic food, eggs and milk are a good place to start, for two fairly simple reasons.
1) Organic Cows and Chickens Eat Grass
If you eat your vegetables, you have more nutrients in your body. The same goes for cows and chickens that are fed grass. Read the rest of this entry »
HEART, VASCULAR, CHOLESTEROL, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND DIABETES—WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON
March 8th, 2010HEART, VASCULAR, CHOLESTEROL, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND DIABETES—WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON
Terry Chappell, MD
Celebration of Health Association
Bluffton, Ohio
419-358-4627
www.healthcelebration.com
The first considerations are diet, exercise and stress control to prevent or treat the various diseases of circulation. Blood pressure is very important, even more so from recent studies. Cholesterol and other lipids are a factor, but only one of many. Half of those who die of heart atttacks have normal cholesterols. If your HDL (the good cholesterol) is low, you really need to exercise. For primary prevention you have to treat 100 people with high cholesterol with a statin drug to prevent one heart atttack. Statins do help some to prevent heart attacks and strokes, but usually red yeast does as well. Either way, it is very important that you take some CoEnzyme Q10, because you lose it when you take these substances and you need it for a healthy heart.
Non-insulin dependent diabetes is largely preventable or at least controllable with diet. For most patients, I suggest a restricted carbohydrate diet. Dieticians have been shown to be wrong in the past. Studies show that the a low carbohydrate diet works better than an exchange diet to control diabetes. A raw food diet is difficult, but the results might even be better. There are some excellent herbal and nutrient preparations that can help with BP, lipids, and blood sugar control but nothing that will take the place of diet, exercise and stress control.
In my experience, three of the most important factors in preventing circulation problems and heart attacks are preventing abnormal clotting without increasing the risk of hemorrhage, reducing inflammation and removing toxic metals, especially lead and mercury. Intravenous EDTA chelation therapy does all three, I think better and safer than any other treatment program. If clotting is a risk, we often add nattokinase and fish oils. Plavix carries too big a risk of brain hemorrhage for routine use. For inflammation, statin drugs are more dangerous. There is no conclusive evidence that they work any better than fish oils, EDTA, and perhaps some proteolytic enzymes. Nothing is as broad as EDTA for removing toxic metals. The American Heart Association journal has repeatedly demonstrated that even small amounts of lead dramatically increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. And yet the authors declined to recommend any treatment for it. We treat it early and vigorously because we feel elevated lead is a big factor that deserves attention.
Simple test could cut unnecessary antibiotic use
March 7th, 2010Doctors would know which respiratory tract infections need prescriptions
updated 2 hours, 34 minutes ago
LONDON – If doctors used an existing simple lab test on patients with coughs or flu-like symptoms they would be better able to decide which of them might benefit from antibiotics, scientists said on Thursday.
They said prescriptions of expensive antibiotics for respiratory tract infections could be reduced by more than 40 percent if tests became more commonplace.
The German researchers found that testing for a marker of bacterial infection known as procalcitonin (PCT) helped identify patients whose respiratory tract infections would respond to antibiotics, and stopped others being offered unnecessary drugs.
Respiratory infections are very common and doctors are taught to prescribe antibiotics on the basis of features like sputum or fever, which suggest there may be bacterial infection. Read the rest of this entry »
Doctor Training Aided by Drug Industry Cash
March 6th, 2010
By DUFF WILSON
Published: February 22, 2010
More than half of the nation’s medical residency programs to train doctors in internal medicine accepted financial support from the drug industry, even though three-fourths of the programs’ directors said accepting the aid was “not desirable,” a survey found.
At issue are potential conflicts of interest as the residency programs accept drug company support to help train tens of thousands of new doctors at a point in their careers when they are beginning to prescribe drugs, according to the survey report.
The article was published Monday in the Web version of The Archives of Internal Medicine. “Program directors are aware of the problem, but right now they don’t have the funds to be free,” Dr. Joanne M. Conroy, chief health care officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, who was not involved in the survey, but had seen the report. Read the rest of this entry »
Happiness wards off heart disease, study suggests
March 5th, 2010
Happiness wards off heart disease, study suggests |
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Being happy and staying positive may help ward off heart disease, a study suggests. US researchers monitored the health of 1,700 people over 10 years, finding the most anxious and depressed were at the highest risk of the disease. They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves. But experts suggested the findings may be of limited use as an individual’s approach to life was often ingrained. At the start of the study, which was published in the European Heart Journal, participants were assessed for emotions ranging from hostility and anxiousness to joy, enthusiasm and contentment. They were given a rating on a five-point scale to score their level of positive emotions. By the end of the analysis, some 145 had developed heart disease – fewer than one in 10. But for each rise in the happiness scale there was a 22% lower risk of developing heart disease.
The team believes happier people may have better sleeping patterns, be less liable to suffer stress and be more able to move on from upsetting experiences – all of which can put physical strain on the body. Lead researcher Dr Karina Davidson admitted more research was needed into the link, but said she would still recommend that people try to develop a more positive outlook. She said all too often people just waited for their “two weeks of vacation to have fun” when instead they should seek enjoyment each day. “If you enjoy reading novels, but never get around to it, commit to getting 15 minutes or so of reading in. “If walking or listening to music improves you mood, get those activities in your schedule. “Essentially spending a few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health and may improve your physical health as well.” It is not the first study to suggest there is a link between happiness and health. But Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, suggested such an association may be of limited value anyway. “We know that improving your mood isn’t always easy – so we don’t know if it’s possible to change our natural levels of positivity.” Cardiologist Iain Simpson, of the British Cardiovascular Society, added: “Things like reducing cholesterol and diabetes are more important when it comes to reducing heart disease. “But at the end of the day it heart disease is still the biggest killer in the UK so anything you can do to help should not be ignored.” |
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Essentially spending a few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health and may improve your physical health as well 
STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Glaxo slips on new asthma drug warnings
March 4th, 2010STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Glaxo slips on new asthma drug warnings
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) shares fall 1 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration takes steps to cut the use of certain asthma drugs because of serious health risks, hitting prospects for the company’s top-seller Advair.
The move also affects products from AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Novartis (NOVN.VX), but Glaxo is most vulnerable because its two-in-one inhaler is the market leader, with global sales of $7.8 billion in 2009.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley say the tighter rules are likely to push Advair volume growth back into negative territory.
“We see a likely worst-case impact as up to around 3 percent downgrade to 2011 sales and around 7 percent impact to EBIT,” they say in a note. Glaxo also faces a key Advair patent trial in Germany on Feb. 23.
TOXICITY/HEAVY METALS
March 3rd, 2010TOXICITY/HEAVY METALS
Terry Chappell, MD
Celebration of Health Association
Bluffton, Ohio
419-358-4627
www.healthcelebration.com
We live in a toxic world and our bodies are a toxic timebomb. Because of pollution and increased toxic chemicals in the environment, we are seeing rapidly rising numbers of cancer, asthma, allergies, autism, attention deficit, autoimmune problems, Alzheimer’s disease and plaque in the arteries, which leads to strokes and heart attacks.
Mold and toxic mold spores are so difficult to get rid of that some buildings become permanently uninhabitable. Until recently medicine has pretty much ignored these important factors that bombard our health. In the future, an assessment of toxicity in the body will become an essential part of routine physicial exams. Simple blood tests for toxic metals rarely show any problem because toxins often do not stay in the blood stream for very long after exposure. Heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, are stored in the fat cells, bone and brain. Thus to detect metal toxicity, one needs to do a challenge test, in which a chelating agent is given and the amount of metals pulled into the urine is measured. Intravenous EDTA is a good general challenge agent, but DMPS is better for mercury (which is found in silver amalgum tooth fillings and many fish).
Looking at a smear of live blood cells, simple liver function tests, and assessing the ability to distinguish various shades of gray with a visual contrast test are other ways to determine how much toxicity is present in an individual patient.
Once detected, there are lots of ways to detoxify, depending on the substances identified (if possible), the degree of poisoning evident, and the preferences of the patient. Antifungals. allergy desensitizations of various kinds, milk thistle, colonic hydrotherapy, oral and intravenous antioxidants, chelation therapy, saunas and vigorous exercise are some of the best.
200,000 Americans Killed Each Year in Hospitals by Medical Error
March 2nd, 2010Tuesday, March 02, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer–
(NaturalNews) According to “Dead By Mistake,” a report detailing the findings of an investigation by the Hearst Corporation, approximately 200,000 people die in the United States every year from hospital infections and preventable medical errors. To make matters worse, the situation has not changed from 10 years ago, when the recommendations of a similar report by the federal government went ignored.
Car accidents, often classified as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, kill fewer than 50,000 people per year. Read the rest of this entry »
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