Misdiagnosed bipolar: One girl's struggle to get the right treatment (PANS/PANDAS story)

Read 2 recovery stories of PANDAS using safe, natural homeopathic medicine at this link: www.homeopathyforwomen.org/testimonials.htm

Misdiagnosed Bipolar: One Girl's Struggle to Get the Right Treatment

http://news.msn.com/in-depth/misdiagnosed-bipolar-one-girls-struggle-to-get-the-right-treatment

4.23.14

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One day, Tessa Gallo was a typical sixth-grader, performing in school plays, running on the track team, goofing around with her two sisters and giggling with girlfriends at sleepovers.

The next, said her mother, Teresa, "She was psychotic and mentally retarded."

In bizarre and frightening scenes, Tessa acted as frantic as a caged animal, darting out of the family car into traffic, jumping fences and hiding in neighbors' bushes. At times she seemed catatonic, with food falling out of her mouth because she somehow couldn't swallow. She repeated the same few sentences over and over, worried about her braces, wanting to go home.

And finally, she said nothing at all. For nine months, Tessa stopped talking. Not a word.

Doctors diagnosed her with bipolar disorder, prescribed psychiatric drugs that didn't work and sent the San Jose family on a nightmarish odyssey through psych wards, group homes and isolation rooms.

Then, suddenly, more than 10 months into the Gallos' terrifying ordeal, a pair of Stanford University doctors told the family that Tessa wasn't bipolar at all. She was probably suffering from a tragically misdiagnosed condition that mimics mental illness in a way doctors are only starting to understand.

"I've seen cases like this before," Dr. Jennifer Frankovich of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital told the Gallos. "I think I can bring her back."

What Frankovich, a pediatric rheumatologist, and Dr. Kiki Chang, a child psychiatrist, concluded was that Tessa likely had an infection or other trigger that caused her immune system to mistakenly attack her brain, dramatically changing Tessa's behavior overnight. It's a condition called PANS — pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome — that in some cases, if caught early enough, could be cured by commonly used antibiotics. Without early treatment, they say, children can suffer needlessly.

It would take a mother's stubborn devotion and the conviction of two doctors willing to stake their reputation on a controversial treatment to bring Tessa back from the brink. At the same time, they believe cases like Tessa's could help unlock the mysteries of the brain and reveal how something as common as an infection could be behind a growing number of psychological disorders.

PANS is so new and so misunderstood, that there are no reliable estimates of how many children are affected. A national PANS parent support group believes the number nationwide could be more than 150,000, or about a quarter of the children who have obsessive compulsive disorder or other tics.

But skeptics within the medical community question whether PANS even exists. At a symposium in Burlingame on Saturday, Teresa Gallo and Frankovich will try to dispel the lingering controversy that has thwarted efforts to legitimize the diagnosis, fund research and spread the word about possible treatments.

"To know how many patients are in mental institutions that have treatable diseases," Frankovich said, "we can't even wrap our head around this."

At the Gallo home in the east San Jose foothills, Teresa Gallo dumps out a shopping bag filled with half-empty bottles of Tessa's psychiatric drugs. Nothing worked. Not the Ativan or Lexipro for her anxiety. Not the Haldol to calm her and curb her aggression. Not the Ambien to help her sleep. They just made Tessa more manic. Her bright blue eyes turned dull and vacant.

Before Tessa's illness, life was good for the Gallo family: Teresa worked as a Weight Watchers leader, her husband as an engineer, their three daughters attended Catholic school. They loved to entertain in their backyard and keep up with Tessa's Girl Scouts and track meets. The household was happy and bustling.

That changed on July 8, 2011. The couple was on a vacation in New Orleans when Teresa received a call from her mother, who was watching the girls in San Jose.

"Tessa's not sleeping. She's not eating. She seems obsessed about her teeth," her mother, Kathy Downing, said. "You need to come home."

They took Tessa, who was 13, to the emergency room, where doctors asked whether Tessa had suffered something traumatic. Nothing, Teresa said. Tessa was given anti-anxiety medication and told to go home.

Day by day, Tessa's behavior grew worse. Riddled with obsessive behaviors, she wiped her hand across her face repeatedly. The teenager who was once so concerned with her hair and hygiene wouldn't bathe. When Teresa put Tessa in the shower and shampoo in her hand, Tessa would drop her arm to her side, the shampoo running down her leg. She cried nonstop. She started to hit her mother and family members until they were bruised. Teresa lay in bed with her all night, trying to calm her and make sure she didn't run out of the house. They were lucky to sleep two hours.

Tessa barely ate. She became dehydrated. Her lips cracked and bled.

So desperate after one month, Teresa begged the staff at Valley Medical Center in San Jose to admit her daughter. They were reluctant, saying all they had was an 8-by-8 windowless room. But they could keep her briefly, monitored and safe. It took five large male attendants to restrain the flailing, angry wisp of a girl.

"Stay back, stay back!" one of them yelled as they carried the kicking and screaming child away.

Teresa crumbled to the floor. "It was the first and only time in my life I just dropped," Teresa said, "the vision of her being taken away like that and hoping it was the right decision."

Across the Bay Area, four psychiatrists diagnosed Tessa with bipolar disorder and one suggested it might be schizophrenia. There were months at psychiatric wards and tortured stops at group homes, from Concord to San Mateo to Fremont. There were long stretches at home, locked with a caregiver in the family room so Tessa wouldn't escape. They shut off the water because Tessa was drinking obsessively. She even drank liquid soap and a bottle of nail polish remover.

Friends and neighbors carpooled her sisters, Briana and Julia, to their activities and brought over dinner casseroles to help the family cope.

"When someone is basically gone, it's hard to be positive," the youngest, Briana, said. "I just wanted my sister, to see her and have her back once again."

It's been so hard, Teresa's husband doesn't like talking about it and asked that his name not be included. Every Sunday, St. John Vianney parish would say Mass in Tessa's name. And every time, Teresa would break down in tears and run outside, sit on the steps and cry.

Finally, 10 months after Tessa's first episode and six months after Teresa first sought him out, Chang's office called. The noted pediatric bipolar expert could see Tessa. Heavily sedated, she curled up on the exam room floor and drooled.

Teresa explained how her daughter had changed overnight, how nothing helped, how hopeless they felt. Chang listened closely, studied Tessa, then told them something shocking.

"This is not bipolar," Chang said. "This is an autoimmune disease, and I'm so sorry it took me this long to see you."

He made her an appointment with Frankovich, the rheumatologist with whom he was working to help diagnose and treat PANS cases. When Tessa met Frankovich for the first time, she socked her in the arm.

It was 2012 and Chang and Frankovich were preparing to open the world's first PANS clinic, but the hospital provided only enough funding to operate a half-day a week out of a room in the rheumatology department. Soon, there were 60 patients and a five-month waiting list. The two doctors, plus their mostly volunteer staff, began working nights and weekends answering desperate calls from parents and pleading with insurance companies to fund novel treatments.

Since her medical school days at the University of Nevada in the 1990s, Frankovich had a hunch that a biological trigger could be underlying some psychiatric diseases. Once during her rotation through the psych ward back then, a boy who had the flu suddenly turned psychotic.

"I remember being on the ward and telling these families there's nothing we can do. Your child has a mental illness and has to go to the mental ward," Frankovich said in a recent interview. "It never felt right to me, but I had to say it because that was what I was trained to say."

But there had to be a connection, she thought.

About the same time, at the National Institute of Mental Health outside Washington, D.C., Dr. Susan Swedo was grappling with the same phenomenon. While many children exhibited signs of extreme anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, the ones who were particularly puzzling had symptoms that appeared almost overnight, within 24 to 48 hours. Parents described their children as acting like they were "possessed."

Swedo linked the sudden onset of these OCD symptoms to the strep infection and in 1998 coined the term PANDAS — pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with strep. But some children had all the signs of PANDAS without the strep infection, and in 2010 she broadened the diagnosis to include the possibility of other infections triggering psychosis, calling it PANS.

Critics, including some noted neurology experts, have long disputed the connection between strep and mental illness, and say the broader PANS diagnosis is no more than a hypothesis. "No one has established that it's true," said Dr. Roger Kurlan, a New Jersey neurologist specializing in Tourette syndrome. "No one has established what the infection is that brings it out or which antibodies bring it out."

In the meantime, the mainstream medical community remains largely unaware of PANS or reluctant to diagnose and treat it, waiting for the research to catch up and the controversy to quell.

Tessa's is an extreme case and Frankovich is the first to admit there's a lot she and Chang don't understand. But when she began treating Tessa with the same autoimmune and anti-inflammatory therapies she used on her lupus patients — whose immune systems become hyperactive and attack healthy tissues — Tessa started getting better.

"Nothing worked for 10 months in the psych wards," Frankovich said of Tessa, "but after three days of an infusion of steroids, it was a pretty dramatic improvement that was sustained."

At home in the Gallo house, Tessa was coming back to life. She could write and draw again. Her OCD symptoms calmed. And finally, after several months of silence, Tessa spoke.

"I'm hungry," she said next to a fountain outside Lucile Packard hospital. "I want to go home."

In her euphoria, Teresa called her family and summoned Frankovich, who came running from a nearby building and shared in the tears.

"I love you," Tessa told her mom, as the two tightly hugged.

But as surprising as it started, Tessa's ability to speak lasted only two hours.

"My husband missed it. My parents missed it," Teresa said. "It was heartbreaking and she didn't speak for another five or six months."

More heartbreak followed. Tessa regressed further, as doctors tried to wean her from steroids. For the first time, she started hearing voices.

Frankovich knew she needed more aggressive measures to bring Tessa back. In December 2012, after much debate within Stanford itself, agreement was reached to conduct a three-day treatment called plasmapheresis that would run Tessa's blood through a machine to clean out toxic antibodies, followed by a powerful immune-suppressing drug called Rituximab.

The goal was stop her immune system from attacking her brain, but suppressing the immune system leaves the body vulnerable to fatal infection, Frankovich said. "We can't justify using this medicine unless all the doctors involved say there's no hope for the child."

By that point, Tessa was in such a bad mental state she was living in a group home with five autistic boys and teens. When the Gallos brought Tessa in for the procedure, she was kicking and screaming. Teresa needed to hold her down while doctors strapped Tessa to the table.

"This was literally what we thought was Tessa's last hope," Teresa said. She prayed it would work.

The early signs of success were subtle. That first night, Tessa slept until morning for the first time in months. By February 2013, she was talking again, and singing. In June, she moved back home.

"Watching Tessa come out of this was like watching a child come out of a coma," Teresa said.

The once shy girl became an outgoing jokester.

The illness robbed Tessa of more than two years of schooling, but she remembered all her times tables. She attends a special education class at Mount Pleasant High School. She still gets mild cases of OCD, but they're manageable. Her family is vigilant about infections and wears medical masks at the first sign of sniffles. She had another flare in December, but more immunosuppressants brought her about 80 to 90 percent back. She is still a Girl Scout, plays softball on Sundays and joins a hip hop class on Wednesdays. A boy from her class invited her to the school prom. She plans to wear a light blue dress.

"I feel good," said Tessa, now 16, who explains that when she "lost her voice" she was "just tired. All I could do is hear what people were saying, but I couldn't talk back to them."

These days, Tessa hugs her mother a lot. "She's a loving person," Tessa said, "that I will love forever."

Frankovich and Chang believe their continued work with patients like Tessa will provide answers to the skeptics and build a body of research to help more suffering children get their lives back. But funding is needed for the kinds of scientific breakthroughs and clinical trials to better understand the connections between the psychological and the physical, to find the underlying causes of PANS and to prove their treatment is working. The road ahead is daunting.

"I have had lots of sleepless nights," Frankovich said. "But I have to tell you, every time Tessa comes to clinic, I feel somewhat validated that I'm doing the right thing."

When Tessa visited the clinic this month, she showed Frankovich and Chang two pictures she painted. One was almost totally black, created during one of her tortured, manic flares. The other, painted in February, was a bright green and blue heart with splashes of yellow and orange.

Chang asked about the dark one, how Tessa felt when she painted it. But Tessa avoided the question.

Then he pointed to the painted heart. "How were you feeling when you did this one?"

"I was feeling happy," Tessa said, happy like the song that sticks in her head.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PANS

To learn more about it: PANS Question and Answer: http://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/q-sudden-symptoms-first-sign-pans-pandas

 

 

Video: How Homeopathy Works and Why It Heals Us - 30 minute video by Roger Morrison, MD

 A new excellent video has been added to my website that explains how homeopathy works and how it heal is, and in a natural way.

This is ia 30 minute video interview with Roger Morrison, MD  - feel free to share this link with your friends and family who want to better understand homeopathic medicine.

www.homeopathyforwomen.org/videos.htm

 

Brain injury - Homeopathy Helps

 

Brain Injury – Homeopathy Helps A study conducted in 2009 showed that homeopathy stimulated significant improvement in people with traumatic brain injury even though that injury may have happened many years previously. The treatment group, classified as having mild traumatic brain injury, were entered into the study through their rehabilitationists and neurologists. In spite of their brain injury having happened many years previously, they still struggled with persistent problems such as short attention span; slowed thinking; reduced ability to learn and process information; headaches; fatigue; sleep disturbances; impatience; frustration; confusion; poor judgment; depression; mood swings; blurred vision, vomiting, and so on. The treatment group reported significant improvements, especially in being able to: understand technical or work-related information, follow instructions, read newspapers or novels, do housework, and socialise in small and large groups. Some, who had been unable to work for years, were able to return to work. The researchers noted that limitations in the study such as remedies and potencies able to be used and the short duration of treatment may have resulted in an underestimation of the actual benefits of treatment. More Information: Homeopathic Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

 

 

Consumer alert: GMO labeling to be outlawed by 'Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act' introduced today in Congress

Consumer alert: GMO labeling to be outlawed by 'Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act' introduced today in Congress

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/044671_GMO_labeling_outlawed_FDA_cover-up.html

 

Thursday, April 10, 2014
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) A proposed new federal law just introduced by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (a Democrat) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (a Republican) would outlaw state-enacted GMO labeling laws. The new law, ridiculously called the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, is actually an last-ditch, desperate effort by the biotech industry and the GMA to forever bury the truth about GMOs so that consumers don't know they're eating poison.

According to mainstream media reports (1), the bill would require the FDA to mandate GMO labeling only if those foods "are found to be unsafe or materially different from foods produced without biotech ingredients."

Because the FDA and USDA have already decided, against all scientific evidence, that GMOs are "safe" and "not materially different" from other foods, this requirement is nothing but sheer sleight of hand and a pandering to idiocy. In truth, this new bill, if passed into law, would allow food companies to permanently and insidiously hide GMOs in all their products forever, nullifying the numerous state-based GMO labeling laws which are on the verge of passing.

The Environmental Working Group calls this proposed new law the "DARK Act" (Denying Americans the Right to Know), saying:

After two states have passed GE labeling bills and more than 30 others are poised to consider similar labeling bills and ballot initiatives, the food and biotech industry have goat-roped some members of Congress into introducing legislation to block state GE labeling laws.

Push for GMOs run by criminally-minded organizations

GMOs have already been restricted or banned in over 60 countries (2), and Americans are very close to achieving victory in state-based GMO labeling campaigns. The very idea that American consumers might find out they've been eating GMO poisons in most of their favorite foods is so horrifying to the biotech industry (and the processed food front groups) that its enforcers are now seeking this "nuclear option" to legally deceive consumers about GMOs with the complicity of the FDA.

The Grocery Manufacturers of America, the same criminally-run group that broke election laws in Washington State to funnel industry money into a campaign to defeat GMO labeling laws, predictably endorses this proposed new law. In fact, so does the American Soybean Association which would obviously love to see the U.S. government codify the industry-wide conspiracy to keep consumers in the dark about what they're eating.

Have no doubts that the criminally-run biotech industry, which already controls a well-funded group of intimidation operators, will pull out all the stops to threaten, intimidate and even blackmail U.S. lawmakers into voting for this bill. Biotech people play dirty, and they threaten everyone who dares question the safety of GMOs -- scientists, activists and journalists alike. Click here to see the massive backlash against biotech's engineered intimidation of Seralini.

Expect a massive grassroots backlash against the proposed law

Remember when Obama promised in 2008 that he would push for GMO labeling of foods? That fake promise has long since faded, of course, and now most of the people who voted for Obama are both extremely angry at the betrayal and extremely motivated to push for real change in Washington.

State-based efforts to label GMOs have been well-supported by activists but have been out-spent by the wealthy biotech industry and its ability to buy off scientist-whores who mislead the public with the most bizarre quack science imaginable (such as claiming "genetically engineering" plants are the same as "selectively breeding" plants).

The health-conscious public is wholly fed up with the deceptions, the betrayals and the intimidation tactics being deployed against scientists, speakers and authors who rightly question the safety of genetically engineered crops. Beyond the personal health effects, there's also the larger question of genetic pollution and the risk of systemic ecocide (ecological mass death).

GMOs are unfit for human consumption

There are no long-term studies showing GMOs to be safe for human consumption. There are no long-term studies showing GMOs are even safe to grow in the open air! Yet we are routinely told by GMO pushers and their media flacks that GMOs are safe because "they are no different" from other foods.

But then, somehow, Monsanto, DuPont and other companies have been awarded patents on many of these seeds. How can something be patented if it's "no different" than the other seeds? It can't, of course. If the seeds are patented, then they are obviously different.

Only in America, under the insanity of federal food laws, can something simultaneously be "unique" and "no different" at the same time.

The law should actually be called the "Dangerous and Deceptive Food Labeling Act"

Be prepared to fight hard against the "Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act" which is specifically designed to support "Dangerous and Deceptive Food Labeling" from the outset. Most federal laws are, of course, named exactly the opposite of what they seek to achieve.

GMOs aren't safe, and if they aren't disclosed on food labels, then those labels aren't accurate, period. No amount of denial, intimidation and doublespeak can counter these simple, straightforward facts.

(1) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/...
(2) http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044671_GMO_labeling_outlawed_FDA_cover-up.html#ixzz2yb0KYRHe

 

Phage 'cocktail' wipes out 99 percent of E. coli in meat, spinach

Phage 'cocktail' wipes out 99 percent of E. coli in meat, spinach
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/phage-cocktail-wipes-out-99-percent-of-e.-coli-in-meat,-spinach.html

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Treating food products with select bacteriophages - viruses that target and kill bacteria - could significantly reduce concentrations of E. coli, a Purdue University study shows.

An injection of bacteriophages - also known informally as "phages" - nearly eradicated a toxin-producing strain of E. coli in contaminated spinach and ground beef, in some cases decreasing E. coli concentrations by about 99 percent.

The study suggests that bacteriophage treatment could be an effective tool to help ensure the safety of food products, said Paul Ebner, associate professor of animal sciences.

"Phage treatment is a way of harnessing the natural antibacterial properties of phages to limit E. coli and other important food borne pathogens," Ebner said. "Applying this kind of therapy to contaminated foods will make them safer."

While most strains of E. coli are harmless, some can cause severe and potentially fatal illnesses. The strain used in Ebner's study - E. coli O157:H7 - caused more than 63,000 illnesses, 2,100 hospitalizations and 20 deaths in the U.S. in 2011. Ingesting as few as 10 colony-forming units of E. coli O157:H7 can result in serious illness.

Most E. coli infections are caused by eating undercooked meat contaminated with the bacteria, but outbreaks associated with fresh produce such as spinach are on the rise.

Ebner and Purdue graduate students Yingying Hong and Yanying Pan infected fresh spinach leaves and ground beef with about 10 million cells of E. coli, a far greater amount than typically found in contaminated food products, Ebner said. The researchers then treated the food with a "phage cocktail," a liquid containing three kinds of phages selected for their ability to quickly and efficiently kill E. coli. Using a variety of phages also helps prevent the bacteria from developing resistance.

After 24 hours, the treatment had reduced E. coli concentrations in the spinach, stored at room temperature, by more than 99.9 percent. E. coli dropped by more than 99.8 percent and about 99.8 percent in spinach after 48 and 72 hours, respectively.

In ground beef stored at room temperature, the phages cleaned up about 99 percent of E. coli bacteria within 24 hours. The number of E. coli in refrigerated and undercooked ground beef shrunk by about 68 percent and 73 percent, respectively.

"Bacteria have viruses just like we do," Ebner said. "We're taking what already exists in nature and concentrating it to have an impact on these bacteria."

The search-and-destroy methods of phages sound like the stuff of science fiction: Spaceship-like phages dock onto the receptor sites of a host bacterium cell and deploy a syringe-like device that penetrates the cell wall. They inject their own DNA into the host cell, transforming it into a phage-making factory. The cell assembles phages until it contains so many it explodes, releasing the next generation of phages to find new hosts. 

"Phages are the most abundant life forms on the planet - if you consider viruses to be alive," Ebner said. "You can eat thousands of phages just by licking your lips."

Ingesting phages does not pose a threat to human health because phages are highly host-specific, only targeting certain types of bacteria, said Ebner.

"Phage therapy is a way of using microbes beneficially, similar to using probiotics in yoghurt," he said.

Interest in using phages as antibacterial treatments has increased with the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The host specificity of phages can be an advantage over broad-spectrum antibiotics, which can wipe out both pathogenic and beneficial bacteria, Ebner said.

He said phage therapy is not a substitute for antibiotics, but "it can be very effective when used at specific time points and for shorter periods."

The paper was published in the Journal of Animal Science and is available at http://www.journalofanimalscience.org/content/early/2014/02/03/jas.2013-7272.full.pdf+html?sid=e81e1a65-f8f2-4b68-9c16-3335ca254edd 

Writer:  Natalie van Hoose, 765-496-2050, nvanhoos@purdue.edu

 

Breakthrough Study Reveals Biological Basis for Sensory Processing Disorders in Kids

http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/07/107316/breakthrough-study-reveals-biological-basis-sensory-processing-disorders-kidsi

The image shows areas of the brain that can be affected by sensory processing disorders. Using an advanced form of MRI, researchers at UCSF have identified abnormalities in the brain structure of children with SPD primarily in the back of the brain.

By Juliana Bunim on July 09, 2013

Sensory processing disorders (SPD) are more prevalent in children than autism and as common as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, yet the condition receives far less attention partly because it’s never been recognized as a distinct disease.

In a groundbreaking new study from UC San Francisco, researchers have found that children affected with SPD have quantifiable differences in brain structure, for the first time showing a biological basis for the disease that sets it apart from other neurodevelopmental disorders.

One of the reasons SPD has been overlooked until now is that it often occurs in children who also have ADHD or autism, and the disorders have not been listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists.

“Until now, SPD hasn’t had a known biological underpinning,” said senior author Pratik Mukherjee, MD, PhD, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging and bioengineering at UCSF. “Our findings point the way to establishing a biological basis for the disease that can be easily measured and used as a diagnostic tool,” Mukherjee said.

The work is published in the open access online journal NeuroImage:Clinical.

‘Out of Sync’ Kids

Sensory processing disorders affect 5 to 16 percent of school-aged children.

Children with SPD struggle with how to process stimulation, which can cause a wide range of symptoms including hypersensitivity to sound, sight and touch, poor fine motor skills and easy distractibility. Some SPD children cannot tolerate the sound of a vacuum, while others can’t hold a pencil or struggle with social interaction. Furthermore, a sound that one day is an irritant can the next day be sought out.  The disease can be baffling for parents and has been a source of much controversy for clinicians, according to the researchers.

“Most people don’t know how to support these kids because they don’t fall into a traditional clinical group,” said Elysa Marco, MD, who led the study along with postdoctoral fellow Julia Owen, PhD. Marco is a cognitive and behavioral child neurologist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, ranked among the nation's best and one of California's top-ranked centers for neurology and other specialties, according to the 2013-2014 U.S. News & World Report Best Children's Hospitals survey.

“Sometimes they are called the ‘out of sync’ kids. Their language is good, but they seem to have trouble with just about everything else, especially emotional regulation and distraction. In the real world, they’re just less able to process information efficiently, and they get left out and bullied,” said Marco, who treats affected children in her cognitive and behavioral neurology clinic.

“If we can better understand these kids who are falling through the cracks, we will not only help a whole lot of families, but we will better understand sensory processing in general. This work is laying the foundation for expanding our research and clinical evaluation of children with a wide range of neurodevelopmental challenges – stretching beyond autism and ADHD,” she said.

Imaging the Brain’s White Matter

In the study, researchers used an advanced form of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which measures the microscopic movement of water molecules within the brain in order to give information about the brain’s white matter tracts. DTI shows the direction of the white matter fibers and the integrity of the white matter. The brain’s white matter is essential for perceiving, thinking and learning.

These brain images, taken with DTI, show water diffusion within the white matter of children with sensory processing disorders.  Row FA: The blue areas show white matter where water diffusion was less directional than in typical children, indicating impaired white matter microstructure.  Row MD: The red areas show white matter where the overall rate of water diffusion was higher than in typical children, also indicating abnormal white matter.  Row RD: The red areas show white matter where SPD children have higher rates of water diffusion perpendicular to the axonal fibers, indicating a loss of integrity of the fiber bundles comprising the white matter tracts.

The study examined 16 boys, between the ages of eight and 11, with SPD but without a diagnosis of autism or prematurity, and compared the results with 24 typically developing boys who were matched for age, gender, right- or left-handedness and IQ. The patients’ and control subjects’ behaviors were first characterized using a parent report measure of sensory behavior called the Sensory Profile. 

The imaging detected abnormal white matter tracts in the SPD subjects, primarily involving areas in the back of the brain, that serve as connections for the auditory, visual and somatosensory (tactile) systems involved in sensory processing, including their connections between the left and right halves of the brain. 

“These are tracts that are emblematic of someone with problems with sensory processing,” said Mukherjee. “More frontal anterior white matter tracts are typically involved in children with only ADHD or autistic spectrum disorders. The abnormalities we found are focused in a different region of the brain, indicating SPD may be neuroanatomically distinct.” 

The researchers found a strong correlation between the micro-structural abnormalities in the white matter of the posterior cerebral tracts focused on sensory processing and the auditory, multisensory and inattention scores reported by parents in the Sensory Profile. The strongest correlation was for auditory processing, with other correlations observed for multi-sensory integration, vision, tactile and inattention.

The abnormal microstructure of sensory white matter tracts shown by DTI in kids with SPD likely alters the timing of sensory transmission so that processing of sensory stimuli and integrating information across multiple senses becomes difficult or impossible.

“We are just at the beginning, because people didn’t believe this existed,” said Marco. “This is absolutely the first structural imaging comparison of kids with research diagnosed sensory processing disorder and typically developing kids. It shows it is a brain-based disorder and gives us a way to evaluate them in clinic.”

We are just at the beginning, because people didn’t believe this existed. ... [This study] shows it is a brain-based disorder and gives us a way to evaluate them in clinic.

Future studies need to be done, she said, to research the many children affected by sensory processing differences who have a known genetic disorder or brain injury related to prematurity.

The study’s co-authors are Shivani Desai, BS, Emily Fourie, BS, Julia Harris, BS, and Susanna Hill, BS, all of UCSF, and Anne Arnett, MA, of the University of Denver.

The research was supported by the Wallace Research Foundation. The authors have reported that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital creates an environment where children and their families find compassionate care at the forefront of scientific discovery, with more than 150 experts in 50 medical specialties serving patients throughout Northern California and beyond. The hospital admits about 5,000 children each year, including 2,000 babies born in the hospital. For more information, visit www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

 

In health,

________________________________

Kari J. Kindem, CFHom, CEASE Practitioner, Classical Homeopath....Let Miracles Find You!

www.HomeopathyForWomen.org

www.HomeopathySNC.org
www.NaturalFertiltyHomeopath.com

Follow me in Twitter: www.twitter.com/HomeopathyWomen and www.twitter.com/FertilityFix

 

 

How Vulnerable Are You To Stress?

How Vulnerable Are You To Stress?

Posted December 4, 2013 by Eric Bakker, ND

 

http://blog.adrenalfatigue.org/effects-of-stress-2/how-vulnerable-are-you-to-stress/

“It is not stress that kills us; it is our reaction to it.”  That quote is credited to Hans Selye, a pioneer in researching the effect of stress on the body. Stress is not inherently bad; in fact, some stress can even be good for you. How much a stressful situation or event affects your health depends on the stressor itself and your ability to respond to it.

So, how susceptible are you to the effects of stress? Read through each category and take note of each that apply to you.

Daily and Chronic Stress

Stresses that involve your daily life, such as a troubled marriage or difficult job, are more likely to cause severe distress. These stresses could also be chronic issues, such as an autoimmune disorder or depression.

Intense Crises and Trauma

A sudden and intense traumatic event, like being involved in a car accident or the sudden loss of a loved one, can be overwhelming and highly stressful. Without immediate intervention and treatment, like counseling or rehabilitation, this type of stress can be debilitating.

Accumulating Stress

Are you a stress collector? Stress is a problem that compounds. The more daily stresses and life changes you’re dealing with, the more intense the symptoms of stress can become. An accumulation of stressful events/habits with no resolution can lead to a weakened stress response, and even adrenal fatigue.

Your Stress Perception

How do you react to unavoidable daily stresses? Do you blow a little steam, take deep breaths and deal with it, or does it set you back for the whole day or even week? One of the most effective ways to lessen the stressful effects of an unavoidable, difficult situation is to reframe or refocus your perception of the situation. Do you get easily overwhelmed by unavoidable stress? Work on some daily stress management techniques, like making problem-solution lists and taking mental relaxation breaks.

Your Preparation and Knowledge

Heavy stress can make it difficult to concentrate, but the more you know about a stressful situation, the better prepared you’ll be to face it. Say you or a loved one has an upcoming medical procedure. Knowing the risks, what to expect afterward, and making preparations beforehand can go a long way in minimizing the effects of stress once it actually happens.

Your Tolerance for Stress

Do little stresses seem like big ones? Has it become easier to get frazzled from stress and bumps in the road, big or small? With stress, you have to be the duck; you’ve got to let it roll off your back. The more confidence you have in yourself and your ability to stand up to and overcome stress, the better. (Even if you have to ‘fake it until you make it.’)

Your Support Network

Communication allows a person to see their worries and concerns in a different light. You may notice that by talking about your worries and problems with somebody you trust you will often begin to see a clear path. When you’re under a lot of stress you may feel like withdrawing and isolating yourself from others, which actually makes things worse. You may be surprised by how quickly a big scary stress can deflate and become not so scary once it’s put into perspective by a friend or loved one.

CDC Releases New Report on Autism Prevalence of 1 in 68 as autism awareness month begins in April

CDC Releases New Report on Autism Prevalence of 1 in 68 as autism awareness month begins in April
http://www.tacanow.org/news/cdc-releases-autism-prevalence/

 
Irvine, Calif. (March 27, 2014) -– Autism spectrum disorder is now diagnosed in 1 in every 68 children, making it the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.  “The newest survey reports on autism prevalence are staggering. In the 1970’s autism affected 1 in every 10,000.” said Lisa Ackerman, TACA Executive Director. “We can no longer assume we are more aware or better at diagnosing. There is just more autism. It is time we offer families help not excuses.”

The new autism prevalence of 1 in 68 translates to 1 in every 42 boys and 1 in every 189 girls.

In support of April being Autism Awareness Month, TACA has created an autism action month campaign: #AutismActionApril to provide practical tools for companies and individuals who want to help. The campaign aims to educate, empower and inspire by helping with simple solutions to support families living with this disorder.  Help is needed now more than ever before.

TACA provides a toll free support hotline, access to a parent mentor program, education and support groups, webinars and scholarship programs among other services to families affected by autism.

To get involved in the #AutismActionApril campaign, please visit: http://www.tacanow.org/ways-to-help/autism-awareness/.  For more information on our services, go to www.tacanow.org.

What is Autism

Autism is a devastating neurological and biological disorder that typically begins to affect children between the ages of 18 months to five years of age. It is estimated there are over 1.5 million people in the United States alone with autism. Autism affects each individual differently and at different levels of severity. Some people with autism are severely affected, cannot speak, require constant one-on-one care, and are never able to live independently. While others who have less severe symptoms, can communicate, and eventually acquire the necessary skills to live on their own.

About Talk About Curing Autism

Talk About Curing Autism is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism. TACA’s aim is to shorten the cycle from the suspicion of autism, to diagnosis, to effective treatments thereby creating the best future possible for individuals living with autism. The organization currently serves almost 40,000 with an average of 600 new families connecting with them each month looking for support and best practices in autism.

 

 

 

Baby Monkeys Develop Autism Symptoms After Getting Popular Childhood Vaccines

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Family Health Freedom Network

 

http://www.fhfn.org/baby-monkeys-develop-autism-symptoms-after-getting-popular-childhood-vaccines/

 

Following a recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which revealed that many infant monkeys given standard doses of childhood vaccines as part of the new research, developed autism symptoms, question marks over the ultimate safety of vaccines have come to the fore.

The groundbreaking research findings presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in London, England, have revealed that young macaque monkeys given the typical CDC-recommended vaccination schedule from the 1990s, and in appropriate doses for the monkeys’ sizes and ages, tended to develop autism symptoms. Their unvaccinated counterparts, on the other hand, developed no such symptoms, which points to a strong connection between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders.

This development which deconstructs mainstream myth that vaccines are safe and pose no risk of autism, was brought on by after studies on the type of proper safety research on typical childhood vaccination schedules that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should have conducted — but never has — for such regimens.

Included in the mix were vaccines containing Thimerosal, a toxic, mercury-based compound that has been phased out of some vaccines, but is still present in batch-size influenza vaccines and a few others.

Also administered was the controversial measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which has been linked time and time again to causing autism and various other serious, and often irreversible, health problems in children.

“This research underscores the critical need for more investigation into immunizations, mercury, and the alterations seen in autistic children,” said Lyn Redwood, Director of SafeMinds, a public safety group working to expose the truth about vaccines and autism.

“SafeMinds calls for large scale, unbiased studies that look at autism medical conditions and the effects of vaccines given as a regimen.”

Adding to the sentiment, Theresa Wrangham, president of SafeMinds called out the CDC for failing to require proper safety studies of its recommended vaccination schedules. Unlike all other drugs, which must at least undergo a basic round of safety testing prior to approval and recommendation, vaccinations and vaccine schedules in particular do not have to be proven safe or effective before hitting the market.

“The full implications of this primate study await publication of the research in a scientific journal,” said Wrangham. “But we can say that it demonstrates how the CDC evaded their responsibility to investigate vaccine safety questions. Vaccine safety oversight should be removed from the CDC and given to an independent agency.”

 

 

Statins Increase Breast Cancer Risk by over 200%

Statins Increase Breast Cancer Risk by over 200% by David Brownstein, MD
http://blog.drbrownstein.com/statins-increase-breast-cancer-by-over-200/

Why do one in seven women in the U.S. have breast cancer?  Unfortunately, the Powers-That-Be are too busy prescribing chemotherapy, surgery and radiation instead of searching for the underlying reasons why so many U.S. women are suffering and dying with breast cancer.  Unless we stop the flow of money to the Powers-That-Be, which includes the American Cancer Society and the Koman Foundation, there will never be progress made in this terrible illness.

Why do one in seven women have breast cancer?  One reason is the use of synthetic hormones fed to animals and other synthetic hormones prescribed to women such as medroxyprogesterone including Provera.  Another reason is statin medications.

A recent study found that current users of statins for ten years or longer had  an 83% increased risk of invasive ductal carcinoma and a 97% increased risk of invasive lobular carcinoma, when compared to never-users of statins.  Among women diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia, current users of statins for ten years or longer had a 204% increased risk of invasive ductal carcinoma and a 243% increased risk of invasive lobular carcinoma.(1)

In fact, the increased risk of cancer with statin use has been reported in other studies.  All the cholesterol medications, older and newer ones, have been associated with an increased rate of cancer.(2)   In rodents, statins have been shown to cause cancer in multiple studies. (2)  Multiple studies have shown a link between low cholesterol levels and the development of cancer. (3)  

Some of you may be shocked by the above numbers.  I am not.  The connection between statins and cancer is hard to pin down since most studies do not last for long periods of time and, to be properly diagnosed, cancer takes a long time to grow.  When you look at the mechanism of action of statins, and the resultant depletion of cholesterol and CoQ10, I believe long-term statin use will inevitably lead to increased risk of cancer.

Why do one in seven women have breast cancer?  Breast cancer is affecting so many women, in large part, due to conventional medicine’s rabid promotion of synthetic hormone replacement therapy (29% increased risk of invasive breast cancer) and statin medications. The American public has been terribly deceived and harmed by these toxic therapies.  Studying the biochemical action of statins would lead one to conclude that an increased risk of cancer (as well as diabetes, infection, memory loss, muscle deterioration and other adverse effects) is likely.  Even more appalling is the fact that statins have never been shown, in women and most men, to prevent heart attacks and strokes.  Nor have statins been shown to significantly prolong a woman or a man’s life.  Perhaps women just need to say “No” to a statin prescription.

What can you do?  Educate yourself about the mechanism of action of a drug.  Search for ways to support the body’s biochemistry instead of poisoning enzymes (this is how statins work) and blocking receptors.  Most drugs–over 98%– work by poisoning enzymes or blocking receptors. We were not designed to have our enzymes poisoned or our receptors blocked.  More information about the problems with statins and other drugs can be found in my book, Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do, 2^nd Edition.

(1) Cancer Epidem. Biomarkers Prev.  22(9): 1529-37.  2013

 (2)  JAMA.  1.3.1996. VOl. 275, N1.

(3)  QJM.  Doi:  10.1093/qjmed/hcr243.  December 8, 2011

 

Pineal Gland and Fluoride Toxicity

Pineal Gland and Fluoride Toxicity
http://fluoridealert.org/issues/health/pineal-gland/

In the 1990s, a British scientist, Jennifer Luke, discovered that fluoride accumulates to strikingly high levels in the pineal gland. (Luke 2001). The pineal gland is located between the two hemispheres of the brain and is responsible for the synthesis and secretion of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin maintains the body’s circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle), regulates the onset of puberty in females, and helps protect the body from cell damage caused by free radicals.

While it is not yet known if fluoride accumulation affects pineal gland function, preliminary animal experiments found that fluoride reduced melatonin levels and shortened the time to puberty. (Luke, 1997). Based on this and other evidence, the National Research Council has stated that “fluoride is likely to cause decreased melatonin production and to have other effects on normal pineal function, which in turn could contribute to a variety of effects in humans” (NRC, 2006, p. 256).

The Pineal Gland Has Highest Levels of Fluoride in Body

As a calcifying tissue that is exposed to a high volume of blood flow, the pineal gland is a major target for fluoride accumulation in humans. In fact, the calcified parts of the pineal gland (hydroxyapatite crystals) contain the highest fluoride concentrations in the human body (up to 21,000 ppm F), higher than either bone or teeth.  (Luke 1997; 2001). Although the soft tissue of the pineal does not accumulate fluoride to the same extent as the calcified part, it does contain higher levels of fluoride than found than in other types of soft tissue in the body — with concentrations (~300 ppm F) that are known in other contexts to inhibit enzymes.  While the impacts of these fluoride concentrations in the pineal are not yet fully understood, studies have found that calcified deposits in the pineal are associated with decreased numbers of functioning pinealocytes and reduced melatonin production (Kunz et al., 1999) as well as impairments in the sleep-wake cycle. (Mahlberg 2009).

Fluoride and Earlier Puberty in Girls

In the United States, children are reaching the age of puberty at earlier ages than in the past — a trend that carries health consequences, including a heightened risk for breast cancer. Some evidence indicates that fluoride, via its effect on the pineal, could be a contributing cause to this trend. In animal studies, for example, fluoride exposure has been found to cause a decrease in the amount of circulating melatonin and lead to an accelerated sexual maturation in females. (Luke 1997). Similar findings have been reported in two epidemiological studies of human populations drinking fluoridated water. In the first published fluoridation safety experiment in Newburgh, New York, the authors found that girls living in a fluoridated community reached puberty five months earlier than girls living in a non-fluoridated community. (Schlesinger 1956)  Later, in 1983, Farkas reported that postmenarcheal girls were “present at younger ages in the higher fluoride town than in the low-fluoride town, although the reported median ages were the same.”

References:

• Farkas G, et al. (1983). The fluoride content of drinking water and menarcheal age. Acta Univ Szeged Acta Biol. 29(1-4):159-168.
• Kunz D, et al. (1999). A new concept for melatonin deficit: on pineal calcification and melatonin excretion. Neuropsychopharmacology 21(6):765-72.
• Luke J. (2001). Fluoride deposition in the aged human pineal gland. Caries Res. 35(2):125-128.
• Luke J. (1997). The Effect of Fluoride on the Physiology of the Pineal Gland. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Surrey, Guildford.
• Mahlberg R, et al. (2009). Degree of pineal calcification (DOC) is associated with polysomnographic sleep measures in primary insomnia patients. Sleep Med. 10(4):439-45.
• National Research Council. (2006). Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards. National Academies Press, Washington D.C.
• Schlesinger ER, et al. (1956). Newburgh-Kingston caries  fluorine study. XIII. Pediatric findings after ten years. J Am Dent Assoc. 52(3):296-306.

 

 =

The Psychosoma - the idea that all disease is pyscho-somatic in nature

The Psychosoma

By Amy Lansky, PHD

In Chapter 5 of my book Impossible Cure, I emphasize the fact that all disease is psycho-somatic in nature -- that is, is reflected in our entire state being, which includes both our "soma" (our physical body), as well as our "psyche" -- our emotions and mental state. In my second book, Active Consciousness, I suggest that there are even more components of our being, at even higher levels of the complete energy body.

Homeopathic medicine is one of several holistic medicines that understands this fact deeply; indeed, I believe that the psychosomatic nature of disease is more fundamental to homeopathy than it is to any other modality. Every true homeopath knows that the core vibratory state of our vital force -- the state they are trying to match to that of a curative homeopathic remedy -- can be detected in any one of many unlikely places: in quirks of behavior, food cravings, idiosyncratic physical aches and pains, and especially the patient's unique emotional state. Almost all disease arises out of some kind of disturbance to the vital force, and more often than not, that disturbance is emotional, whether the patient consciously knows it or not.

The late Edward "Chris" Whitmont, a psychiatrist and student of Jung as well as an esteemed homeopathic thinker and author of Psyche and Substance, understood and wrote about the psychosomatic nature of all disease. As he pointed out, the homeopathic materia medica is a veritable encyclopedia of possible human psychosomatic states, whose emotional/mental/physical symptom patterns were elicited through remedy provings and through clinical experiences over the past 200 years.

Whitmont also related the curative action of the truly homeopathic remedy to Jung's concept of synchronicity, a subject that I also discuss at length in my book Active Consciousness and in my articles about consciousness. As Jung and Whitmont point out, is no accident that a watch may stop at the instant its owner dies, or that a person's disease pattern reflects the symbolism of the substance that can cure them. That's the synchronistic nature of our universe.

I recently had an experience that drove the importance of the psychosoma home to me. Starting with an emotional upset in January, I gradually developed issues with my lower back. By early February, they had intensified to become sciatica in my right leg. Eventually I even began to use a cane to walk. It was time for intervention! Luckily, I had several trusty tools available to me. One of them, of course, was homeopathy. I made an appointment with my homeopath and got some immediate relief from the prescribed remedy. After a relapse a few days later, however, I took another dose -- causing a big enough aggravation that it forced me, finally, to penetrate the emotional origins of my pain more deeply.

I knew all along that the root of my pain was likely emotional, but I had also convinced myself that there were also physical co-factors at play. Nevertheless, I finally turned inward and faced what was going on. My second helpful tool was a book that had cured me of all back pain over twenty years ago -- John Sarno's Mind Over Back Pain.

Armed with the updated version of Sarno's book -- now called Healing Back Pain -- I sat down, read it over the course of a few days, writing down every single thing that was bugging me, and acknowledging that my back pain was really psychologically and not physically-based. I had some emotional conversations with family members too. Et voila! -- my pain was diminished by at least 90% over the course of just a 3-4 days. I'm working on the rest now, taking Sarno's advice that every ache or pain I experience is really a signal for me to "think psychological not physical."

Sarno is a medical doctor who has worked in rehabilitative medicine for over sixty years. His experience has shown that at least 80% -- and probably more -- of back pain in the USA is due to psychological factors, not physical, even when X-rays and MRIs and other doctors say otherwise. His method of treatment -- based on simply providing the patient with knowledge and awareness -- has cured thousands of people with much more longstanding, severe, and supposedly "physically-based" back pain than mine.

His ideas have also cured many other problems rooted in the emotions, including eczema, asthma, heart palpitation and arrhythmia, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn and irritable bowel, fibromyalgia, and more. All of these people's problems weren't "in their heads" --- they were physically and even lab-tested as real. But their root was in psychological factors, not physical. As a result, taking meds or having surgery was ultimately just palliative or suppressive and did not address the root. The tendency of allopathy to treat disease using suppression or palliation is something that homeopaths and experienced homeopathic patients know all about!

I have no doubt that Sarno, who at base is an allopath and believes most alternative health modalities are placebo, would say the same of homeopathy. Yet even Sarno says that the hallmark of a placebo cure is that it doesn't last -- something that is not true of a good homeopathic cure. We who really know homeopathy know that it truly cures because it too gets at the root, which includes the psychological. Indeed, remedies are very often chosen based primarily on the emotional and mental symptoms, even for physical diseases. I tell the story of one such case -- my own! -- in Impossible Cure. In that case, I suffered from an intransigent month-long bronchitis that did not yield to any remedy until it was finally cured when I realized that the bronchitis was triggered by a fright and then took Aconite.

Luckily for me and my back, a homeopathic aggravation finally led me to do the emotional work needed to heal. That is one way in which homeopathy can heal us, and it underscores a key point. We must participate in our healing. It is often not enough to take a pill or a remedy and sit back and wait. If we are to truly heal we must address all aspects of our being -- our diets, our environment, our relationships, our behaviors, and our various habitual patterns, be they physical, mental, or emotional. An inspirational article that touches on this subject, was written by my own homeopath, Deborah Olenev.

It is true, an excellent homeopathic remedy can sometimes do the entire job, and what a miraculous blessing it is when that happens! In other cases, however, a good remedy provides a key that unlocks the door to a process that we must then actively pursue. In such cases, the remedy guides and nudges us along, but we must participate in our own cures. Healing, and indeed, the unfolding of our lives in general, is ultimately a cooperative ballet of energy, inspiration, and action.

 

 

 

University sports jerseys and key chains contaminated with toxic heavy metals that promote neurological damage

University sports jerseys and key chains contaminated with toxic heavy metals that promote neurological damage
http://www.naturalnews.com/044400_march_madness_sports_jerseys_toxic_heavy_metals.html#ixzz2wcaWRUf0

Friday, March 21, 2014
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) College sports jerseys, key chains, seat cushions and other memorabilia have been found to contain shockingly high levels of toxic heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

The toxic products were sold by stores like Target, Walgreens and Wal-Mart, and they represent the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University and many other universities.

• Shockingly, a University of Michigan Deluxe Key Ring was found to contain over 1,200 ppm of mercury, a potent neurotoxin.

• A Michigan State University Seat Cushion was found to contain over 200 ppm cadmium and 170 ppm lead. Cadmium causes kidney damage and lead damages cognitive function.

• A University of Michigan jersey contained over 130 ppm lead in its ink print!

Laboratory tests conducted by...

Reading this, you may think these tests were conducted by myself at the Natural News Forensic Food Lab, because this is exactly the kind of thing we do.

But guess what? These tests were actually organized by the non-profit Ecology Center which published its findings on HealthyStuff.org.

I genuinely applaud the Ecology Center for achieving this stunning research. As a food science researcher, I know how incredibly expensive, time consuming and complex it is to conduct this sort of research. This project no doubt cost over $100,000 to carry out, and they are releasing the results for free in the public interest (just like we do).

This is commendable work, and I'm ecstatic to see that I'm not alone in running laboratory tests on everyday products and sharing the results with the world. (The Environmental Working Group also does fantastic work in this arena, by the way.) I strongly encourage Natural News readers to plug in to the Ecology Center and watch their work. In fact, if they are reading this, we'd like to do a feature story on your group and help bring more awareness to your amazing work. Great job!

Toxic college sports memorabilia

What these results reveal is that prominent universities are openly selling toxic products to the public. Apparently, these universities either are failing to test their own products before selling them, or they are testing the products and don't seem to care what they contain.

As a result, in my opinion these university sports products are contributing to chronic, degenerative disease in the American people and increasing their own customers' risks of cancer, neurological disorders, liver damage and kidney failure, among other serious health conditions. Even worse, some of these metals found in university products actually lower cognitive function and damage IQs, utterly contradicting the whole point of "higher education." Literally, these universities are releasing products that contribute to brain damage.

None of this surprises me, as I'm the scientist-activist who exposed Michigan State University selling highly toxic surplus laboratory equipment to the public, loaded with deadly mercury poison. In fact, Michigan State University sold me -- and readily shipped me -- enough mercury to poison the entire Los Angeles water supply. The boxes arrived via UPS, no questions asked!

So I know firsthand that universities routinely sell and deliver extremely toxic -- even deadly -- products directly to the public.

This is unacceptable!

I can't wait for these universities to roll out the same lame excuse being peddled by some vegan protein manufacturers in the aftermath of my own research exposing high levels of tungsten, lead and cadmium in rice protein products. Some companies claimed all those metals were "naturally occurring" and therefore not harmful.

All the scientists, biochemists and nutritionists laughed their heads off, of course, but that didn't stop these companies from continuing to sell their contaminated products to an unsuspecting public.

Click here to watch my highly informative videos on mercury toxicity, why heavy metals are not "naturally occurring" in foods, interviews with top metals poisoning experts and more.

Demand safe consumer products from universities

Just as Natural News readers demand safe foods, dietary supplements and superfoods, it's equally important that you demand safe consumer products which are substantially free from heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and even tungsten.

The truth is finally beginning to emerge on all these heavy metals in your foods, superfoods and consumer products. With ICP-MS laboratories being set up by private entities like Natural News, more and more testing in the public interest is being routinely conducted. All companies selling toxic products will sooner or later be exposed.

So any manufacturer that wants to protect its reputation and operate with high integrity and high product safety needs to get with the program and start testing their products for heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.

See more heavy metals lab results at:
http://labs.naturalnews.com

Much more to come!

Clearing Fear, Conflict and Trauma from Your Past, Present and Future by Andreas Moritz

Clearing Fear, Conflict and Trauma from Your Past, Present and Future
by Andreas Moritz
(Reprint: initially released January 2012)

For any type of real physical, mental or spiritual healing to take place, you must make an important decision, perhaps one of the most important you will ever make. Depending on which way you look at it, it could also be one of the easiest or one of the most difficult decisions you will ever make. It is a decision to become emotionally whole, or simply, a decision to heal yourself.

It is a demonstrated fact that techniques of physical, mental, and spiritual healing cause physiological changes in the brain and other organs. That is because our thoughts, beliefs and emotions are stored not only in our cerebral cortex but also in our cells and tissues via complex neural pathways powered by chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.

Though natural healing techniques impact on this cellular memory, remember that this journey starts in mind - with a decision you have made to heal yourself, to clearly see the mind-body connection at work and to rely on your innate wisdom to cure yourself.

If you would prefer to start with baby steps, begin by creating the time and space to access your healing force. Simply spend some quiet time by yourself every day, perhaps in the park or even sit up in bed when you wake up every morning and before you sleep every night and 'empty' your mind.

Repeat this for a few days and you will already begin to feel the difference! Detoxifying your mind in this way will instantly relieve stress. This will, in turn, start the positive loop you need to take the power of internal healing even further.

Different things work for different people. So find your own stress-busters, such as a walk around the block after your evening meal, playing with your pet, watching the sunset or even sitting with your feet up and doing absolutely nothing.

Once you begin to experience the benefits of these simple practices, you will embrace an attitude of relaxation rather than the stress-filled life so many people are almost addicted to. You might then want to explore other systems that re-balance and unite the mind and body such as progressive relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, and yoga.

** Special Promotion ** March 15th to 25th
This month's Special Promotion offers a 25% discount on the retail price of all of Andreas’ e-Books here http://ener-chi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3d5c672f13b8c853b9881fe91&id=a8c9f618ba&e=fcc2f102e9

The Link Between Stress and Autoimmune Disorders

http://blog.adrenalfatigue.org/stress-and-immunity/the-link-between-stress-and-autoimmune-disorders/

November 7, 2013 by Eric Bakker, ND

To understand the connection between stress and autoimmune disorders, we’ll need to start with the adrenal glands–those two tiny, triangular glands atop your kidneys that defend your body from stress using the hormone cortisol. Cortisol performs many vital functions in the body, from responding to small cuts to helping the body rebound from a stressful event. Cortisol also helps your liver to release stored glucose (stored energy) which helps you to maintain a smooth even flow of energy throughout the day. That is why many people with auto-immune problems are so tired.

High or chronic stress can lead to eventual depletion of adrenal function, which results in the body’s inability to counter inflammation. In an auto-immune reaction, white blood cells attack parts of your body as if they were the enemy. In most auto-immune reactions, the amount of cortisol your body produces isn’t enough for the degree of reaction taking place. In fact, most people who suffer from autoimmune disorders have multiple hormone imbalances, including adrenal and thyroid hormones.

In most cases, the adrenal glands need to be optimized first, leading to repletion, steady energy and eventual recovery. Adrenal recovery is a process akin to running a marathon. The process will take time, more for some, so patience is required by all. With correct treatment, many patients will find some improvement in their adrenal health a matter of weeks, some in months, depending on their motivation to improve their health, the degree of pre-existing damage as well as the clinical skills of their health professional. The process can take anywhere from 2 months to 3 years even in the best of hands. My guide to improve adrenal function and reduce inflammation

Dealing with autoimmune disorders is much like running a marathon.

I’d like you to bear in mind that auto-immunity is a long marathon, and your recovery should not be expected to be “a walk in the park.” You will not wake up in a week and be 100%. Remember this: it probably took a few years of slowly declining health to get here in the first place. Pace yourself and work on your overall health in small steps, gaining new ground gradually over time. Frustration and disappointments are very common and normal in clinical practice, so don’t beat yourself up! Patience is the key, and during the recovery process, most, if not all, will go through a roller coaster type ride with advances and setbacks.