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Forget about breath mints. You can never take enough to cover halitosis if your breath really smells bad. The only real way to get rid of bad breath is to solve the problem internally.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to do that: Chlorophyll. It’s Mother Nature’s amazing green cleaning machine, and the more you take, the cleaner you get.

Here, we bring you a collection of supporting quotes about chlorophyll and halitosis (bad breath) from some of the best-known natural health authors in the industry. You’ll learn not only why chlorophyll works so well, but also the best sources for getting some.

Chlorophyll eliminates bad breath

Taken from the green pigment in plants, chlorophyll is very similar in chemical structure to human hemoglobin. The difference is that where hemoglobin contains iron, chlorophyll contains magnesium. One of the reasons people drink wheat grass, alfalfa, barley, or spirulina is that these plants contain very high concentrations of chlorophyll and can help to “purify” or cleanse toxins from the bloodstream. Do you remember the chlorophyll gum that was recommended to improve bad breath? Bad breath is usually a sign of a toxic colon, and chlorophyll helps to remove the toxins.
- Stop Your Cravings: A Balanced Approach to Burning Fat, Increasing Energy, and Reducing Stress by Jennifer Workman

The green pigment known as chlorophyll does more than keep our world green. When it comes to human health, chlorophyll is an antibacterial and an anti-inflammatory. Chlorophyll is used to promote wound healing, promote new tissue growth, relieve gas and bloating, and prevent gallstones. Perhaps chlorophyll is best known for its ability to eliminate bad breath. Typical dosage: 1 teaspoon powder or three 100 mg tablets after each meal.
- The Natural Pharmacy: Complete Home Reference to Natural Medicine by Schuyler W. Lininger, Jr. DC

Benjamin Gurskin, director of experimental pathology at Temple University, in the American Journal of Surgery, focused on 1,200 patients treated with chlorophyll. On the power of chlorophyll, Gurskin wrote: ‘It is interesting to note there is not a single case recorded in which improvement or cure has not taken place.’ In 1950, Dr. Howard Westcott found that just 100 milligrams of chlorophyll in the diet neutralized bad breath, body odor, menstrual odors, and foul-smelling urine and stools. Nutrient density: Greens and superfood algaes are our most nutrient-dense foods.
- There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program by Gabriel Cousens

Chlorophyll, the green pigment of leaves and plants, fights bedsores and bad breath and prevents cancer and excessive bleeding, according to the USDA phytochemical database. It is also known to work as a deodorant. Mate tea, grown in South America, is one of the richest known sources of chlorophyll.
- Foods That Fight Disease: A Simple Guide to Using and Understanding Phytonutrients to Protect and Enhance Your Health by Laurie Deutsch Mozian, M.S., R.D.

Another food supplement recommended for various conditions is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll, the green pigment found in plant tissue, is a natural deodorizer and contains many useful trace nutrients, especially magnesium. It is helpful when treating ailments as varied as bad breath, canker sores, chronic constipation, menstrual cramps, vaginitis, and mononucleosis, as well as in rebuilding blood after a major bleed or in rebuilding bone tissue after a break.
- Smart Medicine for Healthier Living : Practical A-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Adults by Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND

Chlorophyll tablets help freshen the breath because they have a cleansing effect in the intestines. Take a chlorophyll supplement, as directed on the product label, after each meal and again at bedtime. If you suspect bad breath related to poor digestion, try supplementing your diet with digestive enzymes. There are a number of over-the-counter products available that use natural enzymes - bromelain (from pineapple) or papain (from papaya) - which may be helpful. Follow the dosage directions on the product label.
- Smart Medicine for Healthier Living : Practical A-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Adults by Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND

We now know that chlorophyll contains several important nutrients for health, including vitamin K (for clotting and bleeding problems), and is rich in antioxidant carotenoids. It is reputed to have anti-inflammatory properties, is useful as a disinfectant for wounds and in gum disease, and eliminates bad breath and body odor.
- Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D.

Like parsley, dill is rich in chlorophyll. Try dill tea after meals; use one to two teaspoons of leaves or mashed seeds per cup of boiling water. Or simply chew on a few dill seeds to freshen your breath. (If you are pregnant, using dill in medicinal amounts could cause problems. You should reserve it for occasional, moderate use.)
- The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World’s Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Alfalfa supplies chlorophyll, which cleanses the bloodstream and colon, where bad breath often begins. Take 500 to 1,000 mg in tablet form or 1 tablespoon of liquid in juice or water three times daily. Gum disease is a major factor in bad breath. If infection is present, place alcohol-free goldenseal extract on a small piece of cotton and place the cotton over infected gums or mouth sores. Do this for two hours per day for three days. It should quickly heal the infected parts. Use myrrh (to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth), peppermint, rosemary, and sage.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Parsley is rich in the natural deodorizer chlorophyll, and also sweetens the digestive tract. If bad breath is an occasional problem related to poor digestion, typically accompanied by upset stomach, diarrhea, constipation, or a lot of burping, sipping a cup of peppermint tea after meals should help to ease digestion. Or try taking a cup of ginger tea twice a day, with meals, to enhance digestion.
- Smart Medicine for Healthier Living : Practical A-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Adults by Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND

In fact, it’s a good idea to refrigerate fresh sprigs of parsley and other plants rich in chlorophyll, notably basil and cilantro, and nibble as needed. Anise (Pimpinella anisum) - the seeds of this licorice-flavored herb have been used for thousands of years to freshen the breath. I’m not surprised, because it works. Boil a few teaspoons of seeds in a cup of water for a few minutes. Strain, then drink or use as a mouthwash. Coriander is a Cantonese folk remedy for bad breath.
- The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World’s Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Best known as a great source of chlorophyll for combating bad breath, parsley is rich in zinc, which is good for men’s reproductive health. (Yet more than 90 percent of parsley served in restaurants is thrown away.) Peppermint - this is a major source of cooling, soothing, stomach-settling menthol. Rosemary - rich in antioxidants, this tasty culinary spice may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Sage - sage shares much of the medicinal potential of rosemary. Savory - Europeans add this herb to bean dishes to reduce flatulence.
- The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World’s Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Parsley is especially good when garlic or onions are the source of the bad breath, as it is high in chlorophyll. Chewing a few parsley sprigs dipped in vinegar offers immediate, if only temporary, fresh mouth for adolescents who’ve just eaten a meal seasoned with garlic and onions. If the leaves are swallowed, they will be digested and continue to provide breath freshness. These plants also seem to reduce the production of intestinal gas by promoting better digestion. Tea tree oil contains antiseptic compounds that make it a powerful disinfectant.
- Salt in Your Sock: and Other Tried-and-True Home Remedies by Lillian Beard M.D., Linda Lee Small

Parsley is rich in chlorophyll, the active ingredient in many popular breath mints. Other herbs that may be helpful for bad breath include anise, cloves, fennel, and parsley. Go on a five-day raw foods diet. After the fast, eat at least 50 percent of your food raw every day. This is a good routine diet to adhere to on an ongoing basis. Drink generous amounts of quality water. Avoid spicy foods, whose odors can linger for hours.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/027256_chlorophyll_bad_breath.html

Health and medical journalists are not presently providing the public with what might be the most important health advice that they should be given during the flu season: people with the flu should avoid taking fever-reducing drugs, such as aspirin or acetaminophen (aka Tylenol), except in rare situations.

It is widely recognized that fever is a vital defense of the body in its efforts to fight infection. A fever enables the body to increase its production of interferon, an important antiviral substance that is critical for fighting infection. Fever also increases white blood cell mobility and activity, which are instrumental factors in fighting infection. Jane Brody, a long-time respected health columnist for the New York Times, reported back in 1982 on the healing benefits of fever. She noted, “A number of physicians, including pediatricians, are now suggesting that moderate fevers be allowed to run their course, for they may shorten the illness, potentiate the action of antibiotics and reduce the chances of spreading the infection to others.”(1)

Recognition that fever is beneficial has been known for more than 2,000 years, and historically, the healing benefits of fever are so substantial that many patients have actually been treated with ”fever therapy” to aid their recovery from such ailments as cancer, syphilis, tuberculosis and even mania.(2)(3) However, in the 1800’s, aspirin compounds that rapidly reduced fevers became commercially available, and the medical view of fever changed dramatically. Since the mid-1800s, drug companies have successfully convinced conventional physicians and the general public to become vigilant in bringing down fevers, even sometimes using such drastic measures as cold baths and alcohol rubs along with aspirin.

In reference to the flu and fever, the bottom line is that it makes little sense to aggressively suppress the body’s natural defenses against viral infection. There are, of course, some exceptions here. For instance, it may make sense to seek medical care if one’s fever is above 104 degrees for over six hours or in any fever in an infant under four months of age.

Calling Dr. Gupta: CNN’s Correspondent Gives Himself Questionable Medical Advice

“Fever phobia” is so rampant that many usually intelligent people, including physicians and medical reporters, forget what they know about the inherent defenses of the body when they become sick.

On September 23, Sanjay Gupta, MD, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, described his own experience in getting the H1NI flu while reporting from Afghanistan.(4) Although Dr. Gupta reported that he experienced a “high fever,” he never gave specifics, but it is unlikely that over 104 degrees. The fact that Dr. Gupta was away from home and in war zone probably led him to want some relief of his fever, and because of this, he chose to take Tylenol. However, he certainly didn’t help himself by taking this drug to suppress his fever.

It is therefore no wonder that he became the sickest he has ever become. Taking drugs that suppress fever disables the body’s own defenses in fighting infection. It is akin to unscrewing the warning oil pressure light in your car as a way to get rid of that irritating red signal. Such “treatment” is not curative, and in fact, it can lead to much more serious problems.

Ironically, the word “symptom” derives from the words “sign” or “signal”…and just turning “off” a sign or signal is simply not smart, even if double-blind studies show that unscrewing the warning bulb is “effective” in turning the light off.

Ultimately, Dr. Gupta missed a great opportunity to educate the public about not taking fever-reducing drugs, except in certain extreme fevers. Perhaps this article will “light a fire” underneath him to do so.

The New Drug Pushers: Parents

In a 2007 survey of Australian parents published in a pediatrics journal, a shocking 91% of parents used fever-suppressing drugs in the treatment of their children’s fever.(5) Even more startling is the fact that this survey found that the medications were refused or spat out by the child in 44% of the cases, and yet, 62.4 of the parents actually used force to get their child to take these drugs, using different methods of ingestion (29.5%) or by using a suppository (20.8%).

It is interesting to note that children tend to have an inherent fear of doctors, and this fear may not simply be the result of getting injections from them. This fear may be an instinctual fear that what doctors offer them may not really be good for them, despite the seemingly short-term benefits of many drugs. It may be time for us to listen to our children.

Serious Problems from Aspirin and Acetaminophen

Many people minimize the problems from these common drugs, but do so at their own and their family’s peril.

Children who get a viral infection and are given aspirin can lead to Reye’s syndrome, a serious neurological condition that can cause death. Aspirin is also known to thin the blood and increase the chances of various bleeding disorders. Its use more or less doubles the risk of a severe gastrointestinal event, which in most cases can lead to hospitalization. Lower doses that people take to reduce heart problems only seem to decrease these risks by a small amount.

Many people take acetaminophen because it is not associated with increased bleeding. However, the general public is usually not aware of the fact that poison control centers in the US receive more calls as a result of an overdose of this drug than any other drug.(6) This same problem exists in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Most commonly, overdoses of acetaminophen can lead to acute liver failure. In children, it has been associated with increased asthma and eczema symptoms.

Safer Solutions for the Flu…

Instead of using conventional drugs that suppress fevers or that inhibit other important defenses of the body, it makes more sense to use some type of natural medicines that mimic and augment the wisdom of the body.

Homeopathic medicines are a wonderful method to augment the body’s own defenses so that they can more effectively heal themselves from various ailments, including the flu. Because of the similarity between the 1918 flu and the H1N1 flu, it may be helpful to reference homeopathy’s impressive successes in treating people during the 1918 flu.(7) The death rates in the homeopathic hospitals in the US were only around 1%, while the death rates in conventional hospitals were closer to 30%. Another important fact from that era is that New York City had the lowest mortality rate during the 1918 flu than any city in the U.S., and this impressive statistic is primarily due to the fact that this city’s health commissioner at that time was Royal Copeland, MD, a renowned homeopathic physician, who later became a thrice-elected U.S. Senator. (Franklin D. Roosevelt was even his campaign manager during his first election as senator.) (8) Copeland asserted, “There can be no doubt that the superiority of homeopathy in a purely medical condition is just as great as it was fifty years ago.”

One of today’s most popular homeopathic medicines for the flu is the popular Oscillococcinum, a medicine that has been used by homeopaths since the 1920s. There have been four controlled studies that have shown that this medicine is effective in reducing the symptoms of influenza as compared with those people given a placebo.(9)

The effectiveness of another homeopathic remedy, called Gripp-Heel, was compared with that of conventional treatments in a prospective, observational cohort study in 485 patients with mild viral infections and symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, cough or sore throat.(10) As evaluated by the practitioners, 67.9% of patients were considered asymptomatic at the end of Gripp-Heel therapy vs. 47.9% of patients in the control group. Practitioners judged homeopathic treatments as ‘successful’ in 78.1% of cases vs. 52.2% for conventional therapies. Tolerability and compliance were ‘very good’ given for 88.9% of patients in the homoeopathic group vs. 38.8% in the conventional treatment group.

The above homeopathic medicines are primarily helpful during the first 48 hours of onset of the flu. Other homeopathic medicines to consider during this time and afterwards include: Gelsemium, Bryonia, Ipecacuanha, Arsenicum album, Eupatorium perf., Rhus toxicodendron, and Baptisia (homeopathic medicines are traditionally listed by their Latin names so that consumers and doctors will know the precise plant, mineral, or animal species of every medicine). Each of these medicines has a history of efficacy in homeopathic doses for treating the specific syndrome of symptoms that each has been found to cause when given experimentally in overdose to healthy people. To determine the details of each of these medicines, please consult a homeopathic guidebook.
Source and References: http://www.naturalnews.com/027207_fever_homeopathic_medicine.html

Garlic is one of the most amazing medicinal herbs on the planet. It has been among my top-recommended healing foods and medicines for years. Most people know garlic as being anti-cancer. Others recognize its ability to naturally lower high cholesterol. But did you know that garlic also helps normalize high blood pressure?

Here, we present a collection of powerful quotes about garlic and high blood pressure, documented in some of the best health books ever written. Enjoy this collection of knowledge!

Garlic vs. high blood pressure

Onions have similar characteristics and are often used in combination with garlic. To preserve the beneficial effects of garlic it should not be boiled. The fresh juice is the most effective preparation. For nervous spasms, cramps and seizures, crush one clove of garlic in a glass of hot milk. For high blood pressure, take one clove of garlic each morning. Prepare oil of garlic by placing eight ounces of peeled minced garlic in a wide-mouthed jar with enough olive oil to cover. Close tightly and shake a few times each day; allow to stand in a warm place for three days.
- The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra

Garlic has achieved a legendary reputation as an antihypertensive medication. It’s been used in China for centuries for that purpose, and the Japanese government officially recognizes garlic as a blood-pressure depressor. American scientists first tried garlic against high blood pressure in 1921. Garlic consistently lowers blood pressure in laboratory animals.
- The Food Pharmacy: Dramatic New Evidence That Food Is Your Best Medicine by Jean Carper

Eat more garlic. It is another legendary folk remedy for high blood pressure, and it is effective, according to recent studies. Long used in China and widely used today in Germany as a blood pressure medication, garlic can have a striking impact. In a recent double blind German test of Kwai, an over-the-counter garlic preparation, doses comparable to a couple of daily garlic cloves pushed diastolic blood pressure down in patients with mild high blood pressure.
- Food Your Miracle Medicine by Jean Carper

I heard a lot about garlic being a good remedy for colds, but I was hesitant to try it because I also heard it lowers high blood pressure. Since my blood pressure is normal, I thought the garlic might cause it to drop. Fortunately, I read where a medical doctor said that garlic normalizes high or low blood pressure, but does not disturb normal blood pressure. With this assurance, I tried Kyolic garlic tablets the next time I felt I was starting to come down with a cold. Within a few days, I felt fine.
- Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists by Richard Lucas

The confidence the Egyptians had in garlic is demonstrated by the fact that they reportedly used it to strengthen the workers who built the pyramids. Pliny recommended garlic for 61 maladies in his Historia Naturalis; Hippocrates recommended it as a laxative, diuretic, and cure for tumors of the uterus. Garlic has been used to treat high blood pressure for centuries in China and Japan. In first-century India, garlic and onion were thought to prevent heart disease and rheumatism. Garlic even had a reputation as an aphrodisiac in Shakespearean England.
- Get Healthy Now with Gary Null: A Complete Guide to Prevention, Treatment and Healthy living by Gary Null

A number of scientific studies suggest another reason that garlic is your heart’s friend: Its ability to bring down high blood pressure. Exactly how much can garlic reduce your blood pressure? It’s not as fast-acting as high blood pressure medication, says Dr. Mowrey. But over time, he says, garlic can be almost as effective as lifestyle changes like weight loss, regular exercise and cutting back on salt intake.
- The Complete Book of Alternative Nutrition by Selene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books

According to David Hoffmann, B.Sc, M.N.I.M.H., of Sebastopol, California, eating a clove of raw garlic daily will help considerably in preventing or reversing the effects of high blood pressure. While garlic has been used for centuries in traditional cultures throughout the world as a multipurpose medicinal food, in recent decades more than 2,000 clinical studies have validated many of the folk-healing claims for “the stinking rose,” as garlic was once called.
- Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition by Larry Trivieri, Jr.

Three to ten cloves of garlic a day are needed to induce the beneficial effects for the cardiovascular system. However, the garlic cloves must be crushed, chopped, bruised, or chewed to release the full effect. You might want to try some of the popular garlic-rich Italian and Asian dishes. If you’re worried about the famous odoriferous side effect of consuming garlic, do as the Europeans do and take your garlic in concentrated odor-free capsules.
- Intelligent Medicine: A Guide to Optimizing Health and Preventing Illness for the Baby-Boomer Generation by Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.

Studies show that garlic has antibiotic properties as well as the ability to fight fungal infections, and at least twenty-eight studies have found garlic effective for lowering cholesterol levels. In one German experiment, volunteers taking an 800-mg garlic tablet saw their cholesterol levels drop an average of 12 percent over four months. Compounds in garlic dilate the blood vessels and may help high blood pressure, congenital heart disease, and lung conditions. Can garlic also prevent cancer? Some scientists are finding out.
- Medicines From Nature by Peggy Thomas

Another group of researchers proposed that garlic’s antiplatelet activity and other cardiovascular effects may be due to activation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and subsequent production of nitric oxide. The correlation between low levels of nitric oxide and high blood pressure has been known since 1991, and this research correlated the effect of garlic extract on NOS and platelet aggregation. Raw, dried, aged, and macerated garlic as well as garlic oil have all demonstrated antiplatelet effects. Ajoene may be one of the most potent antiplatelet compounds in garlic.
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

In the eighteenth century, Esteyneffer recommended both garlic and onion for a wide variety of illnesses, uses that continue today. The Mountain Pima insert a clove of garlic into the anus to treat fever. The Mayo use garlic in capsules for arthritis and cancer and to reduce fat. Mexican Americans insert the clove to treat susto, fright disease. Both respect garlic for its magical properties. Garlic is used for high blood pressure and against fright; onion has been used for fever.
- Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West by Margarita Artschwager Kay

As an antithrombotic agent, ajoene is at least as potent as aspirin and its activity is enhanced by other breakdown products of the garlic. Allicin is found to lower serum cholesterol by blocking its biosynthesis. Fresh garlic, garlic juice, aged garlic extracts or the volatile oil - all lowered cholesterol and plasma lipids, lipid metabolism, and atherogensis both in vitro and in vivo. Methyl-allyl trisulfide of the garlic helps expand constricted blood vessels, thereby preventing high blood pressure.
- Indian Herbal Remedies: Rational Western Therapy, Ayurvedic and Other Traditional Usage, Botany by C. P. Khare

The typical study compares diets high in fat with and without Garlic. Garlic diets consistently produce the lowest cholesterol levels. In the 1940s, one investigator found that 40 of 100 patients with high blood pressure experienced a reduction of 20 mmHg or more after about a week of garlic treatment. In another study, a water extract of garlic was given to hypercholesterolemic patients for two months during which time the patients experienced a 28.5% reduction in cholesterol - the dose was equivalent to about 10 grams of garlic per day.
- The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine: How to Remedy and Prevent Disease with Herbs, Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients by Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D.

One study looked at 41,000 American women and found that one or more servings a week of garlic was associated with a 35 percent decrease in the risk of colon cancer. It is thought that garlic’s sulfur compounds are key in preventing these types of cancers by helping to control carcinogens (cancer-causing substances). High blood pressure is recognized as one of the leading causes of heart disease, and garlic has been shown to have mild blood-pressure-lowering effects. Clinically, I would not rely on garlic alone to lower blood pressure.
- The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies by Mark Stengler, N.D.

About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. www.naturalnews.com

Prescription drug ads are banned in all industrialized nations except New Zealand and the USA. Yet most off those other nations have effective medical care programs while managing to keep costs from soaring. In 1997, the FDA opened the floodgates to prescription drug advertising in the USA. This was based on an earlier Supreme Court decision that said restricting such advertising was illegal.

Last summer, some U.S. Congress members were mounting campaigns to refute the Supreme Court’s decision by restricting prescription drug advertising. In August of 2009, the New York Times selected a panel of eight highly qualified individuals for its “Editorial Room for Debate” section and posed the following two questions:

How much harm do prescription drug ads do to consumers? Are these ads a valuable way to educate people?

All but one panelist agreed that commercials and ads for prescription drugs were harmful and should be banned or at least restricted for a variety of reasons. The lone dissenter in the panel claimed that TV ads for prescription drugs educate and empower.

Disputing that premise, another panel member pointed out that people in countries banning prescription drug ads are better educated about health matters than Americans. Another panel member cited the deaths and heart problems from Vioxx created by Merck’s aggressive advertising campaigns before Vioxx’s safety could be determined.

The general consensus of the panel was that drug ads, especially TV commercials, tend to create a pill popping public rather than health conscious citizens. (Patients often demand advertised pharmaceuticals from their doctors!) Big Pharma’s annual advertising budget is double the federal budget for the FDA.

So how does this advertising outlay from drug companies affect the market? The cost of advertising is included in drug pricing. But the drug makers insist that their high advertising budgets create more sales, thus enabling prices to drop.

A recent study seems to disprove that assertion. Michael Law headed up a group in The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia and looked into the connection between advertising and product costs. The team studied advertising expenses and pharmaceutical sales data for Plavix or clopidogrel.

Plavix is often dispensed to senior citizens for heart conditions. Law’s group focused on 27 Medicaid programs from 1999 through 2005. Their study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded that product costs went up, yet there was no increase in sales to help lower costs.

From this study, it’s easy to conclude that pharmaceutical advertising expenses contribute to the soaring costs of health care while encouraging the public to pop pills for every symptom imaginable.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/027710_drug_advertising_costs.html

Since the prostate antigen screening test (PSA) began being widely used about 23 years ago, doctors have lauded its ability to detect prostate cancer at a very early stage. In fact, PSA testing has resulted in over a million additional men being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. The problem is, according to new research just published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, most of these cases were overdiagnosed and subjected men to treatment they didn’t need.

For their study, H. Gilbert Welch, M.D., MPH, of the White River Junction VA and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice., and Peter C. Albertsen, M.D., of the University of Connecticut, studied data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. They looked at age-specific prostate cancer incidence rates to investigate whether there was an excess or a deficit in the number of American men diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer after PSA screening was introduced in l987.

The results were clear. The researchers found that an additional 1.3 million men, especially younger men, had been diagnosed with the malignancy who would never have been found to have prostate cancer without the PSA test. And over one million of these men have been treated since l986.

So why isn’t this good news if cancers are being found and treated earlier? Because over a million of these men who were told they had prostate cancer most likely had no real health problem — until they started down the path of side-effect laden treatments and became labeled as “cancer patients”.

“Given the considerable time that has passed since PSA screening began, most of this excess incidence must represent overdiagnosis,” the authors of the study wrote. “All overdiagnosed patients are needlessly exposed to the hassle factors of obtaining treatment, the financial implications of the diagnosis, and the anxieties associated with becoming a cancer patient.”

Even more importantly, as Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, pointed out in an editorial accompanying the study, there has been little evidence that PSA screening has saved lives. All it has done is surge the rate of diagnosed prostate cancers upward. Moreover, Dr. Brawley warned that the highly marketed early-detection message has pushed public opinion toward accepting PSA screening as critically important and necessary for men — when there’s a lack of good science to back up that belief.

“Prostate cancer screening has resulted in substantial overdiagnosis and in unnecessary treatment. It may have saved relatively few lives. Results from this article and recent results from prostate cancer screening and prevention trials demand reflection about what we as a society have done and are doing. Lessons to be learned have ethical and economic implications and involve our lack of respect for the scientific process and scientific evidence,” Dr. Brawley wrote.

Another new study adds even more evidence that prostate cancer is being overdiagnosed and over treated. According to research just published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, many prostate cancer patients, including older men and men with small, low-risk tumors, can safely defer treatment for many years with no adverse consequences at all.

“With the advent of PSA screening nearly 20 years ago, we started to detect prostate cancers at much earlier stages,” researcher Martin Sanda, MD, Director of the Prostate Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement to the media.

“Consequently, while PSA testing has enabled us to successfully begin aggressive treatment of high-risk cancers at an earlier stage, it has also resulted in the diagnosis of cancers that are so small they pose no near-term danger and possibly no long-term danger.”

Dr. Sanda, along with colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco, studied data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, a large cohort study comprising 51,529 men who have been followed since 1986. Every two years, the participants respond to questionnaires and list information about diseases and health-related topics, including whether they’ve been told they have prostate cancer.

In all, 3,331 men reported receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer between 1986 and 2007. Among this group, about ten percent (342 men) decided to put off having any treatment for one year or longer. Ten to 15 years later, 50 percent of these men who had initially deferred treatment still had not undergone any prostate cancer treatment.

To find out how this group of men fared in the long-term, the scientists looked at the data after an average of eight years after their initial diagnosis and then compared it with information provided by prostate cancer patients who had decided on going ahead with aggressive treatment, including surgery, radiotherapy or hormonal therapy.

“We found that the deaths attributed to prostate cancer were very low among the men with low-risk tumors,” Dr. Sanda stated. “Our analysis showed that only two percent of the men who deferred treatment eventually died of the disease, compared with one percent of the men who began treatment immediately following their diagnosis. This is not a statistically significant difference.”

According to the press statement, the researchers found that men diagnosed with low-risk tumors who deferred treatment were still doing fine an average of eight years and up to 20 years after their cancer diagnosis.

“Only half of these men wound up undergoing any treatment 10 to 15 years post-diagnosis. This means that they were able to avoid the disruption in their quality of life which might have occurred had they undergone immediate treatment,” Dr. Sanda explained in the media statement.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/027193_cancer_Prostate_prostate_cancer.html

For those of us wondering how bad the untested genetically modified food experiment is going to get before it gets any better, a ray of hope was just offered. A San Francisco judge, the very honorable, Judge Jeffrey White just ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture`s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service violated environmental law because of inadequate environmental testing of genetically modified sugar beets. He ruled that the agency failed to see if the genetically altered beets would eventually share their funky pesticide proof genes with other crops. Judge White noted that pollen from sugar beets can be blown long distances and pollinate other crops, including table beets and chard.

White wrote, “The potential elimination of farmers` choice to grow nongenetically engineered crops, or consumers` choice to eat nongenetically engineered food … has a significant effect on the human environment.”

The judge ordered the federal agency to produce an environmental impact statement after taking a hard look at the issue. A lesser look by the agency found that the sharing of genetically altered pollen was no cause for concern.

This is the second blow for Monsanto and according the Associated Press, a “similar ruling in 2007 forced a ban on planting Roundup Ready alfalfa until a re-examination was done.” That environmental impact statement has yet to be completed, so it effectively halted the growth and sale of GMO alfalfa.

About half of the sugar beets used in the United States are currently Monsanto`s genetically modified variety and the judge didn`t rule about the harvest of the current crop.

If you haven`t been already, it`s wise to avoid sugar for a while to make sure you`re not consuming genetically modified sugar beets.

Genetically modified foods have been linked to smaller, less developed brains, livers and testicles. GMOs have been found to enlarge other tissues, including the pancreas and intestines. They`ve been known to atrophy the liver, while causing structural changes in the stomach and intestines. GMOs have additionally been linked to infertility and allergies. Here`s more: http://www.saynotogmos.org/paper.pdf.

All of the health problems associated with consuming genetically modified foods made the news in Europe years ago, when genetically modified crops were new. The citizens of Europe rebelled, which is why genetically altered foods are currently banned, or mostly labeled, in Europe.

In the U.S., the news wasn`t covered by mainstream outlets. As a consequence genetically modified foods are not labeled and consumers remain largely unaware. Genetically modified ingredients are available in the large majority of processed foods, and in the U.S. it`s actually illegal for manufacturers to label GMO products, as GMO products.

U.S. officials have been cited as saying that such labeling would “confuse consumers,” and it`s widely known that the large majority of consumers don`t want to eat genetically modified foods. Their logic has been: if consumers knew which foods were genetically modified, they would avoid them and thereby make the wrong choice. The official said to have explained the government’s logic at an international Codex meeting later denied doing so.

Organic farmers, food safety advocates and conservation groups brought the lawsuit. According to Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff, on Oct. 30 they will ask the judge for an injunction to ban new plantings until the environmental impact statement is complete.

An American Sugar Beet Growers Association spokesman said the association is going to fight for the right to grow genetically modified sugar beets. It wasn`t disclosed if, or how much, funding the association receives from Monsanto.

Genetically modified sugar beets are currently grown in eleven states and on 1.1 million acres.

Source: www.naturalnews.com

An investigation by the USDA’s National Organic Program has determined that Target Corporation wrongly used the image of a certified organic product when promoting the sale of a conventional product to consumers.  The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy group and organic watchdog based in Wisconsin.

The violation at Target came after Dean Foods switched almost all their category-leading Silk soymilk from organic to conventional soybeans earlier this year.  The specific problem involved Target using an image of a Silk organic product, in advertising flyers, when the retailer was really selling Silk’s reformulated “natural” version (not organic, but made with conventional soybeans).  Target made a commitment to the USDA to review their procedures to “prevent future errors of this nature.”

And now, over eight months after Dean Foods stealthily switched its core Silk product line to cheaper conventional soybeans, while, until recently, retaining the same packaging appearance.  Now the giant dairy processor’s WhiteWave division has been found itself to also be misrepresenting the product as organic on one of their own websites.  A new legal complaint has been filed in an attempt to protect consumers from what Cornucopia calls, “fraudulent misrepresentation.”

“It should not take the judicious oversight of an industry watchdog to cause these giant corporations to simply comply with the law,” said Mark Kastel, Cornucopia’s Senior Farm Policy Analyst.  “Target and Dean are trying to do organics on the cheap and have not invested in the kind of management expertise necessary to prevent problems of this nature from occurring,” added Kastel.  “And after widespread media condemnation, it’s hard to believe that Dean Foods hasn’t even cleaned up its own websites.”

Since the NOP investigation, and Target’s pledge to review their practices, unlike Dean Foods, Cornucopia has not observed additional problems with the retailer’s advertising.

The meteoric rise in consumer interest in healthy, environmentally sound and humane farming practices has catapulted organics into a $24 billion industry.  Along the way, major agribusinesses , like General Mills, Dean Foods and Kraft have gobbled up many pioneering companies that helped build the industry through a series of acquisitions.  Today, most processed organic food is produced and controlled by the same type of companies that bring us International Delight imitation coffee creamer, Cheetos, Ding Dongs and Cap’n Crunch.

No longer controlled by industry visionaries, corporate managers now seek to squeeze extra profits out by sometimes switching established organic brands to “natural” labeling, using cheaper conventionally grown and processed ingredients.

That’s a far cry from when the organic food and farming movement first started enjoying widespread commercial success in the 1980s.  In its inception, the industry was dominated by a number of family businesses, entrepreneurial enterprises and farmer-owned cooperatives, where building a profitable brand was most often married with the owner’s values.

“Big is not necessarily bad in the organic industry,” said Mark Kastel, codirector of The Cornucopia Institute.  “As an organic watchdog we are much more concerned with ‘corporate ethics’ than we are with ‘corporate scale.’”

Dean Foods, the largest dairy processor in the United States, has apparently acquiesced and finally changed the packaging for their Silk brand of soymilk.  Cornucopia had sparked widespread media scrutiny, and associated consumer backlash, against Dean for quietly shifting their core silk product line from organic to conventional soybeans—while keeping essentially the same packaging and UPC (scanner) barcodes.  “This change [new packaging] should have happened right as they shifted to conventional soybeans, not after the fact,” said Kastel.

“For the better part of this past year, consumers and retailers both have repeatedly reported that they were deceived and ended up unknowingly buying Silk products with conventional soybeans,” stated Kastel.  With both their new and old packaging still in the marketplace, Cornucopia is concerned that consumers will be misled by advertising on websites representing the product as organic.

Silk is manufactured and distributed by Dean Foods’ WhiteWave-MorningStar division headquartered in Longmont, Colorado.  Like many other massive agribusiness corporations, the Dean name never appears on the packaging for its soy foods or its Horizon dairy label—just as consumers will never see the name General Mills on a package of Cascadian Farms frozen vegetables, Kraft on Back to Nature brand crackers or Kellogg’s on Kashi cereal.

Dean/WhiteWave spokesperson Sara Loveday denied the corporation intentionally misled their customers, telling the East Bay Express in a November interview, “The company was not trying take advantage of consumer confusion over organic and ‘natural.’”

“These corporate food giants know that many organic consumers are looking for an alternative to our current food production system,” said Will Fantle, who heads up Cornucopia’s research staff.  “Upon acquiring a number of the leading organic pioneers, they have kept their subsidiary names upfront on packaging to create a façade “hiding” the true corporate ownership,” Fantle noted.

Cornucopia maintains a chart, Who Owns Organics, created by Michigan State University professor Philip Howard, on its website that lifts the veil, enabling consumers to know who is producing their favorite organic brands (http://www.cornucopia.org/who-owns-organic/).

Roy Beard, who has operated Roy’s Natural Market in Dallas for 41 years, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in their November 8 coverage surrounding the Silk controversy, that he hadn’t realized there was a product change until contacted by a reporter.  He said retaining the same bar code “was troubling.”   Most retailers were never informed of the Silk switch to conventional soybeans.

Dean/WhiteWave has also received heat in the organic food and agriculture community for choosing to convert some of their Horizon dairy products, the leading organic label in terms of sales volume, to cheaper “natural” (conventional) ingredients.

“This really hit a nerve because one of these new Horizon products, Little Blends yogurt, is aimed specifically at toddlers, at an early stage of development, where the nutritional superiority of organic food, and its benefit of avoiding chemical residues in our food, is so critically important,” Kastel explained.  “This starkly undermines the propaganda on the Horizon website proclaiming how dedicated they are to the organic movement—this is all about profit, not values!”

The media blow up on the Silk switcheroo included a front-page story in the Chicago Tribune in July that outlined a consumer survey indicating the public was unclear about the difference between natural and organic labels and that some corporations, particularly Dean Foods, were taking advantage of the confusion in the marketplace.

“Dean has only added to the marketplace confusion between ‘natural’ and ‘organic,’ as they definitely do not mean the same thing, and ‘natural’ requires no verification whatsoever,” Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, also told Barry Shlachter of the Star-Telegram.

The Cornucopia’s Kastel likes to identify corporate giant Heinz as a company doing organics right.  “They helped fund California tomato growers who switched to organic production, and they brought in a highly reputable organic certifier, produced the product in their own plant, and finally put the Heinz name on the label,” Kastel stated.  “I think their ethical approach to organic production is what consumers expect and is being rewarded in the marketplace by virtue of the success they’re having with their organic ketchup.”

Cornucopia also cites Stonyfield yogurt, which was acquired by group Danone of France, as another example of a large public corporation continuing to uphold organic values.  Stonyfield remains committed to buying all of their milk from family-scale organic farmers, unlike Dean Foods that is increasingly relying on factory farms for its Horizon milk supply.

“The independently owned organizations, although they are fewer, have not totally gone away,” observed Fantle.  Eden Foods, Nature’s Path and Organic Valley, among others, are still independently owned even though they each do as much as $500 million of business every year.”

The new legal complaint filed against Dean Foods, for representing their conventional Silk soymilk as organic on one of their websites, was filed with the USDA’s National Organic Program.  “We fully expect the NOP to send a cease and desist order to Dean Foods,” said Kastel.  If Dean, a $12 billion a year public corporation, is found to have willfully violated the federal law governing organic commerce, it could be subject to fines and other penalties.

Source: www.cornucopia.org