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Friday, January 6, 2012

Need More Magnesium? 10 Signs to Watch For

ancient minerals

Need More Magnesium? 10 Signs to Watch For


Symptoms of poor magnesium intake can include muscle cramps, facial tics, poor sleep, and chronic pain. It pays to ensure that you get adequate magnesium before signs of deficiency occur.

But how can you know whether you’re getting enough?

According to population studies of average magnesium intake, there’s a good chance that you’re not.

Less than 30% of U.S. adults consume the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of magnesium. And nearly 20% get only half of the magnesium they need daily to remain healthy.1 2 3

magnesium rda intake

Estimated U.S. Intake of Magnesium Recommended Daily Allowance

Do I get enough magnesium?

One method of assessing your magnesium status is to simply contact your health care provider and request detailed magnesium testing. Yet magnesium assessment is typically done using blood serum testing, and these tests can be misleading. Only 1% of magnesium in the body is actually found in blood, and only .3% is found in blood serum, so clinical blood serum testing may not successfully identify magnesium deficiency.

What to do?

Fortunately, it’s possible to get a sense of where your intake may lie simply by asking yourself a few questions about your lifestyle, and watching for certain signs and signals of low magnesium levels.

Learn how to read your signs below, and find out what you can do to ensure magnesium balance and good health. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you may be at risk for low magnesium intake.

1. Do you drink carbonated beverages on a regular basis?

Most dark colored sodas contain phosphates. These substances actually bind with magnesium inside the digestive tract, rendering it unavailable to the body. So even if you are eating a balanced diet, by drinking soda with your meals you are flushing magnesium out of your system.4 5 6

The average consumption of carbonated beverages today is more than ten times what it was in 1940.7 This skyrocketing increase is responsible for both reduced magnesium and calcium availability in the body.8 9

2. Do you regularly eat pastries, cakes, desserts, candies or other sweet foods?

sugar and magnesium depletion

Refined sugar is not only a zero magnesium product but it also causes the body to excrete magnesium through the kidneys. The process of producing refined sugar from sugar cane removes molasses, stripping the magnesium content entirely.

And sugar does not simply serve to reduce magnesium levels. Sweet foods are known by nutritionists as “anti-nutrients”. Anti-nutrients like sweets are foods that replace whole nutritious foods in the diet, yet actually consume nutrients when digested, resulting in a net loss. Because all foods require vitamins and minerals to be consumed in order to power the process of digestion, it’s important to choose foods that “put back” vital nutrients, and then some.

The more sweet foods and processed baked goods you have in your diet, the more likely you are deficient in magnesium and other vital nutrients.

3. Do you experience a lot of stress in your life, or have you recently had a major medical procedure such as surgery?

Both physical and emotional stress can be a cause of magnesium deficiency.

Stress can be a cause of magnesium deficiency, and a lack of magnesium tends to magnify the stress reaction, worsening the problem. In studies, adrenaline and cortisol, byproducts of the “fight or flight” reaction associated with stress and anxiety, were associated with decreased magnesium.4

Because stressful conditions require more magnesium use by the body, all such conditions may lead to deficiency, including both psychological and physical forms of stress such as surgery, burns, and chronic disease.

4. Do you drink coffee, tea, or other caffeinated drinks daily?

coffee and magnesium loss

Magnesium levels are controlled in the body in large part by the kidneys, which filter and excrete excess magnesium and other minerals. But caffeine causes the kidneys to release extra magnesium regardless of body status.

If you drink caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea and soda regularly, your risk for magnesium deficiency is increased.

5. Do you take a diuretic, heart medication, asthma medication, birth control pills or estrogen replacement therapy?

The effects of certain drugs have been shown to reduce magnesium levels in the body by increasing magnesium loss through excretion by the kidneys.

6. Do you drink more than seven alcoholic beverages per week?

alcohol and magnesium depletion

The effect of alcohol on magnesium levels is similar to the effect of diuretics: it lowers magnesium available to the cells by increasing the excretion of magnesium by the kidneys. In studies, clinical magnesium deficiency was found in 30% of alcoholics.10

Increased alcohol intake also contributes to decreased efficiency of the digestive system, as well as Vitamin D deficiency, both of which can contribute to low magnesium levels.11

7. Do you take calcium supplements without magnesium or calcium supplements with magnesium in less than a 1:1 ratio?

Studies have shown that when magnesium intake is low, calcium supplementation may reduce magnesium absorption and retention.12 13 14 And, whereas calcium supplementation can have negative effects on magnesium levels, magnesium supplementation actually improves the body’s use of calcium.7

calcium and magnesium absorption

Though many reports suggest taking calcium to magnesium in a 2:1 ratio, this figure is largely arbitrary. The ideal ratio for any individual will vary depending on current conditions as well as risk factors for deficiency.

However, several researchers now support a 1:1 calcium to magnesium ratio for improved bone support and reduced risk of disease. This is due not only to the increased evidence pointing to widespread magnesium deficiency, but also concerns over the risk of arterial calcification when low magnesium stores are coupled with high calcium intake.

According to noted magnesium researcher Mildred Seelig:

The body tends to retain calcium when in a magnesium-deficient state. Extra calcium intake at such a time could cause an abnormal rise of calcium levels inside the cells, including the cells of the heart and blood vessels… Given the delicate balance necessary between calcium and magnesium in the cells, it is best to be sure magnesium is adequate if you are taking calcium supplements.”8

8. Do you experience any of the following:

  • Anxiety?
  • Times of hyperactivity?
  • Difficulty getting to sleep?
  • Difficulty staying asleep?

The above symptoms may be neurological signs of magnesium deficiency. Adequate magnesium is necessary for nerve conduction and is also associated with electrolyte imbalances that affect the nervous system. Low magnesium is also associated with personality changes and sometimes depression.

9. Do you experience any of the following:

  • Painful muscle spasms?
  • Muscle cramping?
  • Fibromyalgia?
  • Facial tics?
  • Eye twitches, or involuntary eye movements?

Neuromuscular symptoms such as these are among the classic signs of a potential magnesium deficit.

Without magnesium, our muscles would be in a constant state of contraction.

Magnesium is a required element of muscle relaxation, and without it our muscles would be in a constant state of contraction. Calcium, on the other hand, signals muscles to contract. As noted in the book The Magnesium Factor, the two minerals are “two sides of a physiological coin; they have actions that oppose one another, yet they function as a team.”8

Chvostek’s Sign and Trousseau’s Sign are both clinical tests for involuntary muscle movements, and both may indicate either calcium or magnesium deficiency, or both. In fact, magnesium deficiency may actually appear as calcium deficiency in testing, and one of the first recommendations upon receiving low calcium test results is magnesium supplementation.

10. Did you answer yes to any of the above questions and are also age 55 or older?

Older adults are particularly vulnerable to low magnesium status. It has been shown that aging, stress and disease all contribute to increasing magnesium needs, yet most older adults actually take in less magnesium from food sources than when they were younger.

In addition, magnesium metabolism may be less efficient as we grow older, as changes the GI tract and kidneys contribute to older adults absorbing less and retaining less magnesium.15

If you are above 55 and also showing lifestyle signs or symptoms related to low magnesium, it’s particularly important that you work to improve your magnesium intake. When body stores of magnesium run low, risks of overt hypomagnesaemia (magnesium deficiency) increase significantly.

How can you know for certain if you have a deficiency?

Magnesium’s impact is so crucial and far reaching that symptoms of its absence reverberate throughout the body’s systems. This makes signs of its absence hard to pin down with absolute precision, even for cutting edge researchers. Doctors Pilar Aranda and Elena Planells noted this difficulty in their report at the International Magnesium Symposium of 2007:

The clinical manifestations of magnesium deficiency are difficult to define because depletion of this cation is associated with considerable abnormalities in the metabolism of many elements and enzymes. If prolonged, insufficient magnesium intake may be responsible for symptoms attributed to other causes, or whose causes are unknown.”

Among researchers, magnesium deficiency is known as the silent epidemic of our times, and it is widely acknowledged that definitive testing for deficiency remains elusive. Judy Driskell, Professor, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Nebraska, refers to this “invisible deficiency” as chronic latent magnesium deficiency, and explains:

Normal serum and plasma magnesium concentrations have been found in individuals with low magnesium in [red blood cells] and tissues. Yet efforts to find an indicator of subclinical magnesium status have not yielded a cost-effective one that has been well validated.”16

Yet while the identification of magnesium deficiency may be unclear, its importance is undeniable.

Magnesium activates over 300 enzyme reactions in the body, translating to thousands of biochemical reactions happening on a constant basis daily. Magnesium is crucial to nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood coagulation, energy production, nutrient metabolism and bone and cell formation.

Considering these varied and all-encompassing effects, not to mention the cascading effect magnesium levels have on other important minerals such as calcium and potassium, one thing is clear – long term low magnesium intake is something to be avoided.

What can you do to increase magnesium intake?

the magnesium miracle carolyn dean

The Magnesium Miracle, by Carolyn Dean, M.D. N.D.

The longer your intake remains low, the more likelihood your bodily stores will be diminished, leaving you exposed to some of the more troubling side effects of long term deficiency. According to Dr. Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., and expert on magnesium therapy, adequate magnesium can improve heart health, prevent stroke and obesity, and improve mood and memory.

If you answered no to all of the above questions, you may be able to rely on high food sources of magnesium, like those described in our article on Magnesium in the Diet.

Yet for many people, especially those with diseases and symptoms associated with low magnesium, active magnesium supplementation may be a crucial element of returning to good health.

In her book, The Magnesium Miracle, Dr. Dean notes that achieving adequate magnesium through foods is notoriously difficult, stating:

I’m convinced that to get enough magnesium today, you need to take supplements.”4

topical or transdermal magnesium

Transdermal magnesium does not have the side effects of oral supplements.

One of the most effective ways to improve your magnesium levels is to combine a healthy diet with transdermal magnesium.

Many of the factors which contribute to low magnesium stores are caused by inefficiencies of the GI tract. By delivering magnesium through the skin directly to the cells, topical magnesium products bypass many of the problems associated with low magnesium absorption.

In older adults, reduced gastric acid levels in the digestive system may be a factor in reduced mineral availability. Hydrochloric acid supplements may be combined with magnesium to combat this dilemma; however a simpler and less expensive option is the use of magnesium chloride supplements. Magnesium chloride has been proven to have a high bioavailability, while simultaneously providing the chloride necessary for healthy digestion and vitamin and mineral absorption.

Magnesium researcher Mildred Seelig has called magnesium “the silent guardian of our hearts and arteries” and “necessary for life”. And Dr. Carolyn Dean calls it “the missing link to total health”.

If you haven’t heard much about magnesium and its importance to good health, now is the time to learn. And if it’s something you’ve always meant to look into, now is the time to take action!

What’s Next?

Magnesium through the skin? Yes! Learn about topical magnesium products.

Why can’t you get enough magnesium through foods? Get the good news and the bad news.

Watch health experts’ video interviews — powerful commentary on the why and how of magnesium.



References:
  1. Combs GF, Nielsen FH. Health significance of calcium and magnesium: Examples from human studies. In: World Health Organization. Calcium and Magnesium in Drinking Water: Public health significance. Geneva: World Health Organization Press; 2009. []
  2. Pao EM, Mickle SJ. Problem nutrients in the United States. Food Technology. 1981:35:58-79. []
  3. King DE, Mainous AG 3rd, Geesey ME, Woolson RF. Dietary magnesium and C-reactive protein levels. Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition. 2005 Jun;24(3):166-71. Available from: MEDLINE with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 6, 2009. []
  4. Dean C. The Magnesium Miracle. New York: Ballantine Books; 2007. [] [] []
  5. Weiss GH, Sluss PM, Linke CA. Changes in urinary magnesium, citrate and oxalate levels due to cola consumption. Urology 1992;39:331-3. []
  6. Brink E. J., Beynen A. C., Dekker P. R., Beresteijn E.C.H., Meer R. Interaction of calcium and phosphate decreases ileal magnesium solubility and apparent magnesium absorption. The Journal of Nutrition. 1992; 122:580-586 []
  7. Vartanian L, Schwartz, M, Brownell, K. Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Public Health. 2007;97(4):667-675. [] []
  8. Seelig M, Rosanoff A. The Magnesium Factor. New York: Avery Books; 2003. [] [] []
  9. Heaney RP, Rafferty K. Carbonated beverages and urinary calcium excretion. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2001; 74:343–347. []
  10. Irwin R, Rippe J. Irwin and Rippe’s Intensive Care Medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2008. []
  11. Shane SR, Flink EB. Magnesium deficiency in alcohol addiction and withdrawal. Magnesium and trace elements. 1991-1992;10(2-4):263-8. []
  12. Wester PO. Magnesium. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1987; 45:1305-12. []
  13. Norman DA, Fordtran JS, Brinkley U, et al. Jejunal and ileal adaptation to alterations in dietary calcium. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 1981 ;67: 1599-603. []
  14. Seelig MS. The requirement of magnesium by the normal adult: Summary and analysis of published data. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1964;14:342-90. []
  15. Bernstein A, Luggen AS. Nutrition for the Older Adult. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 2010. []
  16. Driskell J. Nutrition and Exercise Concerns of Middle Age. Boca

Symptoms of Low Magnesium

ancient minerals

Symptoms of Low Magnesium


Low magnesium is known in research circles as the silent epidemic of our times.

Many of the symptoms of low magnesium are not unique to magnesium deficiency, making it difficult to diagnose with 100% accuracy. Thus quite often low magnesium levels go completely unrecognized… and untreated.

Yet chronic low intake of magnesium is not only extremely common but linked to several disease states, indicating the importance of considering both overt physical symptoms and the presence of other diseases and conditions when considering magnesium status.

Get answers below:

What are the symptoms of magnesium deficiency?

Magnesium is an important ingredient to so many of the body’s regulatory and biochemical systems that the impact of low levels spans all areas of health and medical practice. Therefore the symptoms of a magnesium deficit fall into two broad categories – the physical symptoms of overt deficiency and the spectrum of disease states linked to low magnesium levels.

Symptoms include both:

  • Classic “Clinical” Symptoms. These physical signs of magnesium deficiency are clearly related to both its physiological role and its significant impact on the healthy balance of minerals such as calcium and potassium. Tics, muscle spasms and cramps, seizures, anxiety, and irregular heart rhythms are among the classic signs and symptoms of low magnesium. (A complete list of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency follows.)
  • “Sub-clinical” or “Latent” Symptoms. These symptoms are present but concealed by an inability to distinguish their signs from other disease states. Caused by low magnesium intake prevalent in nearly all industrialized nations, they can include migraine headaches, insomnia, depression, and chronic fatigue, among others. (A complete list of the symptoms of low magnesium follows.)

The subject of subclinical or chronic latent magnesium deficiency has been one of alarm and increased emphasis in research communities. This growing attention is largely due to epidemiological (population study) links found between ongoing chronic low magnesium and some of the more troubling chronic diseases of our time, including hypertension, asthma and osteoporosis.

Compounding the problem is the knowledge that the body actually strips magnesium and calcium from the bones during periods of “functioning” low magnesium. This effect can cause a doubly difficult scenario: seemingly adequate magnesium levels that mask a true deficiency coupled by ongoing damage to bone structures. Thus experts advise the suspicion of magnesium deficiency whenever risk factors for related conditions are present, rather than relying upon tests or overt symptoms alone.

Signs of Magnesium Deficiency

The classic physical signs of low magnesium are:1 2 3

Neurological:

Behavioral disturbances
Irritability and anxiety
Lethargy
Impaired memory and cognitive function
Anorexia or loss of appetite
Nausea and vomiting
Seizures

Muscular:

Weakness
Muscle spasms (tetany)
Tics
Muscle cramps
Hyperactive reflexes
Impaired muscle coordination (ataxia)
Tremors
Involuntary eye movements and vertigo
Difficulty swallowing

Metabolic:

Increased intracellular calcium
Hyperglycemia
Calcium deficiency
Potassium deficiency

Cardiovascular:

Irregular or rapid heartbeat
Coronary spasms

Among children:

Growth retardation or “failure to thrive”

Conditions Related to Problems of Magnesium

In addition to symptoms of overt hypomagnesemia (clinically low serum magnesium), the following conditions represent possible indicators of chronic latent magnesium deficiency:3 4 5 6

  • Depression
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • ADHD
  • Epilepsy
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Sleep problems
  • Migraine
  • Cluster headaches
  • Osteoporosis
  • Premenstrual syndrome
  • Chest pain (angina)
  • Cardiac arrhythmias
  • Coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis
  • Hypertension
  • Type II diabetes
  • Asthma

What’s the difference between mild and severe magnesium deficiency?

It is well known that low magnesium is difficult to detect in a clinical setting, so much so that magnesium deficiency itself is sometimes referred to as “asymptomatic” or “showing no outward signs”.1

Magnesium deficiency itself is sometimes referred to as “asymptomatic” or “showing no outward signs”.

In using these terms, researchers emphasize that conditions will often become severe before overt clinical signs are available – essentially issuing a warning to health practitioners to be on the alert to signs of magnesium deficiency.

Thus the question becomes not “How can we distinguish mild vs. severe deficiency?”, but “Given the difficulty in recognizing chronic low magnesium, how can we prevent it from developing into severe symptoms and chronic disease?”

The monitoring of magnesium levels among at risk populations would seem to be a solution, yet the most commonly used magnesium test, blood serum magnesium, is considered inaccurate in clearly identifying marginal magnesium deficiency.

Dr. Ronald Elin of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Louisville makes this point clear:

The definition of magnesium deficiency seems simple, but it is complicated by the lack of available clinical tests for the assessment of magnesium status. Ideally we would define magnesium deficiency as a reduction in the total body magnesium content. Tests should be available to identify which tissues are deficient and the state of magnesium in these tissues. Unfortunately, this definition is incompatible with current technology.”7

In light of evidence that sub-clinical magnesium deficiencies can increase calcium imbalance, worsen blood vessel calcification, and potentially lead to type 2 diabetes, the World Health Organization in 2009 issued a call for improved and more scientific methods of setting daily magnesium requirements and more accurate and accessible methods of assessing magnesium deficiency.7

Addressing Symptoms of Low Magnesium

In their paper published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Drs. DH and DE Liebscher examine the difficulties in diagnosing magnesium deficiency through symptoms and testing, and offer a proposed solution.

Based on their clinical experience with mineral imbalance, the authors suggest:6

  1. Performing magnesium testing whenever conditions or symptoms associated with magnesium deficiency are present.
  2. Increasing the threshold at which low blood magnesium is considered problematic, to successfully capture those with marginal deficiencies (from the commonly used 0.7
    mmol/l Mg to 0.9 mmol/l Mg.)
  3. Beginning magnesium therapy and magnesium supplements as soon as possible, for a minimum of one month’s duration or until levels are clearly improved.

These recommendations echo the general sentiment that magnesium supplementation is safe and recommended, especially for the estimated 75% of the population with below the recommended daily magnesium intake.

The hope is that through measures to prevent magnesium deficiency, risk factors created by long-standing chronic low magnesium could be addressed in more people before severe symptoms and chronic disease develop.

Given the extreme prevalence of low magnesium intake in the U.S. and most developed countries, wider use of magnesium supplements may be the only solution to this silent epidemic.

What’s Next?

Do you have signs of deficiency? Check our magnesium self-assessment

Find out how others have benefited from magnesium. Read Testimonials on Magnesium’s Results.

Do you drink soda? Take calcium? Experience a lot of stress? Discover the lifestyle factors that can cause magnesium depletion.



References:
  1. Fox C, Ramsoomair D, Carter C. Magnesium: its proven and potential clinical significance. Southern Medical Journal. 2003;94(12):1195-201. Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423568_1. Accessed March 8, 2010. [] []
  2. DiSilvestro R. Handbook of Minerals as Nutritional Supplements. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press; 2004. []
  3. Kimura M. Overview of Magnesium Nutrition. In: International Magnesium Symposium. New Perspectives in Magnesium Research. London: Springer-Verlag; 2007:239-260. [] []
  4. McCarthy J, Kumar R. Divalent Cation Metabolism: Magnesium. In: Schrier R, series editor. Atlas of Diseases of the Kidney. Volume 1. Wiley-Blackwell; 1999: 4.1-4.12. []
  5. Elin RJ, Rude RK. Oral magnesium and wellness. The Magnesium Report: Clinical, Research and Laboratory News for Cardiologists. 2000. []
  6. Liebscher DH, Liebscher DE. About the misdiagnostics of magnesium deficiency. In: Xth International Magnesium Symposium. Cairns (Australia): 2003. [] []
  7. World Health Organization. Calcium and Magnesium in Drinking Water: Public health significance. Geneva: World Health Organization Press; 2009. [] []

7 Reasons America's Mental Health Industry Is a Threat to Our Sanity

AlterNet.org



Drug industry corruption, scientifically unreliable diagnoses and pseudoscientific research have compromised the values of the psychiatric profession.


Why do some of us become dissident mental health professionals?

The majority of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals “go along to get along” and maintain a status quo that includes drug company corruption, pseudoscientific research and a “standard of care” that is routinely damaging and occasionally kills young children. If that sounds hyperbolic, then you probably have not heard of Rebecca Riley, and how the highest levels of psychiatry described her treatment as “appropriate and within responsible professional standards.”

When Rebecca Riley was 28 months old, based primarily on the complaints of her mother that she was “hyper” and had difficulty sleeping, psychiatrist Kayoko Kifuji, at the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, diagnosed Rebecca with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Kifuji prescribed clonidine, a hypertensive drug with significant sedating properties, a drug Kifuji also prescribed to Rebecca’s older sister and brother. The goal of the Riley parents—obvious to many in their community and later to juries—was to attain psychiatric diagnoses for their children that would qualify them for disability payments and to sedate their children making them easy to manage.

By the time Rebecca was three years old, again based mainly on parental complaints, Kifuji had given Rebecca an additional diagnosis of bipolar disorder and prescribed two additional heavily sedating drugs, the antipsychotic Seroquel and the anticonvulsant Depakote.

At the age of four, Rebecca was dead.

At the time of her death, Rebecca had a life-threatening amount of clonidine—enough to kill her—in her body, according to the former director of the Massachusetts toxicology lab and the medical director of a regional poison control center. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy concluded that Rebecca died from intoxication of clonidine, Depakote and two over-the-counter cold and cough medicines that led to heart failure, lungs filled with bloody fluid, coma, and then death. Rebecca’s abusive parents went to prison for the over-drugging that led to their daughter’s death.

Kifuji’s fate? The psychiatric establishment rallied around Kifuji, enabling her to return to Tufts Medical Center practicing child psychiatry without any restrictions, penalties or supervision. After Rebecca’s death, Tufts-New England Medical Center defended Kifuji. A Tufts spokesperson told “60 Minutes” in 2009, “The care we provided was appropriate and within responsible professional standards.”

Apparently, psychiatric care that is considered appropriate and within responsible professional standards includes diagnoses of ADHD for a two-year-old and bipolar disorder for a three-year-old when the symptoms of those disorders are normal behaviors for those ages; prescribing three heavily sedating drugs that have not been approved by the FDA for child psychiatric treatment; ignoring the warnings from a school nurse about over-dosages for Rebecca; and making diagnoses based almost entirely on the reports of Rebecca’s mother, who herself was diagnosed with mental illness and heavily medicated to the point of falling asleep in Kifuji’s office.

Long before the Rebecca Riley tragedy hit the headlines, I was embarrassed by the mental health profession for seven major reasons:

1. Corruption by Big Pharma

How did it become within responsible professional standards for a two-year-old to get an ADHD diagnosis, for a three-year-old to get a bipolar diagnosis, and for toddlers to be prescribed multiple heavily sedating drugs? The short answer is drug company corruption of the mental health profession.

Congressional hearings in 2008 revealed that psychiatry’s “thought leaders” and major institutions are on the take from drug companies.

On June 8, 2008, the New York Times reported about psychiatrist Joseph Biederman: “A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007.”

Due in large part to Biederman’s influence, the number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003. Pediatrician and author Lawrence Diller notes about Biederman, “He single-handedly put pediatric bipolar disorder on the map.” In addition to his popularization of bipolar disorder for children, Biederman is one of the most significant forces behind the expanding numbers diagnosed with ADHD; and congressional investigators also discovered that Biederman conducted studies of Eli Lilly's ADHD drug Strattera that were funded by National Institute of Health at the same time he was receiving money from Lilly.

Not only does the drug industry have influential psychiatrists such as Biederman in their pocket, virtually every major mental health institution is financially interconnected with Big Pharma. Congressional hearings also exposed the American Psychiatric Association psychiatry’s premier professional organization, as being on the take from drug companies. In 2006, the drug industry accounted for about 30 percent of the APA’s $62.5 million in financing. Most relevant here, the APA is the publisher of the psychiatric diagnostic bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and thus the APA is the institution responsible for creating mental illnesses and disorders.

2. Invalid Illnesses and Disorders

Psychiatry’s first DSM (1952) and its DSM-II (1968) listed homosexuality as a mental illness. Only because of a fierce political fight waged in the 1970s by gay activists did the APA abolish homosexuality as an illness and eliminate it from its DSM-III (1980). Gay activists’ fight was not only a victory for themselves but a service for everyone else, as it made public the important scientific problem of psychiatric disorder invalidity. Specifically, are psychiatric disorders scientifically valid illnesses, or are they simply behaviors that create discomfort for some authorities at a given moment in time?

While psychiatry lost homosexuality as a mental illness in the 1980 DSM-III, the APA found other groups it could pathologize, groups that could not mobilize and resist, most notably children, who are now routinely given psychiatric diagnoses for behaviors that many of us view as normal for their ages.

Psychiatry sees it as within responsible professional standards to diagnose three-year-olds such as Rebecca Riley with bipolar disorder. The symptoms of bipolar disorder include irritable and rapidly changing moods, severe temper tantrums, defiance of authority, agitation and distractibility, sleeping too little or too much, poor judgment, impulsivity and grandiose beliefs.

Psychiatry also sees it as within responsible professional standards for Rebecca Riley to have been diagnosed at 28 months old with ADHD. The symptoms of ADHD are inattention (easily distracted and bored, difficulty organizing and completing tasks, losing things, not seeming to listen, not following instructions); hyperactivity (fidgeting, talking nonstop, having trouble sitting still, difficulty with quiet tasks), and impulsivity (impatience, blurting out inappropriate comments, interrupting conversations).

Today, children and teens are also diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), the symptoms of which include “often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules,” and “often argues with adults.”

The standard for a medical disorder should not be whether or not an individual causes friction.

3. Scientifically Unreliable Diagnoses

Even if you believe that bipolar disorder for three-year-olds, ADHD for two-year-olds, ODD for teenagers, and all the other DSM diagnoses are valid disorders, there is still the scientific issue of diagnostic unreliability—the lack of diagnostic agreement among professionals examining the same person.

A generation ago, psychiatrists admitted that their diagnoses were unreliable and agreed that this was a major scientific problem. So in 1980, in an attempt to eliminate this embarrassment, they created the DSM-III with concrete behavioral checklists and formal decision-making rules, but they failed to correct the problem. Psychiatric diagnoses remain unreliable, but now psychiatry no longer talks about the unreliability problem.

If a measurement is a reliable one, then clinicians trained with it should be in high agreement on the diagnosis. A major 1992 study, conducted at six sites with 600 prospective patients, was done to examine the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses. Experienced mental health professionals were given extensive training in how to make accurate DSM diagnoses. Because of the extensive training, one would expect that diagnostic agreement would be much higher than in typical clinical settings. Herb Kutchins and Stuart Kirk summarize the study in Making Us Crazy (1997):

What this study demonstrated was that even when experienced clinicians with special training and supervision are asked to use DSM and make a diagnosis, they frequently disagree, even though the standards for defining agreement are very generous. . . . [For example,] if one of the two therapists made a diagnosis of Schizoid Personality Disorder and the other therapist selected Avoidant Personality Disorder, the therapists were judged to be in complete agreement of the diagnosis because they both found a personality disorder—even though they disagreed completely on which one! So even with this liberal definition of agreement, reliability using DSM is not very good.

Kutchins and Kirk conclude: “Mental health clinicians independently interviewing the same person in the community are as likely to agree as disagree that the person has a mental disorder and are as likely to agree as disagree on which of the over 300 DSM disorders is present.”

4. Biochemical Imbalance Mumbo Jumbo

Just as nothing was more important in selling the Iraq war in 2003 than the Bush administration’s certainty that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, nothing has been more important in selling psychiatric drugs than psychiatry’s certainty of biochemical brain imbalances as the cause for mental illnesses.

Prior to psychiatry’s proclamation that depression was caused by too little of the neurotransmitter serotonin, few Americans were taking antidepressants. But by declaring that depression was caused by a serotonin imbalance analogous to diabetes and an insulin imbalance, depressed Americans became far more receptive to serotonin-enhancing drugs such as the “selective-serotonin-reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs) Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft.

SSRIs can make some depressed people feel better; however, alcohol makes some shy people less shy, but that’s not enough evidence to say that shyness is caused by an alcohol imbalance. The truth is—and scientists have known this for quite some time—that serotonin levels are not associated with depression.

Researchers have used a variety of methods to test the serotonin imbalance theory of depression, including comparing serotonin metabolites in depressed and nondepressed people, and depleting serotonin levels through a variety of means and then observing whether this resulted in depression. Elliot Valenstein, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan, reviewed the research in his book Blaming the Brain (1998) and reported that it is just as likely for people with normal serotonin levels to feel depressed as it is for people with abnormal serotonin levels, and that it is just as likely for people with abnormally high serotonin levels to feel depressed as it is for people with abnormally low serotonin levels. Valenstein concluded, “Furthermore, there is no convincing evidence that depressed people have a serotonin or norepinephrine deficiency.”

In 2002, the New York Times reported: “Researchers knew that antidepressants seemed to raise the brain’s levels of messenger chemicals called neurotransmitters, so they theorized that depression must result from a deficiency of these chemicals. Yet a multitude of studies failed to prove this precept.”

Yet even now, many psychiatrists and other mental health professionals continue to promulgate the serotonin imbalance theory of depression, and polls show that the majority of Americans continue to believe it.

5. Pseudoscientific Drug Effectiveness Research

There are multiple tricks that psychiatric drug manufacturers and their researcher psychiatrists and psychologists use to make their drugs look more effective than they really are. One of the most common depression measurements used by researchers paid by drug companies is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. In the HRSD, researchers rate subjects, and the higher the point total, the more one is deemed to be suffering from depression. On the HRSD, there are three separate items about insomnia (early, middle and late) and one can receive up to six points for difficulty either falling or remaining asleep; however, there is only one suicide item, in which one is awarded only two points for wishing to be dead. The HRSD is heavily loaded with items that are most affected by drugs, and it is therefore especially damning for antidepressants that even with such measurement dice-loading, these drugs routinely fail to outperform placebos—even dice-loaded placebos.

Proper drug research requires that neither subject nor experimenter knows who is getting the drug and who is getting the placebo (a true double-blind control). Drug company antidepressant researchers use inactive placebos such as sugar pills (which don’t create side effects). Independent research on inactive placebos show that many subjects in antidepressant and other studies can guess if they are getting the actual drug or not, which changes their expectations and subverts the double-blind control. In order to make it more difficult to guess correctly, an active placebo (which creates side effects) should be used. In 2000, a Psychiatric Times article concluded: “In fact, when antidepressants are compared with active placebos, there appear to be no differences in clinical effectiveness.”

Dice-loading depression measurements and placebos are just two of many techniques drug company researchers use to make antidepressants look more effective than they really are. But even with such dice-loading, antidepressants have not fared well, at least when one examines all the studies.

Drug companies try to ensure that those studies showing antidepressants to be no more effective than placebos are not published; however, all studies must be submitted to the FDA. So independent researcher Irving Kirsch and his research team at the University of Connecticut used the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to all data, and analyzed 47 studies that had been sponsored by drug companies on Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Celexa, and Serzone. Kirsch discovered that in the majority of the trials, the antidepressant failed to outperform a sugar pill placebo (and in the trials where the antidepressant did outperform the placebo, the advantage was slight).

6. Psychotropic Drug Hypocrisy

Chemists consider psychiatric prescription drugs and illegal mood-altering drugs all to be psychotropic or psychoactive drugs. Cocaine and ADHD drugs such as Adderall and other amphetamines affect the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine; and antidepressants used in combination also affect the same neurotransmitters. Not only are prescription psychotropics and illegal psychotropics chemically similar, they are used by people for similar reasons, including taking the edge off their discomfort so they can function. The hypocrisy surrounding illegal and prescription psychotropic drugs is harmful to society in at least two ways.

At one level, because people are being misinformed about the realities of prescription psychotropic drugs, they are more likely to gulp them down and to give them to their children. This has helped create a tragic phenomenon detailed by investigative reporter Robert Whitaker in his book Anatomy of an Epidemic (2010). Psychiatric drug use turning mild and episodic conditions into severe and chronic ones has helped create a huge increase of Americans with severe mental illness, especially among children.

At a second level, this psychiatric-illegal psychotropic drug hypocrisy allows for unfair criminalizing and incarceration of people using illegal psychotropics.

7. Diversion from Societal, Cultural and Political Sources of Misery

When we hear the words disorder, disease or illness, we think of an individual in need of treatment, not of a troubled society in need of transformation. Mental illness expansionism diverts us from examining a dehumanizing society.

In addition to pathologizing normal behavior, the mental health profession also diverts us from examining a society that creates the ingredients—helplessness, hopelessness, passivity, boredom, fear, and isolation—that cause emotional difficulties. We are diverted from the reality that many emotional problems are natural human reactions to loss in our society of autonomy and community. Thus, the mental health profession not only has financial value for drug companies but it has political value for those at the top of societal hierarchies who want to retain the status quo.

Today, a handful of dissident mental health professionals do challenge and resist their profession’s dehumanizing standard practicies. I know several of these dissidents, and they are the only psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health professionals that I have any respect for.

Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and author of Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite (Chelsea Green, 2011). His Web site is www.brucelevine.net.

Friday, December 30, 2011

The 10 Most Dangerous Meds Driving America's Pill Crisis

AlterNet.org

More Americans now die from prescription pills than car accidents. The nation's response to the trend will define an era, but corporate influence threatens reform.

Photo Credit: AFP

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For the first time in nearly a century, automobile accidents are no longer the nation’s leading cause of accidental deaths, according to a major report released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. The new number one killer is drugs—not smack, crystal meth or any other stepped-on menace sold in urban alleyways or trailer parks, but bright, shiny pills prescribed by doctors, approved by the government, manufactured by pharmaceutical companies and sold to the consumer as “medicine.” Yet of the billions of legit pills Americans pop every year for medical conditions serious and otherwise, the vast majority of lives are claimed by only a select few classes—painkillers, sedatives and stimulants—that all share a common characteristic: they promote abuse, dependence and addiction.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg of the prescription drug abuse problem,” says Dr. Margaret Warner, the federal report’s lead author. “The take-home here is, this should be a wake-up call.” Some 41,000 Americans died from what the report refers to as “poisonings” in 2008, compared with 38,000 traffic deaths. That tally marks a 90 percent increase in poisonings and a 15 percent decrease in car accidents since 1999.

Nearly nine out of ten of those poisonings were caused by prescription drug overdoses, with the chief culprit being opiate-based pain relievers such as Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin and Percocet (oxycodone), codeine, morphine—and let’s not forget Actiq (fentanyl), the infamous berry-flavored lollipop that is 100 times stronger than morphine and—like most opiate analgesics—so overprescribed that only about 10% of its sales come from its original indication to treat cancer pain.

These legal opiates accounted for 40 percent, or 15,000, of the fatalities, up from 25 percent, or 4,000, in 1999. Deaths by painkiller now outpace the combined nationwide number of deaths by cocaine (5,100) and heroin (3,000); these fatal overdoses often involve mixing painkillers with other prescription drugs—for example, Klonopin, Xanax, Valium or another benzodiazepines, which are the second most lethal class.

Other report findings: Three quarters of the poisoning are unintentional—likely the result of overdoses rather than drug interactions or allergic reactions—and some 13 percent are suicides. The five states with the highest oxy-type drug death rates (per 100,000 of the population) were New Mexico (30.8), West Virginia (27.6), Alaska (24.2), Nevada (21.0), and Utah (20.8).The most likely to die: white men, American Indians and Native Alaskans, usually between the ages of 45 to 54.

Warner’s death report is but the latest in a disturbing accumulation of evidence, ranging from scientific surveys to celebrity deaths, that underscore what we already know about our painkiller nation: pill mills and doctor shoppers are not just creating a land of bathroom-cabinet addicts—their bodies are packing morgues.

With our surging “oxy addiction” showing no signs of letting up, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this year officially named it an “epidemic.” President Obama has repeatedly invoked prescription drug abuse as the nation’s leading drug problem responsible not only for a rising number of overdoses and deaths but also ratcheting up the incidence of break-ins and burglaries of pharmacies.

Warner and her colleagues at the agency, which is overseen by the CDC, are at pains to draw comparisons between oxy-type drug deaths and those from auto accidents, because they hope that the same comprehensive approach that helped cut traffic deaths in half during the previous decade can save just as many lives on the drug front. Auto fatalities fell following a concerted government focus on national highway safety, resulting in car safety improvements as well as a wide range of regulatory, legal, and public health measures. Seat belt laws were enforced; drunk driving laws became stricter. The fact that alcohol—yet another legal intoxicant—is responsible for close to 40% of all traffic fatalities indicates how difficult it is to apply policy to substance abuse and get significant results. Still, drunk driving is playing a smaller and smaller role in automobile fatalities, falling by close to 40% since 1982.

You need to look at policy, laws, individual behavior, community behavior and health care provider behavior,” says Dr. Chris Jones, a consulting pharmacist with the CDC. One of the most innovative interventions includes building a database on patients who abuse painkillers and identifying doctors who overprescribe (or do so without examining the patient or his medical history). So far, five states have adopted specific pill-mill laws to flush out such doctors. “We’re looking at these laws to evaluate them and for guidance on policy,” says Jones.

That includes sharing information from state medical licensing boards and pharmacy licensing boards to monitor prescribers and set thresholds for how many pills are hitting the street and why.

The Drug Enforcement Administration launched an annual National Prescription Take-Back Event; the third drug dump, in October, collected 188 tons of old pills nationwide. The agency also operates 26 Tactical Diversion Squads—agents specializing in identifying wholesale traffickers and suppliers of black-market pharmaceuticals.

Some 48 states have adopted prescription monitoring programs (PMPs), which typically encourage (rather than require) doctors to record the data of every controlled drug prescribed, but only 37 are currently operational. In 2011, Florida implemented its PMP after its Tea Party governor reversed his controversial opposition to the surveillance tool, and the Sunshine State has already seen an exodus of pill mills to Georgia, which still has no PMP.

These federal and state campaigns come not a moment too soon, either. Painkillers have become the most common drug taken by adults between the ages of 20 to 59. The trends in sales, deaths and abuse treatment admissions for oxy and the like have all risen fourfold or more since 1999, according to a new state-by-state study. In 2009, for the first time, emergency-room visits resulting from prescription drug ODs topped 1 million, with some 343,000 due to opiate analgesics like oxy, 363,000 due to benzodiazepines and other sedatives, and 22,000 due to stimulants. (For a ranking of the top 10 drugs whose use or abuse led to overdose deaths or survival in ER visits in 2009, see the list at the end of the article.)

In 2010, enough prescription painkillers were sold nationwide to keep every American medicated around the clock for an entire month. Some 12 million Americans admitted that they were using painkillers without a prescription, and at least 14% of these nonmedical users met the criteria for abuse or dependence. In one recent survey, more than 5 million Americans reported using them to get high—in a single month period. The majority of those people say they obtained (or stole) them from friends or their family.

Jones does see one bright spot in the otherwise grim report. Methadone, which is used as a pain reliever as well as to treat opioid dependency, had been on the uptick for nearly a decade—from about 800 deaths in 1999 to about 5,500 in 2007. But for reasons not yet clear, that number dropped by remarkable 600 deaths in 2008. “For many years it had been the most common opioid in overdose deaths,” says Jones. “We don’t know if it’s just that people have shifted to these other drugs of what. But it’s promising. We’ve have to wait and see what we find when we look at 2009.”

In terms of the big picture, however, the fact that prescription drugs have overtaken automobiles as the nation’s leading cause of accidental deaths marks a deeper societal transformation. One of the most defining developments in twentieth-century America was motorization; as more people bought more cars and drove more miles, more accidents, injuries and deaths were the inevitable result until government intervention bent the curve. The 21st century is shaping up to be about, among other things, the pharmaceuticalization of America, as lifelong prescription drug use starting in early childhood becomes the norm.

How will pill popping transform our lives? Certain things are predictable: The drug industry will develop and sell more and more chemicals targeted at the brain, which remains medical science’s “black box”; that will result in treatments to enhance the performance of mood, cognition, attention, memory and other mental functions that will have become, in due course, “medical conditions.” Any pill that promises to make you smarter or happier invites abuse, and some will be as addictive as Oxy or the “morphine popsicle.” But with the enforcement of effective policies—the seat belts and DUI laws of pharmaceuticalization—the drug industry’s off-label marketing and the medical profession’s overprescribing could be dramatically curtailed.

Given the current state of corporate influence over politics, these reforms are anything but predictable. What's at stake is nothing less than the nation’s expanding medicine cabinet doubling as its morgue.

The Top 10 Most Dangerous Rx Drugs in America

This list of brand name and generic drugs was compiled from the Drug Abuse Warning Network's (DAWN's) database of emergency room visits in 2009, including drug poisonings that lead to both deaths and survivals.

1. Xanax (alprazolam) 112,552 (benzodiazepine class)

2. OxyContin (and other oxycodone drugs) 105,214 (opiate class)

3. Vicodin (and other hydrocodone drugs) 86,258 (opiate class)

4. Methadone 63,031 (opiate class)

5. Klonopin (clonazepam) 57,633 (benzodiazepine class)

6. Ativan (lorazepam) 36,582 (benzodiazepine class)

7. Morphine drugs 31,731 (opiate class)

8. Seroquel (quetiapine) 29,436 (antipsychotic class)

9. Ambien (zolpidem) 29,127 (sedative class)

10. Valium (diazepam) 25,150 (benzodiazepine)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

How the 1% is poisoning our children

Mother Jones

Blue Marble

| Wed Dec. 7, 2011 3:00 AM PST

capn crunch

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cap'n Crunch's OOPS! All Berries is one of the 10 most sugary kids' cereals on the market, according to the Environmental Working Group.

As a kid, I once begged my mom for a product called Ice Cream Cones cereal. That name really tickled Mom, the sheer audacity of it. It wasn't even trying to sound healthy! Needless to say, Ice Cream Cones never made it into our shopping cart. Apparently, it didn't make it into very many other shopping carts either: According to Wikipedia, it lasted for only a few months in 1987.

I'd always kind of thought that the demise of Ice Cream Cones Cereal proved that even stressed-out parents wouldn't go for such an unapologetic nutritional disaster. But boy was I wrong! In perusing a new report on sugar cereals from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), I learned about many modern cereals my seven-year-old self would have been clamoring for, including Smorz, Froot Loops Marshmallows, and Cap'n Crunch's OOPS! All Berries.

In case you couldn't tell from their names, those cereals pack in a lot of sugar (or corn syrup, but as I've said before, basically same diff). And they aren't the only ones: EWG found that three of the most popular kids' cereals (Kellogg's Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp, and General Mills Wheaties Fuel) contain more sugar per serving by weight than a Twinkie, and 44 others have as much sugar as three Chips Ahoy cookies.

The top 10 worst, ranked by percent sugar by weight:

1 Kellogg's Honey Smacks 55.6%
2 Post Golden Crisp 51.9%
3 Kellogg's Froot Loops Marshmallow 48.3%
4 Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's OOPS! All Berries 46.9%
5 Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch Original 44.4%
6 Quaker Oats Oh!s 44.4%
7 Kellogg's Smorz 43.3%
8 Kellogg's Apple Jacks 42.9%
9 Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries 42.3%
10 Kellogg's Froot Loops Original 41.4%

EWG points out that the sugar content in these dessert-like cereals is much greater than federal guidelines recommend:

More than three-quarters of children’s cereals do not meet the federal Interagency Working Group's proposed nutrition guidelines for 2016. Far more meet the industry’s standards for foods nutritious enough to be marketed to children.

Eighty-two percent of General Mills children's cereals don't meet the federal guidelines, but only 5 percent fail to meet the industry's standards. Not surprisingly, General Mills has joined other food, media, and entertainment companies in calling to replace the government proposal with industry's more lenient guidelines.

But major cereal makers don't even take their own industry's targets seriously; one-fourth of children's cereals contain too much sugar.

So what's a parent to do? In my house growing up, my folks were partial to a rather dreary cereal called Amaranth Flakes. If you prefer your cereal a bit less austere, these major brands are good choices, says EWG

  • Kellogg's Mini-Wheats:
    Unfrosted Bite- Size,
    Frosted Big Bite,
    Frosted Bite-Size,
    Frosted Little Bite
  • General Mills Cheerios Original
  • General Mills Kix Original

Even cheaper, and hardly any sugar at all: a bowl of oatmeal.

The EWG has more breakfast factoids and suggestions here.

Kiera Butler is the articles editor at Mother Jones. For more of her stories, click here. Get Kiera Butler's RSS feed.


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Parasites, The Merchants of Mayhem

Chronic Yeast Infections
Health Truth

The Biamonte Center for
Clinical Nutrition


Parasites, The Merchants of Mayhem

Part One

A GEOGRAPHICAL LOOK AT PARASITES!

Complied by Michael C Biamonte CCN

Parasites are not a very happy subject. Most doctors believe that Parasites only occur in 3rd world countries and cannot occur in the US. They are truly “Merchants of Mayhem”. Why? Because, 1.They lie hidden in our bodies below our detection and awareness. 2. They are rarely revealed in even the best tests that seek to discover their presence in our bodies. 3. They create and cost a host of symptoms and medical conditions that are rarely attributed to them.

However, the issue of parasites has been getting some interestingly ignored press in several well know magazines over the years.

In the words of National Geographic –magazine our intestines and colons can become "a sinister world of monstrous creatures that feed on living flesh: parasites".

Discover magazine published a feature article in its August 2000 issue:

"Every living thing has at least one parasite that lives inside or on it, and many, including humans, have far more. ...Scientists...are only just beginning to discover exactly how powerful these hidden inhabitants can be, but their research is pointing to a remarkable possibility: Parasites may rule the world. The notion that tiny creatures we've largely taken for granted are such a dominant force is immensely disturbing. ...We are collections of cells that work together, kept harmonized by chemical signals. If an organism can control those signals - an organism like a parasite - then it can control us. And therein lies the peculiar and precise horror of parasites."

The combination of environmental toxins, an unhealthy diet and parasites poses a grave danger to humans. "In fact, parasites have killed more humans than all the wars in history", reported National Geographic in its award-winning documentary, The Body Snatchers.

Here are descriptions of the most common parasites found in ordinary people.

Hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale)

The human hookworms include two nematode (roundworm) species, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. (Adult females: 10 to 13 mm (A. duodenale), 9 to 11 mm (N. americanus); adult males: 8 to 11 mm (A. duodenale), 7 to 9 mm (N. americanus). A smaller group of hookworms infecting animals can invade and parasitize humans (A. ceylanicum) or can penetrate the human skin (causing cutaneous larva migrans), but do not develop any further (A. braziliense, Uncinaria stenocephala).

Eggs are passed in the stool , and under favorable conditions (moisture, warmth, shade), larvae hatch in 1 to 2 days. The released rhabditiform larvae grow in the feces and/or the soil , and after 5 to 10 days (and two molts) they become become filariform (third-stage) larvae that are infective . These infective larvae can survive 3 to 4 weeks in favorable environmental conditions. On contact with the human host, the larvae penetrate the skin and are carried through the veins to the heart and then to the lungs. They penetrate into the pulmonary alveoli, ascend the bronchial tree to the pharynx, and are swallowed . The larvae reach the small intestine, where they reside and mature into adults. Adult worms live in the lumen of the small intestine, where they attach to the intestinal wall with resultant blood loss by the host . Most adult worms are eliminated in 1 to 2 years, but longevity records can reach several years.

Some A. duodenale larvae, following penetration of the host skin, can become dormant (in the intestine or muscle). In addition, infection by A. duodenale may probably also occur by the oral and transmammary route. N. americanus, however, requires a transpulmonary migration phase.

Geographic Distribution: The second most common human helminthic infection (after ascariasis). Worldwide distribution, mostly in areas with moist, warm climate. Both N. americanus and A. duodenale are found in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Necator americanus predominates in the Americas and Australia, while only A. duodenale is found in the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe.

Roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides)

Ascaris lumbricoides is the largest nematode (roundworm) parasitizing the human intestine. Immature or adult A.lumbricoides are sometimes passed in stools. Adult males measure 15-30 cm in length by 0.3-0.8 cm in diameter and have a ventrally curved tail; adult females measure 20-35 cm in length by 0.5 cm in diameter. Adult worms live in the lumen of the small intestine. A female may produce approximately 200,000 eggs per day, which are passed with the feces . Unfertilized eggs may be ingested but are not infective. Fertile eggs embryonate and become infective after 18 days to several weeks , depending on the environmental conditions (optimum: moist, warm, shaded soil). After infective eggs are swallowed , the larvae hatch , invade the intestinal mucosa, and are carried via the portal, then systemic circulation to the lungs . The larvae mature further in the lungs (10 to 14 days), penetrate the alveolar walls, ascend the bronchial tree to the throat, and are swallowed . Upon reaching the small intestine, they develop into adult worms . Between 2 and 3 months are required from ingestion of the infective eggs to oviposition by the adult female. Adult worms can live 1 to 2 years.

Geographic Distribution: The most common human helminthic infection. Worldwide distribution. Highest prevalence in tropical and subtropical regions, and areas with inadequate sanitation. Occurs in rural areas of the southeastern United States.

Pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis)

The nematode Enterobius vermicularis (previously Oxyuris vermicularis) also called human pinworm. (Adult females: 8 to 13 mm, adult male: 2 to 5 mm.) Humans are considered to be the only hosts of E. vermicularis. A second species, Enterobius gregorii, has been described and reported from Europe, Africa, and Asia. For all practical purposes, the morphology, life cycle, clinical presentation, and treatment of E. gregorii is identical to E. vermicularis.

Eggs are deposited on perianal folds . Self-infection occurs by transferring infective eggs to the mouth with hands that have scratched the perianal area . Person-to-person transmission can also occur through handling of contaminated clothes or bed linens. Enterobiasis may also be acquired through surfaces in the environment that are contaminated with pinworm eggs (e.g., curtains, carpeting). Some small number of eggs may become airborne and inhaled. These would be swallowed and follow the same development as ingested eggs. Following ingestion of infective eggs, the larvae hatch in the small intestine and the adults establish themselves in the colon . The time interval from ingestion of infective eggs to oviposition by the adult females is about one month. The life span of the adults is about two months. Gravid females migrate nocturnally outside the anus and oviposit while crawling on the skin of the perianal area . The larvae contained inside the eggs develop (the eggs become infective) in 4 to 6 hours under optimal conditions . Retroinfection, or the migration of newly hatched larvae from the anal skin back into the rectum, may occur but the frequency with which this happens is unknown.

Geographic Distribution: Worldwide, with infections more frequent in school- or preschool- children and in crowded conditions. Enterobiasis appears to be more common in temperate than tropical countries. The most common helminthic infection in the United States (an estimated 40 million persons infected).

Schistosoma

Schistosomiasis is caused by digenetic blood trematodes. The three main species infecting humans are Schistosoma haematobium, S. japonicum, and S. mansoni. Two other species, more localized geographically, are S. mekongi and S. intercalatum. In addition, other species of schistosomes, which parasitize birds and mammals, can cause cercarial dermatitis in humans.

Eggs are eliminated with feces or urine . Under optimal conditions the eggs hatch and release miracidia , which swim and penetrate specific snail intermediate hosts . The stages in the snail include 2 generations of sporocysts and the production of cercariae . Upon release from the snail, the infective cercariae swim, penetrate the skin of the human host , and shed their forked tail, becoming schistosomulae . The schistosomulae migrate through several tissues and stages to their residence in the veins ( , ). Adult worms in humans reside in the mesenteric venules in various locations, which at times seem to be specific for each species . For instance, S. japonicum is more frequently found in the superior mesenteric veins draining the small intestine , and S. mansoni occurs more often in the superior mesenteric veins draining the large intestine . However, both species can occupy either location, and they are capable of moving between sites, so it is not possible to state unequivocally that one species only occurs in one location. S. haematobium most often occurs in the venous plexus of bladder , but it can also be found in the rectal venules. The females (size 7 to 20 mm; males slightly smaller) deposit eggs in the small venules of the portal and perivesical systems. The eggs are moved progressively toward the lumen of the intestine (S. mansoni and S. japonicum) and of the bladder and ureters (S. haematobium), and are eliminated with feces or urine, respectively . Pathology of S. mansoni and S. japonicum schistosomiasis includes: Katayama fever, hepatic perisinusoidal egg granulomas, Symmers’ pipe stem periportal fibrosis, portal hypertension, and occasional embolic egg granulomas in brain or spinal cord. Pathology of S. haematobium schistosomiasis includes: hematuria, scarring, calcification, squamous cell carcinoma, and occasional embolic egg granulomas in brain or spinal cord.

Human contact with water is thus necessary for infection by schistosomes. Various animals, such as dogs, cats, rodents, pigs, hourse and goats, serve as reservoirs for S. japonicum, and dogs for S. mekongi.

Geographic Distribution: Schistosoma mansoni is found in parts of South America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East; S. haematobium in Africa and the Middle East; and S. japonicum in the Far East. Schistosoma mekongi and S. intercalatum are found focally in Southeast Asia and central West Africa, respectively.

Tapeworm

The cestodes (tapeworms) Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) and Taenia solium (pork tapeworm). T.saginata may measure 9 m (27 ft), whereas T.solium may reach 6 m (18 ft). Taeniasis occurs when raw or undercooked unfrozen beef (T.saginata) or pork (T.solium) are eaten. T. solium can also cause cysticercosis.

Humans are the only definitive hosts for Taenia saginata and Taenia solium. Eggs or gravid proglottids are passed with feces ; the eggs can survive for days to months in the environment. Cattle (T. saginata) and pigs (T. solium) become infected by ingesting vegetation contaminated with eggs or gravid proglottids . In the animal's intestine, the oncospheres hatch , invade the intestinal wall, and migrate to the striated muscles, where they develop into cysticerci. A cysticercus can survive for several years in the animal. Humans become infected by ingesting raw or undercooked infected meat . In the human intestine, the cysticercus develops over 2 months into an adult tapeworm, which can survive for years. The adult tapeworms attach to the small intestine by their scolex and reside in the small intestine . Length of adult worms is usually 5 m or less for T. saginata (however it may reach up to 25 m) and 2 to 7 m for T. solium. The adults produce proglottids which mature, become gravid, detach from the tapeworm, and migrate to the anus or are passed in the stool (approximately 6 per day). T. saginata adults usually have 1,000 to 2,000 proglottids, while T. solium adults have an average of 1,000 proglottids. The eggs contained in the gravid proglottids are released after the proglottids are passed with the feces. T. saginata may produce up to 100,000 and T. solium may produce 50,000 eggs per proglottid respectively.

Geographic Distribution: Both species are worldwide in distribution. Taenia solium is more prevalent in poorer communities where humans live in close contact with pigs and eat undercooked pork, and in very rare in Muslim countries.

Whipworm (Trichuris trichiura)

The nematode Trichuris trichiura, also called the human whipworm. The adult female measures about 35-50 mm in length, and the male about 30-45 mm. The unembryonated eggs are passed with the stool . In the soil, the eggs develop into a 2-cell stage , an advanced cleavage stage , and then they embryonate ; eggs become infective in 15 to 30 days. After ingestion (soil-contaminated hands or food), the eggs hatch in the small intestine, and release larvae that mature and establish themselves as adults in the colon . The adult worms (approximately 4 cm in length) live in the cecum and ascending colon. The adult worms are fixed in that location, with the anterior portions threaded into the mucosa. The females begin to oviposit 60 to 70 days after infection. Female worms in the cecum shed between 3,000 and 20,000 eggs per day. The life span of the adults is about 1 year.

Geographic Distribution: The third most common roundworm of humans. Worldwide, with infections more frequent in areas with tropical weather and poor sanitation practices, and among children. It is estimated that 800 million people are infected worldwide. Trichuriasis occurs in the southern United States.

In part 2 of this series we will examine symptoms and medical conditions caused by “Parasites, The Merchants of Mayhem” Ref; Source: CDC - DPDx: Laboratory Identification of Parasites of Public Health Concern Sincerely: Michael Biamonte CCN.



Parasites, The Merchants of Mayhem

Part 2

Symptoms and Medical Conditions that can be caused!

Compiled by Michael C Biamonte CCN

General Symptoms of Parasitic Infection

Acute parasite infection is usually characterized by greater or lesser abdominal distress and diarrhea, often urgent and attended by burning sensations and tremendous fluid loss. Only rarely is there any visible evidence of infection. Moreover, many laboratories fail to detect the presence of parasites even when presented with specimens from infected persons. It is therefore sometimes necessary for the patient to determine whether infection is likely and to self-administer some remedy since allopathic medicine requires a diagnosis before prescriptions can be written.

Once a condition has moved from acute to chronic, there may be alternating periods of constipation and diarrhea, abdominal distention and bloating, intestinal cramping followed by burning sensations and the sudden urge to eliminate. Generally, there is malabsorption of nutrients, especially fatty foods. Irritable bowel syndrome, blood sugar fluctuations, sudden food cravings, and extreme emaciation or overweight are all possible symptoms—but, as stated, not necessarily proof of parasitic infection. Itching is a possible clue to infection, especially among children; however, the absence of itching does not mean there is no infection. The itching tends to be worst where there is moisture: nose, eyes, ears, and of course the anus. Skin sensitivity is also common: rashes, eczema-like conditions, and even serious eruptions.

Many parasites affect the nervous system and give rise to sleep disorders, such as insomnia. In children, hyperactivity is common, but adults may have symptoms ranging from depression to anxiety. Some parasites affect the brain and memory.

In our practice we have had many children who seizures improved greatly after doing a parasite elimination program. So much so that one patient referred over 10 other patients that she had met in her childs Neurologists waiting room. In time all were able to obtain similar improvements and their Neurologist was able to discontinue their medications.

In short, the part of the body affected depends on where the parasites have invaded: blood, intestines, liver, pancreas, kidneys, brain, etc. To make infection even more difficult to determine, add to this scenario the fact that many, if not most, parasites migrate so the symptoms could change depending on where the parasites are at any given time.

The 2 Most Common Ailments Associated with Parasites

Diseases caused by parasites are fairly common in children who play in dirt where worms and other parasites live. The parasites often go from the ground into a child’s body when the child puts his dirty hands into his mouth. Parasites also get into children’s bodies when they kiss or hug or play with pets who have infected worms or ticks on their bodies. And finally, parasites may enter the body when an infected insect, like a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite, bites someone’s skin. Malaria

This is an infection caused by one of four kinds of malarial parasite. It comes about when a person is bitten by a mosquito that is infected with the. parasite. During the first week of malaria, the patient will have attacks of fever, headaches, and chilly sensations. Then, during the weeks afterward, he may feel fine one day, and the next day he may have a high fever and severe chills lasting for a few hours. Then, he will break out in a great sweat. This situation continues with one day high fever and chills, the next day no fever or chills. The mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasites breed primarily in the humid, hot climate of the tropics and subtropics. They are seldom found in temperate regions.

An ameba is a single-celled animal organism that may cause diseases in children. The most common of such diseases is dysentery caused by Endameba histolytica. The diagnosis of malaria is made by taking a little sample of the patient’s blood and examining it under a microscope. On examination, the malaria parasite will be found. Malaria attacks may go on for many weeks or months if treatment isn’t given. Fortunately, there are several excellent medications to control malaria, but they must be given over a long period of time in order to cure the condition. To prevent this disease, someone who is in an area where malaria exists should take ant malarial pills every day. Also, he should protect himself against being bitten by mosquitoes.

Amebic dysentery

This is a form of diarrhea caused by a tiny one-celled animal parasite called the ameba. A child with amebic dysentery will have crampy pains in his abdomen, many watery, loose bowel movements, loss of appetite, loss of weight, and anemia.

The diagnosis of this condition is made by examining the stool in a laboratory and seeing the ameba parasite under a microscope. Luckily, there are excellent medicines to kill the parasite and cure the child.

To prevent amebic dysentery, a child must be very clean about his body and his eating habits. Also, if he isn’t careful, he may spread the infection to other members of his family.

Ailments Reported By Other Health Practitioners

Dr. Hulda Clark - “I have seen that eczema is due to roundworms. Seizures are caused by a single roundworm, Ascarts, getting into the brain. Schizophrenia and depression are caused by parasites in the brain. Asthma is caused by Ascaris in the lungs. Diabetes is caused by the pancreatic fluke of cattle, Eurytrema. Migraines are caused by the threadworm, Strongyloides. Acme rosacea is caused by a Leishmania. Much human heart disease is caused by dog heartworm, Dirofilaria. And the list goes on and on." Two main kinds of arthritis are recognized clinically, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In osteoarthritis the joints have bacteria living in the deposits left there. In rheumatoid arthritis the bacteria come from larger parasites -- wormlets actually living in these joints. The worms are the common little roundworms whose eggs hatch into microscopic wormlets that travel.

Suzanne M. Skinner, PhD., RNC, HHP, CH is a Nutritionist and Holistic Health Practitioner –“In my practice, I always find parasites and worms associated with the following diseases: Diabetes, hypoglycemia, juvenile diabetes, anorexia, asthma, depression, anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS, cancer, tumors, anorexia, bulimia, colitis, epilepsy, hyper-activity syndromes, learning disabilities, baldness, prostate trouble, appendicitis (the appendix is a favorite place for parasites), elevated white blood counts, Hodgkin's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, psoriasis, some eczemas, leukemia, lymphoma, arthritis, leprosy, ulcerative colitis, low hemoglobin, poor blood quality, iron deficiencies and most bowel disorders.”

Contagious Canine Cancer Spread by Parasites

By Charles Q. Choi, Special to Live Science -Dogs have a form of sexually transmitted cancer that for 200 to 2,500 years has apparently spread via contagious tumor cells that escaped from their original body and now travel around the world as parasites.

These cells are the oldest cancers known to science thus far, and could shed light on how cancers survive and evade the immune system. Lung Disease in The Tropics by Om P Sharma- Section page 33 explains that Parasites migrate through the lungs as part of their life cycle.

The Arthritis Center of Riverside has been established since 1988. Al Robert Franco, MD, FACR is the founder and Medical Director. -The interrelationship between infections and rheumatic diseases has been discussed in the medical literature for decades. Microorganisms that cause bone and joint disease include bacteria, Mycoplasmas, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Parasites have been associated with joint and bone lesions. These include protozoa, flat worms, and round worms.

Eugene Zampieron, ND, Ellen Kamhi PhD RN -“Dysbiosis”, the proliferation of “unfriendly” microorganisms, including bacteria, yeast, fungi and parasites, is not widely recognized by conventional medicine as a cause of arthritis. Yet, these organisms are present in a large majority of people who suffer from muscle and joint pains. “Molecular Mimicry” is an additional complication, which arises when organisms in the gut camouflage themselves to resemble human tissue to escape detection by the immune system. When the immune system eventually makes antibodies to the bacteria, it also begins to make antibodies to the similarly structured human tissue, leading to an autoimmune cascade.

Dr. Ronen Arai is Senior Fellow in Gastroenterology at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine in Miami, Florida.-There are many kinds of parasites that can invade the liver, causing acute and/or chronic liver damage depending on the type of parasite involved. Some clues to the type of parasite affecting your friend's mother may lie in her eating habits, as well as her ethnicity.

One parasitic disease, trichinosis, arises from eating undercooked meat. In this disease, parasites can affect the bile ducts draining the liver, leading to right-sided abdominal pain, fever, jaundice and an enlarged liver. While the patient may be acutely ill, anti-parasitic drug therapy will usually lead to resolution. Trichinosis does not typically lead to cirrhosis.

Another parasitic infestation, clonorchiasis, is linked to eating raw fish. This infection is most common in Asia. It is a more chronic disease than trichinosis, and patients usually do not experience symptoms until long after the initial parasitic infection. Symptoms include right-sided abdominal pain and jaundice. Imaging studies of the abdomen and liver may reveal evidence of the obstruction of the bile ducts draining the liver -- a situation that may be mistaken for cancer of the bile ducts. Ironically, by causing chronic inflammation in the bile ducts, long-standing clonorchiasis sometimes actually leads to bile-duct cancer. Although the disease is usually diagnosed when bile-duct obstruction occurs, if it is not detected soon enough, scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) may have already occurred.

Finally, cirrhosis of the liver can be a direct result of parasitic disease. In a condition called schistosomiasis, parasites travel to the liver and settle in the liver's small veins. After some time, scarring (cirrhosis) occurs as a result of the inflammation and the body's attempt to fight the infestation. This parasite is acquired via skin exposure, usually from wading barefoot in fresh water in Asian countries.

Questions to Ask Yourself!

DO YOU GRIND YOUR TEETH AT NIGHT?

Teeth grinding is often caused by a calcium deficiency. However parasites have been found to block the absorption of calcium which can then lead to the calcium deficiency.

DOES YOUR CHILD SUFFER FROM SEIZURES?

In our practice we have been alarmed at the number of young children suffering with seizures who have improved after doing a parasite cleanse! The improvements range from 50% to 100%.

DO YOU HAVE SEIZURES OR EPILEPSY?

According to Dr. Thomas Brooks’s author of "The Essentials of Medical Parasitology", neurological disorders occur when the central nervous system is invaded by parasites. The tiny larva from the pork tapeworm can get into the brain. If they get into the right spots, seizures and epilepsy will occur.

DO YOU HAVE RECTAL ITCH THAT WORSENS AT NIGHT?

This is caused by pinworms or "seat worms". The crawling of the worm on the perianal area produces the intense itching. When you scratch yourself the parasites eggs get on your fingers! Parasites become more active at night when they deposit their eggs, particularly during a full moon. During these times their metabolisms speed up and they release more toxic wastes. These eggs deposit their eggs on pajamas and linens.

DO YOU HAVE SHORTNESS OF BREATH?

The eggs from roundworms travel through your entire system and go through different stages before settling in the intestines. At one of there stages they settle in the lungs. If too many larvae settle in the lungs, shortness of breath and lung inflammation can result.

DO YOU HAVE LIVER, JAUNDICE OR BILE DUCT PROBLEMS?

Roundworms have been known to leave the intestines and go into the liver or bile duct causing obstructions. They can also cause more serious liver problems and disease.

DO YOU HAVE CHRONIC VAGINAL YEAST OR ITCHING THAT DOESN’T RESPOND TO TREATMENT?

Parasites can live in the vaginal area. Even the kind that you can see with the naked eye! Parasites can cause yeast and keep it there! They can cause itching and inflammation by directly attacking the mucus lining of the vaginal area. If you ever have strings of mucus from the vaginal area or in your stool, look closely as it may be a worm. Look for something that looks like a head or for intestines running the length of its body.

DO YOU FEEL AS IF SOMETHING IS BITING OR CRAWLING UNDER YOUR SKIN?

As gross as it may sound, there are parasites that can crawl under different layers of skin and in the lymphatic system. They can also literally bite at skin and mucus membranes. Some people feel this at night while lying in bed and particularly in the rectal area.

DO YOU GET UNCONTROLLABLE FOOD CRAVINGS?

Many parasites live and crave sugar. They can rob you of so much of your nourishment that your blood sugar can crash causing hypoglycemia. Some parasites love fat and grease and can cause you to crave chips, fries and fast foods!

DO YOU HAVE UNEXPLAINED BONE LOSS?

Certain parasites eat the calcium right off your bones! These parasites are microscopic and hard to locate. If you are having unexplained bone loss at an early age this could be why.

DO YOU GET UNEXPLAINED FEVERS AND DIARRHEA?

Many of us think of fever and diarrhea as being caused by viruses. However, if your symptoms began particularly after swimming in a river, lake or stream, you may have contracted a parasite called Guardia. Giardia commonly causes fever and diarrhea. It occurs from time to time in New York public water supplies.

DO YOU HAVE CHRONIC DERMATITIS COVERING LARGE AREAS OR MOST OF YOUR BODY?

Reports from my own office and from colleagues of mine show that people with severe chronic dermatitis are infected with many parasites. Dramatic and miraculous improvements have occurred by doing parasite cleansing.

HAVE YOU BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ANEMIA OR HAVE YOU BEEN CHRONICALLY TIRED FOR YEARS AND NOTHING HAS HELPED?

Some parasites called hookworms can attach themselves to the lining of the intestines and bite into our blood vessels drinking our blood. Chronic hookworm disease can cause extreme and chronic anemia. Cats are a common source of these worms. These worm eggs can easily get into your system after you contact your pet!

HAVE YOU HAD A RASH OR ITCHY SKIN AND THEN A MONTH LATER HAD FEVER, CHILLS, COUGH AND MUSCLE ACHES THAT WON’T GO AWAY?

If so, you may have Schistosomaisis. This is an illness caused by your body's reaction to the eggs of worms. You can get it by swimming in water that has had certain types of snails living in it. These parasites absorb through the skin. The parasite is normally found in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

DO YOU HAVE HAIR LOSS, ROUGH SKIN OR A TENDENCY TO FLUSH AROUND THE FACIAL REGION?

If so, you may have a parasitic mite known as demodex brevis or demodex folliculorum. This parasite can live in the hair follicle. It sucks out the nutrients at the root of the hair. The follicle becomes enlarged and infected causing loss of hair and inflammation. When living on the skin, it feeds on nutrients in the sebaceous glands, they become infected and inflamed and the skin may then thicken. Acne Rosacea can also be caused by this parasite.

DO YOU GET DIARRHEA, GAS, STOMACH CRAMPS, AND NAUSEA, VOMITING, FATIGUE, WEIGHT LOSS AND LOW GRADE FEVER FOR SEVERAL WEEKS THEN GOES AWAY AND THEN RETURNS?

If yes, you may have a parasite that has been found on raspberries called cyclosporiasis. It came into this country from Guatemala on raspberries. There were two large out breaks of it in May and June of 1996. It is very hard to diagnosis. If you feel you have this, please notify the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

DO YOU HAVE CHRONIC ABDOMINAL PAIN, WEAKNESS, LOSS OF WEIGHT, NAUSEA AND DIZZINESS?

If yes, you may have a tapeworm that comes from eating rare beef.

This tape worm takes up to 3 months to grow into an adult after it’s ingested. This worm can grow from 13 to 39 feet in length. It is considered the second largest tape worm.

HAVE YOU HAD CONSTIPATION AND CHRONIC ANEMIA?

There is a fish tape worm that can reach 33 feet in length! In fact, it can get so big that it can cause colon blockage which will appear to you as constipation. It can cause anemia, interfering with B12 absorption. Researchers Davies and Goldsmid in 1978 also found that roundworms can cause intestinal obstructions. This happens when many roundworms "ball up" into one big mass.

DO YOU SUFFER FROM UNEXPLAINED CONVULSIONS OR FITS?

According to Geoffrey Lapage the author of "ANIMALS PARASITIC IN MAN", poisonous substances produced by this same beef tapeworm can cause unexplained convulsions. The worm can even damage the intestines causing ulceration's and infections.

In part 3 of “Parasites the Merchants of Mayhem” we will discuss parasite treatments.


Parasites, The Merchants of Mayhem

Part Three
The Art and Science of Their Elimination
Compiled by Michael C Biamonte CCN

Pharmaceuticals and Parasites

W Peters wrote in the Institute of Medicine. Division of International Health. Pharmaceuticals for developing countries. (Conference proceedings, Washington, D.C., January 29-31, 1979) Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences, 1979. (IOM-79-001) p. 59-82 , “Simple improvements in personal hygiene, in water supplies, in disposal of excreta, and in housing do more to reduce or even eliminate many parasitic diseases than the use of specific anti-parasitic drugs. Also needed in the future will be new and better drugs to help prevent and control many parasitic conditions. Full collaboration of the pharmaceutical industry is essential if new anti-parasitic drugs are to be discovered. It is also necessary to strengthen the facilities for clinical trials of new drugs as they emerge.”

In a Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA (2000-11-12) called “Economic Realities Depleting Arsenal” November 12th, 2000

While resistance may be reducing the effectiveness of our medicine chest, we have another force to fear: economics.


Many drugs still effective against parasitic diseases are either no longer available, no longer manufactured, or in danger of being pulled from the market simply because they are not

economically viable, say researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a presentation during the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in October 2000.


"Parasites are a very common cause of disease in the world but because there is no market for anti-parasitic

The Secret of an Effective Parasite Program

Herbal treatments for parasitic infections are widely available and have been historically effective if used correctly. Over a 20 year period, I have personally used and tested dozens of formulas and products. Freshness and quality of the herbs are often more important than the formulation. One can have an amazing formula, but if the quality of the herbs are poor, and if they are so old as to render the active ingredients, then the product will not provide satisfactory results.


When one opens the package containing the herbs there should be a strong aromatic smell to the product. The product should not look oxidized, moldy or be disintegrating. It should not smell musty, moldy, or chemically. They should smell fresh, vibrant, and grassy or flowery depending on the herb.


Adult parasites, commonly seen with the naked eye are typically referred to as worms. Worms may also be called helminthes, particularly in medical terminology when referring to parasitic worms, especially the Nematode (roundworms) and Cestoda (tapeworms). Hence "helminthology" is the study of parasitic worms. When an animal, such as a dog, is said to "have worms", it means that it is infested with parasitic worms, typically roundworms or tapeworms.


Worms in general are easy to kill using the herbs. The true challenge is destroying the eggs that are being constantly laid. The eggs are almost impossible to kill due to the frequency at which they are produced. As the herbs kill the adults the eggs they have laid begin to hatch. Mother Nature loves all her babies, not just us. So the protocol must be carried out long enough to kill the eggs that hatch and to permeate the eggs as they are laid in order to kill them. The length of time is typically agreed upon as being 30 -90 days. If one does not complete the cleanse in that time period, the products they are using are either inferior or they are being reinfected.


Also antioxidant vitamins must be avoided during the 30, 60 or 90 cleanse period. The vitamins will serve as antidotes for the herbal medicines and protect the parasites from their effects. Why bother doing a parasite cleanse if you are going to revive them with vitamins!

Traditional Herbal and Botanical Treatments for Parasites

There are many herbal-botanicals that have been used for microscopic parasite infections (protozoa) and for intestinal worm infections (helminthes). In this section we are going to concentrate on the key herbs that are generally agreed upon by most herbalists as being the most important for the elimination of helminthes. Keep in mind that there are other adjunctive substances used besides the ones mentioned here!

Black Walnut Hulls

Organically grown green black walnut extract is what is preferred by most practitioners. It is considered a powerful vermifuge agent for treating parasite conditions. Green black walnut extract is made from organically grown, green black walnut hulls. It is produced in a special way that maximizes its potency. Green black walnut extract greatly assists the removal of parasites from extra cellular fluids, such as the blood and lymph, and in organs such as the liver, kidneys, brain, heart and intestinal tract.


Several species of walnut trees grow in the United States. Two of these are native to the East – the black walnut and the butternut, also called the white walnut. Black walnut trees grow in forests from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Texas. They are hardy trees that are grown mainly for their lumber. The nuts also are harvested and sold. They have a distinctive and rich flavor, but their shell is hard and thick.


Black walnut wood is dark purplish-brown, with a fine grain and luster. It is valuable for interior finishing, furniture, and gunstocks. This wood is becoming rare.
The Black Walnut Hull contains a number of active ingredients, of which the most important are juglone, tannins and iodine.


Juglone is a brown constituent of the black walnut hull, leafs, bark and even roots. It is called a phytotoxic allelochemical. Phytotoxic means that it kills plants, and allelochemical means that the black walnut tree produces this chemical to keep other plants from growing around it. You may have noticed that vegetation under black walnut trees is rather scarce, and this is the reason. Since yeast and fungus in humans are also plants, it has been conjectured that it will work against fungus as well and it has been described as an anti-fungal in many herbal reference books. There is some scientific evidence also. Whether juglone works against parasitic infections is matter of scientific discussion. However, the NIH (National Institute of Health) writes: “Crushed unripe walnut hulls have been used for generations in various types of folk medicine […] to treat fungal, bacterial or viral infections such as herpes or warts. External applications of walnut also kill ringworm, and Chinese herbalists use this substance to kill tapeworm.”


Since we suspect that juglone is the most important ingredient in black walnut hull tincture; and since it can quickly oxidize whereby the tincture becomes less potent, we have developed a laboratory method to monitor the concentration of juglone in our black walnut hull tincture.

Tannins act as a defense mechanism in plants against pathogens, herbivores, and hostile environmental conditions. The antihelminthic properties of tannins have been shown in scientific studies. Tannins are described to be antibacterial, anticancer, antidiarrheic, antihepatotoxic, chelator, antihypertensive, anti-tumor, cancer preventive, anti-ulcer. Unfortunately, little scientific information can be found about it.


Iodine is widely used as an antiseptic in medicine. It works by attaching itself to the pathogenic bacteria and thereby killing them.

Artemisia annua

The species of wormwood known as Artemisia annua has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of fevers and malaria for many centuries. The active antimalarial compound known as artemisinin was isolated by Chinese researchers in the early 1970s. Since then research has focused on artemisinin and its semi-synthetic derivatives such as artemether and artesunate. These drugs have become established as safe and effective antimalarial drugs which have particular value in the treatment of chloroquine-resistant parasites. However, a group of German scientists have focused their research effort on the use of the whole herb, particularly when taken as an infusion with boiling water. The motivation behind this research is to understand the value of the traditional use of Artemisia annua for the treatment of malaria, because this application could readily be adopted in poor countries such as Africa where the semi-synthetic drugs are relatively expensive.

How it works!

This herb interacts with the iron found in the cancer cell, the parasite or the yeast organism. This creates “oxidative stress” or “free radical” activity in the Parasite, Cancer cell or Candida/ Yeast cell which kills them!


It is most effective against roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and pinworms. Artemisia contains the toxins thujone and isothujone which are the components that kill parasites. It also contains santonin which is known as a remedy for parasitic diseases. It is the second bitterest herb known to man. It also contains sesquiterpene lactones, which work similar to peroxide by weakening the parasites membranes therefore killing them.


A research team investigated the clinical efficacy of an Artemisia annua tea in the treatment of subacute malaria in Africa. In an uncontrolled study, 48 patients received the tea for 4 days (5g dried leaves infused in 1 liter of hot water). After the treatment, 92% of patients had no detectable parasites in their bloodstream and there were significant improvements in subjective symptoms in 70% of the treated patients


Recent use of Artemisia annua, or more specifically artemisinin, as an anticancer agent has been studied. This development is based on the finding that cancer cells have a much higher

concentration of iron than normal cells. (It is thought that artemisinin interacts with iron to generate reactive oxygen species (free radicals) which kill the malaria parasite.) Tests on cancer cell lines have established that artemisinin is also selectively toxic to cancer cells, presumably because their higher iron levels result in cytotoxic effects following free radical generation after contact with artemisinin. This is why antioxidant vitamins should be avoided while on the parasite cleanse. The same mechanism holds true in Parasites, Cancer and Candida/Yeast.

Cloves

A small evergreen tree, pyramidal, trunk soon divides into large branches covered with a smooth grayish bark; leaves large, entire, oblong, lanceolate (always bright green color), which stand in pairs on short foot-stalks, when bruised very fragrant. Flowers grow in bunches at the end of the branches.


At the start of the rainy season long greenish buds appear; from the extremity of these the corolla comes which is of a lovely rosy peach color; as the corolla fades the calyx turns yellow, then red. The calyces, with the embryo seed, are at this stage beaten from the tree and when dried are the cloves of commerce. The flowers have a strong refreshing odor. If the seeds are allowed to mature, most of the pungency is lost. Each berry has only one seed. The trees fruit is usually about eight or nine years after planting. The whole tree is highly aromatic. The spice was introduced into Europe from the fourth to the sixth century.


The finest cloves come from Molucca and Pemba, where the trees grow better than anywhere else, but they are also imported from the East and West Indies, Mauritius and Brazil.

In commerce the varieties are known by the names of the localities in which they are grown. Formerly Cloves were often adulterated, but as production increased the price lowered and fraud has decreased. Cloves contain a large amount of essential oil which is much used in medicine. When of good quality they are fat, oily, and dark brown in color, and give out their oil when squeezed with the finger-nail. When pale color and dry, they are of inferior quality and yield little oil. Clove stalks are sometimes imported, and are said to be stronger and more pungent even than the Cloves.


Clove trees absorb an enormous amount of moisture, and if placed near water their weight is visibly increased after a few hours; dishonest dealers often make use of this knowledge in their dealings, and the powdered stems are often sold as pure powdered Cloves.


The most stimulating and carminative of all aromatics; given in powder or infusion for nausea emesis, flatulence, languid indigestion and dyspepsia, and used chiefly to assist the action of other medicines. The medicinal properties reside in the volatile oil. The oil must be kept in dark bottles in a cool place. If distilled with water, salt must be added to raise the temperature of ebullition and the same Cloves must be distilled over and over again to get their full essence.


The oil is frequently adulterated with fixed oil and oil of Pimento and Copaiba. As a local irritant it stimulates peristalsis. It is a strong germicide, a powerful antiseptic; a feeble local anesthetic applied to decayed teeth, and has been used with success as a stimulating expectorant in phthisis and bronchial troubles. Fresh infusion of Cloves contains astringent matter as well as the volatile oil. The infusion and Clove water are good vehicles for alkali’s and aromatics.


Cloves have been reputed by researcher Hulda Clark PhD, as being highly effective in killing the larva or egg stage of the parasite.


For parasite cleansing, it is necessary to use fresh cloves that have not been irradiated. Most spices are irradiated with 35,000 the amount of radiation permitted in a chest x-ray. This is ostensibly done to eradicate bacteria, but spices are generally excellent bactericides so the irradiation is merely a way of destroying the precious properties of spices. Non-irradiated spices are available from most high-end health foods stores, and we, of course, carry these spices.

Cloves are among the most antibacterial spices known, but as we all know, a few cloves go a long way. Those with some familiarity with herbal medicine know that clove oil is also used to numb pain due to dental infection; but few know that part of the reason clove oil works so well is that it alleviates the infection. Cloves are antiseptic, bactericidal, and antiparasitic.


Cloves are among the most potent and volatile of herbs and have been known to melt through their capsules. They have a similar affect on parasite eggs in your body and this is why you will need them. They specifically target all parasite eggs in your body and are used during your program to prevent reinfestation.


Cloves contain caryophyllene, and tannins which are powerful anti-microbial properties – these components are what actually travel in the bloodstream killing microscopic parasites and all parasitic larvae and eggs. Cloves do not kill the parasites - cloves contain the chemical "eugenol" which melts the hard plastic-like casing around parasite eggs. This allows the larvae inside of the egg to be destroyed.


Eugenol is among the most powerful anti-microbial agents known. Eugenol kills all microscopic protozoa and removes parasite eggs in every stage of development
Cloves are tremendously effective in killing malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, scabies and other parasites, viruses, bacteria and fungi including Candida. Cloves also destroy pseudomonas aeruginosa, all species of shigella, staph and strep...

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is fossilized, single celled organisms called diatoms. Diatoms walls consist of two parts and contain a mineral called silica. Under a very strong microscope, diatoms have very sharp edges.


"DE", as it's abbreviated, has the neat quality of killing insects. (Unfortunately, it kills good ones, like bees and ladybugs, too, so its use shouldn't be indiscriminate.) It is 100% ecologically safe to the environment and non-poisonous to man and beast. In fact, if you've eaten anything made with flour (like Bisquick), you've eaten DE. DE is a great remover of parasites and intestinal yeasts

It works by physically scraping and by tearing into them outside membrane as if they were being attacked by thousands of tiny knives. It consists of the broken up shells of tiny critters, called diatomes, that lived long ago and died in groups so massive that they can, today, be mined and bulldozed.

DE works by slicing open the exoskeleton (outer, hard covering) of insects, causing them to "bleed" to death. (Actually, their insides leak out, they dehydrate and die.) This same things happens to yeasts and parasites

When DE is sprinkled on the ground, on an ant mound, or mixed with grains, legumes, etc., it slices and dices the insects that walk through it And it won't hurt YOU when you ingest it, 'cause the 'sharp pieces' are too small to cut you as your membranes are too thick for it to penetrate. (Many farmers deliberately mix DE with animal feed to kill internal parasites in farm animals. The DE in the animal feces even kills the fly maggots that invariably appear in the patties.)

Castor oil

Castor oil, when encapsulated and frozen, will pass through the stomach and small intestine before dissolving. Freezing the capsule before ingesting totally eliminates the traditional cramping associated with castor oil liquid because the capsules dissolve in the ileum, the last three fifths of the small intestine. Here the digestive tract hydrolyses this oil into recinoleic acid which whilst harmless to humans is deadly to parasites. The ileum connects to the cecum by way of the ileocecal valve and the majority of parasites of all kinds will nest in the cecum area ( the lower end of the ascending colon where the large bowel begins ). This area is warm and moist, providing a plentiful source of fresh food for these poisonous invaders.


Castor oil not only suffocates parasites but is nature's penetrating oil for colon plaque. When the castor oil capsule is frozen it does not act as a laxative, is odorless and will not "burp" back. Suggested dosage is 2-6 capsules every 12 hours.

So there you have it, these are the most important items in parasite elimination, when used correctly they are effective in restoring a normal balance to the intestinal tract and eliminate the “Merchants of Mayhem!”

Sincerely:
Michael Biamonte CCN.