Antibiotics Are Now Wholly Ineffective –So What Can You Do?

If you’re lucky, your doctor will not prescribe you antibiotics unless they are absolutely vital in tackling your health problem. Why do I say lucky? Because over the past few years the evidence against the too free use of antibiotics has been growing and recently in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases was confirmation that they are becoming wholly ineffective as treatments for infection.

You may think well what has this to do with me, I never take antibiotics? Sadly you may never knowingly take them but you are certainly ingesting them on a regular basis as they are frequently used in feed for both animals and fish to prevent infection and once you eat them you are getting a dose too.

According to the report, even the most powerful antibiotics available are largely inadequate at tackling the emerging forms of new and powerful “super” bacteria. Professor Tim Walsh from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine’s Department of Infection, Immunity and Biochemistry investigated how common the NDM-1 producing antibiotic resistant bacteria are in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan and the importation of these bacteria into the UK via patients returning from these countries.

Professor Walsh has outlined how this new gene is changing the way infectious bacteria survive. The NDM 1 gene passes among bacteria like E. Coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and makes them resistant to antibiotics so that even carbapenems, the most powerful antibiotics available, are no match for these new bacteria.

Our reliance since the 1950s on the “magic bullet” school of medicine has led to massive overprescribing of antibiotics to treat infection and we have now reached the end of the road. The problem is that the bacteria evolved during the same period and have become resistant to most of the antibiotics. This means that in some cases more than double the amount of antibiotics is needed to fight a bacterial infection.

According to Professor Walsh there are no antibiotics in the pipeline that have activity against NDM 1-producing enterobacteriaceae and he posits that we have a bleak window of maybe ten years where we are going to have to use the antibiotics we have very wisely, but also grapple with the reality that we have nothing to treat these infections with.

If you are still wondering how important this could be then according to Dr. Livermore, director of the antibiotic resistance monitoring and reference laboratory at the U.K. Health Protection Agency, the entirety of modern medicine could collapse as a result of antibiotics becoming useless. “A lot of modern medicine would become impossible if we lost our ability to treat infections,” he stated.

Natural Solutions:

The simplest solution is to ensure that you never need to take antibiotics for infection and that means doing everything you can to support your body to fight infection naturally. This starts by supporting your immune system with a healthy diet, regular exercise and stress management and by boosting your immunity when needed with supplements including vitamins C and B, Zinc and Echinacea and maintaining a healthy gut with probiotics if necessary.

Our skin naturally produces bacterial fighting proteins but we disturb the natural balance. of microorganisms on the skin through the use of antibiotic creams. These affect the body’s ability to fight the bacteria and can even lead to more skin infections, but in most cases, you only need to wash the wound with an anti-bacterial soap.

We already have natural antibiotics in your body in the form of the live bacteria in our intestines to help with digestion and keep us healthy. These bacteria also fight invading bacteria, but they are destroyed when we take antibiotics so all we have to do is provide the optimum conditions for our body to fight infection and heal itself.

You can also help keep yourself healthy with some essential ingredients from your kitchen such as garlic and Manuka honey, both of which are natural antibiotics that can kill bacteria. If you want to have something topical to apply to a skin infection then try grapefruit seed extract which tastes disgusting but is certainly an effective disinfectant for the skin and used internally kills bacteria such as Strep, Staph and Salmonella. Another old favourite is tea tree oil which contains antiseptic compounds that act as skin disinfectants and is used in the treatment of ringworm, fungal infections of the toenails, yeast infections, bad breath and acne.

A new product that I came across recently is a Natural Antiseptic Gel from Grandmas Vine that harnesses the powerful curative properties of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic, cider vinegar. I have been using it to treat a persistent patch of dry eczema and it is proving effective at relieving the itching and clearing up the outbreak.

Vitamin C Supplementation Helps Slow Growth of Cancer Cells

If there are two people who got a wholly unjustified bad press from the medical profession then for my money Linus Pauling runs Dr John Lee a close second. Over fifty years ago Linus Pauling began his pioneering research into how vitamin C impacts health and his findings have been debated and challenged ever since. Pauling, who died in 1994, was an American chemist, peace activist, author, and educator and winner of two Nobel prizes. He was also one of the most influential figures in putting nutrition and supplementation to the forefront of the health debate.

He was revered in his lifetime by those who saw the benefits of his work on vitamin C, although he was always controversial. His best known quote on cancer research for example certainly made him plenty of enemies when he said “Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them.” Now, almost 25 years after his death, a new study not only confirms his contention that vitamin C has remarkable healing and protective benefits but has discovered how vitamin C may slow down the growth of cancer cells. Margreet Vissers is associate professor at the University of Otago’s Free Radical Research Group in New Zealand and the results of the study she headed has just been published in the journal Cancer Research. The problem with vitamin C, as with so many other ‘alternative’ treatments is that despite the many anecdotal accounts claiming vitamin C can help in both the prevention and treatment of cancer it has not been clinically proved to the medical establishments satisfaction.

In earlier studies conducted by Dr. Vissers, she demonstrated the vitamin’s importance in keeping cells healthy and results indicated that vitamin C might be able to limit diseases such as cancer as that involve cells that have unregulated growth.

Her research team decided to investigate whether vitamin C levels were lower in patients with endometrial tumors and also looked to see whether these low vitamin C levels correlated with the aggressiveness of a malignancy and the resistance of a tumor to medical therapy.

The results were impressive. Tumors were less able to accumulate vitamin C when compared with normal healthy tissue and a lack of vitamin C allowed tumors to survive and grow more easily. Tumors with low vitamin C levels were found to contain more of a protein dubbed HIF-1 which helps cancer thrive and spread, even under conditions of stress. The findings are important because they provide evidence for the first time of a relationship between HIF-1 and levels of vitamin C levels in cancerous tumours.

What is even more important, in my view, is this completely vindicates Linus Pauling as the research shows that treating cancer patients with adequate amounts of vitamin C might well reduce HIF-1, help limit the rate of tumor growth and increase the responsiveness to tumors to therapy. Dr. Vissers went even further in stating her belief that Vitamin C might even prevent the formation of solid tumors in the first place, and that is the best argument I know for ensuring adequate amounts in your diet and personally I supplement daily for its protective role in heart disease, as well as possible cancer prevention.

Research, Statistics and Who Paid Who?

I felt I really had to return to a topic that I had hoped was a very dead and buried and that is the controversial question of whether research can any longer be trusted. You may have seen a report in the Independent newspaper which stated that more than 90 percent of researchers who have published studies favourable to the controversial diabetes drug Avandia had a financial stake in the issue.

My first question when I an sent studies — as I frequently am– is to find out two questions: first how many participants and second who has funded the research. This latest revelation comes from a study conducted by researchers from the Mayo Clinic, one of the few research organizations in the United States that does not accept corporate funding.

Sales of GlaxoSmithKline’s bestselling drug Avandia plunged in 2007, after evidence emerged linking the drug to an increased risk of heart attack and death. These reports sparked a debate over the drug’s safety that continues to this day. In an analysis of more than 200 studies, articles, editorials and letters published in scientific journals since 2007, Mayo Clinic researchers have concluded that financial conflict of interest continues to play a major role in that debate.

If someone is expressing a positive view of a product you are entitled to ask if they are gaining any benefit from it — and no, I do not receive any payment or benefits on any of the products I mention in healthy news other than accepting a sample for trial purposes so I can report back from practical experience and not just rely on other people’s evidence.

What has emerged is that 87 percent of all authors who expressed positive views about Avandia had financial ties to GlaxoSmithKline, while another 7 percent had ties to other pharmaceutical companies involved with diabetes. Not surprisingly, among authors with financial conflicts of interest, only 30 percent “expressed unfavorable views” of the drug and authors who were critical of Avandia were “largely free of identifiable conflicts of interest,” the researchers said.

Sadly, this does not mean that they were all squeaky clean either as of the 29 authors who recommended the drug Actos as a safer alternative to Avandia, 25 had ties to that drug’s maker, Eli Lilly.

I think we have to accept that there is a large amount of financial and self interest going on in medical research, and if that is disclosed I can live with it. What I find more disturbing is that this research uncovered that while 47 percent of all authors surveyed had a financial stake in the diabetes drug debate, 23 percent failed to disclose these links. Most of these authors merely remained silent about their conflicts of interest, while three actually lied and said they had none.

Could it be time for some legislation, as we allegedly have with our MPs, to declare a conflict of interest so the least we are warned and can make up our own minds as to their impartiality? I would like to think so, but don’t hold your breath.

Potential Benefits of Dark Chocolate for Liver Disease and Strokes

Now you know I never pass up an opportunity to extol the benefits of chocolate whether emotional or physical and here is some diverting news of two potential new medical benefits that could see your doctor reaching for the prescription pad and sending you off to the sweetshop rather than the pharmacy.

First, this is good news for anyone suffering from liver cirrhosis and from dangerously high blood pressure in their abdomen, according to new research presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver in Vienna, Austria. Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver as a result of long-term, continuous damage to the liver. In cirrhosis, circulation in the liver is damaged by oxidative stress and reduced antioxidant systems. After eating, blood pressure in the abdominal veins usually increases due to increased blood flow to the liver. This is particularly dangerous and damaging to cirrhotic patients as they already have increased blood pressure in the liver and elsewhere which, if severe, can cause blood vessel rupture.

According to new Spanish research, eating dark chocolate reduces damage to the blood vessels of cirrhotic patients and also lowers blood pressure in the liver. This can help to minimise the onset and impact of end stage liver disease and its associated mortality risks. Milk or white chocolate won’t do the trick as it is only dark chocolate that contains potent anti-oxidants which reduce the after-eating blood pressure in the liver that is associated with damaged liver blood vessels. Other forms of chocolate do not contain any of the beneficial phytochemicals and so can’t give you the same result.

I also applaud Professor Mark Thursz, MD FRCP, Professor of Hepatology, at Imperial College London who said when commenting on the new research: “As well as advanced technologies and high science, it is important to explore the potential of alternative sources which can contribute to the overall wellbeing of a patient.” A sentence that is music to the ears of all those who want to marry orthodox and alternative methods and you get to eat chocolate too.

Secondly, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that epicatechin, a compound in dark chocolate, may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage. The study suggests that epicatechin stimulates two previously well-established pathways known to shield nerve cells in the brain from damage. When the stroke hits, the brain is ready to protect itself because these pathways — Nrf2 and heme oxygenase 1 — are activated.

This research was carried out on mice, not humans, and while most treatments against stroke in humans have to be given within a two- to three-hour time window to be effective, epicatechin appeared to limit further neuronal damage when given to the animals 3.5 hours after a stroke.

I don’t have liver problems, or had a stroke, but have always believed in prevention rather than cure so will add a daily supplement of 85% minimum cocoa content chocolate to my current regime – just to be on the safe side – and you may want to do the same!

Antidepressants Can Affect Breast Feeding

If a woman is planning on breast feeding, and has been having treatment for anxiety or depression that involves taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs may find that it delays their ability to produce breast milk after their baby is born.

This study at the University of Cincinnati was just reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and its findings are significant.  Although this is only a small study, 87.5% of women on SSRI drugs had delayed milk delivery compared to 43.5% of those not taking the drugs.   Delayed milk production is an early breastfeeding difficulty faced by many women, particularly those who are first term time mothers, and defined as being over 72 hours after giving birth.  This difficulty also contributes to the mother ceasing to breastfeed before the recommended time. These women also are at risk of early cessation of breastfeeding.

SSRI drugs are the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants and are typically used to treat ‘baby blues’ depression.  A more natural solution would be to turn to natural medicine such as St John’s Wort, or more particularly natural progesterone as that is the hormone that drops most dramatically after giving birth and the one that could most help elevate mood without any ill effects for the baby.

Health Bite:

Smoking in Pregnancy can Permanently Affect a Baby’s Blood Pressure

A Swedish study has shown that babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy show evidence of persistent problems in blood pressure regulation that start at birth and get worse throughout their first year.

The study was reported in the journal of the American Heart Association and raises serious concerns that the seeds being sown in pregnancy will reap a lifetime of ill health for the baby. Normally, when a person stands, the heart rate increases and the blood vessels constrict to keep blood flow to the heart and brain and so there is a standard repositioning test to see how a baby’s blood pressure responds to tilting them upright during sleep. The results were dramatically different in those born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy compared to those who did not.

The non-smoking mothers (on average 15 cigarettes a day) saw only a 2% increase in blood pressure in their babies when they were tilted upright at one week of age and later a 10 percent increase in blood pressure at one year. But, the babies of smoking mothers saw the exact opposite with a 10% increase in blood pressure during a tilt at one week and only a 4 percent increase at one year. At three months and one year, the heart rate response to tilting in the tobacco-exposed infants was abnormal and highly exaggerated, researchers reported.

The concern obviously is that early life exposure to tobacco can lead to long-lasting reprogramming of the baby’s blood pressure control mechanisms. The researchers found that such babies have a hyper-reactive system in the first weeks of life because the blood pressure increases too much when they are tilted up, but at one year they under-react and are less effective in adapting to an upright position. Despite any amount of health warnings some mothers still do smoke, and one argument I have heard is that it is better to smoke as it reduces the mother’s stress levels. A stressed mother is certainly not good for the baby, but this research shows the long-term implications are even more serious if she continues to smoke – or those around her do.

Why 4 hours of TV is bad for your health and Exercise Helps The Brain

Tempting though it is in this cold weather, curling up with Cranford could be shortening your lifespan according to an Australian study. It’s not Cranford of course that is the problem, but how many hours you spend in front of the box.

The study was done by Melbourne university and found that Aussies who reported watching four or more hours of TV a day were 46% more likely to die during a 6.6-year period than those who watched less than two hours a day. That’s bad enough, but they also found that the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease during follow-up was 80% greater in the excessive viewers, although statistically, the result attained only borderline significance. Well that’s a relief, but the risk was the same whether the participants also had other risk factors such as low exercise, smoking, poor diet, high blood pressure, and abdominal obesity.

It’s not the TV that’s really to blame, but an increasing habit of living a much more sedentary life than our predecessors. The programmes are not to blame, but the habit of sitting for long periods in a chair is.

It could be time to get out of the chair and head for the hills – or at least for a brisk walk – to keep your metabolism from slowing down to unhealthy levels.

Health Bite: Exercise for Your Brain’s Health

If you need another reason to get up out of the chair, it seems that almost any amount of moderate physical activity in middle age and beyond can reduce the odds of mild cognitive impairment by 30% to 40%. As mild cognitive impairment is associated with a 5-10-fold increased risk of dementia it is worth paying attention. Previous observational studies have shown that physical activity may protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and some evidence suggests that exercise for individuals with mild cognitive impairment offers some protection, too, the authors wrote.

Research by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has found that the benefit applies equally to men and only when moderate exercise was undertaken — not light or vigorous physical activity. I have always been wary of vigorous activity and if this helps me solve more crossword puzzles then I am all for it. If you aren’t sure of the difference, here’s how the Mayo clinic categorised it:

• Light exercise: bowling, leisurely walking, stretching, slow dancing, and golfing using a cart.

• Moderate exercise: brisk walking, hiking, aerobics, strength training, swimming, tennis doubles, yoga, martial arts, weight lifting, moderate use of exercise machines, and golfing without use of a cart.

• Vigorous exercise: jogging, backpacking, bicycling uphill, tennis singles, racquetball, skiing, and intense or extended use of exercise machines.

Soy May Be Key in Preventing Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is the third most deadly form so any preventive measures for those at risk are worth studying.

A new study carried out by the Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland, USA has identified Sphingadienes (SDs), natural lipid molecules, which are found naturally in soy and that can prevent and possibly treat colon cancer. .

Soy has been previously mentioned as protective against colon cancer, but the exact nature of how it did so was not able to be identified until now. It seems that high levels of SDs actually induces the death of mutant cancer cells, in other words it is toxic to them.

Preventative colon cancer strategies often focus on cell death, the normal process the body uses to remove unhealthy or cancerous cells, and so anything that can raise SDS levels will speed this removal process. Soy is a rich source of SDs, and research is under way to see if the active ingredient can be used in drug therapy for cancer.

The natural prevention is to increase the amount of soy products in the diet if you at high risk of colon cancer.

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Sunshine in a Box for SAD People

Well the clocks have gone back and the feeling of the having few hours of daylight is a reality that most of us shrug and learn to live with. We may miss having so much light, but for people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) it is much more serious.

The symptoms of winter blues can affect an estimated half a million people in the UK every year according to SADA, the UK charity who offer help and advice. Symptoms include: low mood, increased mental and physical fatigue, stress, lack of concentration, weight-gain, loss of libido, and poor immune health.

SAD is thought to be caused by a biochemical imbalance in the brain which controls daily rhythms and mood, due to the shortening of daylight hours and lack of sunlight between September and April. There are special light boxes which mimic daylight that many sufferer find very helpful, but a less expensive option worth trying is a new offering from

Solgar supplements are used by many health professionals and they have come up with what they call their limited edition Sunshine in a box kit which contains the ultimate ‘feel-good’ nutrition essentials. These include:

** Vitamin D3 is also known as the sunshine vitamin as it strengthens immune health and has been shown to help brighten mood.

** 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) which increases the brain’s serotonin levels that help stabilise mood, promote relaxation, support restful sleep, as well as damping down cravings for carbohydrate and sugar.

** Rhodiola is an adaptogenic herb and a traditional remedy that may enhance mental and physical energy, help the body adapt to stress, and increase dopamine levels which help us feel more optimistic. It is often suggesdted as alternative to St John’s Wort for mood balancing.

The Sunshine Box also includes a book on the benefits of Vitamin D as well as the supplements and is a limited edition offering for the start of the SAD season and costs £25.00. If you can’t find it in your local health store, then call Solgar on 01442 890 355 for a local stockist or via their website at www.solgar-vitamins.co.uk

Help and information on the SADA charity at www.sada.org.uk

Varicose Veins Linked to DVT

Varicose veins are generally harmless, though not considered attractive, but a new study in Graz, Austria reveals that danger may be lurking under your skin.

There are any number of reasons to get varicose veins including family history, jobs where you are standing for long periods such as hairdressers and teachers, being very overweight and of course in pregnancy.   The most common form generally seen is superficial vein thrombosis (SVT), where the veins become inflamed and swollen.  It can be a painful condition, but most doctors don’t regard it as a major problem.
However this new research looked at a potential link between varicose veins and DVT (deep vein thrombosis) which a dangerous condition that prompts blood clotting in the legs.  Clots that break away can cause thromboembolism (restricted blood flow), and even death if the clot reaches the lungs and triggers a pulmonary embolism.

Of the 50 patients examined who had confirmed SVT it was found that one in four of them had DVT, although none had shown any symptoms.   This suggests those with varicose veins need to be alert and ask for a sonagraph screening to establish if they are at risk.

Varicose veins and Vitamin K link
One factor in keeping your veins healthy is to have a good intake of vitamin K as its importance for circulatory health is already well known.
There was an important study done in France in 2007, only on male subjects, with and without varicose veins. They found a link between getting varicose veins and low levels or no activity of a protein called matrix GLA protein.  This protein is only properly activated when vitamin K levels are adequate, so the researchers at Nantes University concluded that a dood intake of the vitamin may play a role in varicose vein prevention.

If you have any history of narrowing of the arteries in your family, then some nutritionists 5 to 15 mg of vitamin K per day, but that is considerably higher than the recommended daily allowance.
If you want to increase it in your diet then it’s mostly found in dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, also in cheddar cheese and oats.

WARNING!!! Vitamin K needs to be carefully monitored if you are on blood thinning or anticoagulant drugs after a stroke or surgery and a limited intake is suggested.

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