Antidepressant drug statistics turn out to be depressing

My views on antidepressants are that they be necessary for some people, at some time, but that natural methods and therapy work just as well. Now it seems, I have support from Stephen Wisniewski, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who set up a study of data compiled in a massive, government-funded review of more than 40 psychiatric facilities. Known as the ‘Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression’, it’s catchy title reveals that antidepressants are only effective in a small percentage of patients and then only within a very narrow spectrum of conditions.However, most patients have multiple issues and it appears the majority (around 60 percent) are not benefiting from being given antidepressants. What is as troubling is the fact that the ‘great results’ given out by the pharmaceutical companies have been carefully selected so that patients in their particular drug’s trial are only those within the spectrum that the drug can help – in other words it seems they exclude the multiple issue patients. When Wisniewski did a comparison of patients in drug trials, against those whose data was in the Sequenced Treatment research it appeared that only 22 percent of the people he studied would have been eligible for the drug trial. Hardly a representative sample of the general population who suffer from depression.

Depression can be debilitating and destructive and I am all in favour of doing what works, but a preliminary step of seeking help from counselling, hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour and herbs such as Rhodiola and St John’s Wort would seem like a good first step.

Post vasectomy sperm check kit available online

The period of fertility after a vasectomy can vary from just weeks to months as live sperm remain in the reproductive tract after a vasectomy. To avoid pregnancy men are advised to have at least two check ups to determine their fertility, but researchers have found that 35% percent of men don’t return for the first sperm level test and over 70% don’t return for the second follow up.Given this level of reluctance, there seemed a gap in the market for men to have a home test and this is now available online having being approved by the FDA. SpermCheck Vasectomy has been developed to detect SP-10, a protein present at constant levels in each sperm nucleus and was developed at the University of Virginia by John C. Herr, Ph.D., and his colleagues.

If a couple absolutely must avoid pregnancy, then this test won’t substitute for a doctor’s check up as there is still debate about what level constitutes fertility, but if making and keeping doctor’s appointments is a problem, then this might be a substitute.

The test is available from www.contravac.com and costs $39.99.

10 point healthy flight check

As this is the time of year when we can start jetting off on holiday, I thought you might like some tips for having a healthy flight. As my last flight resulted in my getting a serious infection, I have a vested interest and have investigated various ways you can protect yourself while flying off to somewhere wonderful – or even Benidorm.

The problem with travelling by air is all those people; first at the airport itself and then when you get on the plane and you are forced to breathe in the same recycled, stale air, plus all their germs. Your plane has a system where it continually brings in around 50 percent fresh air into the cabin and then cleans and filters the remaining 50 percent and sends it straight back to you. Assuming a perfectly efficient, effective and highly maintained system you should be fine – but I prefer not to trust in fine or perfect maintenance.If you feel too hot and direct the air vent to you then that’s an open invitation for germs from your fellow passengers coughs and sneezes to be sent express delivery to you, so wear fewer layers and don’t open the vent. Follow this action plan at least 2-3 days before you fly and minimise your risk.

1. Prevention is the best plan so prepare your immune system to repel boarders by ensuring you eat a light, healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and as much garlic as you can manage without becoming a social outcast. Take Echinacea and a good multivitamin and try to take at least 1 gram of vitamin C a day.

2. Are you a nervous flyer? If so, carry Rescue Remedy and put six drops on your tongue to help calm your nerves.

3. Once at the airport, boost your C intake to 2 grams in 500mg doses over a few hours. It will support your immune system and helps reduce the symptoms of colds.

4. Ginkgo will help if you get symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue and dizziness when flying as it will increase blood flow and oxygen to your brain.

5. To avoid deep vein thrombosis you need to keep your blood circulating, so walk round as often as you can and in your seat do some exercises to stretch and flex your feet and calves. CoQ10 is a supplement that also helps thin the blood and worth taking around 100mcg if you are at risk of DVT.

6. Jet lag travelling can be a real problem if you cross time zones and 600mcg of melatonin can help with this. Melatonin should not be used by pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. Please be aware that it is not legal to buy in the UK, and can only be bought online and then imported for your own use, then it’s no problem.

7. A simple trick is to alter your watch to the destination local time as soon as you are on the plane and this ‘tricks’ your body into adjusting faster.

8. Drink all you want – as long as it’s water or juices. That celebratory ‘we’re on holiday’ drink on the plane is a bad move health-wise and issues an open invitation to bacteria. When you drink alcohol it will dehydrate you, as you know if you have over-indulged, and when that happens the minute pores inside your nostril get enlarged and makes an even bigger gateway for those all those viruses and bacteria you are trying to avoid.

9. Make your meal the vegetarian option and give your stomach a break. Meat protein means your body works harder to break it down and that diverts resources from tackling any possible virus or bacteria that may have got into your body.

10. Carry, and use, a sanitising hand gel. Not just when you use the bathroom, but every time you walk round the plane and have to touch the back of the seats for balance or to allow other people through. It’s contact that is the problem and anywhere other people have touched is potentially hazardous.

Enjoy your flight and have a happy, healthy landing!

Common virus may be cause of high blood pressure

High blood pressure can lead to an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease with 1 in 20 adults in the UK being affected and as many as 70 percent of adult diabetics. It’s causes can be varied, from genetic predisposition, medical conditions and stress, but now there may be a completely different explanation. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center believe that a common viral infection might also be a cause.

The virus in question is cytomegalovirus, part of the herpes family, and it infects between 40 and 80 percent of adults worldwide. It is spread through bodily fluids such as saliva and urine, and can be transmitted from person to person through close bodily contact. Like most other herpes-type viruses, once you’re infected by CMV it will remain dormant in your body for the rest of your life, though you may never show any symptoms. If a woman has CMV it can be passed on to her unborn child and it is estimated that one in every 200 babies will be born with congenital CMV.

Viruses have the ability to turn on human genes and, in this case, the CMV virus is enhancing expression of renin, an enzyme directly involved in causing high blood pressure a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription.”

This breakthrough came about because for the first time researchers were brought together from a combination of disciplines including allergies, cardiology, infectious diseases and pathology. This collaborative venture meant that insights were shared and led to a statement from author Clyde Crumpacker, MD the co-author of the study and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School that.. “This new discovery may eventually provide doctors with a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription.”

The ‘wrong’ kind of sunlight

Frankly after the wind and rain I was battered with at the weekend any kind of sunshine would be welcome, but just like there is the ‘wrong’ kind of snow, there can also apparently be the ‘wrong’ kind of sun.The problem is if you are getting your sun through a window, as this way your vitamin D levels can be reduced. Let the sun shine – but not through your window if you want to get the full benefit. There are two basic forms of ultraviolet radiation from the sun: UVA, and UVB and they work differently when your body is exposed to them.

UVB is the ‘good’ guy as it forms the precursor to vitamin D in the skin, but sadly it is also the ‘bad’ guy that when overexposed leads to sunburn and skin damage but we are generally exposed to it mostly in the summer time. UVA is not so much a ‘bad guy’ as an out and out villain, giving your skin the appearance of an alligator handbag and causing skin cancer and is present throughout the year.

This is the problem; even when the sky seems overcast, UVA rays are beaming down on you, and they can pass through glass. Although UVB radiation is filtered out as it passes through the window, UVB mostly goes right through it.

We know there are many health benefits associated with sensible exposure to sunlight, but it is the vitamin D we get from exposure to UVB that we need. If you are basking in the sun in your conservatory or even sitting by a window when the sky is cloudy you are in danger of destroying vitamin D as you are exposed to UVA radiation.

This is particularly important in the winter when we seek out light and sun to cheer us up, and we are getting very little vitamin D from UVB rays. Maximise your intake of vitamin D by avoiding sitting directly by a window in the winter and getting out at every opportunity for short, safe, exposure to the sun. Why should we care about this? Vitamin D is formed from exposure to UVB rays, whereas UVA radiation actually destroys vitamin D.

Ginger root reduces chemotherapy nausea by 40 percent

Ginger is an incredibly versatile spice; it’s recommended for travel and morning sickness and recent research showed it could also be used in the third world to inexpensively treat bacteria-induced diarrhoea, which is the leading cause of infant death in many countries. It is certainly a popular remedy for conditions as wide apart as arthritis and supporting the cardiovascular system, and certainly for treating stomach upsets. It eases stomach cramps, calms any upset and helps increase the amount of bile, for better digestion.

Now it seems there is proof in a study reported by the American Society of Clinical Oncology that it could also help with the nausea experienced by as many as 70% of patients after receiving chemotherapy. MLA University of Rochester Medical Center carried out a study by using ginger capsules, in conjunction with anti-nausea drugs, before their treatment on 644 cancer patients.The figures speak for themselves, with 40 percent of patients reporting much less severe and frequent attacks of nausea when they took the ginger supplement three days before they had their chemotherapy, and for three days afterwards. It’s important it is taken before the chemotherapy to allow the spice time to do it’s work in the body, it’s thought that it is the anti-inflammatory benefit of ginger is an important factor here in preparing the body to withstand the drugs onslaught. The recommended way to take it is in ginger supplements though some crytallised ginger or the odd slice of gingerbread won’t harm either.

This is the biggest study undertaken on this natural spice, and the first to investigate whether ginger could make a difference if taken before the chemotherapy occurs.

I have mentioned the various homoeopathic treatments available to help with the side effects of homoeopathy, but it is good to also have another option, and ginger certainly has a long pedigree in natural medicine as it has been in use by the Chinese for over 2,500 years.

What caused Swine flu?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been saying for years that ‘a new pandemic is inevitable’and experts from the European Commission and the FAO have cautioned that one reason for this could be that the rapid move from small holdings to industrial pig production is in fact increasing the risk of development and transmission of disease epidemics. The current outbreak started on a large pig factory farm run by the US Smithfield Corporation, the largest pig producer in the world. Conditions for factory farmed animals, whether pigs, chickens or anything else are rarely ideal and usually involve large amounts of drugs such as antibiotics and growth promoters.

Although the company denies any connection between their pigs and the flu the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that scientists still do not know the extent that infectious compounds produced in factory farms affect human health. Smithfield has already been fined $12.6m and is currently under another federal investigation in the US for toxic environmental damage from pig excrement lakes. Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that is asking concerned consumers to sign a petition asking the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to investigate and develop regulations for these farms to protect global health. If you would like to add your voice to that, then visit www.avaaz.org/en/swine_flu_pandemic

Losing your job makes you stressed? – Oh really?!

Good old Harvard, just goes to show that even the brightest and best seem to lack common sense. Would you have guessed that losing your job could affect your health? Think I will send them a copy of my ‘How To Cope Successfully With Stress’ book so they can see in black and white the relationship between stress and health.

This particularly researcher has ‘discovered’ that if you lose a job through no fault of your own then you are twice as likely to report developing a new ailment like high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease over the next year and a half, compared to people who were continuously employed. More interesting to me, is the fact that these US statistics indicated that the risk was just as high for those who found new jobs quickly as it was for those who remained unemployed, leading me to believe their stress levels are just as high perhaps through uncertainty as to whether this job will last or not.

Being unemployed is stressful, and can cause serious physical and emotional responses which all affect health. Good habits like a healthy diet and regular exercise are often abandoned and comfort eating and increased alcohol and tobacco consumption are often evident. Though the research points up the obvious, if it can be leveraged so there is some more focus on the effect of the economic downturn on people’s health as well as the financial aspects then maybe it will be worthwhile.

Salmonella in space

Salmonella is something we are continually battling here on earth, and there is no currently available vaccine to control it. Now, a series of experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station may soon lead to a vaccine against food poisoning from that particular bacteria.

It is bacteria brought back by the shuttle Discovery crew last month that researchers have been examining, because it seems that previous studies showed salmonella can become more virulent in weightlessness; and that its virulence can be controlled so that it can be switched on and off. NASA has been concerned that because being in space weakens the immune system, that astronauts might be more susceptible to food poisoning.

Bizarrely, or at least to me, the environment inside the intestines is similar to weightlessness and this latest research shows that microgravity actually changes salmonella itself and this gives researchers hope that this could help us tackle the problem back here on Earth.

Natural remedy support for surgery

As I seem to have been having a number of friends in hospital recently, I thought it might be timely to remind you of my pre-hospital routine if you are undergoing surgery and to add in some news about the interaction between herbs, drugs and hospitals. My own pre-surgery routine is very simple: three days beforehand I start taking Arnica 30 twice a day, plus Rescue Remedy in water. The arnica deals with trauma and emotional shock before the operation, and helps recovery of internal bruising faster and I usually ask the nurse in charge to make sure it’s under my tongue the minute I wake up and Rescue Remedy helps again with any fears arising from the operation. I keep up this regime up to a week after the operation and add in at least a gram of vitamin C as it is essential both to help support your immune system and recover from any anaesthetic by helping remove it faster from your system.

Herbs and Surgery: As more people are regularly taking supplements and vitamins as part of their healthcare routine, this timely report comes from a US team from the Department of Plastic Surgery at Cleveland’s University Hospital. They are giving this list to any patient who is undergoing surgery, for whatever reason, and I thought you would like to know about it.

* For bleeding effects: gingko biloba, garlic, ginseng, dong quai, feverfew, fish oils

* For drug interactions: echinacea, goldenseal, liquorice, St. John’s wort, kava, valerian root

* For cardiovascular effects: ephedra, garlic

* For anaesthetic effects: valerian root, St. John’s wort, kava

* For photosensitivity effects: St. John’s wort, dong quai

* For hypoglycaemia effects: ginseng

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