A group of talented graphic designers is working on submissions for my logo design.  I wanted something that says “health” without the typical pills and potions.  You all know my policy on helping people to achieve dynamic health and energy by providing the world with healthy alternatives to drugs and surgery.  The designers will be submitting up until the deadline date on December 8.  Can you help us?  We would love to get your ongoing feedback on the submissions, and why you like or don’t like the entries.  Just post a reply to this post after viewing the submission site.  Thanks in advance for your participation!  http://www.crowdspring.com/projects/graphic_design/logo/logo_design_for_md_website_is_focused_on_healthy_alternatives_to_drugs_and_surgery_dynamic_energy

My comments: Placebos have a 30% improvement rate, better than some medications used for certain conditions, and far fewer side effects (if the placebo is safe). There is a general denial that medications are toxic, that is, many of them must be altered in the liver (detoxified) in order to get rid of them. Some medications are stored in the body fat for years (or a lifetime) because the body cannot get rid of them. Healthy alternatives should be our first option for health care, and if folks don’t want to explore healthy alternatives, then nothing (a placebo) is better than something (a toxic pill).

How this applies to you: this article points out the intimidation tactics sometimes used by big business. When a drug worth $2.5 billion in sales in 2006 was being questioned as valid treatment by physicians, big pharma should have paid careful attention, if the health of patients was truly their objective.  Healthy alternatives to drugs should be your first choice of treatment.  They are available; they work with the physiology of the body rather than try to control the body.  For a generalized article on diabetes and how to treat it, check out this earlier post: http://www.stangardnermd.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=67

If the health savings accounts can be used for alternative care, this could be a major step forward in patients being able to choose their own care plan. He also presents a great concept—physician profit from patient wellness. Apparently there are a few providers that are attempting to fit this model, Kaiser Permanente in California, Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, and Geisinger Health in Pennsylvania. I am familiar with the first two, and know that they do not cover alternative care to a sufficient degree that could make a patient healthy, as in covering physician-prescribed supplements.

If you have influence over your health plan, move toward health savings accounts that cover all options for care, including alternative care—supplements, saunas, nutritional and chelation therapy IVs, therapeutic massage, energy medicine—acupuncture, Jin Shin Jyutsu, craniosacral, frequency generators, hyperbaric oxygen for off-label use, and the list goes on. In the long run, these will prove more cost-effective. If you have questions about any of these options, I’ll be glad to answer them.

I did some calculations.  If we were to take that $100 million and prevent the placement of stents through chelation therapy (which may cost an individual $5000), 20,000 patients could be treated, of which 16,000-18,000 would never need a stent placed in their body.  The majority of people do not need stents.  Basically, a stent constitutes placing a foreign body within a cell wall.  90% of those can be avoided, even after a recommendation for a stent has been made, by taking chelation therapy.  Vascular disease, which when if affects the heart is called cardiovascular disease, is almost 100% preventable by following healthy preventive measures.

My comments:  It’s amazing to me the price we pay in money, aggravation, loss of limbs and life, by ignoring the realization that there are simpler, more effective methods of treatment that have less negative side effects.  These alternatives are far less expensive than the riskier drug options, and would negate the need for much of the pain and agony that we see in society today that stems from incorrectly administered, inadequately tested, and overprescribed medication.

Dr. Gardner’s comments: Here we have another serious, and not uncommon, complication of antibiotic use. I have seen it most commonly after a course of the cyclines—minocycline, doxycycline, tetracycline. This pathogen invades the intestinal wall, wreaking havoc in its wake. I am unaware of any case of C. diff that initiated because of use of high doses of Vitamin C, whether oral or IV. There are many other effective anti-viral and anti-bacterial agents that have never caused this serious complication—for example: citricidal, oil of oregano. My point is that broad spectrum antibiotics should be more of a “last resort” option, long after trying the healthful, safe doses of vitamin C, citricidals, and oil of oregano.

Even more important, this article totally ignores of the fact that most of the infections would never take place if patients would give careful attention to diet, supplements, sleep, toxin removal and stress management. Are we asleep? Sometimes I wonder. “Wake up and Live”, says Dorothea Brande—There are alternatives to drugs and surgery.

Highlights of ACAM meeting October 17-19, 2008

First speaker: James LaValle, NC, CCN, R.Ph (Pharmacist)

Metabolic progression of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes to cancer

The presentation started with how the various stresses on the body (diet, drugs, exercise, emotional, toxins, …) affect the brain (hypothalamus and subsequently the pituitary gland), causing a rise in cortisol levels. Cortisol is our natural anti-inflammatory steroid. Unfortunately, cortisol in high levels can be damaging to the body in many ways:

1) It causes insulin to rise without necessarily causing a drop in glucose, called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance leads to Type 2 diabetes and obesity. In fact, obesity is a marker for inflammation. Insulin is a highly inflammatory substance in the body.

2) It causes insomnia, which is also associated with obesity.

3) Although is an anti-inflammatory, its overall effect on the body is inflammation. We thus see a rise in CRP and vascular disease (atherosclerosis) and heart disease. Increased inflammation in the body leads to dementia and auto-immune diseases.

4) It is associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

5) It reduces natural killer cell activity. These are the cells that do the final killing of bacteria, viruses and cancer cells.

6) It reduces DHEA, which has immune-building capabilities, along with slowing down aging, protection against osteoporosis, and improving glucose and insulin regulation.

The long-term effects of inflammation, diminished natural killer cell activity, and DHEA reduction are changes in cell function. Over time, cells will start to change in their ability to self-regulate, slowly leading to the progression of cancer.

My comments: Stress is at the core of all disease. This illustrates just a few of the effects of stress on our bodies. We must either 1) learn to deal with stress, or 2) withdraw from stress, either occasionally so we can regroup, or more permanently. The stressors that we have control over must be managed better (diet, toxins, drugs) so we can better handle the ‘life’ that we have no control over. I like the words of the serenity prayer:

God,
Give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. (The Serenity Prayer is generally thought to have been written by Reinhold Niebuhr.)

Stress-reducing activities include Yoga, meditation, focusing on exhaling while relaxing your shoulders (and then the rest of the body), enjoyable exercise, laughter, hot bath. Do something today for yourself—RELAX. You are worth it.

Will you help me in my quest?

Below this article, there is a place to make comments.  In the comment box, please send me the names and email addresses of 3 or more friends whom you think would be interested in this philosophy.  The information will not be visible to anyone other than my staff, and we will email them a personal note inviting them to sign up for the free daily health secret.  Whether or not they accept, I will send you a link so that you can access the first draft of my ebook on Energy Medicine.

In the future, the ebook will sell for at least $19.97.  But I will send it to you for free with your 3 or more email names and addresses.  Thank you in advance for your valuable assistance in helping the whole world to become healthier!  Warm Regards, Dr. Stan Gardner

Insurance companies have shifted IV therapies to an out-patient basis (in an effort to save money and as a convenience to patients). But as of yet, Medicare has not followed suit. This means that instead of spending $150-200 per day for IV therapy at home, including nursing care and equipment, Medicare will only pay for the IV drug, and expect the patient to pay out of pocket for the rest of the cost, OR be admitted in-patient for the same treatment at a cost of $2000 per day. As an example: Mr. Molina, a Medicare patient, needed two months of IV treatments. Because he could not afford the out-of-pocket costs for home care, he elected to be treated for two months in the hospital at $2000 per day. “It just seemed like such a waste of money at the time,” he says.

If only 10% of inpatients were treated at home, a study shows, Medicare would spend $1.5 billion for the cost of home IV therapy over the next 10 years in the Medicare population. Were Medicare to follow the example of the insurance companies, they would see a savings of $7.4 billion—a hefty difference!

My thoughts: Here is an example of the treatment Medicare provides our elderly, the wisest and most experienced in our society. Medicare makes the rules, and if you choose to sign up (since it looks good and may be your only option), you live within those rules. Many times elderly individuals who have signed up for Medicare are treated as second-class citizens. Often they cannot get the kind of care that others receive because of the “rules.”

For instance, if Medicare rules allow payment in an amount that does not even cover the cost of the item for a procedure or ‘code’, physicians simply cannot afford to offer the procedure or code as a service. To do so would cost the physician a loss to do business. If a cheap lab test (that tells the physician nothing) is ‘covered’, but ‘covered’ cost is less than the cost of the good test that is helpful to the physician, the physician cannot afford to run the good test, because the patient cannot be billed, and the lab or physician must accept the Medicare payment as payment in full.

I’ll give you a couple of examples of this scenario: The candida antigen test is a worthless test, but it is covered by Medicare; however, the reimbursement is less than the lab cost of the ELISA candida test, which is an effective test. Since the patient cannot pay the difference, the useful test cannot be administered. Another example: a FIR (far infrared) Sauna is the best and perhaps the only way to get certain toxins out of the body. Medicare reimbursement is $4.00 for an hour, which does not even cover the cost of the electricity. The patient cannot be billed or assist with any of the cost of the care (unless directed to do so by Medicare as a co-pay).

All of this information provides us with yet another good reason to be healthy to the end—with a clear mind and body. Since Medicare does not cover good food, supplements, and so many things outside the box of standard medical care, prepare for those days when you want to be able to share your wisdom and spend time with the grandchildren. (We all wish we could have had grandchildren first.) It’s never too late to start the journey back to health.