*** DOMINIE'S NEWSLETTER
***
JANUARY 2005
PAGE 2
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. I am a
fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome survivor. The purpose of this newsletter
is not to diagnose or cure any disease or malady, but is presented as food for
thought. This information cannot take the place of professional medical
advice. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should come under the
direction of a physician. No guarantees are made regarding any of the
information in this newsletter.
11.
HEART PALPITATIONS
From newsletter reader,
Stephanie--
"I WANT TO HEAR FROM
ANYONE WHO HAS HEART PALPITATIONS. I NEED A SUPPLEMENT THAT HAS THESE 3
THINGS TOGETHER CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM AND POTASSIUM. DO THEY MAKE ONE
VITAMIN WITH ALL 3?"
[NOTE
FROM DOMINIE: Please reply DIRECTLY to Stephanie at
StephanieDONSGRL@aol.comAbout heart palpitations, I had
a strange experience with those 15 years ago. I even wore a Holter
monitor for 24 hours which showed nothing wrong with my heart. Believe it
or not, when I got rid of my waterbed, the heart palps stopped! It turned
out that when sleeping in the waterbed, the lower half of my body was higher
than the top half, causing acid to back up into my esophagus, which was making
it jump, which felt like something wrong with my heart. Last year I met a
40-something man at a gospel concert who was sure he had heart problems because
of his heart palpitations. I asked if he had a waterbed. He was
shocked! He said YES, that he and his wife did sleep on a
waterbed. I told him my story and said it might be worth a try to sleep on
a regular mattress for awhile to see if the problem went away, before allowing
invasive tests and surgery. I am not a doctor....this is just my
personal experience that might be helpful to someone
else.]
Stephanie responded--
"NO I DON'T HAVE A WATERBED. I
AM TRYING SOME VITAMINS AND SEE IF THAT HELPS.
I WORE A HOLTER MONITOR FOR 24 HOURS
AND MY RESULTS WERE PVC'S, THEY STARTED ME ON ATENOLOL, I TOOK THAT FOR 6 DAYS
AND THE LAST 2 OF THOSE DAYS I HAD MORE PALPITATIONS. THEY SAID GO OFF THE
MED, I AM SUPPOSED TO GO ON JAN. 10TH FOR AN EKG AND ULTRASOUND OF MY HEART.
DOES ANYONE WITH ALLERGIES HAVE THESE?"
12. MORE ON
HISTAMINE
From a newsletter
reader--
"You asked me to tell you
about my results. I am flying, I cannot believe it's me. Just after
4 shots, I am 70% better. I talked in the waiting room with several of Dr.
Ravikovich's patients. The same results. He cannot use histamine -
the plot- so he uses bee venom, and as he explained to me, the main ingredient
that works in venom is histamine. We are now fighting for it. There
was a press-conference with the ministry in November. I am pessimistic
about the fight with the drug manufacturers as the governments are in their
pockets. But, there is a slight hope that his histamine will be used
everywhere. Just to think that I could not wake up before, nor could I
read or write freely. My brain was always blurry. I see and hear
now. Thanks to your ad! God bless you, Dominie for directing me to
this wonderful treatment." [NOTE FROM DOMINIE: This reader is
talking about the new book by Dr. F. Ravikovich, "The Plot Against Allergy
and Asthma Patients ~ Asthma, Allergies, Migraine, and Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome are Curable, but the cure is Hidden from the Patients. The website is
http://www.thehistamineconnection.com," reported on in a previous
newsletter.]
13.
SAMe
From a newsletter
reader--
Science and
Supplement News: SAMe Improves Anti-depressant
Effects
The dietary supplement SAMe
(S-Adenosy-L-Methionine), often recommended to address depression, appears to
make prescription anti-depressant medications work better. Results of a pilot
study at Massachusetts
General Hospital showed that of the study
participants who took SAMe along with their existing treatments, half reported
improvement in their symptoms and 43 percent experienced complete relief. The 30
patients studied were using medications such as Prozac, Paxil and Effexor.
Earlier research indicated that SAMe alone could have effects comparable to
pharmaceutical antidepressants. This study is the first to suggest that
combining treatments may be more effective than antidepressants used alone. The
study was published in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Source: Journal of
Clinical Psychopharmacology, December
2004
14. CELEBREX
WARNING
From Tenderpoints
newsletter--
People in a clinical
study who took heavy doses of Celebrex, a blockbuster prescription painkiller in
the same family of drugs as Vioxx, faced a significant increased risk of a heart
attack, drug maker Pfizer said today.
FULL STORY:
More Related Stories:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Friday, December 17, 2004
NIH Halts Use of
COX-2 Inhibitor in Large Cancer Prevention Trial
The National Institutes
of Health (NIH) announced today that it has suspended the use of COX-2 inhibitor
celecoxib (CelebrexT Pfizer, Inc.) for all participants in a large colorectal
cancer prevention clinical trial conducted by the National Cancer Institute
(NCI). The study, called the Adenoma Prevention with Celecoxib (APC) trial, was
stopped because analysis by an independent Data Safety and Monitoring Board
(DSMB) showed a 2.5-fold increased risk of major fatal and non-fatal
cardiovascular events for participants taking the drug compared to those on a
placebo.
[NOTE FROM DOMINIE: Write me at dom@fms-help.com
for some natural alternatives to Vioxx, Celebrex,
etc.]
15. BF
(A GOOD WAY TO PUT IT)
From a newsletter reader
about fibro fog--
"I don't know what
happened to me! Actually, BF (before Fibro), I was smart
and had common sense."
16.
HOSPITAL "SUPERBUGS" KILLED
Aromatherapy Oils "Kill
Superbug" - BBC News (12-21-04)
Essential oils could kill the
deadly MRSA hospital 'superbug',
scientists have claimed. University of
Manchester researchers found three of the oils,
usually used in aromatherapy,
destroyed MRSA and E.coli bacteria in
two
minutes.
Hospital-acquired infections, such as
MRSA, kill an estimated 5,000 a year. The Manchester study was triggered when
complementary medicine specialists at Christie Cancer Hospital asked university
researchers to test essential oils.
Dr Peter Warn, who carried out the
research, said: "When I tested the oils in the lab, absolutely nothing grew.
Rather than stimulating bacteria and fungi, the oils killed them
off."
The team then tested 40 essential oils against 10 of the most
infectious agents found in hospitals, including MRSA (methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus). Two of the oils were found to kill MRSA and E.coli
almost instantly, while a th! ird was found to act over a longer period of
time.
Dr Warn says the essential oils could be used to create much more
pleasant inhalation therapies - which he said were likely to have a much higher
success rate than the current treatment (of hospital infections), which is only
effective in around 50% of cases." They suggest the oils could be blended into
soaps and shampoos which could be used in hospitals to stop the spread of
the superbug.
Dr Warn said: "We believe that our discovery could
revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and other superbugs."
Jacqui
Stringer, clinical leader of complementary therapies at
Christie Hospital in
Manchester, instigated the oils research. She said: "Our research shows a very
practical application which could be of enormous benefit to the NHS and its
patients.
"The reason essential oils are so effective is because they are
made up of a complex mixture of chemical compounds which the MRSA and other
superbug bacteria finds difficult to
resist."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4116053.stm
[NOTE FROM DOMINIE: I have
been using essential oils with some success for sleep and relaxation.
Write me at dom@fms-help.com
I will be glad to share my info.]
17. RESTLESS
LEG SYNDROME (RLS) & IRON
From Tenderpoints newsletter--
More and more research suggests that
a lack of iron--a mineral that helps courier oxygen to the cells so they
can function--plays a role in the development of RLS. While iron
supplements are already used to treat certain RLS patients, uncovering iron's
exact role may provide new treatment options for a broader group. Why
Iron? "We know that iron deficiency is involved because every condition
that produces iron deficiency, such as anemia or pregnancy, increases the risk
of RLS dramatically," says Richard Allen, PhD, a diplomat on the American Board
of Sleep Medicine and a founder of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center. In
fact, based on studies of hospital patients, about 40 percent of people with
anemia had RLS and about 20 percent to 40 percent of pregnant women have
RLS. Another way researchers know that iron plays a role is
iron-deficient patients' response to iron supplementation. "Then when the iron
deficiency is corrected, the RLS often remits," Dr. Allen says.....Some people
with RLS, however, have normal iron levels. Researchers say that's not a reason
to discount iron as an underlying cause of their RLS. Studies indicate that the
problem is that the brains of RLS patients may not absorb iron
normally.
18. LIVER
FLUSH
Below is an
article from curezone.com. I am curious if anyone
has gotten rid of their FMS/CFIDS through liver flushes. If you
have, please write me at dom@fms-help.com--
"I have done a liver
flush every three weeks for the past 18 months.
I was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis in 1985. I began using a wheelchair nine years ago.
My arms are
affected, my speech was, yes I said was, negatively affected.
My body has
become accustomed to liver flushes and if I don't do a flush on schedule, my
body immediately notices. My arthritis acts up in my shoulders, knees, hips and
ankles.
My skin also is crawling. I get severe itching.
I basically need
to clean out my liver like clockwork.
Multiple sclerosis is when your body is
sensitive to everything.
The liver flush has been a savior. It is an absolute
miracle."
19. LIGHT,
MELATONIN, CANCER & DEPRESSION
Below is an excerpt from a fascinating article sent in by a
newsletter reader. It goes along with tip #2 in my 100 Tips for Coping at
http://www.fms-help.com/tips.htm -
but I hadn't thought about the importance of complete darkness as well!
(Suggestion: wear a black sleep mask at night!)--
"Stevens turned to the then-nascent
scientific literature on circadian rhythms -- the 24-hour biological clock that
guides daily body functions -- and on melatonin, a critical hormone most
living creatures produce only while in darkness. Since then, he has been
investigating night light, developing the counterintuitive theory that something
as harmless as a lit light bulb can make people ill.
In a study Stevens co-wrote in 2001, he
concluded that there is "mounting evidence to suggest that disruption of
the melatonin rhythm may lead to chronic fatigue, depression, reproductive
anomalies, and perhaps even cancer."
Another study Stevens worked on last year
presented the unusual discovery that women who work graveyard shifts, such as
nurses, have a substantially higher risk of breast cancer. Even one all-night
shift a week over a three-year period was enough to increase the risk by 60 per
cent.
He was impressed by other research that
found breast-cancer risk to be nearly 50-per-cent lower in blind women. The more
a woman is visually impaired, the lower the risk of cancer.
"How does light do it?" Stevens asked
rhetorically. He thinks the key is melatonin, he said, the hormone that has been
popularized as an anti-aging and anti-insomnia potion and as a cure for jet lag.
"Melatonin is sort of the chemical expression of darkness --
it's the 'Dracula' of hormones, because it only comes out at
night," he said.
Melatonin is produced in the brain's
pineal gland, guided by cues from the retinas of the eyes. Melatonin is
produced only when the eyes signal that it is dark. Production begins around
nightfall, peaks in the middle of the night between 1 and 2 a.m., and shuts off
during the day.
This nightly dose of the Dracula hormone
tells the body whether it is day or night. Those who work under lighting at
night, as in an office or a hospital, might be inadvertently reducing the amount
of melatonin they produce. Experiments have shown that melatonin inhibits
estrogen from stimulating the growth of breast-cancer cells, among its other
healthful effects. This suggests why blind women, who presumably maintain high
melatonin levels, are at less risk, while night-shift workers are more
susceptible.
Researchers have been able to
suppress melatonin production completely by exposing people to light levels
about five times brighter than in a typical office. At lower light
exposures, there is a less severe reaction, showing that in some ways light is
similar to carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene or asbestos, with a given dose
producing a set biological response."
[NOTE FROM DOMINIE: For entire article, write me at dom@fms-help.com
and ask for "Blinded by the Light."]
20. HYPOTHALAMUS &
FIBROMYALGIA
This article was sent to me by a
newsletter reader:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/hsn/fibromyalgianewinsightsintoamisunderstoodailment
Below is an excerpt--it interesting to me
because I have wondered if fibromyalgia might be mycoplasma infection of
the hypothalamus--
"Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, whose practice in Annapolis, Md., led him
to do research into fibromyalgia and the closely related chronic fatigue
syndrome, concluded that the body's endocrine system could hold
the clue to treatment. It's a matter of how the body's energy is marshaled, he
said.
"Fibromyalgia is like the body blowing a fuse,"
he explained. "The hypothalamus serves as humans'
internal fuse box. When the demands of living build up, stress increases and the
hypothalamus shuts down. Because the circuit is overtaxed and the fuse is blown,
the body simply can't generate enough energy."
"That causes muscles to cease functioning in a shortened
position, resulting in pain all over the body and a general feeling of fatigue
or weariness," Teitelbaum said.
Murphree's experience with hundreds of patients confirms
Teitelbaum's analogy. Most, he said, are either "Type A" perfectionists
or "Type B" caregivers.
"Type A fibromyalgia patients work and work and work until they
burn out," said Murphree. "Type B patients give and give and give -- nurturing
their spouses, children, family and friends -- until they break down.
Anyone whose lifestyle includes very little downtime is at
risk."
Teitelbaum recommends a four-pronged approach to repair the
"blown fuse" and turn the body's current back on:
- Restoration of sleep -- at a minimum, eight to nine hours every night,
using appropriate medications, as needed;
- Restoration of a normal hormone balance, including thyroid, adrenal and
reproductive hormones;
- Appropriate treatment for infections that may be present as a consequence
of the body's depleted immune function;
- Nutritional support, particularly with B complex vitamins, magnesium, zinc
and malic acid."
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