Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. That seems to apply to foods as much as to other pleasures. By now most everyone seems to be convinced that too much fat is bad for cholesterol and heart attacks; and we've heard for years that excess sugar can cause a variety of problems, ranging from dental caries to diabetes and related diseases. Now we have convincing new evidence that too much protein can be even more devastating than fats and sugars!
In response to the recent opinions expressed in the editorial pages of the San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday, 8 July 2007), I would say that both authors left out some major issues that deserve additional comment. As a board-certified psychiatrist and participant in the Autism Research Institute Defeat Autism Now program, I have had sufficient experience to recognize the huge gaps in the discussion.
Perhaps you didn't know there is another war going on besides the one in the Middle East. This one is a public health war, a war against fat and cholesterol that has been going on for more than 30 years. As befits a major war, the American Heart Association has formed a Task Force on Cholesterol Issues. Together with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute they recently distributed a report entitled "The Cholesterol Facts," The purpose of this report is to answer criticism from popular magazine writers and "a small group of physicians" who have questioned whether the 5 to 8 billion dollars expense attached to the National Cholesterol Education Program is a waste of time and money. I tend to side with those who believe cholesterol can wait.
When President Clinton addressed Congress regarding universal health coverage, he focused on selling points such as security, simplicity, savings, choice, quality and responsibility. These were among the key words that I remember from watching his masterful performance. I was especially attuned to his mention of the twin concepts, of unnecessary service and medical fraud. These concepts have become increasingly important reference points in the past decade as private and public health insurance plans have quickly replaced our previous fee for service and combination public hospital and medical charity system.
A review of the book: Vaccination, Social Violence and Criminality by Harris Coulter. (N Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA 1990)
This book, on the relationship between vaccination and neurological illness, by the historian and homeopathic physician, Harris Coulter, is an expose and a hypothesis: vaccination causes learning disorders, including infantile autism, social violence and criminality. The author’s hypothesis is that there has been an explosive increase in developmental neurological injuries since 1960 and that this correlates with vaccination campaigns promoted by our Public Health Service.
Perhaps the most insidious distraction that throws a doctor off the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency is the medical teaching that B12 is stored in the adult human liver in an amount sufficient for 5 to 10 years of total deprivation. Obviously not so. I have seen cases in which B12 reserves ran out in less than half that time. This is more likely nowadays when so many people have been avoiding red meat and liver in their diet for years on end. Vegetarian and, of course, fruitarian diets can induce severe B12 deficiency in susceptible people, i.e. those who may have a defect in B12 absorption. Such people are at severe risk of B12 deficiency if they go along with the crowd. Luckily, almost half of all Americans are taking multivitamin and B complex supplements containing B12 at least some of the time. On the other hand, there are still lots of folks who cling to the idealistic notion that they can get all their vitamins and minerals from a "balanced" diet.
I have recently treated over half a dozen patients whose lives have been ruined by vitamin B12 deficiency--a preventable disorder. In every case there was medical error and/or patient ignorance and skepticism leading to permanent harm. It is easy to miss the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency. In the first place, it is a vitamin and our medical education is not only weak on vitamin diagnosis, it often reviles those doctors who treat with vitamins.
When Summertime is fast approaching and the cold season is mostly behind us, there are still enough sore throats and sniffles out there. This article may find you in the mood to take stock of vitamin C and other natural treatments for the common cold-—and even the flu.
Orthomolecular health medicine combines the benefits of nutrition and natural therapies along with an emphasis on laboratory diagnosis, actual measurement of vitamins and minerals in order to truly understand the food factors that conrol the body chemistry. Inspired by Dr. Linus Pauling, who coined the name, ortho-molecular, as an endorsement of the use of natural molecules in maintenance of health and treating disease, the orthomolecular approach to medicine has become the most dynamic grass roots movement in medicine today, but we call it by other names, such as nutrition, vitamin and antioxidant. Antioxidant is the medical buzzword of the 90s and vitamin C is the most important of the antioxdants.
