Is the US government good for our health?

[Truthseeker]

I'm curious whether the readers of this thread know about telomeres and telomerase. Post "no" if you don't know or "yes" if you do know. Please don't look up these terms before posting.

[Truthseeker]

I understand the February 17-24, 2014 issue of the New Yorker has a report on the ways many health care companies take to subvert or suborn science, available to subscribers of the New Yorker.

[Truthseeker]

A doctor by the name of Bill Sardi lists incidents of Big Pharma/Medicine charging a mint for treatments that often prove to be ineffective or even dangerous. In each list item after the "v." symbol is the natural medicine alternative (at least, his recommendation):

* $270,000 9-month cure for Hepatitis-C infection v. http ://knowledgeofhealth.com/comprehensive-dietary-supplement-regimen-for-hepatitis-c/

* $18,000-$35,000 surgical procedure (gastric bypass) to cure diabetes v. simple blood donation to reduce iron stores

* $billions! "Sudden-death heart attacks are caused by a calcium plaque that suddenly ruptures inside a coronary artery, not as the result of cholesterol buildup, a falsehood that is used to sell billions of dollars of cholesterol-lowering drugs" v. vitamin C prevents that type of mortal plaque in heart arteries.

[Truthseeker]

On 2013 December 4, Kate Couric on her show interviewed what may be victims of Gardasil, the controversial vaccine against HPV. For some background, VAERS Database on MedAlerts through 2013 December 13 had gotten 30,000 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine. Also cast an eye over this unusually long list of sources and references http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/Ref...accine-ref.pdf

Almost immediately a firestorm of obloquy hit after the show. This article may or may not be typical
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewh...inst-gardasil/

but I want us to discuss it.

The article's first main point, about how long the vaccine is effective, I will immediately concede. Could be longer than eight years. 2nd point (Pap smears)--also conceded. 3rd--No, no! I believe cancers usually involve many more factors than just viral infections. As a rule, at least, cancers are merely opportunistic, exploiting multiple weaknesses in immune systems. If you want more discussion on this point, please feel free to post your observations and objections, whatever. 4th--It's more than just possible that the show was designed to strum viewer heartstrings. I don't think that is especially important, though. If there were no attempt to mislead the viewers with deliberate deception or outright fraud, I would not be up in arms against the show's lack of objectivity. I am more inclined to decry the lack of respect for viewers' judgement or common sense in general. Sure, many people are easy to stampede, but given time they may come to a more cool and reasoned view of things.

The article made more points. It's true that we can never know whether any case of apparent adverse reaction, including death, to vaccination should be blamed on it. But I think it's wrong to dismiss any anecdote summarily and outrightly. May be better to err on the side of caution. That no apparent side effect appeared after millions(?) of vaccine shots, does not mean the vaccine is safe. Consider that many people go not suspecting they have cancer. Or they are on the point of developing cancer. Also consider that the 30,000 adverse-reaction reports may only be the tip of an iceberg; perhaps far too many doctors do not report when they should.

The article ended with the claim that the vaccine was performing better than expected. Oh, whoopie. That does not definitely answer the question, are the benefits worth the risks? Another question: Are the resources going into manufacturing, distributing, promoting HPV vaccines not better spent elsewhere (more serious public health problems such as infant mortality in the USA)?



Mark Nestmann isn't a doctor. Just a lawyer, but he does know the USFG and the lobbyists. Today he asked, why did it take more than 30 years to confirm that Vitamin C fights cancer? Answer: All that long the cancer-"fighting" companies successfully lobbied the government to impose on the economy the policy that vitamin C isn't an effective cancer therapy. That was partly on the basis of clinical trials tricked up to make a certain procedure appear ineffective.

[Truthseeker]

Dee Dee Warren is still sick, and also Mossrose's little munchkin. And a few days ago, I myself was sick. Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. Possibly a kind of norovirus, like what hit my town. Not to brag, but I was still able to stick to my exercise routine all throughout the sickness, though. I'm fine though, except I am more sleepy than usual.

[Truthseeker]

Someone recommended the movie Dallas Buyers Club. Based on what he wrote, it's about a fella who gets a medical sentence of death: Like, "You have cancer. You have only months to live." He is given a prescription, but he does research and finds alternatives to the prescribed treatment. Following those brings him into war with various branches of the USFG such as the FDA and the IRS.

[Truthseeker]

Why is the world so fat? At least 1 in 5 persons is overweight. In the USA, nearly 70% 20 years or older are overweight.

One conclusion: the weight-loss industry is a spectacular failure. But not in terms of profit. One may suspect that, as someone charged, the industry should really be called the weight-GAIN industry. Look at its promotion of diet sodas, which has been shown in many studies to be not just unhealthy but actually make people fatter. Also look at diet cereals and meals.

[Truthseeker]

Ben Blatt, Slate magazine writer, said that the FDA gave Wal-mart's food products all green lights--for safety, natch, not just efficacy (kidding). What is the verdict of Whole Foods Market, though? It does not stock at least 1/2 of Walmart's grocery products. Possibly many more than those are not stocked; we don't know because Wal-mart does not disclose ingredients for about 1/2 of its groceries.

It would seem evident that Wal-mart had better not change its name to Wel-mart. [Thanks, Isaac Pino (Motley Fool)]

[Truthseeker]

Pre-disease. If a member of Big Medicine thought that up, he or she is a genius. A marketing genius. One does not have to have a real disease to get prescriptions. Take me. While I exercise, my legs often cramp up. Do I not need treatment for pre-cramp as soon as I start running? Quick, what's the name of the drug for that disorder?

"Hmm . . . pre-cramp," the doctor said. "You need to take this to the pharmacy, stat." He scribbled on a prescription pad and tore out a sheet. He handed me that. My stomach felt as though it was sinking. Numbly I took the sheet.
[Thanks Jenny Thompson, HSI]

[Truthseeker]

Some of you may know Dee Dee Warren took Tamiflu for her flu. What were the results? Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain? She did say she suffered a lot. Anyway, those are not at all atypical. Worse side-effects---------- http://www.gene.com/download/pdf/tam...rescribing.pdf[/indent]

Now, boys and girls, ready for the punch line? According to this news article by a medical doctor in Huffpost Health Living http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-...b_4400584.html Tamiflu doesn't work! All the suffering for nothing?

Some of you may think that this post is off topic. No, Roche is Big Pharma, and people suspect that Roche suppressed clinical trial results that would have publically shown Tamiflu to be ineffective http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2117287.html

[Truthseeker]

An advertising video being presented in emails claims a substance is natural and can quickly relieve pain, cheaply and better than Big Pharma offerings such as Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, etc. The video charges that because the natural substance is not patentable, Big Pharma does not want the public to know about it. Big Pharma would rather people suffer pain so that they spend $$$ on Big Pharma's "pain-relieving" products. BP would make only peanuts selling the natural substance.

[Truthseeker]

Kurunthachalam Kannan, research scientist, New York State Department of Health, Albany; professor, environmental health sciences, School of Public Health, Stte University of New York at Albany; coauthor of two recent studies on BPA and BPS in paper products, published in Environmental Science & Technology. He advises that recently the FDA again refused to ban BPA and BPS even though their toxicity has been apparently established in some studies. That is of great concern: He says that most toilet paper contains BPA or BPS! Big Pharma greed, yet again. edited to correct a mistake. Not Big Pharma, but I guess Big Biz.

[Truthseeker]

Testimony and evidence against Zohydro, the painkiller now being denounced by many people as a people killer. The FDA went against the thumb-down by its own advisory board, which voted 11-2 against Zohydro, and recommended its use.

Andrew Koldny, MD, in Huffingtonpost.com (Science) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew...b_4855964.html

[Truthseeker]

These two items may not seem related; readers who were not Twebbers before TWeb crashed may be especially puzzled. Trust my feeling that the items belong together.

1) Germ-free mice raised in aseptic conditions showed autistic-like symptoms. Scientists fed the mice a certain bacterial strain and observed alleviation of the symptoms http://www.caltech.edu/content/probi...behaviors-mice

2)Robert H. Lustig, MD UCSF professor of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology, lectures on the bad effects of sugar in a youtube--90 minutes so you may just read on--Now it is generally accepted that sugar is not good for people, but John Yudkin's career crashed after the publication of his book in 1972 that showed the evils of sugar http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/di...out-sugar.html

Anthony Wakefield's career also abruptly crashed, remember?

[Truthseeker]

A few weeks ago, according to Jenny Thompson of HSI, Subway announced that it will remove azodicarbonamide (ADA) from its bread dough. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/health...cal/index.html

ADA is supposed to make the dough more flexible, like it's supposed to make your flip flops more flexible.

Why the removal? The FDA okayed it, didn't the FDA? Well, safe for "low" amounts. Sure, anything is safe if amounts of it are low enough.

One fly in the soup, though (safe to eat if there's just one fly in it). "The World Health Organization says ADA is linked to allergies and asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and even skin problems in people who work with it."