Mercury can be toxic when it is inhaled, taken orally or when placed on the skin. Its harmful effects have been scientifically linked to several diseases, including autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, depression, and bipolar disorder.

The reality of mercury use is alarming, yet the FDA—the government agency established to ensure the safety of Americans by weeding out all the harmful components of food products and drugs before they hit the market — could care less if we’re exposed to this life-threatening substance.

Instead, they continue to allow mercury to be administered in at least 45 different over the counter drugs, including eye ointments, nasal sprays, and vaccines—including the Flu vaccine which is administered to children and pregnant women.

This careless behavior is the driving force behind the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), who is now asking the U.S. federal court to force the FDA to comply with existing law and regulations by providing proof that mercury is safe for human consumption. Until mercury is proven safe, CoMeD asks that mercury-containing products be removed from the market. The law suit was filed because the FDA failed to answer issues raised in a citizen petition filed on August 24, 2004, by CoMeD representatives.

By failing to provide any kind of proof that mercury testing has indeed been done, the FDA is admitting that they have not taken any action at all to test the safety or harm caused by consuming mercury.

Adding fuel to the fire is a 1999 email, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, where an FDA official wrote that agency’s failure to evaluation the amount of mercury in medicine “…will raise questions about FDA being ‘asleep at the switch’ for decades by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to remain…and not forcing manufactures to exclude it from new products.”

Knowledge is power and it could save your life. Get all the information on the dangers of mercury, and make a conscious effort to keep your body functioning at a high level of health. Eat smart. Receive regularly scheduled chiropractic appointments. Exercise. And keep reading!

[Source: http://www.thimerosal-autism-symptoms.com/html/mercury.html and http://www.aapsonline.org/nod/newsofday357.php ]

Specifically, Selenium-based supplements may prevent the development of new polyps in people with a history of colon polyp formation, says a new study.

400 people participated in the study, in which they received either placebo or an antioxidant-rich supplement containing selenomethionnine, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E. At the end of the study people in the antioxidant group experienced a 40 per cent reduction in the incidence of new polyps of the large bowel.

“Our study is the first intervention trial specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of the selenium-based antioxidant compound on the risk of developing metachronous adenomas,” said researchers from the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa, Italy.

The study represents another important step on the ladder of supporting the potential anti-cancer effects of the mineral. The research findings are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held in Houston.

Adenomatous polyps (or adenoma) are benign lesions of the large bowel that, in time, could progress to cancer, explain the researchers. Even though only a small proportion of adenomas will develop into
cancer, it is said that almost 70 to 80 per cent of colorectal cancer stems from an adenoma.

The research team randomly assigned the 411 participants aged between 25 and 75 to receive either placebo or an antioxidant supplement. The supplement provided daily doses of 200 micrograms of selenomethionnine, 30 milligrams of zinc, 6,000 IU of vitamin A, 180 milligrams of vitamin C, and 30 milligrams of vitamin E. All the participants had already undergone surgery to remove one or more colorectal adenomas.

“Our results indicated that individuals who consumed antioxidants had a 40 per cent reduction in the incidence of metachronous adenomas of the large bowel,” said the researchers “It is particularly
noteworthy that the benefit observed after the conclusion of the trial persisted through 13 years of follow up.”

Selenium and Prostate Health…

A greater body of science exists for Selenium and prostate health. A number of studies, most notably the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study and the Alpha-tocopherol, Beta-carotene Cancer Prevention study, have reported that the nutrients, alone or in combination, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

With over half a million new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed every year, and the cancer directly causing over 200,000 deaths, potential preventive measures are highly desirable.

2. DON’T SCARE YOURSELF. Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. Its’ a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.

3. BE GENTLE AND KIND AND PATIENT. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really love.

4. BE KIND TO YOUR MIND. Self hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don’t hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change your thoughts.

5. PRAISE YOURSELF. Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.

6. SUPPORT YOURSELF. Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. Asking for help when you need it is a sign of strength.

7. BE LOVING TO YOUR NEGATIVES. Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.

8. TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.

9. MIRROR WORK. Look into your eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents looking into the mirror. Forgive them, too. At least once a day say, “I love you, I really love you” to yourself.

10. LOVE YOURSELF. Begin it now. Do the best you can.

Smokers who did not drink green tea at all may have a 13-fold increased risk of lung
cancer, compared with those who drank at least one cup per day, suggests a new study
from Taiwan.

Although expert advice is clearly to avoid tobacco smoke altogether, the results
suggest smokers could benefit from upping their intake of Green Tea, according to
findings presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer.

One in three Europeans are smokers, while in the US the figure is one in five. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 compounds, of which 60 are known carcinogens. The oxidative stress levels of smokers are significantly greater than non-smokers, and as such there is a bigger drain on the levels of antioxidants in the body.

The new study, a hospital-based, randomised trial, builds on earlier research from epidemiological studies which reported potential lung cancer risk reductions in smokers.

The benefits may also extend to non-smokers, researchers told attendees at the conference, with non-Green Tea drinkers, both smokers and non-smokers, associated with a 5.2-fold increased risk of lung cancer, compared with those who drank at least one cup of green tea per day.

At Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan, attendees were told that both Green Tea consumption and genotype may influence lung cancer risk. The study involved 170 lung cancer patients and 340 healthy patients as controls. Questionnaires revealed tea drinking habits, along with other demographic and lifestyle data. The
researchers also genotyped the participants according to their insulin-like growth factors (IGF), all of which have all been reported to be associated with cancer risk.

The results showed that, in addition to an increase in risk for non-Green Tea drinkers, genetics seemed to affect the cancer risk. Green Tea drinkers with specific types of IGF1 reported a 66 per cent reduction in lung cancer risk as compared with Green Tea drinkers with another form of IGF1.

“Our study may represent a clue that in the case of lung cancer, smoking-induced carcinogenesis could be modulated by Green Tea consumption and the growth factor environment,” said the researchers involved in the study.

This is not just a Sunday school lesson; science is proving this to be a fact. When you choose to hold on to symptoms of unforgiveness, such as hatred, resentment, bitterness and regret, these feelings act like a poison that slowly eats away at your body, devouring your health. People who harbor unforgiveness within them often develop ulcers, high blood pressure, cancer, suffer strokes or even have heart attacks.

The good news is that when you choose to forgive someone, you’re not doing it for them; you’re doing it so that YOU can have a healthy life and move on.

Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that what they did was right, nor does it mean that you agree with their actions. Forgiveness means that you recognize that the other person or people have made a mistake and they can’t take it back. Forgiveness means that you love yourself enough to not want to be stuck living every day in that situation—in those feelings—so you forgive the mistake, let go of the situation, and move forward in living your life to the fullest.

Remember, whatever you are not willing to release will stay with you. And negative feelings associated with unforgiveness have the potential to wreak havoc on your health.

Live healthy. Forgive often.

[Source: Book, “Setting Things Straight” by Dr. John Madeira, D.C.]

By Kevin Donka, D.C.

This is a question parents ask in our office at least once or twice every week. In order to answer it, we need to be clear of both the dangers and benefits of a fever.

Many of you just did a double take when you read that fever can have a benefit. But, according to a 1992 brochure published by the makers of Tylenol, fever is a very important thing for your body to be able to produce. It helps the body prevent or clear infections, whether they are viral or bacterial.

This same publication states that fevers are generally not dangerous until they reach a temperature of 106.3 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, it says that there is not really even much danger of a seizure from the fever until it has been at 106 degrees for 3 days or more. Furthermore, it states that, “even if a seizure does occur, there rarely is any residual effect at all.”

Now, this is not to say that we want to let a fever get to the point where a seizure or any damage could occur. Nor does it mean that we should not make sure something more serious isn’t going on.

What it does mean is that we should be acutely aware that the body has a specific purpose for producing a fever, and we should respect that and not automatically try to reduce it.

This is a very important thing to understand, and while many adults can now grasp this concept, many of our kids have grown up believing that fever is a bad thing and must be reduced as soon as it starts. We have an explanation for fever in our office that I would like to share with you here. It is the way we explain fever to a child, and it usually helps clear it up for adults as well. It goes something like this…

“Hi Timmy! Your mom told me you’re not feeling quite the way you would like to, and that you have a fever, is that right? Well, do you remember how we always tell you after your adjustment that your Power is on now? You know Tim, that “Power” is just like a light! Have you ever touched a light bulb when it’s been on? It’s very hot isn’t it? Well, sometimes, when your body needs a little more Power to help itself get or stay healthy, it turns its Power up, and you get hot…just like that light bulb! That’s what we call a fever, and it’s a very good thing for your body to be able to turn its power up if it needs to. My job is to adjust you and make sure that your Power gets turned up as high as it needs to go to get you well again, but only as high as it needs to go and no higher! Your adjustment also helps to make sure that your Power is only turned up for as long as it needs to be and no longer. Pretty cool, huh?! Isn’t it great how your body knows exactly what to do to stay healthy?! Come on, let’s get you adjusted and make sure your Light can help your body be the best it can be!”

This kind of explanation from you can help your children understand the incredible miracle they have within them. It will also help them to grow up knowing that health does not come from drugs, but that it is our natural state. And, by keeping our spines aligned and functioning properly so that our brains and bodies are fully connected, we all have the best possible chance of staying healthy and moving toward the full expression of Life. This also means that we all are more likely to reach our potential in life. And after all, isn’t that what life is really all about anyway?

Article courtesy of Powerful Practices

Chronic lateness is like an illness, beginning with a few symptoms that grow into a full-blown sickness. It starts with casual things, such as meeting friends for dinner 20 minutes late or going to a movie and missing the previews. Before you know it, you’re sneaking in the back door of the conference room and apologizing to your staff.

According to a 2006 survey by Proudfoot Consulting, American CEOs are late to eight out of every ten meetings, resulting in $90 billion in lost productivity.

Lateness is time wasted and, despite the consequences, it’s often a difficult habit to break. Battling it takes more than setting the clocks 10 minutes fast (that never works). Stop making up excuses and start managing your time with these helpful tips:

1. Don’t plan to be exactly on time. Murphy’s Law tells us everything that can go wrong will go wrong. So if you always plan to be 15 minutes early, you can run behind schedule with situations beyond your control (traffic, angry client, etc.) and still be on time.

2. Be realistic when estimating how much time certain tasks will take. Travel time is only one factor. Include everything from getting ready, sending that last e-mail and preparing any necessary documents, to traffic delays, finding parking and walking to your actual destination. Also, if you’re going to a place you’ve never been before, make sure to add another 10 to 15 minutes to give yourself time to find the location.

3. Stay organized. The less time you spend looking for your car keys, the better chance you have of getting out the door in a timely manner. Keep your wallet, keys, purse, briefcase and anything else you need every day in one location at home. The same rule can be applied at work.

4. Block off a period of the day for time-consuming tasks. Technology like smart phones and laptops make us available to everyone 24 hours a day. If you have clients and colleagues who require in-person meetings, you can’t be a slave to your mobile/cell phone. Carve out a block of time in your planner every day to return phone calls and respond to e-mail. This way, you won’t get caught up with long conference calls or last-minute memos.

5. Work ahead of deadlines. When you get an assignment, start it immediately. People who work solely to meet deadlines often procrastinate until the last moment, convincing themselves that they work better under pressure. Deadlines become irrelevant when you work on things early. Deadlines are for people who would not complete their work without them.
How often do you keep your clients waiting? How often are you running late? How often are you arriving long after your shift has begun? Remember, your clients time is as valuable as yours.
Honour your clients and they will Honour you.

The truth behind the age old myth is that milk is not the best way to obtain calcium. Yogurt has more calcium than milk and is easier to digest because it contains less lactose. Many people cannot easily digest cow’s milk because they are lactose intolerant or sensitive to the protein casein. Collard greens, spinach and other greens have about as much or more calcium than milk by the cup. Greens, unlike milk, also have the added benefit of vitamin K, also necessary for strong bones. Sesame is also very high in calcium.

One final note, cup for cup, milk has the highest calorie count out of all other calcium sources.