Mammogram Blackmail: HRT meds held hostage

This is not a joke, and is certainly not to be taken lightly by anyone, patient or physician.

Here is the story, and I have to say I honestly would not have believed myself it if I had not heard it first-person from the woman who was the blackmail victim!

Last week in Bend, Oregon my friend went to her doctor to pick up her bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy prescription. The woman behind the desk at the physician's office waved the prescription in the air in front of my friend's face and told my friend that she would get the prescription as soon as she had a mammogram!

Now, as far as I know, there is no medical reason to have a mammogram when picking up a prescription for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. There is nothing in a mammogram that measures blood levels of hormones, and my friend is not at risk for breast cancer, so withholding medications was unjustified to say the least, and possibly criminal.

My friend went and had the painful, unnecessary, and cancer-causing* mammogram, and did finally receive her medications. She is not happy about this, and I certainly don't blame her a bit.

Ladies, if you are ever in a similar situation, I suggest the following monologue to your (ahem) health care practitioner: "Thank you for your suggestion. I will have my attorney contact you regarding the withholding of my prescribed medications. I will also inform the AMA regarding your choice to withhold my medications. I will also inform you as to where to send my medical records for I will never again step foot into this office. Have a nice day."

Then, WALK OUT AND DON'T LOOK BACK! If your health-care provider is going to blackmail you into unnecessary and expensive and lethal tests, that is one person you do not need in your life.

If you live in Bend, Oregon and you have likewise been blackmailed, I urge you to report it, and change health-care providers immediately. I very sincerely hope that the woman who withheld the prescription from my friend is soundly reprimanded.

* Here is a link to an article on the cancer risks associated with mammograms. Please feel free to have a glass of wine while reading it. http://bewellwithmichelle.blogspot.com/2008/04/alcohol-v-mammogram-as-breast-cancer.html

Creative Health Tip 19 October 2009

I have a wonderful teaching for you today about Nature. The direction this came from is somewhat unusual, but that’s the thing about Wisdom; you just never know what direction it’s going to come from, so always keep your eyes and ears open!

I am doing some editing for a friend of mine who I’ll call Richard since that’s his name. Richard is a retired Doctor of Chiropractic who now devotes his time to his Golden Bridge Seminars where he shares the wisdom Abraham as channeled by Esther Hicks who writes books and travels with her husband Jerry.

One of the main teachings of Abraham is to “go with the flow,” or “go downstream.” To get what you want out of life, to be where you want to be and in the circumstances and relationships and prosperity and places that are right for you, you do not need to struggle. Struggling is considered to be going upstream. You paddle and paddle and struggle and struggle, and where does it really get you? Nowhere.

Now, the reason I mention Richard today is that I am editing a manuscript for him. There is a miracle described in there, and you are going to have to read the book to learn what that is, but meanwhile….

While working on his manuscript, I came across a simple sentence that leapt off the page and just sort of hit me right between the eyes. I don’t know if this philosophy came to Richard before or after his interest in the Abraham-Hicks teachings manifested, but if it were before, I certainly can understand his attraction to the Abraham teachings and the Law of Attraction.

Richard’s philosophy is simple, and – as these things often are – simply profound: “Nature needs no help, just no interference.”

Just think about that for a moment and how it could relate to your health. Your wellness is in the hands of your immune system. Think about the ways you may be interfering with Nature and compromising your immune system by being exposed to household chemicals, eating an unhealthy diet, and living a stressed-out lifestyle. Certainly, none of those are in alignment or harmony with Nature or her “go with the flow, go downstream” advice.

As a Doctor of Chiropractic, Richard’s main interest was wellness, and his philosophy is a perfect reflection of his belief, and certainly aligns with the Abraham teachings as well!

If you are floating downstream, you are not “helping” Nature by paddling, and likewise, if you are floating you are not interfering with or hampering your harmony with Nature. Floating means letting Nature take its course

In the area of wellness, what this means is that when your body’s immune system, which is Nature’s way of keeping you healthy, is operating at peak efficiency, it can handle any disease to which you are exposed, either externally such as the flu or strep throat, or internally such as cancer or even arthritis. It is only when Nature – meaning your immune system – is compromised that you fall prey to disease.

If you want real wellness, there are two things you should do. First: Expect miracles, for that is how you create them. Second: Don’t get in Mother Nature’s way when she’s working to restore your health! Support your immune system by getting enough sleep, eating healthy, organic foods, and minimizing the stress that suppresses proper immune system function.

Seriously, I am going to post this statement where I can see it and be reminded of its wisdom every day, and I hope you do, too!

Remember: “Nature needs no help, just no interference.”

Thank you, Richard, for that!


Have a great week!

Creative Health Tip 12 October 2009

Today’s tip is an excerpt about the healing power of love.

This is a quote from pages 285 – 287 of the book Spontaneous Evolution by Bruce Lipton, PhD. In this segment, he’s talking about a man who is a medical doctor turned energy healer after receiving the message "Your work is to heal with love" during meditation.

That doctor’s name is Leonard Laskow, and his website where you may learn more about him and his book Healing With Love, as well as read articles, interviews and research papers is http://www.laskow.net/index.shtml

Lipton’s book describes some scientific experiments that Dr Laskow did with cancer cells in Petri dishes and the healing power of love, and that is what I’ll share with you here today.

"Laskow held three culture dishes that contained tumor cells in his hand while maintaining a state of focused healing consciousness. As an experimental control, a non-healer in another room held in his hands three other Petri dishes, inoculated with the same tumor cells. The non-healer was assigned a reading task while holding the cultures so that he would be distracted from influencing the cultured cells with his own intentions.

"Laskow experimented with several different emotional intentions while holding the cells, all of which sought to activate the natural force of coherence in the Universe. The most effective intention, the one that caused the cancer cells to diminish their growth by 39 percent, was "Return to the natural order and harmony of the normal cell line." When Laskow added visual imagery to the intention, the healing effects doubled.

"So, what's love got to do with it? As Laskow reports in his book Healing With Love, his intention was not to destroy the cancer cells but to allow them to exist as part of universal creation. Love, he explained, is the "impulse toward unity, non-separation, wholeness. While love can take many forms, its essence is relatedness." Laskow believes that the opposite of love is not hate but separation. While there are many different modes for accessing and using healing energy, Laskow's protocol involves connecting with the condition instead of separating from it."

"When we experience an illness or a life condition that we would prefer not to have, our first impulse is to cast it out. We tend to think of illness as a foreign invader that attacks us rather than something we co-create. However, when we truly own our participation in the condition, even if we don't understand the reason, we become responsible participants in directing our fate.

"With the awareness that our mind shapes our biology, we can recognize that we have the opportunity to change our minds and, thus, create a healthier biology. Given what we now know about the intelligence and functionality of our cells, maybe we can begin by humbly apologizing to our inner citizens and thank them for putting up with us! When we take the step of consciously loving our cells, we affirm that we are co-creating participants, not victims of life.

"An illness or disharmonious condition occurs when something is misformed or deformed. Healing, therefore, involves transformation to change the dysfunctional form. Here is Laskow's simple four-step transformational healing process:

"Step One: Inform yourself about what has already materialized in form. Telling the truth is the first step toward responsibility.

"Step Two: Conform to the condition by loving it rather than creating separation. Resonating with the form allows us more influence over its organization.

"Step Three: Unform the condition by releasing it. "It is this observer's intent," said Laskow, "that converts particulate matter to its wave form and its wave form back into matter."

"Step Four: Reform the released energy to conform to our purpose and desire. This is the letting go part where we send our intention into he Universe without attachment.

"Even when releasing the diseased condition, there is connection and not separation. Laskow wrote: "When you accept and love the parts of yourself you want to reject or change, you create an opportunity to discover the positive live force behind them." That old Biblical word atonement can be reinterpreted as at-one-ment through which we make ourselves at one with whatever condition we would have otherwise rejected.

"In the quantum Universe where everything is connected, love is the glue that holds things together. Said Laskow, "Love is a universal pattern of resonant energy." In this sense, two or more tuning forks vibrating together are in love with each other, just as two or more humans can resonate in a palpable field of connectedness, joy, and even ecstasy. Love, he said, "is the universal harmonic.”

End quote.

We all have the capacity to do this. I hope that along with whatever healing modalities you use, you will include the healing power of love to bring you back into harmony, happiness, and health!


Have a great week!

You Control Your Genes, Your Genes Don't Control You

This is an article with two videos from the website of Dr. Joseph Mercola. He, as well as Roger Jahnke, a Master in Taiji and Chinese Medicine, have published several interviews and reports on scientific discoveries and studies that show you are not at the mercy of your genes, and that genetic expression of diseases for which you are "at risk" can be averted when you know that your emotions have far more control over your genetic expression than was ever dreamed possible.

In other words, living in joy and harmony instead of being stressed out and crazy can mean the difference between being healthy and getting cancer!


Here is the latest article from Dr Mercola's website and two videos that accompany it. Enjoy!


The New Biology- From Victim to Master of Your Health

(7 minute 36 second video)





The Four Myth Perceptions of the Apocalypse (www.Mercola.com)

(6 minute 30 second video)



Dr. Mercola's Comments (on the second video):

This is my second interview with cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, PhD., who is one of the leading authorities on how emotions can regulate genetic expression, as explained in his excellent book The Biology of Belief, which was published last year.

Dr. Lipton’s new book is Spontaneous Evolution, which was just published just a few days ago.

In this interview, he discusses “the four myth perceptions of the Apocalypse.” These are the myths that society has bought, up to now, as actual science.

However, over the last two decades or so, leading edge science has shown them to be not only flawed, but entirely false, providing such profoundly different answers that it will undoubtedly change the way we live in the future.


Myth # 1 : You Live in a Mechanical Universe

The first myth perception is that the world, especially biology and medicine, operates through Newtonian physics. It says you live in a mechanical universe.
According to this belief, your body is a physical machine, so by modifying the parts of the machine, you can modify your health.

As a physical machine, your body responds to physical “things” like chemicals and drugs, and by adjusting the drugs that modify your machinery, doctors can modify and control life.

Now, with the advent of quantum physics, scientists have realized that this theory is flawed because quantum physics show that the invisible, immaterial realm is far more important than the material realm.

In fact, your thoughts may shape your environment far more than physical matter.
Einstein himself is quoted as saying: “The field is the sole governing agency of the particle.” What that means is that invisible energy is the sole governing agency of matter (the physical world).

It’s interesting to note that the word ‘spirit’ by spiritualists, and the word ‘field’ by physicists, use the same definition for those two words.

So, the new science is actually taking us back, and shows that your thoughts, your attitudes, your beliefs, and the invisible environment, are more primary in shaping your life than anything in the physical world is.


Myth # 2: Your Genes Control Your Life

In his book, The Biology of Belief, Dr. Lipton explains the foundation of epigenetics, and how the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of the cell membrane. In this way – which is contrary to conventional medical science – it is actually the cell’s membrane -- operating in response to environmental signals picked up by the membrane’s receptors -- that control the “reading” of the genes inside.

What does this mean?

It means that you are not controlled by your genetic makeup. Instead, your genetic readout (which genes are turned “on” and which are turned “off”) is primarily determined by your thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions!

The major problem with believing the myth that your genes control your life is that you become a victim of your heredity. Since you can’t change your genes, it essentially means that your life is predetermined, and therefore you have very little control over your health. With any luck, modern medicine will find the gene responsible and be able to alter it, or devise some other form of drug to modify your body’s chemistry, but aside from that, you’re out of luck…

The new science, however, reveals that your perceptions control your biology, and this places you in the role of Master, because if you can change your perceptions, you can shape and direct your own genetic readout.

It places YOU in the power position, for better or worse.

As Dr. Lipton says,

“This is very relevant to the world that we are in because we have to take back a belief that we have power over our lives. Because our current perception is that we are victims, and since perceptions control life, if you believe you are a victim, you become a victim. When we change our perceptions, we can become masters. So we are moving out of “victimhood” into mastery.”


Myth # 3: Life is Based on Survival of the Fittest

The third misperception is the Darwinian belief that life and evolution is based on the survival of the fittest, which is an inherent competition and a struggle for existence that goes on forever.

The new science, however, shows that this is incorrect; that evolution was not based on competition, but rather on cooperation.

This is a profound difference, and it tells us that if we want to evolve as a species, we must stop competing, and begin to recognize our coherence – that we evolved to live as a harmonious community of people, living on this planet as one living “thing” called humanity.


Myth # 4: Life Evolved as a Random Process

This is another Darwinian theory. The significance of this myth is that, based upon it, you have no purpose here, and humans are somewhat disconnected from the environment altogether.

It says that you got here by accident, and since humanity was accidental, humans have no real purpose here on planet earth.

The new biology, on the other hand, reveals that you are in fact an extension of your environment.

In fact, every time an organism is introduced into an ecosystem, its function is to balance it and keep it stable. When viewed from this perspective, you realize that the function of your existence here on earth is to create harmony and stability within your environment.

Says Dr. Lipton,

“… humanity evolved as a compliment to an environment. The very scary situation is, if we destroy the environment that created us, then essentially, we are destroying the foundation of our existence.”


New Solutions for Old Problems

I have long maintained that your emotional state plays a role in nearly every physical disease -- from heart disease, to depression, to arthritis and cancer. Even the conservative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 85 percent of all diseases have an emotional element.

If your thoughts and emotions play such a significant role in modifying your biology and your health (and I believe they do), then treating your emotions becomes an essential part of optimal health.

Terms like “energy medicine” and “energy psychology” are terms that have sprung up in response to these shifts in perception of reality, and I’ve long been an advocate of energy psychology tools to address underlying emotional traumas that can trigger disease, or keep you locked in a disease pattern.

Meridian tapping techniques, for example, which works on several levels of your collective mind-body-spirit simultaneously, can help you get a better handle on your emotions and buried pain, including the stress from unexpected tragedies.

Optimal health might really hinge on dealing with, and resolving your emotional traumas as quickly as possible; not letting old emotional wounds linger and fester.

In severe cases you might not be able to perform the techniques satisfactorily on yourself, in which case I would highly recommend you seek out a trained professional. Dr. Patricia Carrington provides a list of certified practitioners across the world, plus helpful advice on how to choose a practitioner that is right for you.


*** end of article ***

I'd just like to add that Affirmation Movies are also a great way to get a handle on your emotions, and work through conflicts in beliefs that are a major cause of chronic illness. To learn more about that, please visit Affirmation Movies.

If you would like to know more about Affirmation Movies, write to me at affirmationmovies@gmail.com

Discover Your Natural Beauty Using Simple Ingredients In Homemade Recipes

With the onslaught of revelations in the news these days of increasing illness and danger from the toxic chemicals you are exposed to on a daily basis, many of these found in your personal hygiene and beauty products and absorbed through your skin, it makes a lot of sense to get back to nature with our health and beauty products!

In case you need a reminder, here is an article listing just a few of the chemicals and the illnesses they can cause: "The Chemical Cocktail of Skin Care" By Ananda Mahony http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Chemical-Cocktail-of-Skin-Care&id=1571132

Not only are natural products better for your health, they are better for you wallet, too! For a facial mask, for example, you can buy a few pounds of oatmeal that will provide you with mask material for a long time and be much less expensive than the 8-ounce tube of cosmetic facial mask that lasts for a couple of weeks at best. Natural products are versatile, too! You can eat the oatmeal for breakfast and it will help lower your cholesterol. I'll bet your chemical cosmetic mask won't do that!

One thing I do is to use baking soda as toothpaste. It doesn't taste like much, but that is a momentary disadvantage. It has a long history as a toothpaste, and does a fantastic job of whitening teeth. I can add as a testimonial that both my 91 year old father and 89 year old aunt have used it lifelong, and they both still have most of their real teeth and have had fewer cavities than most of their counterparts who used the best and brightest of toothpastes!

Below is an article containing some great, easy, you-probably-already-have-the-ingredients-in-your-kitchen recipes for health and beauty products for hair and skin care. Though these are very basic, they will do an admiral job for you! If you are interested in something more exotic, but still all-natural and homemade, check the link at the end of this post.

For your health and beauty:

Homemade Beauty Products by Rachel Paxton Sept 24, 1999

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/creative_homemaking/25934

Have you ever wondered what people used to use as beauty products before you could so readily buy them in the store? I also sometimes wonder what all of the complicated sounding ingredients are in a lot of the products I use. Everything from body cleansers to shampoos to facial scrubs--you can invest a small fortune in this personal part of your life. Sometimes it's fun to try something homemade. It's cheaper, you know what's in it, and if you don't like it you have nothing to lose. You might come up with your own combination of ingredients that you may prefer over the ones I have suggested. Many of these ideas are not new and have been around for a long time. Have fun with them and save yourself some money at the same time!

I have made every attempt to only include instructions that include easy to find, relatively inexpensive ingredients. Depending on your skin and hair type, different people may get different results with these home preparations. Please use a little caution and a lot of common sense when trying them out. Always test a little on a small area of your body first to check for allergic reactions. I hope you enjoy these beauty preparations as much as I have enjoyed trying them out for myself. These easy ideas are also included in The Creative Homemaking Guide to Skin and Hair Care, a make-it-yourself booklet that contains more than 50 beauty preparations you can make yourself at home. To order, send $3.95 to Creative Homemaking Beauty Guide, 6407 Haag St., W. Richland, WA 99353.

Moisturizer

Beat 2 eggs in a chilled bowl. Continue to beat while slowly adding 1 cup of olive or vegetable oil. When the mixture begins to thicken, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Keep refrigerated. Use as you would a regular moisturizer.

Skin Cleanser

Sprinkle baking soda on a damp wash cloth and use it to gently scrub your body while showering. The baking soda will help neutralize odors and smooth and soften your skin.

Toner

Apple cider vinegar makes a great toner for your face. Just mix a little with warm water and store in a spray bottle and mist your face lightly with the mixture. The vinegar also helps restore your skin's natural pH-balance, and seems to have a positive effect for acne sufferers.

Facial Scrub

Make a paste from a little oatmeal and water. Apply to face and allow to dry. Gently wipe off with a damp wash cloth.

Facial Mask

Grind 1 tablespoon almonds into a fine meal in a blender or food processor. Mix almond meal together with 1 tablespoon honey and 1 egg white. Apply to face and let set for about 15 minutes. Gently wipe off with a damp wash cloth.

Bath

Place approximately 8 herbal tea bags of your choice into a small amount of very hot water in your bathtub. Steep about 10 minutes, then remove tea bags and add the remaining bath water.

Shampoo

In a blender, combine 1 ounce olive oil, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Use as regular shampoo.

Hair Setting Lotions

Try dissolving a teaspoon of gelatin in a cup of warm water and use this as a setting lotion before styling hair. You can use this as a liquid or chill it and use it as a gel.

Conditioners

Mayonnaise is a great conditioner for dry hair. Depending on the length of your hair, apply approximately 1/2 cup of mayonnaise to your dry hair. Work into hair really well and then cover your hair with a plastic bag, allowing to set for about 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and then shampoo as usual. [Remember, mayonnaise is made from egg and olive oil! ~Michelle~]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is also another website with some more fun and somewhat exotic homemade bath and beauty products, such as:

Cucumber Hair Drench
Aphrodite Apple Mask
Cucumber Honey Toner
Kiwi Facial Cleanser
Chamomile Lip Balm
Honey Almond Scrub
Lavender Honey Milk Bath

All of these, and more, can be found at:

Homemade Beauty Recipes
~ Hair / Skin / Body ~

http://allnaturalbeauty.us/hbr_hair_skin_body.htm

Is cancer a fungus? The most important video you will ever watch!

Let's face it, with statistics that say one-third of the women in the United States will have an issue with cancer at some time in her life, cancer is certainly a source of stress, albeit a silent one, for many, many women. . . including me! (My mother had two kinds of cancer, so I am very "at risk"!)

The two videos below, at approximately 10 minutes each, are two parts of an interview, and two of the most important you will ever watch in your life, I promise! They are parts one and two of an interview with an Italian oncologist who has cured cancer without chemo, without radiation, without damaging chemicals or drugs of any kind!

This Italian oncologist has determined that cancers, at their core, are yeast infections, and that simple bicarbonate of soda, yep, that baking soda we all have in our kitchen cupboards, will eliminate cancer!

Amazing, absolutely! However, in America today, the doctors are more interested in plugging chemotherapy and radiation than baking soda. I'm sure you can guess why: $$$$$.

So, if you believe this fellow has the "real deal," and frankly I believe him completely, then you must be prepared to make a stand against the medical community and demand this treatment that can save your life and reallu cure cancer, not chemo which is an unbelievably toxic theray and "cures" a mere 2% of the people who receive it!

Not sure of that startling figure? Check out this chart from Mercola.com
(If the chart is difficult to read, click on it for a larger version.)




















Only 2.1% of the people who receive chemo live beyond five years! Unbelievable! And yet, this treatment is the doctor's treatment of choice!



Watch the videos and see for yourself!






If you want to know what to do about fungus, here is a website that has some fantastic, holistic info on how to recognize and overcome fungal infections that you may not even know you have: Holistic Health Solutions.

I have to say that I have recognized a few of these symptoms in myself, and I believe that it is because there are so many hidden sugars and carbohydrates in our diets that it is difficult to avoid them unless we go a wholly holistic and organic route in the foods we eat! (Yeast thrives on sugars and carbs. Please follow the link and see how you can avoid these problems! Holistic Health Solutions)

Alcohol V Mammogram as Breast Cancer Cause

Thanks to television advertising, there are very few women who don't stress over getting breast cancer.

Jon Barron's "Baseline of Health Foundation" newsletter (you may subscribe here ) had an article today about a link between alcoholic beverages and higher rates of breast cancer.

One of the things included in his article is this: "Physiologically, the higher the estrogen levels in your body, the more readily alcohol is absorbed -- but the more slowly it is broken down. But the problem is compounded by the fact that the very act of drinking alcohol actually increases estrogen levels, almost tripling levels in post-menopausal women in a matter of minutes. As a result, after you drink, you get spurts of estrogen that can be as high as 300 percent higher within 30 minutes of consumption. In other words, it's one thing to have a constant amount of estrogen and occasionally have a rise before you ovulate. But if you get these rises in estrogen every time you have a drink, and for years past your ability to ovulate, this would quite likely be a significant breast cancer risk. The bottom line is that we know that estrogen levels increase after you drink. And we know that estrogen is linked to breast cancer. Therefore, it should be no surprise that estrogen is linked to breast cancer more often when women drink."

He makes some good points, and I hope you will visit his website to read the complete article "Alcohol and Breast Cancer," and subscribe to his excellent newsletter.

However, I got to wondering about the breast cancer rates for women in countries where alcoholic beverages, wine for example, are an integral part of every meal. Are their breast cancer rates as high as the United States?

What I found surprised the heck out of me (even more than the recent news headlines of "A study not only refutes some benefits of multivitamins, but suggests they may be 'slightly' risky." and "Drinking water is the same as drinking soda." (If you believe either of those statements, I'd love to discuss your purchase of a bridge in Brooklyn….)

First, some obligatory but especially enlightening statistics (quoted in blue):

Breast Cancer Cases/Deaths Per Year (U.S. and World)

The lifetime probability of developing breast cancer in developed countries is about 4.8%, according to the American Cancer Society (the probability is about 13% for any type of cancer). In developing countries, the lifetime probability of developing breast cancer is about 1.8%.

(Note: numbers are per 100,000.Source: J. Ferlay, F. Bray, P. Pisani and D.M. Parkin. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide. IARC CancerBase No. 5, version 2.0. IARCPress, Lyon, 2004)

Breast Cancer Worldwide
Breast (All ages)	Incidence	Deaths
China Zimbabwe India Japan Brazil Singapore Italy Switzerland Australia Canada Netherlands UK Sweden Denmark France United States	18.7 19 19.1 32.7 46 48.7 74.4 81.7 83.2 84.3 86.7 87.2 87.8 88.7 91.9 101.1	5.5 14.1 10.4 8.3 14.1 15.8 18.9 19.8 18.4 21.1 27.5 24.3 17.3 27.8 21.5 19

So, let's take a look at what we have here.

Developing countries like China have:

1. Poor food
2. Poor water
3. Poor health care
4. Archaic farming techniques (including crop rotation)
5. Few cell phones
6. Few televisions
7. No pesticides
8. No herbicides
9. No fertilizers
10. No hormones in the milk
11. No Genetically Engineered and Modified foods
12. No high fructose corn syrup
13. No artificial flavorings or colorings
14. No sunblock to protect them from cancer-causing sunlight
15. Qigong and other holistic practices
16. 82.4% fewer cases of breast cancer than the U. S.

The United States has:

1. Genetically Engineered and Modified foods (some seeds are modified with antibiotic-resistant bacteria that prevents it from being killed by a popular brand of pesticide. I wonder if that is part of the reason that some people's bacterial infections cannot be controlled with antibiotics; they have ingested foods grown from antibiotic-resistant seeds.)
2. Water contaminated with dozens of waste pharmaceutical products
3. Health care that focuses on treatment rather than prevention
4. Technologically advanced farming techniques that deplete the soil
5. A cell phone for every ear
6. A tv for every room
7. Pesticides
8. Herbicides
9. Fertilizers
10. Hormones in the milk
11. High fructose corn syrup in 80% of the food products
12. Plenty of artificial flavorings and colorings
13. Sunblock to protect you from harmful sun rays and inhibit your body's ability to produce Vitamin D
14. Pharmaceuticals for every condition under that harmful sun
15. Breast cancer rates that are the highest in the world

Is it just me, or do you too see some advantage to living in a less-developed country?

Also arriving in today's email was the "Natural News Insider Alert" newsletter with an article about cancer research.

Here are a few excepts (in blue) from the article: Analysis: Virtually Zero Alternative Cancer Research Occurring. Monday, April 28, 2008 by: Adam Miller

(NaturalNews) In an article included in the latest edition of Cancer Monthly's free newsletter CancerWire, researchers analyzed statistics obtained through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in order to gain a clearer perspective on what type of cancer research is being undertaken in the country.

The authors found that of the 7,080 clinical trials for cancer currently ongoing, over 3,000 are focused on chemotherapy -- a treatment that already has over 50 years of research to its credit with relatively little practical return on investment. Of the remaining trials, over 2,000 were focused on more advanced biological treatments such as anti-angiogenesis drugs, which work to cut off the blood supply to tumors.

Of the 7,080 clinical trials for cancer currently underway in the U.S., only three (3) focus on natural alternative methods of treating the disease. That is less than 1/1000th the number of chemotherapy trials alone and translates to a measly 0.04% of total trials. Meanwhile, countries like Japan are surging into the future with cutting-edge treatments based on derivatives of medicinal mushrooms and other natural substances.

Alternative treatments are commonly described by purveyors of orthodox medicine as those which have not yet been evaluated and proven effective through vigorous scientific evaluation. Looking at the actual statistics, though, it may be more accurate to describe alternative treatments as those which orthodox medicine refuses to research. In light of this evidence the question seems to ask itself; are we really working toward a cure for cancer?

My response would be: Nope.

And finally there's this fascinating study on breast cancer in Italy, one of the countries where women probably drink quite a bit of wine. Researchers found a direct correlation between the increase in breast cancer and a mammography screening program. (Quoted text in blue; bold emphasis added by Michelle)

Changes in breast cancer incidence and stage distribution in Modena, Italy: the effect of a mammographic screening program, Journal Cancer Causes and Control, Springer Netherlands, Volume 13 Number 8 October 2002, SpringerLink Date November 2, 2004

Daniela Turchetti¹, Lucia Mangone¹, Rossella Negri², Giulio Rossi³, Laura Cortesi¹, Marco Vinceti⁴, Antonino Maiorana³, Ennio Gallo⁵ and Massimo Federico^{1, 6}

(1) Cattedra e Divisione di Oncologia Medica, Italy

(2) Centro Screening Mammografico, Azienda USL di Modena, Italy

(3) Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Italy

(4) Dipartimento di Scienze Igienistiche, Microbiologiche e Biostatistiche, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy

(5) Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Policlinico di Modena, Italy

(6) Cattedra e Divisione di Oncologia Medica, Policlinico di Modena, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Assessing changes in breast cancer (BC) incidence and stage distribution in the District of Modena, Italy, during the period 1992–1998, and their relationship to a mammographic screening program launched in 1995.

METHODS: Demographic, clinical, and pathological data of all BC cases reported to the population-based Modena Cancer Registry between 1992 and 1998 were collected and linked to the screening database.

RESULTS: A total of 3429 women were diagnosed with BC in the District of Modena between 1992 and 1998. In this period the incidence rate increased by 15.7% (from 134.3 in 1992 to 155.4 per 100,000 in 1998). The increase began in 1995 and exclusively included women aged 50–69; the incidence rose by 30.4%. Moreover, the rise was confined to early tumors, with more than half (54%) of all cases reported in 1998 diagnosed as stage 0 or I disease, compared with 42% in 1992. Screen-detected tumors were significantly smaller (13.2 mm) than other tumors diagnosed in women aged 50–69 (18.5 mm), with 46% of screen-detected tumors smaller than 10 mm. Overall, a decline in the average tumor diameter was shown (from 20.2 mm in 1992–1994 to 18 mm in 1996–1998).

CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that mammographic screening leads to an increase in the incidence of early-stage BC cancers.

Most women are aware by now that x-rays are known to cause cancer, so what do the people in charge of your health encourage you to do? Get mammograms on some of the most sensitive tissue in your body. I'm sure a lot of women in Italy are wishing they had not listened to that advice!

So, what do you think? Is breast cancer caused by wine (which people have been drinking for thousands of years without developing cancer in great numbers), or the modern and innovative mammograms?

While you ponder it, I'm going to have a glass of wine with dinner.

(In all seriousness, you do what your heart tells you is right for you. If you believe a mammogram is good for you, don't let me or anyone else talk you out of it! I, however, feel the risks are greater than the rewards.)