I am completely disgusted and seriously alarmed by the tenor of "health news" of late. Have you noticed? Everything is aimed at discrediting vitamins. Never mind that the studies are seriously flawed. Never mind that other studies show the importance of vitamins to human health. The drug companies (the entities who finance "medical" research in this country) have an agenda -- creating doubt about vitamins in the mind of the average American. Then, when the UN Codex goes into effect (yes, it's still in the works and its implementation is being negotiated), there will be no hue and cry.

One Sunday morning in February of this year (2007) was an excellent example. I had Fox News on and their medical specialist was reviewing the latest medical "news." The featured stories included the "dangers" of antioxidants, the uselessness of garlic and, oh yes, the safety of estrogen replacement therapy! I think what made it so powerful to me was the juxtaposition of stories, combined with the news items I have seen that have been completely overlooked by the media that demonstrate just how important vitamins are to human health. So, let me debunk this morning's news and fill you in on some very interesting data. This letter is quite lengthy, but I think the information too important to shortchange.

First, the "dangers" of antioxidants: One of the media outlets actually ran a headline "Vitamins Can Kill!" Isn't yellow journalism wonderful? Now to the facts. The study is a statistical analysis of previously done research. Since the numbers in the study are so large, it is considered the 'best' study done. The statisticians substitute quantity as their primary criterion, rather than the quality of the data. And, if you read the report, you will find that the analysts massaged the statistics to get the result they were looking for. When they first did their analysis the results were neutral. So, they threw out one-third of the studies in order to demonstrate a very small increase in mortality among people taking anti-oxidants. They didn't even respect their own standards!

And, as if that weren't clue enough to their bias, there was also no control for health status or for whether the anti-oxidants were being taken singly or in combination. Or, even what form or what quality of the anti-oxidants the participants were taking. Why are these parameters important? First of all, many people in our culture only turn to vitamin therapy when they are very sick or dying. Obviously, there is a higher death rate among sick people than well people of the same age! That's a 'duh'! But, it wasn't considered important enough to be taken into account. Secondly, several studies indicate that anti-oxidants work in concert with each other. Taking them as single items -- the medical, drug-based model -- results in aberrant outcomes. They either don't work as well, or cause unexpected problems. A good example was the Finnish study from the 1980's that indicated problems with anti-oxidants. It was then revealed that Finland has no naturally-occurring selenium in its soil. And, selenium is crucial to the activity of vitamin E. But, no selenium supplementation was included in the study. (For a more detailed discussion, you can access two articles I wrote "Finnish Anti-Oxidant Study" and "Sorting Out The Anti-Oxidant Controversy" on this site. See the nav bar at the left side of the page for the articles.

However, the point of the most recent anti-oxidant study wasn't clarity, although the study's primary author insists that it was. I think the conclusion of the study's author says it all, "The governments of the world now have the responsibility to inform people of these results. They have been too slow in the past in requesting that health supplements are properly evaluated, and allowing these products to be added to foods. People have been buying these supplements and foods advertised as having these supplements added under the impression that they are good for them, when in actual fact they are harmful. Any potential health supplements should not be allowed to be added to foods unless they have been shown to be beneficial, or at least proven not to be harmful." (emphasis added) In the article on Medscape, the author commented that the study's author said that food supplements should be regulated in the same way as medical products. (The article can be accessed through a Google search: antioxidants + JAMA + 2007; click on Antioxidant Vitamins May Increase Mortality) I believe the whole point is to accustom people to government regulation of their health options. We are facing a concerted effort to make all herbs and supplements by prescription only. (For more information on this, you can go to www.healthfreedomusa.org.

At the end of the Fox News segment on this anti-oxidant research, the doctor trotted out the old canard about getting everything you need from food. Given the amount of data about the degradation of the nutrient content of our food supply, this is laughable. Remember the recent study showing that fresh produce at the supermarket has the same nutrient content as frozen or canned produce? And, the fact that in the 1940s, government studies indicated that freezing reduced nutrient content by 98% and canning by 99%? Anti-oxidants are very sensitive to light, heat and oxidation. So, they are readily destroyed by our handling and storage procedures. So, where does that leave us? Back to choosing the right supplements for our personal needs via a customized blood chemistry panel.

And, what about garlic? The latest study - "Garlic May Not Lower Cholesterol"[put "garlic" and "cholesterol" in the search] - being bandied about states unequivocally that garlic does not affect cholesterol levels. This study flies in the face of hundreds of other studies that demonstrate the value of garlic for a multitude of cardiovascular health factors, including: reduction of arterial plaque formation, reduction in LDL cholesterol, reduction in age-related increases in aortic stiffness, modest reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, platelet inhibition (i.e., a reduction in clot formation), increased fibrinolytic activity (again, reduced clot formation), and reduction in rancidity of the oils in the blood. Garlic has been called "phyto-HDL" and "herbal warfarin," but without the side effects. So, why the dichotomy in the results? Here's the story.

The problem with this most recent study is that the wrong forms of garlic were used. The study used three types of garlic: raw in sandwiches, garlic powder or powdered Kyolic, an aged garlic which is marketed as odor free. Why is this a problem? First of all, the active ingredient in garlic is the smell! So, obviously, the Kyolic product cannot be considered therapeutic. It is useless for any of the health benefits of garlic -- anticoagulation, cholesterol effects and antibiotic effects.

The mechanism by which garlic produces effects impacts the other two forms of garlic chosen. Once garlic is crushed (chewed or powdered) it releases two chemical precursors that combine in an alkaline environment to produce the active substance. The alkaline environment in the digestive tract is the small intestine. The first stop when you swallow is the stomach, which is extremely acid; and the acid destroys the chemical precursors, essentially eradicating any therapeutic effect that garlic might offer. And, drying garlic to create powder, also damages the allicin.

What you need to know is that, in order for garlic to offer therapeutic effects, it must be in an enteric-coated tablet that dissolves in the small intestine. Any study done on other forms of garlic is destined for failure. Which, when you think of it, is very convenient if your goal is to discredit a natural agent in favor of expensive -- and toxic -- drugs. Since there is plenty of information about the correct form of garlic available in the literature, I can only conclude that the study design was deliberately chosen to achieve the desired result.

Third, the Fox News segment addressed the "safety" of estrogen therapy. The doctor was highlighting a study on transdermal estrogen therapy, i.e., patches. The point of the study was that transdermal delivery reduces the risk of strokes and blood clots. Hunh? Does everyone in the country suffer from memory loss? Or, do the commentators just assume we're stupid?

The news about estrogen-replacement therapy (HRT) is that it is carcinogenic! All of the studies demonstrate that estrogen therapy increases the risk of breast cancer. And, this information has been available for years! Just consult my web site under "Health Conditions," "Women's Health" for a series of articles dating back to the 1990s about the risk of cancer with HRT. Yet, when I did a recent on-line research on this topic, all of the articles I found relating to estrogen therapy and cancer focussed only on endometrial cancer. Do you remember the drop in cancer rates in this country, particularly breast cancer over the last year? This was mostly due to women stopping HRT on their own. Many doctors are urging women to disregard the risk of cancer and continue HRT for its supposed "benefits." And, the drug companies are funding many studies to find rationalizations for continued use of hormone prescriptions, because the loss of revenue is seriously affecting their bottom line.

There are many herbal, safe alternatives to menopausal symptoms. However, the protocol is individualized for each woman. If you want help, please call the Clinic and schedule a consultation to deal with menopause.

I would like to give you much of the more positive vitamin news that offsets this sort of propaganda; however, space is becoming a problem. So, let me just give you one example of important news that never made American headlines. The study was conducted in Canada and published in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. It found that children born of mothers who took a daily multivitamin containing folic acid had a much lower risk of common childhood cancers. The statistics are as follows -- a 47-per-cent lower risk for neuroblastoma (the most deadly form of childhood cancer), a 39-per-cent lower risk for leukemia (the most common form of pediatric cancer) and a 27-per-cent lower risk for other brain tumors, such as medulloblastoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumors. These results are extremely powerful, statistically. Why haven't we seen them heralded in every newspaper in the land? What's more important than reducing the risk of childhood cancers? But, I'm afraid positive news regarding vitamin supplementation doesn't fit the media model.

I have first hand experience of the media bias from just last year. Remember the West Nile Virus scare, and my recommendations concerning Medi-Herb St. John's Wort for both prevention and treatment? I prepared a press release, in an effort to disseminate what I considered to be vitally important information. We contacted several media outlets, and no one would put it on the air. Their reason? Nothing that was not AMA approved got air time! If that doesn't sum it up, I don't know what does.

Other important information about the role of vitamin E taken prenatally to reduce the incidence of asthma in children and the benefits of fish oils in pregnancy can also be found on this site or on my blog www.DrRichardsTalksBack.com. Space prevents me from elaborating on them further in this letter.

So, what can you do? Become an educated consumer. Read every news article with a skeptic's eye. Use this web site or blog, and others like them for analyses of "news articles." And, take care of yourself and your family by obtaining a personalized, blood chemistry-based nutrition program from our clinic.

Yesterday was a shocking day for me – as I imagine it was for you, as well. Although I didn't watch Tim's show, he was an almost ubiquitous presence in many of the news programs I listen to – often quoted or even interviewed. What was clear to me was that he loved his family deeply; and he made time in a very busy life to write an entire book as a tribute to his father. That, to me, put him in the category of "a wonderful man."

Today I read the autopsy reports and his medical history released by [NBC news]. I also heard some morning news shows where the hosts were baffled by his sudden death. I don't want to seem ghoulish, but for the benefit of everyone, I think it is important to look critically at this event, with the intention of giving all of us insights into what we can do to avert heart disease for ourselves and those we love.

One of the newspeople – sorry, I don't actually know her name – made a very good point. She said, "But, he was doing everything right. He was taking his medications and had exercised on the treadmill the morning he died." (Or, words very similar to these.) What struck me was the plaintive tone in her voice, and it got me to thinking.

If someone with Mr. Russert's resources couldn't avert an untimely death, what can we do? I assume that he had the very best in medical advice and care, since his medical history is a roster of diagnoses: diabetes, high cholesterol, enlarged heart and arteriosclerosis; and – oh, yes – he was obese and under a lot of stress – as though those issues somehow accounted for everything. Many subsequent interviewsI saw focused on reducing life stress. When all else fails, blame the victim!

What I guess I find most disturbing is the trite repetitions of the very same medical advice that didn't help Tim. For example, eat a low-fat diet, lose weight, exercise and reduce stress. Oh, yes, and consult your doctor for medications. These canards seem particularly empty in the face of such a devastating loss.

I feel compelled to offer dissenting – and hopefully, more effective – advice.

First of all, the medications routinely prescribed for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes ALL contribute to heart failure (an enlarged heart). These medications are, in fact, mandated – a doctor has to prescribe them unless s/he wants to be sued for malpractice. But, the drug cocktail Mr. Russert was taking, believing he was doing everything he should, was clearly not effective, since he suffered a heart attack secondary to a piece of plaque breaking loose in an artery.

Secondly, none of the drugs in use medically today can remove plaque from the arteries, thereby averting such a deadly event.

And, thirdly, the standard dietary advice is just plain wrong! This is probably the item that makes me the angriest. The medical profession is in thrall to the drug companies as they push ever more toxic drugs to lower cholesterol while, at the same time, recommending a dietary regime that guarantees that cholesterol levels will continue to rise. The single deadliest misconception in America today is that high fat diets lead to high cholesterol. If you consult any first-year biochemistry text, you will discover that the precursor to elevated cholesterol is a diet high in carbohydrates. In fact, when the blood supply to the heart is cut off – resulting in a loss of oxygen to the heart muscle – the one molecule the heart can use to maintain itself in these dire circumstances is: HIGH QUALITY FAT! Beta-oxidation of fats is the heart's back-up mechanism in the face of hypoxia.

I have been treating heart patients for more than half of the 21 years I have been in practice, and I can tell you from my patients' wins that it is possible to drop your cholesterol to normal simply by limiting your carbohydrate intake to less than 200 gms per day. That's plenty of carbohydrate to keep you out of ketoacidosis, but a small enough amount that you have to get enough to eat by loading up on vegetables with protein at every meal. A huge salad, a medium baked potato and 3 or 4 ounces of protein – from any animal source – is an ideal meal.

In addition, there are natural, proven remedies to avert heart failure and remove plaque from the arteries. These include: high quality B vitamins, CoQ10 and chondroitin sulfate (both in mega doses). Quality hawthorn (leaves and flowers), which is called "nursemaid to the elderly heart," is also very effective in turning around heart failure. However, the current medical "news" claims that vitamins are dangerous and life-threatening! [See my blog under the category "Codex" on this topic. How irresponsible and disastrous to all of us.

I have been trying very hard to spread the word to as many people as possible, because I feel impelled to get the word out that there ARE effective actions you can take – actions more effective than popping toxic pharmaceuticals. I recently did a teleseminar on this very topic. If you want to know more, the CD and teleseminar notes are available through this web site.

In conclusion, I just want to express my sympathies to the Russert family. Losing a beloved family member is never easy; it is much more wrenching when it is so sudden, public and unexpected.

I rarely share these sort of calls for political action. However, this is too important to ignore. Once you read it, you'll understand why.

This organization has been waging the good fight to protect health freedom in the US. In addition to vaccination issues, they are also involved in opposing the Codex Alimentarius implementation via the U.N.

We all need to be aware of what's going on under the radar.

The creeping insinuation of mandatory vaccine requirements is, in part, driven by the push for national health care. That's because the legislators believe the drug company propaganda that vaccines reduce health care costs. And, by the way, the medical community doesn't accept Dr. Fudenberg's research because the CDC hasn't endorsed it! So, his credentials and his research don't count in this country.

I find this extremely distressing, so I urge you to add your voice to ours in contacting the NY State legislators. We need to stand in front of the train and yell "STOP!!!" Hopefully, if enough of us respond, we can have an impact.

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Legislature to vote June 10th

COMPULSORY VACCINATION IS COMING TO NEW YORK STATE KIDS UNLESS YOU ACT NOW! WE HAVE 5 DAYS

Under proposed Assembly Bill 10942, NY surrenders its control of public health and makes every vaccination recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices mandatory.

For the first time, vaccination of infants and toddlers becomes mandatory. Under this proposed law, there will be NO exemptions for any reason.

Why is New York giving away its rights to determine public health standards? Ralph Fucetola JD says in his blog: vitaminlawyerhealthfreedom.blogspot.com/

"We have to think about the cowardice and stupidity of our elected representatives and ask why they are willing to surrender state sovereignty to the dominion of Big Pharma's lies, while surrendering our well-being. They are turning the Police Power of the State into the Police State of Power!"

First NJ, Now NY: Is Your State Next? YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN NEW YORK STATE TO TELL NY LEGISLATORS THAT COMPULSORY IS VACCINATION A REALLY BAD IDEA!

Take these 5 Action Steps Now and Alert Your Contacts to Do the Same:

Sign the Tiburon Declaration against forced drugging and vaccination.

Make your tax deductible recurring donation to sustain Natural Solutions Foundation, your Health Freedom's best friend.

Order the brand new, long awaited Natural Solutions Foundation downloadable eBook on What You Need to Know About Vaccine Exemptions

This outstanding 122 page compendium of information is available as a special introductory offer for $24.95 until the end of June. After that, the price will be $39.95. Act now. Give every parent you know a copy of this unique book, written by leading vaccination attorney Alan G. Phillips, Esq.

Join the vibrant No-Forced-Vaccination Yahoo! group.

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New York State: the New "Needle Park"

On June 10, 2008, unless we get enough voices to holler out loud, the New York Legislature pass "Fast Track" legislation making all shots recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) mandatory for EVERY child in New York.

Is that OK with you? It's certainly NOT OK with me.

Instead, every shot recommended by ACIP, no matter how absurd or dangerous, will be mandatory. (The dangerous and unproven HPV vaccine will be mandated for your daughter) Every one.

Under the current ACIP vaccination schedule, children between the ages of birth and 7 years receive 47 doses of vaccines! No science shows this is either safe or effective.

By age 18 the total is 67 vaccine doses for boys and 70 for girls (including the absurd and dangerous HPV vaccines). No science shows this is either safe or effective. Quite a lot of science shows that it is neither.

New vaccines are being added at a furious clip: there is no profit in vaccines unless they are widely administered. How much more widely can they be administered? Well, how about compulsory vaccination for you, too? Under the same agency's recommended schedule, if you manage to survive to age 70 and you have been unlucky enough to be "fully vaccinated", you have received a walloping 70 vaccine doses since age 18 for a life-long total of 160 doses (men), 163 for women.

And that doesn't even begin to deal with "special" vaccines like smallpox, "Avian Flu" or other "Pandemic" vaccinations. Nor does it include travel vaccines like Yellow Fever (which General Stubblebine and I routinely refuse, by the way).

Your response is probably, "What are they trying to do? Kill us?" Well, that's probably not a bad guess.

President Bush has proposed military quarantines of whole sections of the population re: Avian flu or other pandemic. Oct. 2007 executive order from President Bush that directed HHS to establish a task force to plan for potential catastrophes like a terrorist attack, pandemic influenza or a natural disaster that would ensure full use of Department of Defense resources.

Once a "pandemic" is declared and martial law follows (triggered at the drop of that deadly word by the head of Health and Human Services or the White House), refusal to accept "Pandemic vaccination" will lead to your "relocation/quarantine" by either US forces or the Canadian army (following the February 14, 2008 treaty announced by US Army North Com and the Canadian Military).

The 2006 Defense Authorization Act expanded the 1807 Insurrection Act to allow the President to declare Martial Law and send in the Military not only for insurrections, but also any "natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition," with both "incident" or "condition" not defined nor limited.

Halliburton has built a constellation of concentration camps (sort of our very own Gulag Archipelago) across the US. - are these camps for infected patients, or civil libertarians and nonviolent dissidents?

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Flu Shots and Alzheimer's Disease

I do not believe there is such a thing as a "Green Vaccine", despite its lovely ring. Even green vaccines are dangerous because they introduce antigenic materials into the body which are neither safe nor effective in preventing disease and which damage the immune system. But if you still believe vaccines are safe, effective or both, and you want to give your child a toxic brew, please, be my guest. Why doesn't that right extend on the other direction?

Yesterday celebrities, parents, doctors and others marched to "Green Vaccines" in Washington and "get unnecessary toxins out of vaccines". Does that mean that there are, in fact, "necessary" toxins in vaccines?

It supposes that safe vaccines without, for example, mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum hydroxide, monosodium glutamate, aspartame, cancer-causing viruses, human fetal tissues, stealth viruses and the rest of the witches' brew can, in fact, be made. Let's assume that they can, just for the sake of argument.

There is nothing, nothing, I repeat nothing, in the non-commercial scientific literature which confirms the hypothesis that vaccines are related to the decrease in epidemic diseases (hygiene did that) or an increase in public health. There is nothing which confirms the safety of early and multiple vaccine doses. Nothing, although there is, of course, a vast amount of propaganda and junk science to assert it, but nothing to prove it.

My mother recently died of Alzheimer's Disease. She took her flu shots regularly because her doctor urged her to. Is my mother dead, after years of sorrow for herself and her family, because of her obedience to her mis-informed doctor?

Consider this: "According to Hugh Fudenberg, MD, the world's leading immunogeneticist and 13th most quoted biologist of our times (nearly 850 papers in peer review journals):

If an individual has had 5 consecutive flu shots between 1970 and 1980 (the years studied) his/her chances of getting Alzheimer's Disease is 10 times higher than if he/she had one, 2 or no shots. Dr. Fudenberg said it was so and that it was due to mercury and aluminum that is in every flu shot. The gradual mercury and aluminum buildup in the brain causes cognitive dysfunction.

Flu shots contain 25 micrograms of mercury. One microgram is considered toxic." Five consecutive flu shots? Children by age 4.5 have had 5 consecutive flu shots.

Will the 50% Alzheimer's incidence in people over 80 increase to 100%? What about for people age 70 who will have had 71 consecutive flu shots?

And what about the 1 to 3 micrograms of mercury that the CDC now admits remains in all vaccines as an undisclosed "trace" contaminant? See the AgeofAutism.com web site for the email exchange with CDC on this.

Could it be that although, to quote the May 21, 2008 NY Times article, : "the U.S. currently enjoys the highest immunization rate ever; 77% of children embarking on the first day of school are completely up to date on their recommended doses and most of the remaining children are missing just a few shots." We also enjoy the world's highest rates of autism (currently 1 boy in 60 in New Jersey!), pediatric diabetes, neurological disorders, MS, Asthma, Pediatric cancer, etc.

"Under the New York law, both your child's doctor and you will be required to maintain and provide burdensome documentation of the inoculated status of your child. If you lose your child's papers? Reinnoculation.

If you doubt that, ask the parents of the 1100 kids revaccinated at gun point in Prince George's County MD last November when the school district admitted that they had lost the kid's records and re-immunized them anyway! And ask the parents of the other 1200 kids vaccinated that day while police with attack dogs watched - despite the fact that MD is an exemption state.

If you refuse vaccines in NY and don't give your child the opportunity to develop autism, asthma, diabetes, neurological disorders, and all the other possible consequences of immunization, including convulsions and death, you will very likely lose your child and go to jail.

Since there is no reason at all to believe that this lucrative, and insane, mandatory vaccination requirement will stop at age 18, I believe that we can expect laws mandating adult vaccination as well.

Even if you are still among those who believe that vaccination has a place in health, and I must admit, I no longer am, there is no place for unconstitutional and deadly mandatory requirements in health.

This is a battle we must win in a war we must not lose. It's up to you. If this is important enough to you, you WILL take action, donate to the Natural Solutions Foundation, purchase the Vaccine Exemption eBook and alert your contacts. MOUSE WARRIORS: IT'S TIME TO ACT!Yours in health and freedom,

Dr. Rima

Below is my latest post on my blog (or web log, if you are not terribly web savvy, like me). You can visit the site at www.drrichardstalksback.com for updates on news-worthy health related items.