MND: Your Daily Dose of Counter-Theory » Search Results » feed

Genistein (Soy Isoflavone) & Prostate Cancer

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:58:25 +0000

Health Report:

Genistein (Soy Isoflavone) & Prostate Cancer

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 11/22/2009

The information in this column is intended for informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice or recommendations by the author. Please consult with your physician before making any lifestyle or medication changes, or if you have any other concerns regarding your health.

GENISTEIN (SOY ISOFLAVONE) & PROSTATE CANCER

This unique, and potentially deadly, biology of cancer cells arises from hundreds, if not thousands, of genetic mutations and other transforming events that occur within cancer cells. As we are still in the infancy of our understanding of the complex biology of cancer cells, we are only beginning to understand the interplay between these hundreds, if not thousands, of aberrations in cancer cell biology.

In most cancer cells, genes that play important roles in normal cell growth and division become corrupted, either due to genetic mutations that cause these “tumor suppressor genes” to become inactivated, or through other so-called “epigenetic” alterations that can also inactivate tumor suppressor genes. One such epigenetic mechanism whereby tumor suppressor genes are commonly inactivated is through “hypermethylation” of the promoter region of the gene. The promoter region of genes can be thought of as a switch that turns on the activation of a gene to produce its specific protein product. Hypermethylation is a process whereby the promoter region of a gene is essentially locked into the “off position.” (When gene hypermethylation occurs, the affected gene is said to be “silenced.”)

Tumor suppressor genes produce proteins that reduce the risk of normal cells becoming cancer cells. Therefore, when key tumor suppressor genes are silenced by hypermethylation, normal (benign) cells may become transformed into malignant cells. This very basic review of the molecular biology of tumor suppressor genes and carcinogenesis is important in order to understand this week’s featured research study.

A tumor suppressor gene known as BTG3 is known to be commonly silenced, by hypermethylation of its promoter region, in cancers of the prostate, breast and kidney. There also is experimental evidence showing that genistein, which is a dietary nutrient found in soybeans and soybean products, can reverse the hypermethylation of multiple different tumor suppressor genes, including BTG3. (Once hypermethylation is reversed, the gene is once again able to produce its cancer-preventing protein.)

A new research study, just published in the journal Cancer, evaluated the effects of genistein on hypermethylated human prostate cancer cells. In this elegant laboratory study, prostate cancer cells were grown in culture dishes, and were tested for hypermethylation of the BTG3 tumor suppressor gene. Once the scientists confirmed that the BTG3 gene was indeed silenced by hypermethylation in these prostate cancer cells, the cells were then treated with genistein. Following additional experiments, the scientists were able to confirm that genistein effectively reversed hypermethylation of the BTG3 tumor suppressor gene. Additionally, a new experimental prostate cancer drug which is being evaluated in ongoing clinical research trials, 5Aza-C, was also tested on the hypermethylated prostate cancer cells, and was found to reverse hypermethylation of the BTG3 tumor suppressor gene, as well.

While it is still a big stretch to assume that the reactivation of the BTG3 tumor suppressor gene in prostate cancer cells growing in a culture dish will translate into clinically meaningful results in human beings, the results of this interesting little study are both intriguing and encouraging. Given that genistein is a natural and generally non-toxic dietary nutrient, it may have certain advantages over the novel prostate cancer drug 5Aza-C (assuming, of course, that ongoing clinical research trials identify a clinical benefit in prostate cancer patients undergoing treatment with 5Aza-C).

The true role of genistein in the prevention and treatment of certain cancers, if any, is not clear at this time. However, the results of this laboratory study add to the growing body of research suggesting that genistein may have clinically significant anti-cancer effects in at least some human cancers.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

11-15-2009: Breast Cancer Treatment & Chronic Pain

1-8-2009: Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-1-2009: Exercise & Prostate Cancer Risk

10-25-2009: HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

10-18-2009: Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-27-2008: Stents vs. Bypass Surgery for Coronary Artery Disease; The “DASH” Hypertension Diet & Cardiovascular Disease Prevention; Testosterone Therapy for Women with Decreased Sexual Desire & Function

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

4-6-2008: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Pap Smear Results & Cervical Cancer; Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Infection & Oral Cancer; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & the Risk of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-16-2007: Honey vs. Dextromethorphan vs. No Treatment for Kids with Night-Time Cough, Acupuncture & Hot Flashes in Women with Breast Cancer, Physical Activity & the Risk of Death, Mediterranean Diet & Mortality

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

While the normal healthy cells within our body are destined to die after a predetermined number of cell divisions (senescence), cancer cells are, essentially, immortal. They divide endlessly, until enough cancer cells have formed to cause a tumor. Similarly the normal cells that line your colon (as well as all of the other estimated 75 trillion cells that make up the human body) never decide to leave the colon and spread to, say, your liver or your lungs. However, colon cancer cells seem to have an overwhelming compulsion to move into blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, and from there, to spread to other distant organs of the body. Once these nefarious pioneers arrive in the liver, the lungs, or in other organs outside of the colon, these metastatic tumor cells then resume their growth cycle, eventually causing metastatic tumors to form. Other types of cancer exhibit the same malignant biology, beginning with invasion through normal tissues, followed by invasion into blood vessels or lymphatic vessels, and ending with the establishment of metastatic colonies of tumors in distant organs and tissues.

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

Global Warming Cooling

Alan Korwin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:14:46 +0000

The lamestream media told you:

“Survey: Americans’ belief in global warming is cooling off,” according to Dina Cappiello, writing for AP. In a half page article, “Just 57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 percentage points in just three years, a new poll says.” The poll was conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Instead of a story examining any evidence of any changes in earth’s climate, the AP is feeding its readers a poll of people’s opinions, which are a result of rumor, web stories, idle chatter, “news” releases and anything but science or facts.

People promoting global warming were reportedly distressed at the story, and began thinking of ways to more massively convince useful idiots that the climate agenda is real, should be accepted, and the proposed tax increases and societal controls should be swallowed.

According to the story, one scientist blamed the drop in poll results on, “a combination of poor communication by scientists, a lousy summer in the Eastern United States, people mixing up weather and climate,” and what he called a PR effort “to instill a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the public.” I am not making this up. He made no mention of data, omitted from news reports, that show the earth has been cooling. Melting ice caps did make the tale however.

Most striking, the editors left in a line that noted, “Though there are exceptions, the vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is occurring.” Most global whining stories refuse to make any mention that there is doubt or exceptions to the popularized model.

A quick review of science history shows that enormous numbers of real discoveries start out as a vast majority of scientists holding a false belief, against a small fringe and hated minority that finds the truth and eventually brings it to the table against all odds. The flat earth, earth as the center of the universe, discovery of elements, understanding that fire isn’t caused by phlogiston and the ability of heavier than air machines to fly are among some obscure examples that spring to mind.

Also notable, the study found that people in the northeast and west coast believe in global warming more than people in the middle of the nation. This suggests that the study wasn’t studying climate beliefs at all, but was measuring gullibility and its distribution. No cause for such a phenomenon was discussed or is known, though California is often referred to as the land of fruits and nuts.

Breast Cancer Treatment & Chronic Pain

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:18:51 +0000

Health Report:

Breast Cancer Treatment & Chronic Pain

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 11/15/2009

BREAST CANCER TREATMENT & CHRONIC PAIN

Chronic pain following breast cancer treatment is, unfortunately, relatively common, and is a subject that I have previously extensively studied and written about. Most of the clinical data that has been published, thus far, about chronic pain following breast cancer therapy is from the “mastectomy era,” when every patient with breast cancer routinely underwent complete dissection (removal) of the breast and armpit lymph nodes (also known as modified radical mastectomy).

Chronic pain following breast cancer treatment has been estimated to occur, on average, in approximately 25 to 30 percent of patients undergoing axillary (armpit) lymph node dissection, with or without mastectomy, and appears to correlate with the extent of axillary lymph node surgery. Important additional non-surgery factors that have been linked to breast cancer treatment-associated chronic pain syndromes include neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy and radiation therapy, both of which may be additive to the neurological impairments associated with surgery. As occurs with many other types of chronic pain syndromes, affected breast cancer patients frequently experience some degree of disability that interferes with their ability to lead productive and comfortable lives. Moreover, the added overlay of the emotional stress and anxiety that commonly follows the diagnosis of breast cancer further adds to the impact of chronic pain on the daily lives of patients who have undergone breast cancer treatment.

A newly published public health study of chronic pain following breast cancer treatment appears in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. In this large Danish epidemiological study, a nationwide cohort of 3,253 breast cancer survivors, ages 18 to 70 years, was extensively surveyed regarding their breast cancer treatment history and outcomes two to three years following completion of their breast cancer treatment. (It is important to note that all of the women who participated in this study underwent current standard-of-care breast cancer surgery in 2005 or 2006.) The results of this large nationwide Danish breast cancer study were very instructive.

Among these more than 3,000 patients, nearly half (47 percent) reported ongoing pain issues two to three years after completing their breast cancer therapy. Among these 1,543 patients with chronic pain symptoms, 13 percent reported severe pain (or, about 6 percent of all patients participating in this study). Another 39 percent of these 1,543 patients reported moderate pain (18 percent of all study patients). Finally, 48 percent of these 1,543 patients reported mild chronic pain symptoms (23 percent of all study patients). Among this group of patients with chronic pain following completion of breast cancer therapy, 20 percent were sufficiently bothered by their symptoms to seek out medical evaluation and treatment.

Following statistical analysis of the data, several important clinical factors were found to be significantly associated with chronic pain following breast cancer treatment, some of which have also been confirmed by previous studies. Young age was a particularly important risk factor for chronic pain following breast cancer treatment. Patients between the ages of 18 and 39 in this study were almost four times more likely to report chronic post-treatment pain than older women. Radiation therapy was also a significant risk factor (nearly all women who undergo breast-conserving “lumpectomy” will be advised to undergo radiation therapy to reduce the risk of local recurrence of their breast cancer). Women who underwent radiation therapy following breast cancer surgery were almost twice as likely to report chronic pain when compared to the women who did not receive radiation treatment. (Chemotherapy, on the other hand, did not appear to be associated with chronic pain in this large group of breast cancer survivors.) The extent of axillary lymph node surgery was also a predictive factor for chronic pain, as has been shown by previous research (including my own research). Women who had undergone complete removal of their axillary lymph nodes were nearly twice as likely to report chronic pain when compared to patients who had undergone the more limited sentinel lymph node biopsy of their axillary lymph nodes.

A separate risk factor for chronic pain following breast cancer treatment was the presence of chronic pain in other areas of the body prior to undergoing breast cancer treatment, suggesting that women who have preexisting chronic pain symptoms are more likely to develop a new chronic pain syndrome following breast cancer treatment.

In addition to chronic pain, decreased or abnormal sensation of the skin of the chest wall, axilla, and upper arm are well known side effects of breast cancer treatment. In this study, abnormal sensation was also more common among younger patients (5 times more likely than for older women), and following complete axillary lymph node dissection (5 times more likely than for women who did not undergo complete axillary lymph node dissection).

This study adds to an important and growing body of clinical research regarding the prolonged effects modern breast cancer therapy on patients. When contrasted to the rather high incidence of chronic pain syndromes associated with modified radical mastectomy, the recent data on chronic pain and sensory abnormalities in the “modern era” of breast-conserving surgery is much more favorable, although, clearly, there is still a substantial proportion of women who will go on to experience significant long-term symptoms following completion of their breast-conserving treatment.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/l768l3m025583001/

http://www.cancerlynx.com/painpbtps.html

http://supportivecancercare.net/pbtpspage1.pdf

http://meeting.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/14_suppl/8230

http://meeting.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/16_suppl/8185

http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/neuropathicpain.php

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

11-8-2009: Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-1-2009: Exercise & Prostate Cancer Risk

10-25-2009: HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

10-18-2009: Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/surgerypain.php

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

The links below provide additional information for patients who are interested in this important topic:

Who are River Smith and Heidi Raynor and What Kind of Cult are They Running?

Paul Elam — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:15:22 +0000

Allaboutcounseling.com- They appear to be to mental health support what pedophiles are to playgrounds.

Complaints are currently being filed against the owners and operators of the internet website known as allaboutcounseling.com

These events began as an almost routine story about a mental health advocacy website spreading disinformation about domestic violence that demonizes men, denies male victims and shields female perpetrators.

And while the disinformation is there in abundance, more digging behind the scenes at allaboutcounseling.com revealed what appears to be gross professional misconduct and an ongoing scheme involving psychological extortion, abuse and depraved indifference. Multiple sources have alleged that the site management is preying on and manipulating site users for cash with the finesse and brio reminiscent of a corrupt televangelist operation.

And they are reportedly heaping a plethora of emotional abuses and threats on site users who speak up against it.

All of this is being conducted under the auspices of mental health advocacy; with the professional blessings (and under the state license number) of a clinical psychologist.

The details of this story have the expected intricacies and complications of most scandals, especially with the efforts that the alleged perpetrators have made to disconnect their names from their actions. But the scam runs something like this:

Allaboutcounseling.com runs a members only on-line forum in which individuals are invited to join and participate for the benefit of “Confronting fears, honest feedback and active growth through the use and benefits of anonymity and healthy communication.”

Users are made to believe that their interactions there are completely anonymous and conducted in an environment where it is safe to be openly vulnerable and to disclose intimate details of problems in their lives.

For some this seems to be the case.

But many former site users are saying that frequently what happens there is markedly different. In fact, after a month long study of the site and several interviews with former ACC members, the reports have enough consistency to raise eyebrows.

In what appears to be a systematic pattern of significant abuses, the site management presents professional psychological qualifications, induces users to rely on the forum as a source of peer and arguably professional support, but subsequently acts toward many of the members with the following:

Banning users without notice, reason and without a referral to other help.
Redirecting banned users to pornography websites when they attempt to log on.
Tacit email threats to expose users identities publicly for dissenting from site management
Site management “diagnosing” members with personality disorders as a reaction to dissent.
Regularly threatening members who depend on the site forum to close it unless money is donated.
Encouraging the abuse of most male members and abusively targeting female members who had congenial communications with males.
Fomenting conflict between forum members and encouraging some individuals to abuse others.

In fact, as I studied reports of the abuses from some of the sites former members, the picture that clearly emerged was that of tactics used by cult leaders to control and manipulated their followers. Or, as one member, who requested anonymity, put it, “I felt that it was abusive because of the way {they} chummed vulnerable, trusting people who came to the site, and drew them in to a charmer/abuser codependency cult.”

This same member, after posting that she felt the instigated conflict helped the hit count of the site was reportedly told publicly by site management that she was “delusional, sick and paranoid.”

Another member, again speaking on the condition of anonymity, reported being banned from the site without notification and then being redirected to a pornography site when he attempted to log on.

Part of his reaction to this, taken from a statement which is available in the comments section at avoiceformen.com, was unsettling. “I had always respected the site coordinator,” he said, “but after she did this to me I was sad to say the least. I was hurt. I felt deeply betrayed, humiliated and abused.”

Another former member reported that she too was redirected to a pornography site after being banned from the forum.

And yet another member reported getting an email from site management that repeatedly demeaned her, and made multiple references to her location, number of children and her profession. This was interpreted as a veiled threat to reveal her identity or worse. And it is of particular concern because there are many members who have joined the allaboutcounseling.com forum for support when escaping abusive relationships in which they were or are being stalked.

Such a breech of confidence in those situations could have disastrous results.

On the surface, some of this behavior may appear part and parcel to the internet. There is a lot of flaming going on, and capricious site administration is hardly rare. It happens on a lot of websites. But this isn’t just a lot of websites. It is a site that proffers, with professional credibility, to extend support to people at highly vulnerable moments in their lives. Indeed, it beckons them to participate throughout most pages on the site and assures them they are in a safe environment.

These actions not only reflect a moral deficit, but are likely in violation of the State of Ohio’s rules and regulations governing professional counselors, the American Psychological Associations Code of Conduct, and various other state laws. This is especially true as site management presents professional credentials, accepts money and has no disclaimer regarding participation in the forums.

“Site management” is most likely better identified as Heidi Raynor, M.Ed., who in her bio claims to be an experienced counselor with two years of individual counseling experience, but lists no license information or professional references.

She also apparently doubles in the site forum as “Site Coordinator or “SC” as users refer to her. Raynor herself never openly makes the admission that she is SC, but in several posts, SC claims ownership of the site and solicits for donations regularly. Those donations have to be made payable directly to Raynor and are to be mailed to 4227 W. 15^th, Cleveland, Ohio.

Raynor states in her solicitations that checks must be made out to her personally, and not to allaboutcounseling.com, leaving the speculation open to whether or not she is claiming the income when filing taxes.

Raynor is not acting alone. According to information provided on the site, the content on allaboutcounseling.com was authored by River Smith, Ph.D.. Further investigation revealed that Smith is an Ohio based clinical psychologist who practices under Ohio State license number 4658, at 11206 Clifton Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio tel. 216-651-1302

According to information received from a source at the State Board of Psychology of Ohio, Dr. Smith’s presence as one of the creators of that site, and the provision of his license number, inextricably ties him to the conduct and practices of it’s managers, whether that conduct comes directly from Dr. Smith or not.

And under those circumstances, that translates legally to the site and everyone who manages it being subject to all applicable statutes and codes of conduct for that profession.

Most of Smith’s role appears to be providing content related to mental health issues, making him the direct source of the misleading statistics and disinformation. But also by attaching his credentials to a site that is taking money, he puts his license on the line for any improprieties and ethical violations that transpire.

It also raises the significant question of whether the site is, in reality, an online psychology practice. Early information from the state of Ohio suggests that it is, though there will not be a final determination on this until complaints about the site have been investigated by officials in Ohio.

According to several of the former members of the site, Dr. Smith may be in direct violation of several statutes that govern the practice of psychology in that state. These include, but are not limited to the following:

Failure to report sexual abuse of children to authorities (there were several posts by members that reported their children being abused)
Failure to report physical abuse of children
Failure to report suicide threats by members
Children being allowed to log on and read detailed and sexually explicit accounts of other members lives.
Domestic abuse reports ignored by site management
Questionable solicitations for money
Presentation of misleading information
Proffering false counseling qualifications

Regarding the child molestations, according to a source at the Ohio State Board of Psychology, psychologists are mandated to report knowledge of child abuse to authorities and it makes no difference that the reports were received online, nor does it matter that the reports came from anonymous sources. Discovery of the sources is a police matter, not one for the psychologist to undertake or even be concerned with. Their mandate under state law is to report these incidents immediately.

There is no evidence that any reports with police were filed, meaning that a licensed psychologist and another individual claiming to be a professional counselor knew or should have known that children were being abused and did nothing– but ask for more money.

At the time this article goes live, at least two and perhaps more individuals are compiling complaints against allaboutcounseling.com which will be filed with The Ohio State Board of Psychology and The American Psychological Association. This summary and a copy of the complaints will also be forwarded to the Ohio State Attorney General’s Office for consideration. Other former members have indicated they are considering complaints or other actions against the site’s ownership and management.

When I first brought this story to avoiceformen.com and mensnewsdaily.com, I also forwarded it to about two hundred psychotherapists that supported the site by listing their services there and by purchasing an enhanced presence in the site directory.

To their credit, several of those clinicians directed allaboutcounseling.com to remove their listings. Most did not, however, and did not respond to my emails. Their practice information is listed below.

Once the complaints with the named agencies and the State Attorney General have been filed, an update will be provided regarding this matter. And in the update, I will begin exploring how the practice of “feminist therapy” has naturally led to such abuses of ethics and hopefully what can be done to stop it.

I ask your pardon for the lengthy list of professionals included here, but it is necessary to the process to get the information disseminated through the internet. This list is just a fraction of the counseling professionals that list their services on ACC.

Evelyn Goodman, Psy.D., MFT

12313 Havelock Avenue,

Culver City

310-391-3853

drevelyn@anxietyrecovery.com

http://www.anxietyrecovery.com/

No License FOund.

Dr. Aaron Berger

1821 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 411,

Culver city

No E-mail Found.

http://www.draaronberger.com/

Lic.# PSY21079

Sue Shepard MFT

2900 Bristol St., Suite G-201,

Costa Mesa

714-751-0888

No E-mail found.

http://therapybysue.com/

License #MFC37470

Help Talking

2900 Bristol A207,

Costa Mesa

714-969-9691

http://www.helptalking.com/contact/

http://www.helptalking.com

No License found.

Cheryl Chase

219 N. Indian Hill Suite 203,

Claremont

909-982-5095

No E-mail found

http://www.cherylchase.com/ (coming soon)

No License Found.

Rosanna Reyes Feet, MFT

2521 Windward Way

Chula Vista CA 91914

6196184529

rosannamft@gmail.com

http://www.rosannamft.org/

MFC 44002

Fall Creek Counseling Associates

5900 Coyle Avenue & 775 Sunrise Avenue,

Carmichael & Roseville (greater Sacramento)

916-344-0900

drdmoore@mac.com

http://www.sacramentopsychology.com/

No License Found.

Sara Darnley, Ph.D.

621 E. Campbell Ave., Suite 7,

Campbell

(408) 267-4702

No E-mail Found.

http://saradarnleyphd.com

PSY 15742

A Place To Grow

P. O. Box 1641,

Big Bear Lake

909-585-7228

info@aplacetogrow.com

http://www.aplacetogrow.com/medicinewheel.html

No License Found.

Personal Communication Solutions (Karen Wulfson, LMFT)

420 South Beverly Drive; Suite 100,

Beverly HIlls, CA

310 475-1759

karen@karenwulfson.com

http://www.karenwulfson.com/

No License Found.

Leslie Davis Therapy

9171 Wilshire Blvd. Penthouse 7,

Beverly Hills, CA

310-582-5890

info@lesliedavistherapy.com

http://lesliedavistherapy.com

No License Found.

Beverly Hills Family Counseling

204 S. Beverly Drive, #116,

Beverly Hills, CA

310-271-3784

BHCounseling@aol.com

http://www.shrinkg.com/

Jim Gordon, Ph.D, license M.F.T. #12651,

Nectar & Flame Consulting

3179 College Avenue, #4,

Berkeley, CA

510-277-0440

dr.amymarshsexologist@gmail.com

http://dramymarshsexologist.tripod.com/

No License Found

Laura Gardner

2025 Lincoln St.

Berkeley, CA

510-594-4300

http://www.holisticgardner.com/contact.html

http://www.holisticgardner.com/

No License Found.

Inner Child Healing

147 Alameda deLas Pulgas

Belmont, CA

415-337-9474

lila@innerchildhealing.com

http://www.innerchildhealing.com

No License Found.

Sandra M. Wolf, MFT

3855 E. La Palma

Anaheim, CA

714-747-6959

Sandy@SandyMWolf.com

http://www.sandymwolf.com/

#MFC43774

Cort Curtis, Ph.D.

28202 Cabot Road, Suite 253,

Laguna Niguel

877-372-8784

cortcurtis@achangeinthinking.com

http://www.achangeinthinking.com/

No license found.

Relationship Cafe

23161 Mill Creek Dr. #335,

Laguna Hills

(949)5536100

michelle@relationshipcafe.net

http://www.relationshipcafe.net

No License found.

Partnership For Growth

25283 Cabot Road Suite 107,

Laguna Hills

949-233-3362

beverly@lagunacounseling.com

http://www.lagunacounseling.com/

No License found.

Jondra Pennington, MS, MFT

78150 Calle Tampico Suite 207C,

La Quinta

760-777-9939

jondra@desertstreamscounseling.com

http://www.desertstreamscounseling.com/

License #: MFC36372

Cathy Roys Therapy MFT

8356 Allison Suite B2,

La Mesa

518-1323

Cathy@CathyRoysTherapy.com

http://www.cathyroyscounselor.com

Lic.#42762

Peter Lambrou, Ph.D.

9834 Genesee Ave. Suite 321,

La Jolla

858-457-3900

No E-mail found. but: http://www.peterlambrou.com/contactus.php

http://www.peterlambrou.com

Clinical Psychologist, CA License #PSY14435

La Jolla Holistic Center

Address changed:

2870 Fourth Avenue. Suite #101

San Diego, California 92103

858-459-1273

Info@NancyDeAndrade.com

http://nancydeandrade.com

Nancy De Andrade, MA, Doctoral Candidate PSB #33475

Psychological Assistant to Deisy Boscán, Ph.D. PSY # 18873

Christian Soul Care

4000 Barranca Pkwy, Suite 250,

Irvine

949-262-3699

Same as Dr. Kristi Below

Dr. Kristi Gaultiere

4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250,

Irvine

949-262-3699

Kristi@ChristianSoulCare.com

http://www.christiansoulcare.com

#MFT29887

Amy Greenberg – MFT

1260 B Street Suite 240,

Hayward

925 989-9826

amy@enrichmentcounseling.com

http://www.enrichmentcounseling.com

(MFC 36752).

Cris Walker Roskelley, MFT

350 Bon Air Rd. Suite 140,

Greenbrae

415-289-2111

cris@MFTHandbook.com

http://www.mfthandbook.com

No License Found

Glendale Counseling Center

1521 W. Glenoaks Blvd. #2B,

Glendale

818-547-2865

mail@counselingfamily.net

http://counselingfamily.net

No License Found.

OCChristianCounseling.com

12792 Valley View Street, Suite 209,

Garden Grove

714-865-2164

No E-mail but: http://www.mcssl.com/app/contact.asp?id=151309&afid=&formid=&preview=

http://occhristiancounseling.com/

No License found – Multiple Staff

Dr. Heather M. Browne

9851 Bixby Ave.,

Garden Grove

714/334-4026

Dr.Heather@TheHealingHeart.net

http://www.thehealingheart.net/

LMFT #34523

Jodi Blackley, M.S., M.F.T.

711 E. Imperial Hwy.

Brea, CA 92821

(714) 212-1160

jodi@jodiblackley.com

http://www.jodiblackley.com/

Lic#: MFC41465

Lindsey Plumer, LMFT

13405 Folsom Blvd #220,

Folsom

916-952-7187

lsplumer@yahoo.com

http://www.lindseyplumer.com/

(MFC #43983)

Susanne M. Dillmann, Psy.D.

210 South Juniper St., Suite 213,

Escondido

760-743-7789

No E-mail but: http://www.drdillmann.com/contact_dr_dillmann

http://www.drdillmann.com/

PSY21969

Dr. Celina Marciano

5535 Balboa Blvd., Suite 217,

Encino

818-388-0102

info@healingcrossroads.com

http://www.healingcrossroads.com/

No License found.

Bill Martin, MFT

1337 Camino Del Mar,

Del Mar

858-755-2407

billm@counseling-connection.com

http://www.counseling-connection.com

No License Found

Dr. Gaye Wein Shepard

275 E. California Blvd.,

Pasadena

626-585-1618

gayewein@mac.com

http://www.shepardphd.com/

No License Found.

Jill Tan-Gatue, M.S., MFT

462 S. Marengo Ave.,

Pasadena

626-432-4022

ptan-gatue@juno.com

http://www.pasadenatherapytan-gatue.com/

Lic. #43059

Therapy Pasadena

1055 East Colorado Blvd.,

Pasadena

949 648 1109

klbechtol@sbcglobal.net

http://therapypasadena.com

License# 38689

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

7 Fourth Street #19,

Petaluma

707-583-2305

don@donwallach.com

http://www.donwallach.com/

No License Found.

Will Joel Friedman, Ph.D., Psychologist, A Prof. Corp.

275 Rose Avenue, Suite 212,

Pleasanton

(925) 600-9966

drwilljoel@comcast.net

http://www.willjoelfriedman.com/

PSY 10092

Bailey Counseling

8300 Utica Avenue, Third Floor,

Rancho Cucamonga 909/920-1814

cebaileyco@att.net

No WebSite Found

LCS 19539

Santa Margarita Solutions Center

22362 Gilberto, Suite 205,

Rancho Santa Margarita

949-589-5700

drjulieolson@cox.net

http://www.santamargaritasolutions.com/

#PSY14768

A Peaceful Way

Ave I,

Redondo Beach

310-540-6768

(310) 760-2244

kristin@apeacefulway.com

http://www.apeacefulway.com/

No License Found

Lynn Seely Counseling

115 N. Balsam suite E,

Ridgecrest

760-384-8037

lynn@lynnseelycounseling.com

http://www.lynnseelycounseling.com/

Business licence – City of Ridgecrest 07 00009219

Sylma Fine

555 Middlefield Road, Ste 102-C,

Palo Alto

650-838-9552

sylma@sylmafine.com

http://www.sylmafine.com/

License# MFC41633

Laurie J. Linscheid, MFT

555 Middlefield Rd,

Palo Alto

650-773-3131

laurie@family-therapist.com

http://www.family-therapist.com

No License Found.

Hoai-Thu Truong, Ph.D.

366 S. California Avenue Suite 6

Palo Alto, CA 94306

650.361.0356

contact@drhttruong.com

http://www.paloaltocounseling.com/

No License Found

Ernest Schmidt Therapy

407 Sherman Ave,

Palo Alto

650-384-0342

No E-mail but http://www.paloaltotherapy.com/contact/

http://www.paloaltotherapy.com/

No License Found.

Pauline Wakeham, LCSW

6239 College Ave.,#303,

Oakland

510-377-1082

peacefulresolution@gmail.com

http://www.eastbaycounselor.com/

CA license: LCS #19528

Kristen Platt, PsyD, LMFT

1151 Dove Street, Ste. 200,

Newport Beach

949 422-5334

DrPlatt@OrangeCountyTherapy.org

http://www.orangecountytherapy.org/

License Number 30372

Allison Mupas, MFT

248 E Foothill Blvd,

Monrovia

626-802-7383

changeseekers@yahoo.com

http://www.changeseeker.org/

License Number MFT 46004

Windows of Opportunity Counseling Services

39899 Balentine Dr, Suite 310,

Newark

510-979-0200

eschmechtigco@sbcglobal.net

http://www.windowsofopportunitycounseling.org/

No License Found.

Miranda Palmer

1311 E Street,

Modesto, CA 95354

209 343-2771

209 602-1513

No E-mail Given – http://counselingmodesto.com/contact/

http://counselingmodesto.com/

MFC #42393

Monte Nido Eating Disorder Treatment Center

27162 Sea Vista Dr,

Malibu

310-457-9958

info@edcca.com

http://www.edcca.com/

Carolyn Costin No License Found

Carol Boulware, Ph.D.

3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550,

Los Angeles, California

310-395-3351

Carolphd@psychotherapist.net

http://www.psychotherapist.net/sex-therapy.html

Licensed Marriage, Family Therapist – #MFT11632

ABS Certified Sex Therapist #1466

Regina Petterson, Psy.D.

11980 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 701,

Los Angeles

3106694422

drpetterson@aol.com

http://psychotherapylosangeles.com/

PSY 18490

Catherine Auman, MFT

2566 Overland Ave., Suite 500 B,

Los Angeles

310-460-9399

info@catherineauman.com.

http://www.catherineauman.com/

Her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1993 (30784),

Beth Tunis

6399 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 312,

Los Angeles

310-779-9698

beth@bethtunistherapy.com

http://www.bethtunistherapy.com/

No License Found

Aaron Buckwalter, MFT

205 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd,

Los Angeles

323-799-4130

aaron@changethrutherapy.com

http://www.changethrutherapy.com/

License mfc43099

Jeannie Wolitzer MFT

1340 Concannon Blvd Sunset Office Plaza, Bldg J

Livermore, CA 94550

925 201 3414

jwolitzer@gmail.com

http://www.jeanniewolitzer.com/

MFC 45633

Mending My Marriage

1848 Holmes Street, Bldg. E,

Livermore, CA 94550

925-922-2775

Laura@MFTLaura.com

http://www.mendingmymarriage.com

Laura Melgosa, M.S., MFT MFC 34899

San Diego Therapy

2333 First Avenue,

San Diego

619 218 5363

lily@sandiegotherapy.org

http://www.sandiegotherapy.org/

MFT intern #51125

Kim Jones

9330 Carmel Mountain Rd. Ste C,

San Diego

858-204-2599

kim@kimjonescounseling.com

http://www.kimjonescounseling.com/

MFC 37708

JAMES WILLIAM PARKER

2650 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 211,

San Diego, CA 92108

858-952-8196

No E-mail found.

http://www.jameswilliamparker.com/

MFC 47548

Helping People Navigate Changes In Life

North County Inland off I-15 & I-56 (Please call for address),

San Diego

619-687-9013

ecaetano@san.rr.com

http://www.navigatechanges.com/

MFT License #37010

Healthy Within

Divya Kakaiya, Ph.D

5665 Oberlin Drive Suite 206

San Diego CA 92121

858-622-0221

kakaiya@cox.net

http://www.healthywithin.com/

No License Found.

Couples Counseling (SAME AS ESTES THERAPY BELOW – NOTE THE PHONE NUMBER)

2333 1st Avenue, Suite 204,

San Diego

619-471-7104

Estes Therapy

2835 Camino Del Rio South, Suite 120C,

San Diego

619-471-7104

jestes@estestherapy.com

http://www.estestherapy.com/

MFC #47653

Counseling Connection

2207 Garnet Ave Suite A,

San Diego

619-857-1355

858-586-1355

julie@juliemorrell.com

http://www.juliemorrell.com/

No License Found.

Bobbie J Paul, Ph.D., MFT

3505 Camino del Rio South, Suite 212,

San Diego

619 7231802

No E-Mail – but this Link http://www.bobbiejpaul.com/ContactMe.en.html

http://www.bobbiejpaul.com

MFC29201

Barbara Cunningham, Psy.D., LMFT

2835 Camino Del Rio South, Ste. 120-C,

San Diego

619-990-6203

barbara@cunninghamtherapy.com

http://www.cunninghamtherapy.com/

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California (#44053)

Sue Goetz, LCSW

1731 I Street,

Sacramento

9167648360

sue@hopeintherapy.com

http://www.hopeintherapy.com/

No License Found.

Self Awareness Institute

5777 Madison Avenue, Suite 307,

Sacramento

8662046384

alambert@12promises.com

http://www.12promises.com/

No License Found

Ray Brown, PhD, LMFT

418 Alhambra Blvd.,

Sacramento

916-492-8530

lmft@surewest.net

http://www.lmft.info/

No License Found.

Jacqueline Dotson, LCSW

4825 J Street Suite 223,

Sacramento

916-454-1021

jackie@jackiedotson.com

http://www.jackiedotson.com

No License Found.

Michele Dickey, LCSW

1002 River Rock Drive, Suite 221 ,

Roseville

916-206-0054

No E-Mail Found.

http://www.folsomfamilycounseling.com/FolsomCounseling/Welcome.html

LCS 21696

Steve McCready, Marriage & Family Therapist

1891 E. Roseville Pkwy, #120,

Roseville

916-781-0606

steve@counselingsacramento.com

http://www.counselingsacramento.com/

No License Found

Renée Spencer, MFT

3236 Sacramento Street,

San Francisco

415-771-5671

reneespencer@mac.com

http://www.reneespencer.com/

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (License MFC #40511)

Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (License RPh #43623)

Private Practice Psychotherapy (Daniel McCracken)

870 Market Street, Suite 441,

San Francisco

415-846-6557

daniel9723@sbcglobal.net

http://www.therapyinsanfrancisco.com/Daniel_McCracken_contact.html

Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC42824)

Nick Parsons, LMFT

999 Sutter Street,

San Francisco

415 778-5500

No E-mail Found.

http://www.sf-therapist.com/

My license number is: MFC 35484

Marina Counseling Center

2137 Lombard Street,

San Francisco

415-563-2137

Jennifer@marinacounseling.com

http://www.marinacounseling.com/

No License Found

Ken Martin LMFT

564 Market Street, Suite 410,

San Francisco, California 94104

415/395-9367

kenmartinmft@earthlink.net

http://www.kenmartintherapy.com/

No License Found.

JENNIFER FEELEY, MFT

4831 GEARY BLVD.,

San Francisco

415 244-7850

feeleyj@pacbell.net

http://www.jenniferfeeley.com/

License #MFC35307

Jeffrey S. Kaye, Ph.D.

844 California Street,

San Francisco

415-362-8262

sfpsych@gmail.com

http://www.drjeffkaye.com/

PSY #15476

Geri Weitzman, PhD

1100 Sanchez Street (corner of 24th),

San Francisco

415-517-7965

bap@bizone.org

http://www.bizone.org/bap/joining.html

CA License # PSY17963

Erica Mainshine Psychotherapy

3236 Sacramento Street,

San Francisco

415-820-3203

erica@therapysf.org

http://www.therapysf.org/

Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, #IMF52423, practicing under the supervision of Jim Meyers, MFT, #MFC30215

Dennis Thatcher, MFT

1637 Irving Street

San Francisco

415-995-2916

denniscthatcher@yahoo.com

http://www.dennisthatchermft.com/

Lic.#MFC25186

Center for Family Issues

1801 Bush St., Suite 110,

San Francisco

(415) 215-4796

DrM@DrMelindaDouglass.com

http://www.drmelindadouglass.com/Welcome.html

PSB 34300

Cathy Hanville, LCSW

3884 24th Street,

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 643-3890

cathyhanville@att.net

http://www.cathyhanville.com/

No License Found

Carol Jaron, Classic and Creative Psychotherapy

801 Portola Drive,

San Francisco

415-541-5004

caroljtherapist@yahoo.com

http://www.caroljguidingstar.com

No License Found.

Ace, Tricia, MFT – Psychotherapy, San Francisco & Berkeley

115 Sansome (@Bush, Financial District),

San Francisco

415/536-9406

AceMFT@aol.com

http://www.triciaace.com/

License Number: MFC34714

Susannah Muller, M.A.

2333 1st Avenue, #204,

San Diego

619-787-2743

susannah@therapy-sandiego.com

http://www.therapy-sandiego.com/

Internship with Aimee Zakrewski Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #43736, who has over 6 years of experience.

Internship with Daniel Carr Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #31037, who has over 25 years of experience

Sian Marie Hassell, Inc.

Christine Hassell MA, LMFT

5905 Soquel Dr. Suite 550,

Soquel, CA

831-429-2253

No E-mail found.

http://www.turningpointpsychotherapy.com

LMFT #39288

David L. Christopher, A Psychotherapy Corporation

141 N. Acacia Ave. Ste. A,

Solana Beach, CA

858 792-0777

DChristopher@SanDiegoTherapist.com

http://www.sandiegotherapist.com/

MFC 30632

Kelly Tobey, MSW, LCSW

3695 Alamo St. Suite 200,

Simi Valley, CA

805-501-6630

kelly@kellytobeylcsw.com

http://www.kellytobeylcsw.com/

State License: LCS#17999

Harmony & Families Counseling Centers

1633 Erringer Rd. Ste’s 204 & 207,

Simi Valley, CA

805-428-6655

Kristy Schadt

kristyschadtmft@sbcglobal.net

Cary Steven Schwartz

carschwrtz@aol.com

Patricia VanBuskirk, MA

pvbFUTURE@adelphia.net

Maureen Kaye, MA, MFT

California License # MFC 44834

MKayeMFT@aol.com

Diane Turini Mize, MFT

California License, MFC# 38366

ginitsiselu@yahoo.com

http://www.harmonycounselingcenter.org

LifeHealingHeart

Ms. Keri Zwerner

5535 Balboa Blvd. Suite 217

Encino, CA 91316

818.206.4006

keri@lifehealingheart.com

http://www.lifehealingheart.com/

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

1023 College Avenue,

Santa Rosa, CA

707-583-2305

don@donwallach.com

http://www.donwallach.com/

Open Door Psychotherapy

Dana Blumrosen, MA, LMFT

303 Potrero Street, #45-202,

Santa Cruz, CA

831-454-8270

dana@opendoorpsychotherapy.com

dblumrosen@yahoo.com

http://www.opendoorpsychotherapy.com/

My license number is: 44056.

Reginald Veurink, Psy.D.

26889 Bouquet Canyon Road, Suite C,

Santa Clarita, CA

661-297-5728

No E-mail Given – but – webmaster@drveurink.com

http://www.drveurink.com/

Clinical Psychologist, California License #PSY 14007

Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology, ASPPB, #743

Marriage, Family, Child Counselor, California License #MFC 14374

East Bay Couples Counseling

Jay Slupesky, M.A., MFT

2 Crow Canyon Ct. Suite 110,

San Ramon, CA

925-351-8447

jay@eastbaycouples.com

http://eastbaycouples.com

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #45969

Mark Edwards, MFT

711 D Street, Suite 203,

San Rafael, CA

415-456-6523

MarkEdwardsMFT@Hotmail.com

http://www.markedwardsmft.com/

No License found.

San Pedro Counseling: Diana Dowds, MFT – The Help Shop

461 West Sixth Street, Suite 214,

San Pedro, CA

310.833.9300

diana@thehelpshop.org

http://www.thehelpshop.org

Diana – MFC45294

Josette Ciolino, licensed clinical psychologist (PSY18122)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

1210 South Bascom Avenue Ste 122,

San Jose, CA

408-535-0435

No E-mail found.

http://www.michellewambach.com/

MFC #41571

Claire Adalyn Wright, MFT

S. Bascom Avenue,

San Jose, CA

408-998-7098

cawmft@yahoo.com

http://www.scv-camft.org

License No. MFC 44491

Psychotherapy By Melyssa Nelson

1726 Fillmore Street,

San Francsico

415-255-3209

melyssa@melyssanelson.com

http://www.melyssanelson.com/

MFT Lic# 41632

Women’s Therapy Services

2918 Webster Street,

San Francisco

415 281 0828

staff@womenstherapyservices.com

http://www.womenstherapyservices.com/

Phyllis Klein, LCSW License number LCS11342

Marlena Kushner, MFT License number MFT14058

Karen Ryan, MFTI (Registered Intern) Registration Number: IMF #44599

Therapy With a Difference

Donna May, MA,MFT

625 Butte Street,

Yreka, CA

530-841-0911

donna@donnamaymft.com

http://www.donnamaymft.com/

MFC 40621

Rod Louden, M.A., MFT

21243 Ventura Blvd., #203,

Woodland Hills, CA

818-348-7081

rodlouden@aol.com

http://www.monsterrelationships.com/

MFC 39259. Issued 2001.

Heather Cozen, MS MFTI

8235 Santa Monica Blvd, Penthouse Suite ,

West Hollywood, CA

310-869-1003

heathercozen@gmail.com

http://www.heathercozen.com/

Currently I am being supervised by Mou Wilson, LMFT MFC # 44134.

Alla Litvin

8961 Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90069

310-652-9030

therapy@drlitvin.com

http://www.drlitvin.com/

No License Found.

Counseling Center for Spiritual Growth

7515 Sugar Pine Rd,

Weed/Mt. Shasta, CA

530-938-2930

RevEleanor@AwakePath.com

RevEleanor7@snowcrest.net

http://www.awakepath.com/

No License Found.

Dr. Summer Schleif

380 S Melrose Drive Suite 315,

Vista, CA

760-806-4315

drsummer@dr-summer.com

http://www.dr-summer.com/

License # PSY 21826

Alysha Sardella, LMFT

27951 Smyth Drive 3103,

ValenciA, CA

(818) 434-4034

http://www.alyshasardellatherapist.com/

alyshasardella@yahoo.com

434-4034alyshasardella@yahoo.com

License # MFC 38049

Leslie D. Gustafson, MFT

14751 Plaza Drive, Unit F,

Tustin, CA 92780

Doug Gustafson Ph: (714) 515-3042

Leslie Gustafson Ph: (714) 855-4530

http://www.authenticandtrue.com/

Leslie@AuthenticandTrue.com

Doug@AuthenticandTrue.com

Lauren Wolff, MA, LMFT

468 Pennsfield Place Suite 204,

Thousand Oaks, CA

310-402-7775

No Email Found

http://www.fertilitytherapist.com/

MFT #46274

Healing Crossroads

509 Marin Street, Suite 236,

Thousand Oaks, CA

818-388-0102

info@healingcrossroads.com

http://www.healingcrossroads.com/

No License Found.

Emotional Reframing

Paul Rieker

27715 Jefferson Ave, Suite 113F

Temecula, CA 92590

951 970 5641

PAUL@blessyourthoughts.com

http://www.blessyourthoughts.com

Felita W. Fox, MFT

690 W. Fremont Ave. #9D,

Sunnyvale, CA

408-739-4377

felita@felitafox.com

http://www.felitafox.com/

No License Found.

Lighthouse of Hope Counseling Center

Gloria J Baxter

1515 Partridge Avenue,

Sunnyvale, CA

408-716-8101

No E-mail Found.

http://lighthouseofhope.info/

No License Found.

Agoura Hills

Laura M. Smith, MFT Intern

30423 Canwood St. ste.#129,

Agoura Hills, CA

(805) 217-76

Benicia

Anne Courtney, MA, LMFT

821 E. 2nd Street, Suite 203,

Benicia, CA

925-210-9226

Berkeley

Ace, Tricia, MFT – Psychotherapy, San Francisco & Berkeley

1760 Solano Avenue,

Berkeley, CA

415-536-9406

Center for Creative Growth

1221 Marin Avenue,

Berkeley, CA

510-527-2100

http://www.creativegrowth.com/

Telling Life Stories

2711 Alcatraz Ave,

Berkeley, CA

510 286-7615

Bolinas

A Therapy Line

P.O. Box 100,

Bolinas

888-844-8255

Brentwood

Leslie St. Louis, MA, MFT, CAMFT

11911 San Vicente Blvd, Ste 270,

Brentwood

310-990-9930

Corona

EMC

777 S. Temescal St.,#129,

Corona

909-808-9610

Corte Madera

Marriage and Family Therapist

21 Tamal Vista, Suite 160,

Corte Madera

415-272-4472

Costa Mesa

Addiction Institute

3151 Airway Avenue Suite C-1,

Costa Mesa

714-545-7114

Mark Pines MA MFTI

2900 Bristol Street Suite G-202,

Costa Mesa

714-855-2232

Cupertino

Susan Cohn, LCSW & LMFT

10060 Pasadena Ave.,

Cupertino

408-257-5772

Del Mar (29)

1-800-THERAPIST

2923 Sandy Pointe Ste 6,

Del Mar

858-481-1515

Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center

2923 SAndy Pointe #6,

Del Mar

858-792-7463

Encinitas

Individual, Couple and Group Psychotherapy

336 Encinitas Blvd. #100,

Encinitas

760 944-7772

Counseling Associates of Encino

Sandra S. Kagan

12400 Ventura Blvd. #641

Studio City, CA 91604

818-789-7575

No E-mail but: http://www.therapistlocator.net/asp-bin/contacttherapist.asp?TCode=56150

License # MFC 6773

Laurel Canyon Recovery Center & Beau Monde Programs

3718 Hayvenhurst Ave.,

Encino

888-300-5080

Fair Oaks (37)

New Beginnings Counseling Center

11622 Fair Oaks Blvd, Ste 103,

Fair Oaks

916-863-7096

Strategies For Success

12900B Garden Grove Blvd,

Garden Grove

714-803-6907

Hansen Hills

Counseling That Works

12661 Gain St.,

Hansen Hills

818 277-1616

Irvine

California Graduate Insitute Counseling Center

4199 Campus Drive #E,

Irvine

949-737-5464

Center for Human Development

19742 MacArthur Blvd., #125,

Irvine

714-647-6670

CGI Counseling Center

4199 Campus Dr. #E,

Irvine

949-737-5460

http://counseling.tcscenters.org/

La Jola

Jeffrey Thomas LCSW

9850 Genesee Ave, Suite 910,

La Jola

619-221-5607

jefftthomaslcsw@hotmail.com

No Web-site found.

No License Found.

Kentfield

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

1010 Sir Francis Drake Bl,

Kentfield

415-339-7890

La Canada

Marriage and Family Therapist

4529 Angeles Crest Hwy, #319,

La Canada

626-243 3771

Lawndale

Donna El-Armale, LMFT

15342 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite 407,

Lawndale

323.692.8290

info@youturnproject.org (not sure if this is hers – the address is the same)

http://www.youturnproject.org

La Jolla

Cognitive Therapy Institute, Inc.

3262 Holiday Court, #220,

La Jolla

(858) 450-1101

http://www.cognitivetherapysandiego.com

La Palma

New Beginnings

30 Centerpointe Dr. Suite 9A,

La Palma

714-523-3846

Lafayette

Andrea Watson, MFT Intern

3468 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite B301,

Lafayette

925-210-7475

Laguna Woods 40

Alfred E. Marlowe

751-A Avenida Majorca,

Laguna Woods

949-770-2851

Lake Forest

Live Now Association

24922 Muirlands,

Lake Forest

949-581-3486

Larkspur

Katie Glassman, M.F.T.

119 Ward Street,

Larkspur

415-480-1331

Long Beach

Carole Harris, LCSW

5848 Naples Plaza, Suite 204,

Long Beach

562-434-0617

Loomis

Alternatives Counseling

7860 King Road,

Loomis

916 247 6059

mmutozee@yahoo.com

Los Altos

Deb Burgard, Ph.D.

5050 El Camino Real, Suite 202

Los Altos

650-321-2606

http://www.bodypositive.com/

Andrew Jen, Ph.D.

179-B Barrington Place,

Los Angeles

310 453-2772

Lauren Howard Licensed Psychotherapist, MFT

1416 Westwood Boulevard #208,

Los Angeles

310 364 0440

Love-Sessions

www.love-sessions.com,

Los Angeles

OCD Center of Los Angeles

10921 Wilshire Blvd. #502,

Los Angeles

310-335-5443

Psychotherapy

914 S. Robertson Boulevard – #104,

Los Angeles

310-226-2988

Lotus

Rational Recovery

P.O.Box 800 ,

Lotus

530-621-2667

http://www.rational.org/

Los Angeles

Sabah Akmal, LCSW

10780 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 250,

Los Angeles

310-913-5034

Menlo Park

Sliding Scale therapy and counseling

125 Willow Rd. #125 ,

Menlo Park

650-303-0074

Mill Valley

Transpersonal Psychotherapy

3 Madrona Street, suite B,

Mill Valley

415-419-3570

SOULTENDERS

41 East Foothill Boulevard, Suite 102

Arcadia, California 91006

888-889-3639

wendy@soultenders.com

http://www.soultenders.com

Mission Hills

Dr. Reginald L. Veurink, Clinial Psychologist in Mission Hills, CA

Holy Cross Medical Plaza, 11550 Indian Hills Road, Suite #370,

Mission Hills

818-361-8616

http://www.drveurink.com/

Moraga

Moraga Psychotherapy

1001 Country Club Drive, Suite B,

Moraga

925-247-0805

Beau Monde: Programs of Distinction

3101 W. Pacific Coast Hwy, Ste 310,

Newport Beach

800-866-2948

Transformational Living

1000 Quail St., Ste. 175,

Newport Beach

949.922.8548

Affordable Therapy

5835 College Avenue Suite 2A,

Oakland

510-433-2959

Beth Bernstein, MFT

445 Bellevue Avenue,

Oakland

510-628-0877

Green Gate Therapy

445 Bellevue Ave Ste 202,

Oakland

510-452-2820

private practice

6239 College Ave. (Suite#302),

Oakland

510 548-6241

Counseling Solutions

2585 Park Blvd Z-100 ,

Palo Alto

650-327-8620

Jeffrey M. Kisling, LMFT

701 Welch Road, Suite 324,

Palo Alto

650-325-6632

Private Practice

555 Middlefield Rd.,

Palo Alto

650 473-9331

Placerville / Elk Grove

Carla L. Wills

5036 Sunrey Rd / 8920 Emerald Park Dr. Ste A,

Placerville / Elk Grove

530-644-8226

Pleasant Hill

Counseling & Psychotherapy

140 Mayhew Way, Suite 202,

Pleasant Hill

510 986-9836

Michael F. Thaden, M.S., M.F.T., A.T.R.

3550 Watt Avenue,

Sacramento

916-505-5092

private practice

4452 Park Blvd. #214,

San Diego

858-610-1460

San Diego Family Services

3750 Convoy Street Suite 185,

San Diego

858-277-7800

San Jose

Child and Family Therapist

2020 Forest Avenue,

San Jose, CA

408 287-7471

San Marcos

Hope Christian Counseling Inc.

PO Box 1718,

San Marcos

760-727-7240

Santa Cruz

Angst-Net of Therapists

127 Jewell Street,

Santa Cruz, CA

831-426-1778

Santa Monica

Psychology

3130 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 550,

Santa Monica, CA

310.208.1144

Vinca Health

Vinca von Muhlenberg

13951 Moorpark Street #310,

Sherman Oaks, CA

800-544-7793

http://www.vincahealth.com/

South Pasadena

HEART Alcohol & Drug Counseling Services

1815 Meridian Avenue 202,

South Pasadena, CA

626-862-8255

Studio City

Counseling-Online.com

3959 Laurel Canyon Blvd. – #C,

Studio City, CA

323-225-2228

Temecula

Transformations Counseling, Inc

Mr. Ronald James Ryan

31905 Corte Mendoza,

Temecula, CA

951-741-4229

Torrance

Center for Counseling and Recovery

2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 205,

Torrance, CA

310-530-7750

Gentle Support Counseling Services

2430 Torrance Boulevard,

Torrance, CA

310-787-1886

Visalia

AER Associates

720 West Center St., Suite A,

Visalia, CA

559-265-3998

Woodland Hills

New Beginnings

22122 Erwin Street, Apt. 201,

Woodland Hills, CA

(619) 840-9779

Paul Elam is Editor-in-Chief for Mens News Daily and publisher of A Voice for Men

Government As Narcotics Dealer

Thomas Brewton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:57:12 +0000

Since the advent of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, monetary authorities have repeatedly upped the narcotic dosage as a remedy for the pains of easy money and credit addiction.

An exceptionally clear and insightful analysis of the precipitating and sustaining causes of the twelve-year-long Great Depression is to be found in Banking and the Business Cycle: A Study of the Great Depression in the United States. Published in 1937, this book provides a wealth of statistics and quotations from Federal Reserve officials, bankers, and economists of that era. It can be obtained from the Ludwig von Mises Institute via its website.

At the end of World War I, when the Federal Reserve System was only five years old, the Fed decided to prevent prices across the economy from falling back to the levels prevailing before the war. To do so, the Fed pumped so much money into the economy via the banks that total bank lendable deposits more than doubled in the six years from 1914 to 1920. To make the perspective clearer, the Fed pumped more lendable funds into the banking system in six years than had been created in the prior 131 years since the ratification of the Constitution.

With lendable funds far in excess of the needs of business to finance inventories, receivables, and other normal day-to-day business activities, banks began to do the same sorts of things that they were to do 80 years later in the housing and subprime mortgage bubble. They used low cost, easy money to invest in assets that were outside the normal range of traditional, prudent banking. While business financing needs remained fairly steady in the 1920s, banks began to employ the excess lendable funds created by the Fed to purchase corporate bonds, ramp up stock market call loans which facilitated issuance of new stock issues, and to finance real estate expansion. They also began to finance the new category of consumer installment loans, the 1920s version of credit cards.

These asset categories were relatively illiquid, compared to self-liquidating loans on inventories and receivables, which normally turned over in 90 to 180 days. Just as in the recent decade, when banks became increasingly illiquid with ballooning amounts of high-risk assets, banks, by 1929, were in poor shape to weather the wave of defaults on real estate, stock market call loans, and corporate bonds.

These increased investments in bonds, stock market call loans, and real estate had exactly the same effect on business activity as did the expansion of credit that led to our current financial meltdown. With massive amounts of money available at low interest rates via the bond and stock markets, businesses investment to increase output capacity surged throughout the 1920s, as did real estate development. In other words, just as the Fed’s creation of fiat money made possible the dot.com bubble and burst, as well as the current over-expansion of home-building and over-investment in subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations, so too did it create the conditions for the 1929 stock market crash.

When the Fed finally took steps in 1928 and 1929 to rein in the money supply, it was too late. The sharp increase in interest rates accruing from the Fed’s reduction in the money supply increased business operating costs and made too many cheap-money, long-term business investments no longer profitable. As stock market call loans terms and conditions tightened, stock prices began to decline, precipitating margin calls and dumping of stocks on the market. Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, was the culmination. The Dow Jones Industrials index dropped more than 22%, and the Depression was underway.

Unfortunately, the lesson of the 1920s and of more recent periods has not been learned by the Fed or the Treasury. Read Charles Gasparino’s op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal for a useful overview of the Fed’s continuing to feed our addiction for easy money with ever more easy money, along with government guarantees, directives, and bailouts.

Thomas E. Brewton is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets.

His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776
http://www.thomasbrewton.com/

Email comments to viewfrom1776@thomasbrewton.com

Exercise & Prostate Cancer Risk

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:14:22 +0000

Health Report:

Exercise & Prostate Cancer Risk

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

EXERCISE & PROSTATE CANCER RISK

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

10-25-2009: HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

10-18-2009: Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

While this rather small clinical study raises the possibility that high levels of aerobic exercise throughout the week may significantly decrease the risk of prostate cancer (and may decrease the likelihood of high-grade tumors in men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer), a larger prospective, randomized clinical research trial, with long-term follow-up, will be necessary to confirm the results of this small study. Small studies, such as this one, may come to erroneous conclusions due to their small sample size, and their limited follow-up of patients. Moreover, all survey-based research studies, such as this one, are susceptible to potential biases. Finally, this study’s finding that exercise reduces prostate cancer risk may only be indirectly true, as other dietary or lifestyle factors that are more common among men who exercise regularly may actually be responsible for the decreased prostate cancer risk observed in this clinical study. Having listed all of these disclaimers, we know, without a doubt, that regular aerobic exercise improves overall health and decreases the risk of premature death. Thus, there are many good reasons to engage in regular exercise, including the possibility that doing so might reduce your risk of developing prostate cancer.

The authors of this study found that the men who exercised regularly (at least 9 METS, or metabolic-equivalent task hours, per week), when compared to the men who did not regularly exercise, had a markedly lower risk of prostate cancer. In fact, the men who vigorously and regularly exercised had a whopping 65 percent lower risk of prostate cancer when compared to the men who lived sedentary lives. Additionally, even moderate levels of exercise (3 to 8.9 METS per week) were associated with a lower risk of aggressive high-grade prostate tumors among the men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer (86 percent risk reduction for high-grade tumors).

An intriguing new clinical research study, just published in the Journal of Urology, raises the possibility that regular aerobic exercise may, indeed, be associated with a decreased risk of developing prostate cancer. In this study, 190 men who were undergoing prostate gland needle biopsy completed a validated lifestyle and exercise history questionnaire. Statistical adjustments were then made for known prostate cancer risk factors, including age, ethnic race, body weight, prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, family history, and digital rectal examination (DRE) findings.

While several different risk factors have been implicated in the development of prostate cancer, male gender, increasing age, and being an African-American male are the three most important known risk factors for this disease. As none of these major risk factors can be eliminated, it is unlikely that prostate cancer can be completely eliminated, either. However, there is some clinical evidence to suggest that specific lifestyle and dietary modifications may reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer. One lifestyle factor that has previously been proposed to potentially reduce prostate cancer risk is exercise. However, the results of previous clinical research studies have provided contradictory evidence regarding the role of exercise in prostate cancer prevention.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, and the second most common cause of cancer-associated death in men. In 2009, an estimated 192,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 28,000 will die from this disease. Based upon current trends, 1 in 6 males will go on to be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes.

Updated: 11/01/2009

HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:59:59 +0000

Health Report:

HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 10/25/2009

HPV VIRUS & RISK OF BREAST CANCER

The human papilloma virus, or HPV, is already known to directly cause more than 90 percent of all cases of cervical cancer, and this knowledge has been used to develop several HPV vaccines that can dramatically reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer if given to girls and young women before they are exposed to this sexually transmitted virus. HPV has recently also been linked to an increasing number of cases of oral cancer in patients without the usual risk factors for this cancer (i.e., smoking and increased alcohol intake).

Recently, there has been some research evidence suggesting that human papilloma virus (HPV) may also play a role in the development of at least some cases of breast cancer. However, the data linking breast cancer with chronic HPV infection has been rather contradictory thus far, resulting in a lack of consensus about whether or not HPV actually plays any significant role in breast cancer development. Now, a newly published research study in the British Journal of Cancer adds more weight to the theory that this cancer-causing (oncogenic) virus may also lead to the development of at least some cases of breast cancer.

The authors of this study used two different and complementary tests to evaluate breast tissue specimens for HPV infection. The researchers tested normal breast tissue from breast biopsies, as well as non-invasive breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS) tumors and invasive breast cancer (ductal carcinoma) tumors. Prior studies looking for evidence of HPV infection within breast cancer cells have relied mostly upon a highly sensitive and sophisticated laboratory test known as reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to identify snippets of HPV DNA. In these prior studies, HPV DNA has been found to be present, variably, in 25 to 80 percent of tested breast cancer tumors. However, some experts have questioned the findings of many of these RT-PCR studies, and have suggested that RT-PCR’s notorious susceptibility towards false-positive results (due to contamination) may explain the findings of apparent HPV infection within breast cancer cells.

In this new study, the authors not only used RT-PCR, but also microscopic examination of these same breast tissue and breast tumor specimens as well. As with several other prior studies, this study once again confirmed the presence of cancer-causing (oncogenic) strains of HPV within invasive breast cancer cells, DCIS cells, and normal breast cells. The authors also tested breast cancer cells growing in cell cultures and, once again, were able to demonstrate HPV DNA in many of these breast cancer cells, using RT-PCR.

In view of the known limitations of RT-PCR, the researchers in this study also evaluated benign and malignant breast cells under a microscope. To their surprise, they were able to identify the classic changes in these same cells that occur with chronic HPV infection. (These altered cells, called koilocytes, are considered precancerous when they are identified on Pap smears in women who have chronic HPV infection of the cervix.) Finally, using antibodies against HPV proteins known to play a role in causing HPV-associated cancers, these researchers were also able to identify traces of this HPV oncoprotein in breast tumor cells and breast tissue as well.

Taken together, the results of this very elegant and complex study appear to show rather convincing evidence of chronic HPV infection in both normal and malignant breast tissue, as well as the characteristic oncogenic HPV-associated changes in the appearance of these cells. More work still needs to be done to understand the precise role of HPV in breast cancer development, and the incidence of HPV infection within both normal breast tissue and in breast cancer cells. Although these important questions must first be answered, the findings of this study suggest a potential role for currently available HPV vaccines in the fight against breast cancer.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

10-18-2009: Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

MND Celebrates Eight Years of Success

Paul Elam — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:18:43 +0000

Eight years ago today Mike LaSalle launched MensNewsDaily.com, an online publication that stepped out of the dark shadows of feminist governance to provide news and information of relevance and importance to the Men’s Rights Movement. In doing so, LaSalle also hosted a community of writers that are dedicated to maintaining the momentum of that movement and continue to do so till this day.

Those efforts are no less important now than eight years ago. And so today we congratulate Mike for his groundbreaking success and thank the many writers who over the years have carried the torch for the cause of justice for men and boys.

This is also an auspicious time to announce the launch of Men’s News Daily’s newest feature for our readers. The Lifestyles Section will provide an expanding assortment of information of particular relevance to men. Men’s health and legal issues; relationship advice and product reviews from cars to high tech electronics will be available to readers in a fresh new format.

We start with Men’s Health Issues from Dr. Robert Wascher and relationship tips from Marc Rudov. This is just the beginning. Over the coming days and weeks readers will see the inclusion of many other contributors on a wide variety of topics. Look for the official launch of MND Lifestyles in the very near future.

We invite your feedback on MND Lifestyles and hope you enjoy it as Men’s News Daily continues its mission well into the future.

MND Lifestyles

Paul Elam is the Editor-in-Chief for Men’s News Daily and the publisher of A Voice for Men.

Credit Card Karate: The Moves to Block Spending (2009-10-19)

David John Marotta — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:20:24 +0000

Credit Card Karate: The Moves to Block Spending

(2009-10-19) by David John Marotta

The availability of easy credit does not encourage financial virtue. Five minutes of credit card indiscretion literally can undo a life of financial responsibility, just like flirting at a bar with an available stranger can threaten marital fidelity.

You are trying to stick to your budget and live well within your means. You want to be a supersaver, someone who amasses real wealth by living simply and investing the remainder. To achieve these goals, you have to set rules in advance for how you will handle credit. If you don’t, credit cards could undo all your hard work and planning.

A life of credit card debt is like the worst slavery imaginable. Failing to pay just a few hundred dollars a month will cause your debt to spiral out of control. At the end of just three years you could owe about $9,600, the average family’s credit card debt.

Credit cards rates of 18% or even more are typical when you fail to pay. It used to be called usury and was illegal. But nowadays it is described as financial services and has become a highly respectable career.

If you don’t stop buying that $200 worth of junk on credit, your debt will only worsen. After 24 years, you could be over a million dollars in debt for just $58,000 worth of merchandise. But if you switch that engine from reverse to forward, you could retire as a millionaire simply by saving and investing what you aren’t paying on your credit card.

Consider the two sides to using credit. On the one hand, credit cards provide you with convenience, protection and help you maintain your budget. On the other hand, they can be a seductive siren’s song leading you to financial ruin.

A few visualization techniques can help you avoid the wanton use of credit cards. Studies show that when people pay with a credit card, they are willing to spend twice as much money as when they use cash. Other research indicates that the biggest savings are enjoyed when people refuse to make small everyday unnecessary purchases. Put these two studies together, and by simply using a credit card you risk doubling your spending and cutting your savings in half. Thus credit card debt can sink families even faster than saving and investing can help them grow rich.

In the first visualization, imagine that everything you buy with a credit card costs twice as much as the number on the price tag. Only if an item costs twice as much will you be as hesitant to purchase it as if you had to pay cash.

To use the second technique, remove the decimal place on the price when you use your credit card. The younger you are, the more failing to save early will cost you when you retire. For example, at age 20, the $8.50 lunch you charge will cost you $850 in your retirement at age 63. If that isn’t incentive enough, add another zero. It will cost you $8,500 in your retirement by age 85.

The years after college and before children are a great time in your life to save. You may not have another time to save aggressively until the kids graduate from college. You lose time and squander your resources if your credit card spending dampens aggressive savings. Every seven years you wait to fund your Roth IRA, you cut your retirement standard of living in half.

There’s a greater advantage to contributing $2,000 annually for the seven years after college then beginning during the eight year and continuing for the rest of your life. With normal market returns, after seven years of $2,000 annual contributions, your investments will be appreciating at a rate of more than $2,000 a year, without any additional contributions.

Reining in your spending anytime is better than concluding that credit card debt is inevitable. Wait seven years from now and you cut your retirement lifestyle in half again. So visualize cutting your retirement in half or your credit card.

If you don’t think you have any problems with your use of credit cards, but you haven’t been saving and fully funding your 401(k) and Roth IRA, you do have a problem. If so, put the credit card back in your wallet and start saving.

Using a credit card properly is important. Not abusing a credit card is essential. Unless both partners in a marriage agree on how they handle credit, the cards aren’t worth the plastic they are printed on. Either spouse should have veto power regarding the use of credit.

Each partner needs this respect because both parties can be liable for the underlying debt. So if you are part of a couple who are always paying fees or interest, you are better off running your budget with cash and envelopes.

There is no shame in alcoholism, only in being a drunk. Similarly, there is no shame in having credit troubles, only in continuing to be spendthrift. Financial troubles sink a great number of marriages, nearly all of them because they fail to admit that for them an open credit line is an empty credit line. Alcoholics struggle similarly with an open bottle.

Thus the only shame around credit problems is an unwillingness to accept help. Many people use credit cards intelligently for nondiscretionary purchases such as bills, utilities, groceries and gasoline. But smaller impulse items, such as eating out or spending on books, music, electronics or clothes, can quickly wreak havoc on their spending plans.

If one type of purchase causes you trouble, stop using credit cards in that area. If one person has difficulty, the other should be willing to bear the burden of paying the bills. Cash accounting means you can’t spend too much. It is the perfect exercise of sobriety for your spending habits.

One of my favorite movies is “The Karate Kid” starring Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi trains his young apprentice Daniel by having him wax his cars, sand his floors and paint a fence. Only after several days of backbreaking work does Daniel realize that his body has learned the defensive moves of karate through the muscle memory of “Wax on, wax off.”

You can’t learn the critical lessons of finance with the electric waxing machine of plastic credit. By refusing to use credit, you have the visual feedback of money going from your paycheck to a budget envelope and then leaving your wallet in exchange for something you really need.

Most people don’t learn these lessons from their parents. And even if your elders handled money well, you still have to learn the lessons for yourself. Having a parent who excels in karate doesn’t mean you can crane kick.

So if your spouse vetoes the use of credit, you can either get mad like Daniel did at Mr. Miyagi or you can get busy learning financial karate.

from http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=359

Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:42:12 +0000

Health Report:

Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 10/18/2009

POST-CHOLECYSTECTOMY SYNDROME (SYMPTOMS AFTER GALLBLADDER SURGERY)

An estimated 20 million Americans have gallstones (cholelithiasis), and about 30 percent of these patients will ultimately develop symptoms of their gallstone disease. The most common symptoms specifically related to gallstone disease include upper abdominal pain (often, but not always, following a heavy or greasy meal), nausea, and vomiting. (The upper abdominal pain often radiates around towards the right side of the back or shoulder.)

Patients with complications of untreated cholelithiasis may experience other symptoms as well, in addition to an increased risk of severe illness, or even death. These complications of gallstone disease include:

n Severe inflammation or infection of the gallbladder (cholecystitis)

n Blockage of the main bile duct with gallstones (choledocholithiasis), which can cause jaundice or/and bile duct infection (cholangitis), as well as pancreatitis

More than 500,000 patients undergo removal of their gallstones and gallbladders every year in the United States, making cholecystectomy one of the most commonly performed major abdominal surgical operations. In 85 to 90 percent of cholecystectomies, the operation can be performed laparoscopically, using multiple small “band-aid” incisions instead of the traditional large (and more painful) upper abdominal incision.

For the vast majority of patients with cholelithiasis, cholecystectomy effectively relieves the symptoms of gallstones. In 10 to 15 percent of patients undergoing cholecystectomy, however, persistent or new abdominal or GI symptoms may arise after gallbladder surgery. Although there are many individual causes of chronic post-cholecystectomy abdominal or GI symptoms, the presence of such symptoms following gallbladder surgery are collectively referred to as “post-cholecystectomy” syndrome (PCS) by many experts.

I routinely receive inquiries from patients who have previously undergone cholecystectomy, and who report troubling abdominal or GI symptoms following their surgery. In many cases, these patients have already undergone rather extensive evaluations, but without any specific findings. Understandably, such patients are troubled and frustrated, both by their chronic symptoms and the ongoing uncertainty as to the cause (or causes) of these symptoms.

The most common symptoms attributed to PCS include chronic abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, excessive intestinal gas, and diarrhea. Fever and jaundice, which most commonly arise from complications of gallbladder surgery, are much less common, fortunately. While the precise cause, or causes, of PCS symptoms can eventually be identified in about 90 percent of patients following a thorough evaluation, even the most comprehensive work-up can fail to identify a specific ailment as the cause of symptoms in some patients. It is important to stress that there is no universal consensus on the topic of PCS among the experts, although most agree that there are multiple and diverse causes of chronic post-cholecystectomy symptoms. Thus, it can be very difficult to counsel the small minority of patients with chronic symptoms after surgery when a comprehensive work-up fails to identify specific causes for their suffering.

Because PCS is, in effect, a non-specific clinical diagnosis assigned to patients with chronic symptoms following cholecystectomy, it is critically important that an appropriate work-up be performed in all cases of chronic PCS, so that an accurate diagnosis can be identified, and appropriate treatment can be initiated. As the known causes of PCS are numerous, however, physicians caring for such patients need to tailor their evaluations of patients with PCS based upon clinical findings, as well as prudent laboratory, ultrasound, and radiographic screening exams. This logical clinical approach to the assessment of PCS symptoms will identify or eliminate the most common diagnoses associated with PCS in the majority of such patients, sparing them the need for further unnecessary and invasive testing.

In reviewing the etiologies of PCS that have been described so far, both patients and physicians can gain a better understanding of how complex this clinical problem is:

n Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

n Bile gastritis (inflammation of the stomach)

n Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)

n Hypersensitivity of the nervous system of the GI tract

n Abnormal flow of bile into the GI tract after removal of the gallbladder

n Excessive consumption of fatty and greasy foods

n Painful surgical scars or incisional (scar) hernias

n Adhesions (internal scars) following surgery

n Retained gallstones within the bile ducts or pancreatic duct

n Stricture (narrowing) of the bile ducts

n Bile leaks following surgery

n Injury to bile ducts during surgery

n Infection of the bile ducts (cholangitis), incisions, or abdomen

n Residual gallbladder or cystic duct remnant following surgery

n Fatty changes of the liver or other liver diseases

n Chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic insufficiency

n Abnormal function or anatomy of the main bile duct sphincter muscle (the “Sphincter of Oddi”)

n Peptic ulcer disease

n Diverticulitis

n Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis

n Stress

n Psychiatric illnesses

n Tumors of the liver, bile ducts, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, colon, or rectum

In reviewing the extensive list of potential causes of PCS, it is evident that some causes of PCS are directly attributable to cholecystectomy, while many other etiologies are due to unrelated conditions that arise either prior to surgery or after surgery.

While it is impossible to predict which patients will go on to develop PCS following cholecystectomy, there are some factors that are known to increase the risk of PCS following surgery. These factors include cholecystectomy performed for causes other than confirmed gallstone disease, cholecystectomy performed on an urgent or emergent basis, patients with a long history of gallstone symptoms prior to undergoing surgery, patients with a prior history of irritable bowel syndrome or other chronic intestinal disorders, and patients with a history of certain psychiatric illnesses.

In my own practice, the initial assessment of patients with PCS must, of course, begin with a thorough and accurate history and physical examination of the patient. If this initial assessment is concerning for one of the many known physical causes of PCS, then I will usually ask the patient undergo several preliminary screening tests, which typically include blood tests to assess liver and pancreas function, a complete blood count, and an abdominal ultrasound. Based upon the results of these initial screening tests, some patients may then be advised to undergo additional and more sophisticated tests, including endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), upper or/and lower GI endoscopy (including, in some cases, ERCP, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography), bile duct manometry, or CT or MRI scans, for example. (The decision to order any of these more invasive and more costly tests must, of course, be dictated by each individual patient’s clinical scenario.)

Fortunately, as I indicated at the beginning of this column, a thoughtful and logical approach to each individual patient’s presentation will lead to a specific diagnosis in more than 90 percent of all cases of PCS. Therefore, if you (or someone you know) are experiencing symptoms consistent with PCS, then referral to a physician with expertise in evaluating and treating the various causes of PCS is essential (such physicians can include family physicians, internists, GI specialists, and surgeons). Once a specific cause for your PCS symptoms is identified, then an appropriate treatment plan can be initiated.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Health Report:

Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 10/11/2009

Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

Regular readers of this column are already aware of the intense research underway regarding the potential health benefits of Vitamin D beyond its long understood role in calcium absorption and bone health. A growing body of research suggests important potential roles for Vitamin D in maintaining good cardiovascular health and in the prevention of some types of cancer. More recently, clinical research has also suggested that Vitamin D may also help to directly improve muscle strength.

Falls among the elderly are a major public health problem, and are the most common cause of injury-related death in persons older than 65 years of age. It has been estimated that 30 percent of people over the age of 65 sustain falls every year, while 45 to 60 percent of people aged 80 years or greater experience significant falls every year. Falls among the elderly are also an ominous predictor of future health decline as well, and are associated with up to 40 percent of all nursing home admissions.

While Vitamin D and calcium supplementation have previously been linked with a decrease in fractures among elderly patients, recent prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical research trials have also suggested that Vitamin D supplements may act directly on muscle tissue to improve muscle strength and tone. However, because of inconsistent results among several of these prospective Vitamin D clinical trials, the true benefit of Vitamin D supplements on muscle strength, and on the risk of falls among the elderly, has been rather unclear. Now, a new meta-analysis study has exhaustively reviewed and analyzed the results of 8 different prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled Vitamin D clinical research trials that, together, included more than 2,400 research volunteers. This study has just been published in the British Medical Journal.

In this meta-analysis study, the authors identified a 19 percent decrease in the risk of falls among older patients who received high-dose (700 to 1,000 IU per day) Vitamin D supplements, when compared to research volunteers who were secretly randomized to receive lower dose (200 to 600 IU per day) Vitamin D supplements, or placebo (sugar) pills.

Interestingly, and as has also been shown in several different Vitamin D cancer prevention research studies, the amount of Vitamin D taken, and the level of Vitamin D that is present in the blood, appeared to be very important factors in reducing the risk of falls in elderly patients. Specifically, there appeared to be no significant protective effect against falls among the study volunteers who received less than 700 IU of Vitamin D per day, and in those patients who had less than 60 nanomoles per liter of active Vitamin D in their blood (elderly patients with at least 60 nanomoles per liter of the active form of Vitamin D in their blood experienced a very significant 23 percent reduction in the risk of falls!).

The findings of this meta-analysis are similar to those of other Vitamin D supplement studies that have focused on the prevention of fractures, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, in that the apparent benefit of Vitamin D in reducing the risk of these serious health complications was only observed with supplementation of Vitamin D above the typically recommended levels of 400 to 600 IU per day. In summary, the findings of this study suggest that certain levels of Vitamin D intake, as well as the level of the active form of Vitamin D in the blood, may significantly reduce the risk of falls among the elderly.

The greatest limitation of this study is that it is a meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is a retrospective research technique that is used to combine the results of multiple relatively small clinical research studies, so that a larger number of patients can be analyzed. Because individual clinical research studies rarely use identical methodologies, the most critical aspect of meta-analysis is the “equalization” of methodological differences between similar but non-identical clinical studies, so that the data produced by these different studies can be uniformly analyzed, and accurate conclusions can be drawn. Because there is some subjectivity involved in this “equalization” process, meta-analysis studies are generally not considered to provide the highest possible level of clinical research evidence, although such studies are often useful when the available clinical research data on a particular topic is scattered among multiple small prospective clinical research trials.

Before you run out to the drugstore to load up on Vitamin D supplements, let me first provide a few words of caution. First of all, high doses of Vitamin D can lead to significant toxicity and health problems. Moreover, in patients with certain chronic illnesses, Vitamin D supplementation, even at lower doses, can result in clinically significant toxicity. (These chronic illnesses include excessive parathyroid gland function, certain cancers, chronic inflammatory or infectious disorders, and some forms of kidney disease, among other less common conditions.)

Therefore, before making significant changes in your diet, to include increased Vitamin D intake, or the use of other dietary supplements, I recommend that you first discuss these proposed changes with your personal physician.

For a comprehensive update on the role of Vitamin D in cancer prevention, watch for the publication of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in early 2010.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

10-4-2009: Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

On Spreading a Meme…

Factory — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:44:15 +0000

Periodically, there will be a sudden flaring. A burning out if you will. A prominent MRA will throw up his (or, in some cases, her) hands and say “Screw it, this is going nowhere…what a bunch of whining do nothings!”.

And with a flourish, that MRA disappears from the scene. Sometimes even for good.
What that person is typically missing is the viral nature of the men’s rights movement. We do not lead. We do not tell the “masses” what to think… This is not a top down organization, if “organization” as a term even remotely applies.

We are not a shaper, a mover, a shaker, or any other kind of “power” in the sense that we can effect real change ourselves.
It is the failure to recognize this blunt fact that some MRA’s have trouble coming to grips with.

…What we do is refuse to allow people to be silenced…
In a relatively well known essay, another prominent MRA has described us as people who are simply “telling [society] what time it is”. I personally agree, with a caveat. In knowing the time before others, we can shape the “message”…the spin, as it were, on the issue.

I know, it’s crass. But it’s the truth. We have naught but the ability to frame an argument, in the hopes of public support. We cannot effect direct change without massive expenditures for minimum return.

But, like the rocket scientists we all wanted to be until we found out how mind-numbingly boring it would be, we can effect change in the long term. Small course changes amount to big corrections over time. We can frame the debate on OUR terms, if we start now, and persist.

In fact, we should press that agenda at every turn.

Want proof this is necessary, and effective?

Look at Feminism. What did they do? Effect change directly? No, they manipulated public opinion through various channels, until the changes they desired could be supported through public sentiment (however manufactured). It must also be noted that they shut down opposition vehemently, and continue to try to do so to this day…at the expense of actual equality it seems…

These lessons are not meant to be lost, but modified. We have no need to lie, or cruelly manipulate, like feminists have done for decades. But we need to frame the debate in terms of men, and maleness, as being essentially, and inherently, valuable.

The “worst” part about a false accusation of rape is NOT, for instance, any supposed “chilling effect” on “real victims”…that detracts from (hell, completely ignores) the REAL victim of false accusation…namely, the guy. Not allowing ANYONE, be it a “friendly” person or not, to frame this type of issue in this way without first and foremost acknowledging the hell it puts a man through is, I think, the first thing MRA’s should have in mind.

By that, I mean that denigrating men, even through omission or inference, cannot, and should not, be tolerated.

Again, for proof look to feminist behaviour.

“Oppression Olympics” ring a bell? How about shaming language meant to shut men up mid-complaint? “Poor white male” comments ever get thrown your way?

Simultaneously controlling both the debate and the language, while suppressing dissenting voices, was the formula Feminism followed for success. Our job as MRA’s is merely the job of publicizing that fact, and exposing the government, certainly various swaths thereof at best, as the massive cynical man-hating parasite it really is, feeding from such a hateful ideology…

It really is that simple. And that complicated.
Getting heard is not easy these days, and lack of credibility will lose you a ton of public respect…hey, just ask me, I’ll tell you.

It takes diligence, and a focused effort..but really, only sporadically.

Want to be an effective MRA? Want to effect real change? In a hurry? Here’s how. Go to www.standyourground.com (for simplicity’s sake), post on a thread in the introductions section, and list your skills. What do you do for a job, what do you like to do for a hobby. What city you live in. Make yourself available for some small labour projects. I understand about the protesting and the embarrassment thing…if you’re not into it, no one’s going to twist your arm.

Write articles, if you can write. I do a magazine…send an article in for consideration. Do research for someone if he can write, but can’t research. Put yourself on a mailing list (try SYG again…why not?) and offer to email your representatives with questions. Are you an artist? Make some art…we can always use cultural pieces regarding men’s issues…hell, it’sactually a glaring deficiency, so if you can, please do! Know how to crunch numbers? Compile data for the poor souls like me whose eyes cross immediately upon laying them on a multi page spreadsheet…

Many of you do this already. Keep doing it, or if you get bored, move on to something else for a while…come back when you feel ready for it again.

This is a grassroots movement here people. Try not to forget that. All we need do, is let the most men know as we possibly can, that it’s OK to feel however they feel, that it’s OK to think certain aspects of society are bull, that men deserve equal rights, and that anyone who takes issue with this idea is the jerk, not the person advocating for it. The important thing is, to do the absolute best job of it we can, and put our best argument as far forward as we can.

When the term “mens rights advocate/activist” no longer confuses, we will have won. And the best part is, to arrive there, all we need do is tell the truth. And no, it doesn’t have to be a full time job…as long as the job gets done…you know?

Thanks for Listening

Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:44:32 +0000

Health Report:

Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 10/04/2009

SURGERY, NSQIP, COMPLICATIONS & DEATH

As a practicing cancer surgeon, complications following surgery (including death, which can be considered the “ultimate” complication of surgery) are of great concern to me. As federal and state government officials continue to grapple with the tremendously complex and seemingly insoluble deficiencies in our current health care system here in the United States, one area that has been receiving increased attention, lately, has been patient outcomes following surgery.

Traditionally, surgeons have reviewed and analyzed their complications during regular morbidity and mortality (“M&M”) conferences. Each surgical complication is presented by the operating surgeon during such conferences, and the surgeon, and his or her peers, then analyze the patient’s clinical course. A consensus is then, hopefully, reached as to the proximate causes of the patient’s complications. Therefore, the goal of M&M conferences is to retrospectively identify patient risk factors for complications, as well as to examine the quality of care that patients have received, in an effort to identify areas where patient care can potentially be improved, and complications, perhaps, prevented.

Unfortunately, there are several obvious weaknesses associated with this approach to quality improvement in patient care. The first and perhaps greatest weakness of M&M conferences is their retrospective nature. A great deal of subjectivity is injected into the analysis of specific patient care factors when the operating surgeon reviews his or her own patient complications, in hindsight, and then presents selected patients to other surgeons participating in the M&M conference. Whether by accident or by intention, important lapses in diagnosis and/or treatment are commonly withheld during such conferences, which often leads to an incomplete picture of the events leading up to patient complications and deaths.

Another pitfall of M&M conferences is directly related to the interpersonal and professional dynamics between surgeons participating in such conferences. Some medical centers’ M&M conferences have a justly earned reputation for being ruthlessly aggressive in holding individual surgeons accountable for their complications, in an effort to improve the quality of patient care. At the same time, in many other medical centers, M&M conferences are relatively benign and quasi-social affairs among collegial groups of surgeons, and a critical evaluation of surgeons’ care of their patients is, instead, substituted with an affable and superficial review of patient complications and deaths that, too often, fails to drill down to specific potential patient care deficiencies. Both extremes in approaches to surgeon morbidity and mortality conferences tend to obscure the true causes and events associated with patient complications and unexpected deaths following surgery, due to the many biases that are injected into purely retrospective M&M conferences.

In an attempt to overcome the intrinsic biases and limitations associated with a purely retrospective assessment of surgical complications, most surgeons at morbidity and mortality conferences present clinical research studies, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, in an effort to inject some scientific objectivity into the discussion. However, once again, personal biases still often arise despite attempts to present published clinical data relevant to the complication being discussed, as it is almost always possible to find a couple of published papers that appear to support the decisions that were made by the operating surgeon.

In response to growing concerns regarding the quality of surgical care at Veterans Administration hospitals in the United States, a paradigm-shifting approach to the analysis of surgical complications was initiated by the Veterans Administration (VA) in 1991. Out of an abundance of concern over the high rate of postoperative complications and deaths at several VA medical centers, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) was born. Between 1991 and 2001, VA medical centers prospectively collected data encompassing multiple patient risk factors, as well as data related to 30-day postoperative morbidity (complications) rates, and 30-day postoperative mortality (death) rates. Using this prospectively collected data to improve surgical care at all of the VA’s 132 medical centers that perform surgery, the VA was able to subsequently demonstrate some striking improvements in patient outcomes. Specifically, between 1991 and 2001, 30-day death rates following surgery decreased by 27 percent, while postoperative complications occurring within 30 days of surgery were decreased by a whopping 45 percent. The average length of stay after surgery also declined by a rather incredible 50 percent (from an average of 9 days, to 4 days). Needless to say, if the NSQIP results from these 132 VA hospitals were to be universally replicated in all of the nearly 6,000 hospitals in the United States, the potential for improvement in patient morbidity and mortality, and consequently in the cost of delivering high quality surgical care in the United States, would be enormous (currently, only 243 civilian hospitals are listed as voluntary NSQIP participants by the program’s steward, the American College of Surgeons).

As surgeons finally begin to move from their long tradition of well-intentioned but seriously flawed retrospective analysis of postoperative complications, and into the dawning era of prospective data collection and analysis, a detailed evaluation of the data from programs such as NSQIP will continue to yield important new insights into the causes of preventable surgical complications and deaths. Indeed, a newly published study in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, from the University of Michigan, evaluated NSQIP data collected on 84,730 surgical patients between 2005 and 2007. Unlike most prior studies that have used NSQIP data to assess the potential causes of preventable surgical complications and mortality, the authors of this research study were particularly interested in the role of patient management in preventing postoperative deaths once complications had, in fact, already occurred.

The authors of this important clinical study ranked the NSQIP-participating hospitals according to their overall death rates for patients undergoing inpatient surgery, and divided them into five different groups, based upon their mortality rankings. The researchers then evaluated and compared the extensive NSQIP data in each of these five groups of hospitals. The results of this analysis were both intriguing and, seemingly, rather counterintuitive.

The first important finding of this study was that the actual incidence of complications following surgery did not significantly vary among the hospitals studied. The second illuminating finding of this study is that, unlike complication rates, death rates following surgery did significantly vary among these same hospitals (from 3.5 percent among the best performing hospitals, to 6.9 percent among the poorest performing hospitals).

A comprehensive review of the NSQIP data for these nearly 85,000 surgical patients confirmed that the two-fold difference in death rates that was observed between the best performing and worst performing hospitals appeared to be directly related to the way that patients with major complications were managed once the complications occurred, and not due to any underlying difference in the actual incidence of complications among the various hospitals. Thus, the authors concluded that our attention must not only continue to focus on preventing complications, but that we should also more aggressively concentrate on our actual management of complications following surgery, once they occur, in our ongoing efforts to reduce the incidence of preventable postoperative deaths.

In view of the landmark Veterans Administration NSQIP findings linking the prevention of complications with a decrease in postoperative death rates, it may seem counterintuitive that the two-fold difference in postoperative death rates observed in this new study appeared to be unrelated to the actual incidence of complications among the hospitals studied. However, it is important to remember that these same hospitals had already previously demonstrated their strong commitment to reducing preventable postoperative complications through their voluntary participation in the NSQIP program. Therefore, the finding of this study that complication rates did not vary considerably among these particular hospitals may not be applicable to the vast majority of hospitals that have not yet adopted NSQIP guidelines (or other comparable, prospective surgical quality improvement programs).

The results of this study clearly show that, while the implementation of the NSQIP program is helping participating hospitals to make significant progress in reducing the incidence of complications following surgery, we still have much work to do in devising and implementing evidence-based clinical pathways for managing those complications that, despite our best efforts, still continue to occur. Based upon the results of this important clinical research study, it appears that we can further and dramatically reduce the incidence of unnecessary deaths following surgery while, at the same time, significantly reducing the already excessive cost of delivering quality health care in the United States.

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

9-27-2009 Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

Fathers 4 Justice Travel to CT for Hunger Striking Father

Teri Stoddard — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:07:29 +0000

Bill Coleman is a Connecticut father on a hunger strike. He says he’s innocent of the rape his wife accused him of three days after he filed for sole custody of their children. Coleman has been incarcerated in McDougall-Walker prison in Suffield since 2005, when a jury convicted him of sexual assault in a spousal relationship, unlawful restraint, breach of peace, second-degree threatening and sixth-degree larceny.

Coleman was convicted without any physical evidence or witnesses, only his wife’s testimony. Fathers & Families’ Robert Franklin, Esq. wrote about another questionable rape case, “This is the way the American judicial system works. It’s aimed at putting people in prison and does so with ruthless efficiency. Most of those people committed the illegal acts they’re charged with. But that same system can be equally ruthless when an innocent person finds himself on the conveyor belt that begins with a charge, runs through court and ends in prison.” (Duke II?, 7/12/09)

Friends questioned the quality of his legal representation after Coleman didn’t testify in his own defense. Michael Gannon, Coleman’s defense attorney had his license to practice law suspended two years later, yet Coleman hasn’t been allowed to have a retrial.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut is assisting Coleman, a British citizen, in regard to his force-feeding. Patrick Doyle, education program manager for the ACLU-CT told the New Haven Advocate that after the first procedure Coleman was sneezing up blood and was covered in vomit. Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program wrote that “brutally force-feeding” Coleman violated his basic human rights and his right to make a political statement by refusing food.

Coleman told Fathers 4 Justice board member Donald Tenn that he doesn’t need to be strapped down for hours each day. (See Abducted child’s father faces prison for peaceful protest to learn more about Tenn.) Tenn says Coleman’s case is an example of why Fathers 4 Justice has a “No Jail For Being A Dad” Campaign.

Coleman is one of many parents who choose this form of protest. John Murtari of akidsright.org was fed via Nasal-Gastric tube for 123 days after refusing to eat or drink voluntarily while incarcerated for child support arrears in NY. Murtari traveled to Illinois recently for the showing of Angelo Lobo’s documentary SUPPORT? at the Peachtree Film Fest.

False accusations of rape are not uncommon, evidenced by recent news stories: Women held for blackmailing man [with false rape claim] 9/29/09, False rape accusations forces gay U.S. Soldier to out himself 9/29/09, Nanuet woman accused of making false rape report 9/29/09, Rape accusation traumatizing, former suspect says 9/18/09, Woman charged with filing false rape report after road rage incident 9/10/09, Woman faces charges for false rape claim 9/4/09, as well as high profile cases like the Duke lacrosse case and the alleged gang rape that turned out to be consensual sex at Hofstra University.

Bill’s brother Geoff told the Advocate, “Shame on the people who have violated [Bill's] rights, his mind and his body, shame on a justice system that fails the very people it sets out to protect.” Coleman’s supporters are having a rally at the prison today from 11 am to 6 pm.

After speaking with Coleman and his ACLU attorney, Tenn who is best known for protesting 4 days on a 175′ crane during a thunderstorm (cnn news report) and helping UK Fathers 4 Justice activists climb the Lincoln Memorial to hang a banner in support of America’s fathers is convinced Coleman is innocent. Tenn announced in a press release yesterday that he’s currently traveling to Connecticut to meet with him. Rumors are buzzing, but whether we’ll see another high profile peaceful protest for family law reform is yet to be seen.

Rally in support of Bill Coleman

October 2, 2009

11 am to 6 pm

MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution

1153 East Street South

Suffield, Connecticut 06080

Bill Coleman’s Statement of Protest

I, Bill Coleman, in September 2007, stopped eating solid food as a form of protest. I am protesting a broken judicial system that is incapable of providing justice as well as protesting the State of Connecticut assisting in the abuse of my children. The system has failed my children and me and I have communicated this in several forums, including in court. My case in not an isolated incident; countless others have been subjected to the injustice of the judicial system. Innocent people do not belong in prison and I now just want to be left alone to protest. Force-feeding me by inserting a tube through my nose into my stomach against my will violates all medical and international law. Furthermore, I am not demanding anything from the Department of Corrections or the judicial system. I want to make very clear that my goal is not to detrimentally affect the order of the prison or Department of Corrections, and it would be disingenuous for anyone to suggest that my actions would.

I also want to make sure it is clear that my protest is not a reflection of the Connecticut Habeas Unit. They are good people doing a good job by fighting against an increasing amount of injustice in the system. The system is broken and corrupt and is also void of any moral or ethical values for the truth. This is further exacerbated because those incarcerated are not offered rehabilitation, which is no more than a token gesture, thus making society a more dangerous place on a daily basis. This is compounded by politicians and legislators putting blame on everyone and everything other than themselves, where it belongs. More laws and longer sentences are not the answer. What Connecticut citizens should know, even if they don’t care about my children and me, is that they are one ‘falsely accused’ arrest themselves away from my nightmare. Make no mistake, your arrest is your conviction in the State of Connecticut.

What surrounds my conviction is filled with suspicious wrongdoing of many types. Having explored every avenue, to save my children and prove my innocence, I now believe the system is not an option for the truth to come out and I choose to fight to the maximum with my life. I do not want to die, but I am willing to die. Force feeding only prolongs death as my organs, after a period of time, will eventually give out. This means the DOC will have to force feed me until my death. Instead of letting me continue my protest the State is wasting valuable resources to temporarily prolong my life for only an undetermined short period of time. These resources should be spent on a better cause such as an investigation of the corrupt judicial system which would help not only me, but also others who have been wronged.

Finally, I forgive those who have wronged me and I ask forgiveness especially to those I have troubled. My family, friends and supporters vowed to never stop until my children are saved and what surrounded my case and conviction is exposed. For this, and more, I give them my eternal love and gratitude and to the Lord “I commend my spirit.”

For more info:

Original article: Fathers 4 Justice announce support of CT father on hunger strike

Subscribe to this national family rights examiner by email or RSS.

More family rights articles:

Obama’s Misstep On Iran

James J. Raider — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:47:01 +0000

We cannot listen to Iran’s Ahmadinejad posturing on the expansion of the Iranian atomic energy program, without recalling Obama’s dramatic reversal on the U.S. land based missile defense system in Europe only days ago. The blunder was not in the reversal, but in its timing and its process.

The degree to which Iran has advanced its uranium enrichment capabilities will remain an unknown factor, and the international community reaction will continue to be perplexed, and marooned in paralysis of fear. Iran will not let anyone into whatever enrichment facility exists. No one will see what the ayatollahs do not wish to make public, sending us into recollections of the disastrous outcome following a long hide-and-seek dance with Saddam Hussein seven years ago. This leaves the world, Israel and the U.S. in particular, with a conundrum of literally seismic proportions. Iran’s nuclear progress is not new, nor is it news. What is new is the loss of one very powerful strategic negotiating tool that could have been useful in addressing Iran’s dangerous belligerence – the land-based European missile defense system.

When Obama backed off the deployment of a missile defense system in Europe, he did so without gaining a single concession from Putin and Russia. Russia had long blustered and railed against the U.S. missile deployment plan. Putin claimed the missiles were intended to threaten Russian sovereignty in the region, and that they were not meant to defend against Iran. The hovering menace from the U.S. was a significant affront to Putin’s self-image. Obama’s abrogation of such significant “stance” on behalf of the United States suggests that this Administration learned nothing from the Ronald Reagan approach to international negotiations. Reagan changed the world when he boasted of his Strategic Defense Initiative satellite based defense system. The long list of concessions extracted from Gorbachev by Reagan, as well as his brilliance throughout the process of negotiations, should be compulsory reading for any student of Presidential impact on history.

Disclosure that Obama has known about Iran’s second uranium-enrichment facility all along, and that he has sprung an international trap for Iran, as some media such as the Washington Post are now suggesting, is peculiar analysis, as well as it is pandering in the extreme. Obama gave up a major negotiating card that could have been used to push Russia toward joining the strengthening of sanctions against Iran. China cannot be counted on to assist any future confrontation with Iran, having taken itself out of the equation with investments in Iran to feed its own requirements for energy and natural resources. The only other power, whose advocacy is truly needed in the region for serious containment of the ayatollahs in Tehran, is Russia. China and Russia provide Iran with enough trade to successfully finance the Ayatollahs through many more elections no matter what sanctions Obama might think of adding to the existing limitations. Iran’s path to becoming a nuclear power appears unobstructed.

The alternative to the controversial land based system being mothballed, according to Obama, is cheaper, quicker and more effective. This means the decision to embrace the new technology is very likely a good one. If you had this information in hand, would you have run headlong into an announcement, given that the planned European shield had been a major thorn under Putin’s belly? The diplomatic clout that the West’s tension with Iran has provided Putin still remains, and no concessions have been extracted, nor are we likely to see any extracted in the near future. Russia’s response has been to provide more rhetoric, and more blustering. The Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said, “… Americans have simply put their own mistake right. And we are not duty-bound to pay for someone to put their own mistakes right.” Putin will continue to view Iran as an economic opportunity that will be exploited without interference from the West. The threat of crisis and instability in the region will also maintain energy prices at levels that Russia requires to finance its annual operating budget.

Adding to the confusion of signals emanating from the White House, Obama suggested that he could resurrect the European missile defense plan if Russia doesn’t help with the threat presented by Iran. This kind of accessory statement further weakens America’s hand. It suggests a lack of resolve on the initial reversal of the strategy, and it also infers apprehension about the new strategy and the underlying technology. Can America rely on the new capabilities and technologies or not? Are the interceptor capacities more flexible and cost-effective? Are the advanced sensor technologies capable of detecting and tracking enemy missiles, or aren’t they? Why would Obama even hint at such uncertainty?

The signals showered on Americans and their allies by this Administration’s decisions and announcements are confusing, but to Russia, they seem to be welcome and they reinforce its strategy of saber rattling. Sanctions have not deterred Iran’s ayatollahs. Now, with the loss of a major strategic and negotiating option against the Kremlin, the enlistment of the Russian bear’s assistance will undoubtedly be impossible, and will lead to a more belligerent Iran. We can expect an increase in its destabilizing activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its financing of terrorism. The violence we witnessed against the Iranian people after the recent elections should be indication enough that a strategy pursuing, “engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect,” as Obama wishes it, is simply just that, … wishful thinking.

James Raider writes The Pacific Gate Post

Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:45:55 +0000

Health Report:

Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 09/27/2009

STRESS, HEART DISEASE, EXERCISE & DEATH

Multiple prior clinical research studies have identified a link between high levels of stress and the risk of death in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Aerobic exercise training is a standard component of rehabilitation programs for patients with CAD. A properly supervised exercise training program for patients with CAD, including patients who have suffered a heart attack, has been shown to reduce the risk of CAD-related death. At the same time, it is also well known that regular aerobic exercise can also help patients to better cope with high levels of personal stress, and also improves the symptoms of depression and other mental health disorders, as well.

An intriguing clinical research study, newly published in the American Journal of Medicine, evaluated the impact of exercise training on the risk of death in patients with CAD. The two “experimental” groups of patients included 53 patients with CAD who reported high levels of stress in their lives, and 369 patients with CAD who reported low stress levels in their personal lives. These two groups of patients participated in a cardiac rehabilitation program that included formal aerobic exercise training. A “control” group of 27 patients with CAD was also included in this research study, and these control patients also reported high levels of stress in their lives. However, unlike the experimental group patients, this control group of patients did not undergo cardiac rehabilitation, or any other form of supervised exercise training. The subsequent findings of this clinical research study were rather dramatic.

Overall, the risk of death among the patients with CAD who reported high levels of stress was a whopping 4 times greater than the mortality rate of the patients with low levels of stress in their lives (22 percent vs. 5 percent, respectively).

As has been shown in previous clinical studies, regular aerobic exercise appears to decrease self-reported stress levels. In this study, the percentage of patients reporting severe levels of stress declined from 10 percent, at the beginning of the study, to 4 percent, by the end of the study, among patients who underwent formal exercise training.

Perhaps the most interesting finding from this study was that patients who increased their total exercise capacity by at least 10 percent also lowered their risk of death by a rather amazing 60 percent when compared to patients who achieved a less than 10 percent improvement in exercise capacity. Moreover, among the patients who reported high levels of stress in their lives, the risk of dying during the course of this clinical study was dramatically reduced in the group of patients who were able to increase their prior exercise capacity by at least 10 percent. In fact, while 19 percent of the “highly stressed” patients who achieved little or no improvement in their exercise capacity died during the course of this study, none of the “stressed” CAD patients who managed to increase their exercise capacity by at least 10 percent died. On the other hand, CAD patients reporting low levels of personal stress did not appear to experience any significant improvement in mortality risk whether they achieved a high level of exercise capacity improvement or a low level of exercise capacity improvement.

The results of this study suggest that (as has previously been shown) a high level of personal stress is independently associated with an increased risk of dying from preexisting CAD. A second finding of this study, which has also been confirmed by other studies, is that self-perceived levels of stress can be significantly reduced with regular aerobic exercise. The most interesting and novel finding of this study, however, is that exercising at a level that increases one’s exercise capacity by at least 10 percent appears to be a potentially powerful way of reducing the increased mortality risk that is associated with chronically elevated levels of personal stress in patients with CAD.

One potential limitation of this clinical study is that it is not entirely clear how well the patients in each group were matched in terms of the severity of their CAD (as well as other chronic illnesses, including mental health and personality disorders). For example, at least some of the experimental group patients who were unable to improve their exercise capacity by at least 10 percent may have been unable to do so due to the presence of serious illnesses (including more severe heart disease) that limited their ability to exercise. In such cases, the increased risk of mortality observed in this study may have been directly caused by the presence of more serious illnesses in these patients, when compared to the patients who were able to more dramatically improve their exercise capacity. However, as most of the findings of this clinical research study are consistent with larger and better controlled previous studies, it is very likely that there is some validity in its more novel conclusions (and, most notably, that vigorous and regular aerobic exercise may directly reduce stress-related physiological factors that increase the risk of dying from CAD).

Prior to embarking on a new or more vigorous exercise program, I advise that you first be evaluated by your personal physician, especially if you have CAD or other serious illnesses. (For an in-depth overview of the benefits of exercise on cancer prevention, look for the publication of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in the spring of 2010.)

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

9-20-2009: Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

Family court documentary SUPPORT? at Atlanta film fest this weekend

Teri Stoddard — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:17:15 +0000

A documentary on the American child support and family court system will be shown at the Peachtree Village International Film Festival (PVIFF) in Georgia this weekend.

Producer/director Angelo Lobo says he made SUPPORT? System Down to, “give a voice to millions suffering through custody battles and losing sight of their children, in many cases forever!”

The film is educational and provocative, and Lobo hopes to spark a call to action. He insists that reform is much-needed in the family courts. “How is it that society accepts the idea of ’standard visitation’ which often allows children of divorce or separation to see their beloved parent, usually fathers but sometimes mothers, only 4 days a month, if that? It’s not enough time,” said Lobo.

One recent child support case reported on CNN (8/11/09) supports the film’s premise that something is seriously wrong with the system. Georgia’s Frank Hatley spent a year in jail for owing back child support reimbursement although he is childless. The system knew that Hatley was not the father, yet incarcerated him anyway. Hatley was recently released from jail after his case came to the attention of a human rights group who intervened on his behalf.

SUPPORT? includes interviews with parents, professionals, family rights advocates and equal parenting activists like New York’s John Murtari of akidsright.org. After refusing to eat or drink voluntarily while incarcerated for child support arrears, Murtari was fed via Nasal-Gastric tube for 123 days. The film also includes Harry Crouch of the National Coalition for Men, California Men’s Centers and PaternityFraudDNA, Glenn Sacks of Fathers & Families in MA and yours truly.

Murtari, who watched the film with Karen DeCrow when it played in New York and who plans on attending the Atlanta showing says, “Karen DeCrow [Syracuse area, former President of NOW], who I believe is one of America’s legendary feminist icons, will appear in the new documentary movie Support? System Down expressing the views of millions of Americans. We have a serious problem of our families being torn apart by a broken system in Family Court.”

Crouch said, “During the production of this film the producer, Angelo Lobo, was rejected from court houses, refused interviews, and even threatened. It appears a concerted effort has been to suppress his film too, though I trust the film’s showing in the Atlanta Film Festival will be the first of many showings regardless of political pressures to bury the truth about the family (in)justice system.”

You can see SUPPORT? System Down at Underground Atlanta’s Event Loft this Satuday, September 26 at 4:00 pm. A single film viewing pass is just $3.99. Buy your ticket here. MAP Due to the recent flooding in the Atlanta area I’ve included this road closure map.

Watch the movie trailers HERE.

Subscribe to my family rights articles by email or RSS.

Related:

Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:31:48 +0000

Health Report:

Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

By, Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Updated: 09/20/2009

VITAMIN D & COLORECTAL CANCER SURVIVAL

The authors of this clinical research study analyzed volunteers within the massive Nurses’ Health Study. A total of 1,107 volunteers were diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer, between 1986 and 2004, after joining this long-term prospective public health study. Using a previously validated scoring system that accurately predicts Vitamin D levels in the blood, the researchers assessed the survival rates of these colorectal cancer patients as a function of their Vitamin D scores. (It is important to note that Vitamin D scores were calculated prior to the diagnosis of colorectal cancer in these patient volunteers.) The results were rather profound.

The Vitamin D scores for these 1,017 colorectal cancer patients were broken up into a five different ranges, and the patients with the highest Vitamin D scores were then compared with those in the lowest “quintile” with respect to cancer-related mortality and overall mortality. This analysis revealed that patients with the highest Vitamin D scores were 50 percent less likely to die of colorectal cancer during the course of this study, and 38 percent less likely to die from all causes, when compared to the patients with the lowest Vitamin D scores.

While the exact mechanisms whereby Vitamin D and calcium may decrease the risk of colorectal cancer, and the risk of death following a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, are still being studied, there is already intriguing data showing that Vitamin D supplementation can “up-regulate” the activity of genes in both premalignant and malignant colon and rectal tumors that, in turn, increase the death rate of the abnormal cells that make up such tumors (through a pathway known as apoptosis).

While no nutrient or medication has been shown to prevent all colorectal cancers, or to cure all colon and rectal cancers once they develop, there is an increasing amount of high-quality clinical data suggesting that higher levels of Vitamin D in the blood are associated with a decreased risk of both premalignant and malignant colon and rectal tumors. Now, based upon this new study’s results, it appears that higher Vitamin D levels may also be associated with improved survival following the diagnosis of colorectal cancer as well. The impact of Vitamin D levels on colorectal cancer survival also mirror similar findings that I have recently reported on with respect to breast cancer (Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D).

Look for a much more detailed discussion of the role of Vitamin D, and other dietary and nutritional factors, in cancer prevention in my forthcoming book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.”

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date: March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

Send your feedback to Dr. Wascher at:

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

9-13-2009: H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009: Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009: Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009: Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009: Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009: Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009: Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009: Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009: Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009: Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009: Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009: Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009: Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009: Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009: Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009: Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009: Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009: Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009: Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009: Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009: Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009: CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009: Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009: Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009: Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009: Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009: Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008: Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008: Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008: Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008: Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008: Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008: Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008: Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008: Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008: Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008: Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008: Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008: Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008: Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008: Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008: Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008: Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008: Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008: Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008: Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008: Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008: Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008: Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008: Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008: Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008: Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008: Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-20-2008: BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008: Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

3-30-2008: Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008: Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008: Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008: Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008: Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008: Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008: Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008: Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008: Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008: Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008: Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008: Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008: Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007: Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007: Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-11-2007: Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007: Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

Vitamin D is increasingly being looked at as a cancer prevention nutrient, as multiple prior clinical research studies have linked higher blood levels of this hormone-like vitamin, and calcium (which is regulated by Vitamin D), with a decreased risk of colon and rectal cancer, as well as other cancers.Less well understood is the role of Vitamin D as a survival factor in patients who have already been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Now, a newly updated clinical research study from Harvard University, just published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggests that higher Vitamin D levels in colorectal cancer survivors may be associated with a significantly greater likelihood of surviving the third most common cause of cancer death in the United States.

A Compromise to Achieve Universal Coverage

David John Marotta — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:18:05 +0000

A Compromise to Achieve Universal Coverage (2009-09-07)

by David John Marotta

Many people support the ideal of universal health care insurance coverage. The utopian heart beats strong and steady. But once the incision is made, there is no turning back. And without a clear understanding of economics, our experimental treatment may kill Uncle Sam.

The knee-jerk reaction of liberals to the rubber hammer of health care is the simplistic mantra “Everyone should be covered” or “The government should pay for everyone.” Whether 46 million are uninsured or just one individual, anything less than universal coverage is simply unacceptable to them.

Conservatives, in contrast, whittle the number down. About 6.4 million people are on Medicaid or SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) but tell the census taker they are uninsured. Another 4.3 million are eligible and would be automatically enrolled after visiting a clinic or emergency room. Both groups are protected from risk and do not need more coverage.

Another 9.3 million are not American citizens. The law currently covers them for emergency care while they are in the United States. Debate is ongoing whether they should qualify for full medical insurance even if they are undocumented and pay no taxes.

Another 10.1 million have incomes more than triple the federal poverty level. Even people at the poverty level live better than the average American did in 1960 and more comfortably than 90% of the world today. For a family of four, three times the poverty level is $66,150.

About 5 million are healthy adults with no dependent children between 18 and 34. They have ruled out health insurance coverage as too expensive. The current proposals limit how much insurers can set their premiums based on age. The limit is two times, which discriminates against younger adults. Nothing makes sense about charging a 19-year-old half as much as a 91-year-old. Well-intentioned statism steals from struggling young people and lines the coffers of the wealthy AARP lobby.

So we are left with 10.6 million uninsured U.S. citizens with children who live three times below the poverty level, for example, a family of four earning less than $66,150 a year.

These are the heart-wrenching stories. Imagine a young middle-class family without health insurance whose child suddenly needs tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical care. They can’t qualify for assistance, but their son or daughter’s future depends on getting expensive treatments immediately. That’s the poster child for universal coverage.

The compromise for conservatives is to agree as a society that we can afford to make catastrophic coverage mandatory. Americans are generally compassionate and will try to pay after the fact. But if America’s generosity insulates people from this risk, they won’t feel the need to buy insurance. So in fairness everyone must be required to buy coverage ahead of time.

The compromise for liberals is to agree that we are not going to provide an entitlement program for the first aspirin purchased. We are building a safety net, not a hammock.

Insurance only makes sense for extremely expensive and unlikely scenarios. It is never advisable for everyday events.

Here is the perfect analogy: compare insurance that tries to cover the first dollar of health care to the idea of grocery store insurance.

Imagine the average family of four spends $100 a week on groceries, $25 per person. Now think about implementing universal grocery insurance for everyone.

There is no way weekly premiums would be less than $25 per person. They would have to cover the cost of insurance administration and reimbursement. At checkout you would be obliged to show your card and have your insurance numbers recorded. Each item would need to be coded to qualify for reimbursement. Shaving cream would be disallowed. Organic vegetables would only be reimbursed at the generic rate. A dietician would have to certify the tuna is for human, not feline consumption.

Coverage for a week’s worth of groceries would quickly rise from $100 to $200 a week. Then $300. Then $500. Soon many people couldn’t afford grocery coverage and would drop out of the system. They would have to grow their own vegetables and raise chickens. Those who paid in cash would subsidize the collection costs of those with insurance.

Pressure would increase to lower grocery costs. The government would implement price controls. But you can’t reduce costs simply by refusing to pay. Shortages and rationing would ensue.

Those who regularly ate steak would be denied. Families who normally made do with hamburger would start eating the maximum reimbursable amount of filet mignon. Vegetarians would get the meat anyway and trade it for organic food on the black market. Parents of children with allergies would demand expensive gluten-free options. Grocery fraud would be rampant.

Grocery stores would no longer be able to price items. “It depends,” clerks would answer. “Ask your insurance company.” Shoppers wouldn’t care as long as lobster was covered once a quarter.

Older women who ate sparingly would subsidize teenage boys. The obese would take advantage of items that were unlimited allowances. All of the restraint imposed by economic forces would be lost.

Clearly, insurance never works for frequent events with moderate costs. But unfortunately it typifies the style of government-imposed health insurance on the industry. Hundreds of regular expenses are required by law. Each one comes with a nominal copayment that fails to deter its use.

Insurance should be used to limit catastrophic risk, not to pool everyday expenses. Affordable medical insurance should have a high deductible. Then out-of-pocket expenses below the deductible would provide sufficient negative feedback to prevent skyrocketing insurance costs. We have just such an economic trial right now that appears very promising.

If you support universal coverage, consider Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Thus far, the results of HSAs are surprising and may actually be a miracle cure for America’s health-care crisis.

As long as funds are saved and spent on qualified medical expenses, all contributions, capital gains and withdrawals related to an HSA remain untaxed. And HSAs come complete with debit cards and checks.

To protect you against catastrophic medical expenses, HSAs are coupled with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), a minimum of $1,150 for individuals and $2,300 for families. Once the deductible is met, HSA-eligible HDHP plans cover 100% of most medical expenses.

Of course, these deductibles are significant. The minimum deductible for a family is $2,300; the maximum is $11,600. That’s a lot of money for a struggling family, but it isn’t crippling. People hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of dollars won’t mind losing a few pints of blood instead. They will consider themselves blessed.

Utopian liberals are willing to sacrifice the negative feedback of the first dollar coming out of pocket to fund that dollar for the truly needy. This is madness. Don’t break the system for the 80% of Americans who can afford to self-insure the deductible.

Utopians also suggest that automatically paying for routine health maintenance reduces the costs of health care. But annual checkups still cost more than they save. And if they are cost effective, let the insurance companies offer discounts on the cost of the HDHP if patients pay out of pocket for annual checkups. The less government tries to make those decisions, the better.

The good news is that HSA-eligible HDHP premiums are considerably less expensive than the cost of a traditional medical insurance plan. If you want universal coverage, demand Health Savings Accounts with high deductibles. Let’s agree we can solve the problem without a grand government takeover of health care.

from http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=353

Baskerville is Taking Family Law Reform to the Next Level

Jim Untershine — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:37:42 +0000

A long train of abuses and usurpations disguised as Radical Feminism

Jim Untershine, GZS of MS, 09-08-09

In the wake of the current government takeover of everything American, Stephen Baskerville decided to take an opportunity to warn the global community of the ‘American’ Empire, and what effect it may have on their families. In a recent speech at the World Conference of Families (WCF) in Amsterdam, Baskerville itemized the Family Law injustices that are routinely used to target parents in America in the name of their children, and pointed out that these unconstitutional injustices are undeniable. The empire that has attacked American parents, bankrupted them, and taken their children hostage is undeniably un-American.

“Whenever Americans, Englishmen, Frenchmen or others in the western world have seen their liberties threatened or curtailed in the past – they have unfailingly mobilized in the most courageous ways to defend their freedom, not hesitating to risk or sacrifice their lives for their families, their country, or their liberty. We in the pro-family movement have had difficulty mobilizing an active response in the name of saving the family. Perhaps we might be more successful in the name of saving our freedom.”

(Stephen Baskerville, World Conference of Families, 2009)

The Family Law reform movement got a big shot in the arm when Stephen Baskerville published his book entitled “Taken into Custody: The War against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family”. Finally, the splintered movement had a benchmark established that documented the systematic organization of the bureaucratic machinery that was used to facilitate the Family Law Complex. Much like the Industrial Complex that provides expensive industries to ‘Westernize’ small countries that can’t afford it, or the Military Complex that provides expensive industries to ‘deTerrorize’ small countries that can’t afford it, The Family Law Complex provides expensive industries to ‘Terrorize’ small families that can’t afford it. The Industrial Complex exists to make deadbeats of foreign countries, the Military Complex exists to make deadbeats of American taxpayers, and the Family Law Complex exists to make deadbeats of American parents. International bankers exercise each Complex to facilitate the foreclosure of all property on the globe.

The Family Law Complex has spawned the rise of the Domestic Violence Industry, the Divorce Industry, the Child Support Enforcement Industry, and the Foster Care Industry. As Baskerville pointed out in his WCF speech: These industries can be exercised to transform a breadwinning parent into a deadbeat by ejecting from their home, prohibiting contact with their children, assigning untenable debt, garnishing wages, revoking all licenses, freezing bank accounts, levying property, intercepting tax refunds, imposing ‘debtors prison’, and extending this ‘bill of attainder’ of ‘involuntary servitude’ across counties, across states, and across oceans. As a political science expert, Baskerville seems to be trying to make a very important point: None of this is Constitutional.

The law that sentences a breadwinning parent to eternal damnation is USC 42 666, and serves as the template for what is in store for all American citizens. Currently legislation has been introduced to Congress to implement Family Law 666 on all American citizens: disarm them, tax their food, bankrupt them, silence them, tax their energy, and brand them. Although American parents served as the guinea pigs for this master plan for enslavement, there are many who are standing tall and providing strong opposition to these unconstitutional laws applying to all Americans. There is suddenly a standing army of loyal Americans that have finally recognized the unconstitutional agenda of the International bankers and are looking for more Americans to join them.

Aaron Russo (RestoreTheRepublic.com), Ron Paul (CampaignForLiberty.com), Alex Jones (Infowars.com), Gary Franchi (RepublicMagazine.com), Andrew Napolitano (FreedomWatchOnFox.com), Glenn Beck (GlennBeck.com) and many more are making an impact on exposing the planned takeover of our nation. Sign up for the newsletters and updates from these organized groups, participate in their webinars, show up at their protests, sign their petitions, subscribe to their magazines. The mainstream media is attempting to ignore them and Homeland security has attempted to label them domestic terrorists – they must be doing something right.

I believe Family Law will be automatically reformed if all unconstitutional laws are repealed. By returning to the Constitution we would also finally close the Federal Reserve and stop paying taxes on our wages. Many forget that this country is a Republic, that our Constitutional rights are unalienable, and that these basic rights cannot be stripped away by any law or majority vote – never be intimidated into waiving them. You are not considered a Communist until you acquiesce to Communism, or advocate others to do the same.

Jim Untershine, Gulfport, MS 39507, gzs@gndzerosrv.com, www.gndzerosrv.com

Jim Untershine holds a BSEE from Mississippi State University and has 13 years experience in feedback control system design. Mr. Untershine is currently using the teachings of Werner Heisenberg and Henry David Thoreau to expose Family Law as the exploitation of children for money and the indentured servitude of heterosexual taxpayers who dare to raise children in this country.