You must login to view this article
LOGIN:
Recieve Green Medicine by becoming a contributing member of the Alliance for Natural Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1SulMXi via Aloe for Health
You must login to view this article
LOGIN:
Recieve Green Medicine by becoming a contributing member of the Alliance for Natural Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/22LsWP8 via Aloe for Health
You must login to view this article
LOGIN:
Recieve Green Medicine by becoming a contributing member of the Alliance for Natural Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/22LsWP4 via Aloe for Health
You must login to view this article
You must login to view this article
You must login to view this article
You must login to view this article
You must login to view this article
LOGIN:
Recieve Green Medicine by becoming a contributing member of the Alliance for Natural Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1SulOOQ via Aloe for Health
Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini has now found that other, supposedly “inert,” ingredients associated with Roundup are even more dangerous than its primary toxin. Action Alert!
For many months, we at ANH-USA have been telling you about the wide spectrum of negative health effects that are linked to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. Last year, the World Health Organization finally declared glyphosate a “probable carcinogen.”
Séralini’s recent study, however, shows that glyphosate alone is actually less toxic than Roundup.
Regulators evaluate the safety of a pesticide or herbicide mainly by looking at the active ingredient—such as glyphosate—while commercial versions of pesticides contain other adjuvants that may be kept confidential by industry.
Companies say that they add ingredients to pesticides other than the active ingredient (the chemical designed to kill weeds, pests, etc.) in order to make the product easier to spray, more readily stick to plants, store longer, and less likely to wash off in rain. These additives can make up as much as 95 percent of a pesticide. But based on this study, the adjuvants may be doing much more.
The EPA requires that only the active ingredient be studied for medium- and long-term toxicity. Companies are not required to list inert ingredients on most pesticide labels.
The work of Prof. Séralini and his colleagues shows just how dangerous these pesticide adjuvants can be. The team found that eight out of nine pesticides tested were up to 1,000 times more toxic to human cells than just the active ingredient.
The authors of the study conclude that the distinction by regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) between active ingredients and “declared inert” compounds is “a regulatory assumption with no toxicological basis.”
This represents a massive failure on the part of the EPA to hold industry accountable to even basic standards of safety. The fact that so little is known about the safety of inert ingredients for human health is a scandal.
When we do have information, the facts are hardly reassuring: according to one study, more than 200 chemicals used as inert ingredients are listed as hazardous pollutants in federal statutes governing air and water quality. Another report found that a 1995 list of inert ingredients included 394 chemicals that were listed as active ingredients in other pesticides.
Action Alert! Write to the EPA and tell them to test entire formulations of pesticides, rather than just “active” ingredients. Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1qeA7Ok via Aloe for Health
The FDA is about to complete the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys—unless we respond in force. Action Alert!
Earlier this month, the FDA made available a draft environmental assessment predicting that the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Key Haven, Florida, would have “no significant impact”—which means that the approval for their release is imminent.
The FDA’s determination is based largely on data submitted by Oxitec, the company producing the GM mosquitoes.
The stated purpose of this experiment—and make no mistake, this is all wildly experimental, and widely criticized—is to eradicate mosquito populations that are responsible for spreading diseases like dengue fever and Zika. The idea is this: genetically engineered male mosquitoes released into the wild breed with disease-carrying mosquitoes, resulting in offspring that die before they are able to breed.
As we’ve pointed out before, this is a terrible idea for a number of reasons.
First, concerns have been raised that the Zika outbreak may be linked to the release of Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes in Brazil three years ago, which was also done for the purpose of combating dengue fever. Some critics of the GM mosquitoes speculate that the presence of the antibiotic tetracycline in the environment could override the genetically modified DNA in the mosquitoes, resulting in increased survival rates of the disease-carrying insects.
Additionally, a recent study showed that the GM mosquitoes released in Brazil did not, in fact, lead to a drop in dengue fever. The number of mosquito eggs fell by an impressive 92% in the city of Jacobina in eastern Brazil—but it did not lead to a drop in the incidence of dengue itself.
Other concerns have also been raised:
This is the same crony scenario we’ve seen played out countless times. The FDA approves elaborate science-fiction experiments to combat diseases that can be treated with safer, more affordable natural health options. Why? Because natural alternatives compete with pharmaceutical drugs and large biotech companies like Oxitec.
Action Alert! Write to the FDA and urge them NOT to approve Oxitec’s release of GM mosquitoes in Florida. Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
“VAXXED” Film Axed
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1qer2oG via Aloe for Health
Related article: More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2888 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2888 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2888 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2888”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2888); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1Rxevncvar ifrm_iframe2888 = document.getElementById(“iframe2888”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2888 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2888() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1qer28i via Aloe for Health
After intense pressure from the mainstream media, a film about the CDC’s cover up of the link between autism and the MMR vaccine has been pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival.
Actor Robert De Niro made headlines late last week when he defended the inclusion of Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe in the festival’s lineup. The documentary was directed and co-written by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British medical researcher whose career came under attack after publishing a paper in the Lancet alleging a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in children. The paper set off an enormous backlash—not only did the Lancet retract the article, but Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues came under investigation and lost their medical licenses.
We believe, along with our partners at ANH-International, that the evidence is on the side of Dr. Wakefield, and British authorities had an interest in destroying his career and reputation. Making an example of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues sends a clear message to others who would upset the status quo—and potentially open up the United Kingdom’s government to legal action from parents of vaccine-damaged children.
De Niro, one of the film festival’s founders, initially stood behind the decision to screen the documentary. In a statement, he wrote:
[My wife] Grace and I have a child with autism, and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the fifteen years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED. I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for conversation around the issue.
The film details the CDC’s cover-up of data linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to an increased incidence of autism among African American boys—data that vindicates Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues.
The media, probably following the cues of advertisers, responded in full force. The LA Times published an opinion column that accused the film festival of selling out to “anti-vaccine crackpots,” spreading misinformation and pseudoscience, and undermining public health. The message in other mainstream publications was similar. We think it’s likely that corporate sponsors of the festival were also strongly opposed to screening the documentary.
Unfortunately, the backlash achieved its intended effect. A few days later, De Niro announced that the documentary had been pulled from the festival’s lineup.
This is a familiar story. The same journalists who denounce those who dare question the safety and effectiveness of vaccines as “unscientific” are themselves dogmatic, emotional, and combative. Real science is about examining all the evidence dispassionately before reaching a conclusion. We should all despair at the level of censorship of important information on display in this most recent incident.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1qer1RS via Aloe for Health
Related article: Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2891 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2891 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2891 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2891”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2891); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1qeqZJAvar ifrm_iframe2891 = document.getElementById(“iframe2891”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2891 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2891() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1Rxevna via Aloe for Health
Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini has now found that other, supposedly “inert,” ingredients associated with Roundup are even more dangerous than its primary toxin. Action Alert!
For many months, we at ANH-USA have been telling you about the wide spectrum of negative health effects that are linked to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. Last year, the World Health Organization finally declared glyphosate a “probable carcinogen.”
Séralini’s recent study, however, shows that glyphosate alone is actually less toxic than Roundup.
Regulators evaluate the safety of a pesticide or herbicide mainly by looking at the active ingredient—such as glyphosate—while commercial versions of pesticides contain other adjuvants that may be kept confidential by industry.
Companies say that they add ingredients to pesticides other than the active ingredient (the chemical designed to kill weeds, pests, etc.) in order to make the product easier to spray, more readily stick to plants, store longer, and less likely to wash off in rain. These additives can make up as much as 95 percent of a pesticide. But based on this study, the adjuvants may be doing much more.
The EPA requires that only the active ingredient be studied for medium- and long-term toxicity. Companies are not required to list inert ingredients on most pesticide labels.
The work of Prof. Séralini and his colleagues shows just how dangerous these pesticide adjuvants can be. The team found that eight out of nine pesticides tested were up to 1,000 times more toxic to human cells than just the active ingredient.
The authors of the study conclude that the distinction by regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) between active ingredients and “declared inert” compounds is “a regulatory assumption with no toxicological basis.”
This represents a massive failure on the part of the EPA to hold industry accountable to even basic standards of safety. The fact that so little is known about the safety of inert ingredients for human health is a scandal.
When we do have information, the facts are hardly reassuring: according to one study, more than 200 chemicals used as inert ingredients are listed as hazardous pollutants in federal statutes governing air and water quality. Another report found that a 1995 list of inert ingredients included 394 chemicals that were listed as active ingredients in other pesticides.
Action Alert! Write to the EPA and tell them to test entire formulations of pesticides, rather than just “active” ingredients. Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
The FDA is about to complete the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys—unless we respond in force. Action Alert!
Earlier this month, the FDA made available a draft environmental assessment predicting that the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Key Haven, Florida, would have “no significant impact”—which means that the approval for their release is imminent.
The FDA’s determination is based largely on data submitted by Oxitec, the company producing the GM mosquitoes.
The stated purpose of this experiment—and make no mistake, this is all wildly experimental, and widely criticized—is to eradicate mosquito populations that are responsible for spreading diseases like dengue fever and Zika. The idea is this: genetically engineered male mosquitoes released into the wild breed with disease-carrying mosquitoes, resulting in offspring that die before they are able to breed.
As we’ve pointed out before, this is a terrible idea for a number of reasons.
First, concerns have been raised that the Zika outbreak may be linked to the release of Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes in Brazil three years ago, which was also done for the purpose of combating dengue fever. Some critics of the GM mosquitoes speculate that the presence of the antibiotic tetracycline in the environment could override the genetically modified DNA in the mosquitoes, resulting in increased survival rates of the disease-carrying insects.
Additionally, a recent study showed that the GM mosquitoes released in Brazil did not, in fact, lead to a drop in dengue fever. The number of mosquito eggs fell by an impressive 92% in the city of Jacobina in eastern Brazil—but it did not lead to a drop in the incidence of dengue itself.
Other concerns have also been raised:
This is the same crony scenario we’ve seen played out countless times. The FDA approves elaborate science-fiction experiments to combat diseases that can be treated with safer, more affordable natural health options. Why? Because natural alternatives compete with pharmaceutical drugs and large biotech companies like Oxitec.
Action Alert! Write to the FDA and urge them NOT to approve Oxitec’s release of GM mosquitoes in Florida. Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
“VAXXED” Film Axed
Related article: More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
After intense pressure from the mainstream media, a film about the CDC’s cover up of the link between autism and the MMR vaccine has been pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival.
Actor Robert De Niro made headlines late last week when he defended the inclusion of Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe in the festival’s lineup. The documentary was directed and co-written by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British medical researcher whose career came under attack after publishing a paper in the Lancet alleging a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in children. The paper set off an enormous backlash—not only did the Lancet retract the article, but Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues came under investigation and lost their medical licenses.
We believe, along with our partners at ANH-International, that the evidence is on the side of Dr. Wakefield, and British authorities had an interest in destroying his career and reputation. Making an example of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues sends a clear message to others who would upset the status quo—and potentially open up the United Kingdom’s government to legal action from parents of vaccine-damaged children.
De Niro, one of the film festival’s founders, initially stood behind the decision to screen the documentary. In a statement, he wrote:
[My wife] Grace and I have a child with autism, and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the fifteen years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED. I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for conversation around the issue.
The film details the CDC’s cover-up of data linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to an increased incidence of autism among African American boys—data that vindicates Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues.
The media, probably following the cues of advertisers, responded in full force. The LA Times published an opinion column that accused the film festival of selling out to “anti-vaccine crackpots,” spreading misinformation and pseudoscience, and undermining public health. The message in other mainstream publications was similar. We think it’s likely that corporate sponsors of the festival were also strongly opposed to screening the documentary.
Unfortunately, the backlash achieved its intended effect. A few days later, De Niro announced that the documentary had been pulled from the festival’s lineup.
This is a familiar story. The same journalists who denounce those who dare question the safety and effectiveness of vaccines as “unscientific” are themselves dogmatic, emotional, and combative. Real science is about examining all the evidence dispassionately before reaching a conclusion. We should all despair at the level of censorship of important information on display in this most recent incident.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
More Poisonous than Glyphosate….
Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
The Eight Biggest (and Sneakiest) Threats to Your Health
Related article: Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2885 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2885 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2885 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2885”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2885); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1RNAtruvar ifrm_iframe2885 = document.getElementById(“iframe2885”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2885 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2885() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/22XT6e3 via Aloe for Health
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
Why is the government targeting them? Together let’s put a stop to this. Action Alerts!
Last summer, we told you that Hillary Clinton was prescribed Coumadin, a dangerous blood thinner with lots of nasty side effects. We also noted that she was prescribed Armour Thyroid, a natural medicine, to treat an underactive thyroid gland.
Now, however, the government is waging a vendetta against Armour Thyroid, because it is natural, and instead is promoting incomplete and synthetic thyroid medications. In addition, if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) goes through with recent proposals, thousands of patients with similar thyroid conditions may lose access to the compounded version of natural thyroid medications they rely upon to treat their hypothyroidism.
An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, which many experts believe to be a very understated figure, given how often it is not properly diagnosed. One woman in eight will develop a thyroid condition during her lifetime. So will many men. One of the most common thyroid disorders is hypothyroidism, where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone, causing symptoms such as extreme fatigue, depression, weight gain, and forgetfulness.
Patients with hypothyroidism need medicine that will supplement the body with sufficient thyroid hormone. The human body produces five different thyroid hormones, though today most patients are treated with a synthetic product produced by Big Pharma that contains only one of the hormones, thyroxine, also called T4, which is not even the hormone that the human body actually uses. To be of any help, the T4 must be converted to another hormone, and many of us cannot do this efficiently.
We’ve reported previously that a clinical trial found that hypothyroid patients prefer natural, desiccated thyroid extract, or DTE, to T4-only preparations. This is likely due to the fact that pig thyroid glands (from which DTE is typically derived) produce T1, T2, T3, T4, and calcitonin. Not only do many patients prefer natural thyroid—it’s also cheaper. List prices for synthetic thyroid run around $40 for 30 tablets (100mcg), whereas Armour goes for around $20 for 30 tablets (60mg). (Generally speaking, 100mcg of Synthroid is equivalent to 60mg of Armour.)
Mainstream medicine preaches that it is sufficient to supplement only with T4; that the body will convert an appropriate amount of T4 into T3; and that T1, T2 and calcitonin aren’t needed. While this may be true for some hypothyroid patients, clearly there are many others who get better only when they take DTE. An ANH-USA staff member, for instance, must supplement with compounded time-released T3, which is only available as a compounded drug. As you know from our other articles, the future of all compounded medicine is now in doubt. The problem appears to be that the FDA regards compounding as a competitor to FDA-approved drugs and therefore something to put out of business.
As you might guess, patient preference for natural thyroid medications—which are often compounded and delivered via time release—did not come as welcome news to Big Pharma. In a list of the top 100 most prescribed, top selling drugs in 2015, Synthroid was the number one most prescribed drug, bringing in $1,022,330,738 in sales. Natural thyroid, and the compounding pharmacies that produce it, therefore represent an annoyance to the government-sponsored monopolists running Big Pharma.
Some evidence that the pharmaceutical industry was moving against natural thyroid emerged seven years ago. In 2009, thyroid patients on DTE were thrown for a loop when the two major makers of DTE—Armour and Nature-throid—both experienced mysterious shortages and could not meet demand at the same moment. Many patients spent hours on the phone, calling pharmacy after pharmacy to find a source of DTE. Fortunately, compounding pharmacies were able to fill in, as they can make DTE in any dose, using the same raw materials as Armour and Nature-throid (albeit at a higher price).
The next shoe to drop was the attack on compounding pharmacies. Now Medicare has dropped coverage of Armour Thyroid in favor of Big Pharma’s synthetic thyroid drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded that Armour Thyroid posed a higher risk to patients, recommending instead Big Pharma’s “safer alternatives.” This will take a big chunk out of Armour’s revenue. Any physician prescribing Armour to a Medicare patient would put his or her license at risk. Of course, insurance companies tend to follow in Medicare’s wake, if only because they administer Medicare and find it convenient to run one system.
The bottom line: patients will have fewer options, worse outcomes, and medical costs will go up. The only winners are the big drug companies and their allies at the FDA.
Hypothyroid patients are just one of the many, many types of patients who will lose access to medicines they rely upon—if the FDA is successful in eliminating compounding. In the coming weeks we will be telling you much more about what else is at stake.
TWO Action Alerts!
(1) Write to the FDA and tell them to maintain access to compounded thyroid medications.
(2) Send a message to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and protest their dropping of Armour Thyroid. Please send your messages immediately!
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1q0iQbF via Aloe for Health
Just another on a long list of potentially dangerous additives to vaccines. State-based Action Alerts!
Borax, also known as sodium borate (a salt of boric acid), has many uses. It’s found in many household cleaning products, detergents, and cosmetics. It’s probably best known as a roach pesticide.
The US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health declare sodium borate to be a dangerous poison. Side effects include: vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, blisters, collapse, coma, convulsions, drowsiness, fever, low blood pressure, decreased urine output, sloughing of the skin, and twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, and feet.
Sodium borate has also been banned in the US as a food additive.
It is also an ingredient in some childhood vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list sodium borate as an ingredient in four vaccines: Hepatitis A (Vaqta), HIB/Hepatits B (Comvax), and in two HPV vaccines (Gardasil and Gardasil 9).
It’s astonishing that such a dangerous ingredient is added to vaccines. There are other toxic ingredients in vaccines as well—all “adjuvants”: aluminum, formaldehyde, and polysorbate 80, to name a few.
So, sodium borate is considered a dangerous poison and is too toxic to be used as a food additive—but it’s perfectly safe to inject our children with it?
What is unfortunate is that we cannot expect an honest conversation about safety when it comes to financially profitable vaccines. Recently we told you about a massive cover-up of safety concerns linked to the HPV vaccine, as well as concerns that Gardasil shots might cause premature ovarian failure. When confronted with evidence that contradicts the pro-vaccine agenda, proponents of forced vaccinations resort to cover-ups and obfuscation—the antithesis of the scientific method. Perhaps if they spent less time lecturing “anti-vaxxers” and more time examining ALL the facts, we could avoid the harm and heartache vaccines have caused countless families.
State-based Action Alerts! Check below if your state is considered legislation that would restrict your freedom to make healthcare choices for you or your family. Please send your message immediately.
Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1q0iRfR via Aloe for Health
And we did it thanks to the activism of ANH-USA members and our allies. Did your senators support your right to know?
Last week, the movement to block mandatory labeling at the state level was dealt a decisive blow in the Senate. Sen. Pat Roberts’ voluntary GMO labeling legislation did not pass a cloture vote (a vote to end debate about the bill and advance to the next phase).
The vote on the pro-GMO “Deny Americans’ Right to Know Act” we’ve been telling you about was divided largely along party lines, with Senate Democrats voting in opposition and Republicans voting in favor. We’ll only note the few exceptions: Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dean Heller (R-NV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) joined a majority of Democrats voting in opposition. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted with Republicans in favor of moving the DARK Act forward.
It was an extremely close vote, with 48 voting “yes” to end debate on the bill and move to a floor vote and 49 voting “no.” Had the three presidential hopefuls in the Senate been present to cast votes, the “yes” side might have gained two votes—Sens. Rubio (R-FL) and Cruz (R-TX)—to the “no” side’s one vote (Sen. Sanders (I-VT). More importantly, the bill failed to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, which will likely forestall other efforts to pass similar legislation in the near future.
With the implementation date of Vermont’s mandatory labeling law nearing, Big Food companies are starting to see the writing on the wall. General Mills announced last Friday that it will begin to label foods that contain GMO ingredients to comply with Vermont’s law. Nestlé has also voiced support for mandatory labeling. We hope more companies will begin to join them as the prospects for a voluntary labeling standard start to vanish.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1Ppmssc via Aloe for Health
Related article: Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2877 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2877 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2877 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2877”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2877); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1q0iQbHvar ifrm_iframe2877 = document.getElementById(“iframe2877”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2877 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2877() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1PpmpwK via Aloe for Health
Related article: Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2880 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2880 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2880 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2880”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2880); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1Ppmssavar ifrm_iframe2880 = document.getElementById(“iframe2880”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2880 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2880() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1q0iRfL via Aloe for Health
Why is the government targeting them? Together let’s put a stop to this. Action Alerts!
Last summer, we told you that Hillary Clinton was prescribed Coumadin, a dangerous blood thinner with lots of nasty side effects. We also noted that she was prescribed Armour Thyroid, a natural medicine, to treat an underactive thyroid gland.
Now, however, the government is waging a vendetta against Armour Thyroid, because it is natural, and instead is promoting incomplete and synthetic thyroid medications. In addition, if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) goes through with recent proposals, thousands of patients with similar thyroid conditions may lose access to the compounded version of natural thyroid medications they rely upon to treat their hypothyroidism.
An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, which many experts believe to be a very understated figure, given how often it is not properly diagnosed. One woman in eight will develop a thyroid condition during her lifetime. So will many men. One of the most common thyroid disorders is hypothyroidism, where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone, causing symptoms such as extreme fatigue, depression, weight gain, and forgetfulness.
Patients with hypothyroidism need medicine that will supplement the body with sufficient thyroid hormone. The human body produces five different thyroid hormones, though today most patients are treated with a synthetic product produced by Big Pharma that contains only one of the hormones, thyroxine, also called T4, which is not even the hormone that the human body actually uses. To be of any help, the T4 must be converted to another hormone, and many of us cannot do this efficiently.
We’ve reported previously that a clinical trial found that hypothyroid patients prefer natural, desiccated thyroid extract, or DTE, to T4-only preparations. This is likely due to the fact that pig thyroid glands (from which DTE is typically derived) produce T1, T2, T3, T4, and calcitonin. Not only do many patients prefer natural thyroid—it’s also cheaper. List prices for synthetic thyroid run around $40 for 30 tablets (100mcg), whereas Armour goes for around $20 for 30 tablets (60mg). (Generally speaking, 100mcg of Synthroid is equivalent to 60mg of Armour.)
Mainstream medicine preaches that it is sufficient to supplement only with T4; that the body will convert an appropriate amount of T4 into T3; and that T1, T2 and calcitonin aren’t needed. While this may be true for some hypothyroid patients, clearly there are many others who get better only when they take DTE. An ANH-USA staff member, for instance, must supplement with compounded time-released T3, which is only available as a compounded drug. As you know from our other articles, the future of all compounded medicine is now in doubt. The problem appears to be that the FDA regards compounding as a competitor to FDA-approved drugs and therefore something to put out of business.
As you might guess, patient preference for natural thyroid medications—which are often compounded and delivered via time release—did not come as welcome news to Big Pharma. In a list of the top 100 most prescribed, top selling drugs in 2015, Synthroid was the number one most prescribed drug, bringing in $1,022,330,738 in sales. Natural thyroid, and the compounding pharmacies that produce it, therefore represent an annoyance to the government-sponsored monopolists running Big Pharma.
Some evidence that the pharmaceutical industry was moving against natural thyroid emerged seven years ago. In 2009, thyroid patients on DTE were thrown for a loop when the two major makers of DTE—Armour and Nature-throid—both experienced mysterious shortages and could not meet demand at the same moment. Many patients spent hours on the phone, calling pharmacy after pharmacy to find a source of DTE. Fortunately, compounding pharmacies were able to fill in, as they can make DTE in any dose, using the same raw materials as Armour and Nature-throid (albeit at a higher price).
The next shoe to drop was the attack on compounding pharmacies. Now Medicare has dropped coverage of Armour Thyroid in favor of Big Pharma’s synthetic thyroid drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded that Armour Thyroid posed a higher risk to patients, recommending instead Big Pharma’s “safer alternatives.” This will take a big chunk out of Armour’s revenue. Any physician prescribing Armour to a Medicare patient would put his or her license at risk. Of course, insurance companies tend to follow in Medicare’s wake, if only because they administer Medicare and find it convenient to run one system.
The bottom line: patients will have fewer options, worse outcomes, and medical costs will go up. The only winners are the big drug companies and their allies at the FDA.
Hypothyroid patients are just one of the many, many types of patients who will lose access to medicines they rely upon—if the FDA is successful in eliminating compounding. In the coming weeks we will be telling you much more about what else is at stake.
TWO Action Alerts!
(1) Write to the FDA and tell them to maintain access to compounded thyroid medications.
(2) Send a message to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and protest their dropping of Armour Thyroid. Please send your messages immediately!
Just another on a long list of potentially dangerous additives to vaccines. State-based Action Alerts!
Borax, also known as sodium borate (a salt of boric acid), has many uses. It’s found in many household cleaning products, detergents, and cosmetics. It’s probably best known as a roach pesticide.
The US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health declare sodium borate to be a dangerous poison. Side effects include: vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, blisters, collapse, coma, convulsions, drowsiness, fever, low blood pressure, decreased urine output, sloughing of the skin, and twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, and feet.
Sodium borate has also been banned in the US as a food additive.
It is also an ingredient in some childhood vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list sodium borate as an ingredient in four vaccines: Hepatitis A (Vaqta), HIB/Hepatits B (Comvax), and in two HPV vaccines (Gardasil and Gardasil 9).
It’s astonishing that such a dangerous ingredient is added to vaccines. There are other toxic ingredients in vaccines as well—all “adjuvants”: aluminum, formaldehyde, and polysorbate 80, to name a few.
So, sodium borate is considered a dangerous poison and is too toxic to be used as a food additive—but it’s perfectly safe to inject our children with it?
What is unfortunate is that we cannot expect an honest conversation about safety when it comes to financially profitable vaccines. Recently we told you about a massive cover-up of safety concerns linked to the HPV vaccine, as well as concerns that Gardasil shots might cause premature ovarian failure. When confronted with evidence that contradicts the pro-vaccine agenda, proponents of forced vaccinations resort to cover-ups and obfuscation—the antithesis of the scientific method. Perhaps if they spent less time lecturing “anti-vaxxers” and more time examining ALL the facts, we could avoid the harm and heartache vaccines have caused countless families.
State-based Action Alerts! Check below if your state is considered legislation that would restrict your freedom to make healthcare choices for you or your family. Please send your message immediately.
Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
And we did it thanks to the activism of ANH-USA members and our allies. Did your senators support your right to know?
Last week, the movement to block mandatory labeling at the state level was dealt a decisive blow in the Senate. Sen. Pat Roberts’ voluntary GMO labeling legislation did not pass a cloture vote (a vote to end debate about the bill and advance to the next phase).
The vote on the pro-GMO “Deny Americans’ Right to Know Act” we’ve been telling you about was divided largely along party lines, with Senate Democrats voting in opposition and Republicans voting in favor. We’ll only note the few exceptions: Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dean Heller (R-NV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) joined a majority of Democrats voting in opposition. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted with Republicans in favor of moving the DARK Act forward.
It was an extremely close vote, with 48 voting “yes” to end debate on the bill and move to a floor vote and 49 voting “no.” Had the three presidential hopefuls in the Senate been present to cast votes, the “yes” side might have gained two votes—Sens. Rubio (R-FL) and Cruz (R-TX)—to the “no” side’s one vote (Sen. Sanders (I-VT). More importantly, the bill failed to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, which will likely forestall other efforts to pass similar legislation in the near future.
With the implementation date of Vermont’s mandatory labeling law nearing, Big Food companies are starting to see the writing on the wall. General Mills announced last Friday that it will begin to label foods that contain GMO ingredients to comply with Vermont’s law. Nestlé has also voiced support for mandatory labeling. We hope more companies will begin to join them as the prospects for a voluntary labeling standard start to vanish.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Related article: Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
Related article: Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:
Password:
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1Ui1HHm via Aloe for Health
Troubling video exposes AG’s lack of understanding of drug approval process and dietary supplement regulation
March 10, 2016 — As part National Consumer Protection Week, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch released a video warning consumers about the “potential dangers” of taking nutritional supplements. She cautions that, unlike pharmaceutical drugs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test dietary supplements, prior to their introduction into the market.
This assertion is troubling for a number of reasons. First, the FDA does not test any substance before market introduction. Drug companies are responsible for conducting tests on their own products and submitting the results of those tests as a part of a new drug application (NDA).
“The highest legal officer in the country needs to understand the process by which drugs and supplements come to the market,” explained Gretchen DuBeau, legal and executive director for the Alliance for Natural Health-USA. “Her office has rightfully prosecuted a number of bad industry actors this year, including USP Labs, but her misstatements about the regulation of these products will dissuade consumers from taking the supplements they need to stay healthy.”
Lynch also bases her pronouncement about supplements upon faulty definitions. She cites a number of cases where her office has prosecuted bad actors that illegally marketed mislabeled products, but calls these products dietary supplements.
“This is the equivalent of calling monopoly money legal currency,” observed DuBeau. “The fact that the products were deemed illegal and misbranded necessitates that they be called what they are— counterfeits.”
A comparison between the safety record of pharmaceutical drugs and dietary supplements is revealing. According to data from Harvard University, FDA-approved drugs cause 1.9 million hospitalizations, 2.74 million serious adverse reactions, and 128,000 deaths annually. Supplement adverse reactions are minuscule by comparison.
Americans take approximately 60 billion doses of dietary supplements each year. “You’re five times more likely to be killed by a lightning strike, 581 times more likely to be killed in a boating accident, and 98,000 times more likely to be killed by an FDA-approved and properly prescribed pharmaceutical drug than by a legal dietary supplement,” said DuBeau. “The bigger, more important picture is this: despite some bad apples, the supplement industry still produces the safest products that humans ingest.”
Lynch is right in cautioning consumers to research the supplements they consider taking. As with any product, nutritional supplements vary in quality. ANH-USA recently published a list of nutritional supplement companies known for their extremely high manufacturing standards, careful testing, and nutrient potency. Many of the companies offer USDA Certified Organic source ingredients. The consumer advocacy group recommends the following ways to make sure your supplements are of the highest quality:
The Alliance for Natural Health USA has created a website specifically designed to address questions related to supplement safety: AreMySupplementsSafe.com.
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1M4VyuQ via Aloe for Health
That’s what the Feds are finding in Big Food cheese products. These are the same regulators that want to eliminate artisanal cheese. Action Alert!
A recent Bloomberg News investigation reveals massive deception in the labeling of Big Food’s parmesan cheese products.
The report details how Big Food companies are using cellulose, an anti-clumping agent made from wood chips, in grated parmesan cheese as a cost-saving measure. The FDA says that cellulose is safe and acceptable as an additive if it’s only two to four percent of the product. Yet a whole slew of cheeses may exceed these limits by leaps and bounds. According to independent testing done by Bloomberg:
In 2012, after a tip from a recently fired employee, the FDA went to Castle Cheese Inc.’s Pennsylvania facility and found that the company was doctoring its “100 percent real parmesan” with imitation cheese, cellulose, and trimmings of cheaper cheeses like Swiss, white cheddar, Havarti, and mozzarella.
One industry insider estimated that 20% of US-produced hard Italian cheeses are mislabeled. Grated cheeses are particularly liable to deceive consumers: in some cases less than 40% of the product is actually cheese.
Why does the FDA allow such widespread fraud to continue? It may be because they are too preoccupied with their recent witch-hunt against artisanal cheeses made with real, raw milk. The rationale given by the agency is that raw milk cheeses lead to more food-borne illnesses, but this is bogus. Recent evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, between 2009 and 2011, cheese made from raw milk was linked to one listeria outbreak and fifteen illnesses, whereas cheese from pasteurized milk was linked to five outbreaks and thirty-six illnesses.
We pointed out in previous coverage what we think the FDA’s real motivations are. We know the agency tends to back the biggest food and drug producers, because they directly help pay the agency’s bills and are also easier to regulate for a number of reasons:
Small, artisanal cheese producers are a much easier target for the FDA than some of the nation’s largest cheese producers who are routinely misleading consumers. And by eliminating Big Cheese’s competition, the regulators can please their Big Food “clients.”
Action Alert! Tell the FDA to focus their energy on the real culprits behind food-borne illnesses such as CAFOs, and real villains in the cheese industry that are selling wood pulp and imitation cheese to consumers! Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Final Hour for GMO Legislation
Medical Scope Risk Worse than Previously Thought
Now Even the US Attorney General Is Slandering Supplements!
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1QUDdQe via Aloe for Health
Related article: Wood Pulp in Your Cheese?
Trouble Taking Action? Click here.
.errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; text-align:center; width:500px; }
var ai_iframe_width_iframe2874 = 0; var ai_iframe_height_iframe2874 = 0;var aiIsIe8=false;var aiReadyCallbacks = ( typeof aiReadyCallbacks != ‘undefined’ && aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array ) ? aiReadyCallbacks : [];var onloadFirediframe2874 = false; function aiShowIframe() { jQuery(“#iframe2874”).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(id_iframe).css(“visibility”, “visible”);} function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,iframe2874); } function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);} http://ift.tt/1pIXvDjvar ifrm_iframe2874 = document.getElementById(“iframe2874”);
var hiddenTabsDoneiframe2874 = false;
function resizeCallbackiframe2874() {}
from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/1QUDdzP via Aloe for Health
Troubling video exposes AG’s lack of understanding of drug approval process and dietary supplement regulation
March 10, 2016 — As part National Consumer Protection Week, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch released a video warning consumers about the “potential dangers” of taking nutritional supplements. She cautions that, unlike pharmaceutical drugs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test dietary supplements, prior to their introduction into the market.
This assertion is troubling for a number of reasons. First, the FDA does not test any substance before market introduction. Drug companies are responsible for conducting tests on their own products and submitting the results of those tests as a part of a new drug application (NDA).
“The highest legal officer in the country needs to understand the process by which drugs and supplements come to the market,” explained Gretchen DuBeau, legal and executive director for the Alliance for Natural Health-USA. “Her office has rightfully prosecuted a number of bad industry actors this year, including USP Labs, but her misstatements about the regulation of these products will dissuade consumers from taking the supplements they need to stay healthy.”
Lynch also bases her pronouncement about supplements upon faulty definitions. She cites a number of cases where her office has prosecuted bad actors that illegally marketed mislabeled products, but calls these products dietary supplements.
“This is the equivalent of calling monopoly money legal currency,” observed DuBeau. “The fact that the products were deemed illegal and misbranded necessitates that they be called what they are— counterfeits.”
A comparison between the safety record of pharmaceutical drugs and dietary supplements is revealing. According to data from Harvard University, FDA-approved drugs cause 1.9 million hospitalizations, 2.74 million serious adverse reactions, and 128,000 deaths annually. Supplement adverse reactions are minuscule by comparison.
Americans take approximately 60 billion doses of dietary supplements each year. “You’re five times more likely to be killed by a lightning strike, 581 times more likely to be killed in a boating accident, and 98,000 times more likely to be killed by an FDA-approved and properly prescribed pharmaceutical drug than by a legal dietary supplement,” said DuBeau. “The bigger, more important picture is this: despite some bad apples, the supplement industry still produces the safest products that humans ingest.”
Lynch is right in cautioning consumers to research the supplements they consider taking. As with any product, nutritional supplements vary in quality. ANH-USA recently published a list of nutritional supplement companies known for their extremely high manufacturing standards, careful testing, and nutrient potency. Many of the companies offer USDA Certified Organic source ingredients. The consumer advocacy group recommends the following ways to make sure your supplements are of the highest quality:
The Alliance for Natural Health USA has created a website specifically designed to address questions related to supplement safety: AreMySupplementsSafe.com.
That’s what the Feds are finding in Big Food cheese products. These are the same regulators that want to eliminate artisanal cheese. Action Alert!
A recent Bloomberg News investigation reveals massive deception in the labeling of Big Food’s parmesan cheese products.
The report details how Big Food companies are using cellulose, an anti-clumping agent made from wood chips, in grated parmesan cheese as a cost-saving measure. The FDA says that cellulose is safe and acceptable as an additive if it’s only two to four percent of the product. Yet a whole slew of cheeses may exceed these limits by leaps and bounds. According to independent testing done by Bloomberg:
In 2012, after a tip from a recently fired employee, the FDA went to Castle Cheese Inc.’s Pennsylvania facility and found that the company was doctoring its “100 percent real parmesan” with imitation cheese, cellulose, and trimmings of cheaper cheeses like Swiss, white cheddar, Havarti, and mozzarella.
One industry insider estimated that 20% of US-produced hard Italian cheeses are mislabeled. Grated cheeses are particularly liable to deceive consumers: in some cases less than 40% of the product is actually cheese.
Why does the FDA allow such widespread fraud to continue? It may be because they are too preoccupied with their recent witch-hunt against artisanal cheeses made with real, raw milk. The rationale given by the agency is that raw milk cheeses lead to more food-borne illnesses, but this is bogus. Recent evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, between 2009 and 2011, cheese made from raw milk was linked to one listeria outbreak and fifteen illnesses, whereas cheese from pasteurized milk was linked to five outbreaks and thirty-six illnesses.
We pointed out in previous coverage what we think the FDA’s real motivations are. We know the agency tends to back the biggest food and drug producers, because they directly help pay the agency’s bills and are also easier to regulate for a number of reasons:
Small, artisanal cheese producers are a much easier target for the FDA than some of the nation’s largest cheese producers who are routinely misleading consumers. And by eliminating Big Cheese’s competition, the regulators can please their Big Food “clients.”
Action Alert! Tell the FDA to focus their energy on the real culprits behind food-borne illnesses such as CAFOs, and real villains in the cheese industry that are selling wood pulp and imitation cheese to consumers! Please send your message immediately.
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Final Hour for GMO Legislation
Medical Scope Risk Worse than Previously Thought
Now Even the US Attorney General Is Slandering Supplements!
