Notes from The China Study, Part 2

Current healthcare problems in the U.S:

1) Vascular (heart and arteries) disease. The most pervasive killer in our culture is heart disease. Heart disease will kill 1 out of 3 Americans. 60 million Americans currently suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.

2) 1 out of 2 men and 1 out of 3 women will develop cancer.

3) Obesity in the US now significantly outnumbers those who maintain a healthy weight. Over 33% of adults 20 years of age and over are obese.

4) 1 out of 13 Americans now has diabetes. The annual economic cost of diabetes is $98 Billion! Diabetes and obesity are SYPMTOMS of poor health. They rarely exist in isolation of other diseases and often predict deeper, more serious health problems, such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. MILLIONS of Americans unknowingly are developing diabetes and will suffer its consequences, including blindness, limb amputation, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and premature death. Despite this fact, fast food restaurants that serve nutritionally defunct foods are now fixtures in nearly every town. Americans spend more time watching TV, playing video games, and using the computer and thus are less physically active.

5) Physician error, medication error and adverse events from drugs or surgery kill 225,400 people per year. That makes our health care system the THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH in the United States, behind cancer and heart disease. Even with the use of approved medicines and correct medication procedures, over 100,000 people die every year from unintended reactions to the “medicine”. 7% (1 out of 15) of all hospitalized patients have experienced a serious adverse drug reaction that prolonged their hospitalization or permanently disabled them or resulted in their death.

There is a way to a life free from disease. It begins with the recommendations from this great book, The China Study, and using acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to rid one's body from the pathological processes leading to the disease process. It really is this simple.

Meridian Harmonics

Antibiotics Damage Tendons

U.S. health regulators recently revealed certain drugs such as Cipro, Avelox, Factive, Levaquin, Floxin, Noroxin and Proquin XR need stronger warnings about the risk of tendonitis and ruptured tendons. The estimated risk of tendon ruptures is about three to four times higher with these drugs or about 1 in 100,000 in the general population. Most cases involve the Achilles tendon, which attaches the calf muscle to the heel. Less frequent ruptures affected tendons in the shoulders, biceps, hands and elsewhere.

Government data indicates 262 reported tendon ruptures, 258 cases of tendonitis and 274 other tendon disorders through the end of 2005. Since then, roughly 100 more cases have been reported. The risk is greater in patient’s ages 60 and older, those who have had certain organ transplants and those using steroid therapy.

Despite existing warnings, the FDA continues to receive a considerable number of reports of tendon-related adverse events. The FDA believes that these new labeling changes will better inform health-care providers and patients about the risk. In some cases the damage is irreversible, in spite of surgical therapy.
Many patients are unaware that Chinese herbal medicine is a suitable alternative to western drugs, without the dangerous side effects.

Meridian Harmonics