Dr. Haase & Mr. Why

At times it has not been fun being on the leading edge (sometimes bleeding edge) of the change in health care.   but articles like this one give me hope  as it should give you hope that we can find a better way in medicine.  I was so moved by this recent article published in the NEJM, authored by two Standford physicians, that I just had to share with you. Here is a quick digest. Link to full text 

Key arguments for making a change:

-At present 70% of U.S. deaths and 75% percent of all heath care expenditures are linked to the expression of just three preventable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes

-Notwithstanding, the U.S. currently allocates the largest percentage of GDP toward health care of any developed country in the world

-The current medical system is still enthralled with an acute care model while the nation is ridden with chronic disease

-Prevention of these chronic diseases is out-of-step with the widely implemented acute care model

-The prevalence of chronic disease (non-communicable disease) has is now exceeding infectious/acute disease, even in non-industrilized nations

Proposed plan of action, steps required:

-Medical schools should emphasize “homeostasis and health”, not just disease pathology (****THIS IS FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE ****)

- 3rd party payers need to reimburse for health ”maintenance and prevention”

- Government and payers must appropriately reward “non nonpatentable therapies” and support prevention research (**** When a supplement that has equal effectiveness to a drug gets the same reimbursement rules from payors we will see a big shift in the number of deaths from drug-related causes ie. SAMe for joint pain or depression *****)

- Primary care physicians will need to be looked at anew, more valued for their service as “health coaches” 

-Primary care physicians must be compensated in accordance with their central importance, establishing parity

Thanks to Mike Mutzel for passing this article on to me.. and now on to you!

Let’s keep being the change we want to see in this world!

THE BAD NEWS:

“If healthy young men are restricted to 4 hours of sleep for 6 nights instead of their usual 8, they build up 24 hours of ‘Sleep Debt’. With this buildup in ‘Sleep Debt’, their metabolism becomes prematurely ‘aged’ and changes in a manner consistent with increased body fat accumulation.”

THE GOOD NEWS:

“If at this point these young men are allowed to sleep 12 hours a night for 6 days—repaying the entire debt—the metabolic changes are reversed.”

-Body by Design, Health by Choice, Dr. Gregory Kelly and Dr. Mark Percival

So how is a sleep debt repaid? The tips listed below should help you pay back the debt on your sleep bank account and develop good sleep habits!

The best way to pay back your sleep debt is by planning out a “sleep vacation” for a couple weeks. First, decide what your sleep needs are. If 8 hours is the perfect amount of sleep for you, plan to get 8 hours of sleep a night for a week. At the end of one week, assess how you feel and decide whether you need to add more hours. If you feel better, (using the sleep debt questionnaire may help decide this), than keep your new routine. If you are still tired after sleeping 8 hours a night, your body is still in debt, and is growing deeper in debt. You need to sleep more than 8 consistent hours temporarily, until you have repaid the debt.

You can do this by using a slow repayment method or a fast one. The goal is to wake before your alarm (they disrupt the final sleep cycle) and to start feeling better throughout the day.

For the slow repayment method, make small adjustments to your bedtime and morning routine. Do you usually go to sleep at 11 and wake at 6? Try going to bed 30 minutes earlier (10:30). If, after a week, you are still being awakened by your alarm clock, try going to bed an hour earlier (10:00). Keep adding time until you consistently start waking up before your alarm.

The fast repayment method is best done on a vacation. For 1-2 weeks, make sleep a priority. Go to sleep as early as possible and sleep for as late as possible. Take naps during the day when you feel sleepy. Your body will naturally settle on the perfect amount of sleep (usually 7-9 hours). The goal is to wake before your alarm clock each morning, and sleep the same amount of time every night. Most people will feel even more tired after sleeping this much, but this is to be expected. Getting a lot of sleep does not actually make you more tired, it simply uncovers the problem.

 Remember: “When people are deliberately deprived of sleep during research experiments, they initially notice the effects on their alertness, mood, physical performance, and sleepiness. After a few days they get used to feeling sleepy—they adapt—and being tired feels normal. Because of this tendency to get used to not getting enough sleep, most of us are very poor judges of how tired we really are.”

-Shape Shift, Dr. Gregory Kelly and Dr. Mark Percival

20 Tips for Sleeping Well:

1. Create a consistent sleep/wake schedule.

2. Eat breakfast and lunch at around the same time every day.

 3. Don’t eat before you sleep. Eat your last meal/snack 3-4 hours before bed.

4. Go outside! Get at least 5-15 of sunlight exposure every morning (even on a cloudy day).

5. Get exposure to natural light as much as possible. Some experts have said that the average person need 3 hours of sunlight daily. (This does not mean that you should sunbathe for 3 hours. You can get quality light by sitting in the shade or inside with the windows open. Even glass can disrupt the quality of light since it filters out some frequencies. Sitting by closed windows or wearing glasses or contacts outside does not count.

6. Avoid caffeine 5 hours prior to bedtime.

7. Avoid alcohol and smoke exposure several hours prior to bedtime.

8. Take a warm bath or shower about 90 minutes before bedtime. (The warm water will make your body temperature increase and then drop, giving your body a sleep signal.)

9. Get a regular amount of appropriate exercise.

10. Keep your feet warm with socks.

11. Chamomile tea (especially with a little lemon and honey) is a natural stress-reducer. Have a cup in the evening.

12. Get rid of stressful thoughts. Write your thoughts and feelings in a journal before bed to quiet your busy brain.

13. Keep your bedroom cave-like. Cover all bright lights and cover up unpleasant background noise with devices that play nature sounds.

14. If there are no streetlights outside, sleep with curtains and shades open to get exposure to moonlight and sunrise (they act as cues to your body clock).

15. Spend less time with the computer and television after dark.

16. If noise and temperature outside permits, crack a window for fresh air. Clean out the air toxins!

17. Minimize EMF (electromagnetic field) exposure before bed and during sleep. EMF disrupts melatonin, so sleep away from electromagnetic devices.

18. Keep your pajamas loose and 100% natural. (Bedding should also be natural.) Synthetic fibers are thought to create EMF.

19. After you repay your sleep debt, keep your naps to about 30 minutes in the afternoon. Naps are good, but naps that are too long can interfere with nighttime sleep.

20. Get outside around sunset/at night for a few minutes. This is very important for the female body clock, because a woman’s hormonal cycle is connected to moon cycles.

“Many of us live lives characterized by light pollution. We rarely experience sunrise and sunset, and are inside under artificial lighting during most of our days. Much of the light exposure we do get is poorly timed. We might not get enough bright light in the morning, but get too much at night. Sleep environments might never get completely dark. When it comes to lighting conditions, we have changed our environment, and as a result,
it is changing us.”

-Shape Shift, Percival, Mark D.C., N.D., Kelly Gregory, N.D.

Have you recognized a sleep debt in your life? Check out these seven common disrupters of sleep below:

Meal timing

-Skipping meals early in the day or eating late at night can disrupt quality and timing of sleep.

-Sticking to a schedule of breakfast, lunch, and finishing your last meal 3-4 hours before sleep enhances quality of sleep and moves your bedtime earlier.

Nutrition

-Poor nutrition (lack of minerals, vitamins, necessary fats, etc.)  not only disrupts quality of sleep, but can also increase the need for sleep.

-Lack of nutrition from calorie restriction or “dieting” can disrupt sleep quality and also increase the need for sleep.

-Optimal nutrition (minerals, vitamins, necessary fats, nutrients, calories) will result in ideal sleep quality, and reduce need for sleep.

Exercise

-Insufficient exercise can result in poor quality sleep (less REM and slow wave sleep).

-Too much exercise (specifically with someone untrained for the exercise) creates a stress response that can result in poor sleep quality.

-Physical fitness (resulting from appropriate exercise) improves slow wave sleep and REM.

Stress

-Increases the need for sleep.

-Stress makes it more difficult to fall asleep and also hurts sleep quality.

-Sleep is impacted more seriously by stress as we age.

Lifestyle Habit (alcohol, tobacco, caffeine-containing stimulants)

-Alcohol: The more you drink and the later you drink, the worse its impact on sleep-quality, need for sleep, and your “body clock” functions (controlling sleep/wake cycles).

-Cigarette (tobacco) smoke: negatively impacts sleep quality, makes it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.

-Caffeine-containing stimulants: Just like alcohol, the more you drink and the later you drink, the more your sleep cycle, quality, and need for sleep will be disrupted.

Noise, Light

-Background noise or noise from a TV or music player can act as stress during sleep, disrupting sleep quality.

-All lightsources, except for red light, disrupt melatonin secretion, our darkness hormone. This is especially critical for the middle-aged, for less healthy individuals, and for people who get a small amount of sunlight during the day.

Toxins

-Any odor that does not come from a plant or flower (a chemical) can negatively impact sleep quality.

Room Temperature

-A temperature that is too warm or cold can negatively impact sleep quality. The best temperature is one that is kept constant from night to night, allowing your system to adjust. The same goes for humidity.

Check back soon to read the last blog post in this series: How to Repay Your Sleep Debt!

“Some experts believe that sleep might have originally been a mechanism to conserve energy. If we fail to get enough sleep to meet our energy conservation requirements, our body moves to the next best choice for energy conservation – fat accumulation.”
-Percival, Mark D.C., N.D., Kelly Gregory, N.D., Body by Design, Health by Choice

In the last blog post on sleep, it was mentioned that lack of sleep leads to your body’s collection agency grabbing health assets from another part of your body. When you have a sleep debt from lack of one form of nourishment (sleep), your body requires another form of nourishment to compensate: stored energy, or body fat.

Your sleep account and body fat account are interconnected – they are always communicating with each other and affecting each other. If you start eating less, you start needing more sleep. If you sleep less, you need more calories.

Even quality of sleep is affected by what, when, and how much you eat. Your body likes schedules and habits! Skipping breakfast, eating late at night, etc., disrupts your body fat regulating system, which in turn makes it impossible to have all the factors needed for high quality sleep.

You may spend an adequate amount of time in bed, but if your restorative sleep is insufficient, you are only increasing your sleep debt. If your sleep account is over-drawn, your body fat account will defend a higher amount of body fat. Increased fat storage is the only choice the body has if sleep is decreased.

A section in the chapter on “Sleep and Shape” in Shape Shift by Dr. Gregory Kelly and Dr. Mark Percival talks about the relationship between sleep apnea and abdominal visceral fat. Over the years it has been observed that most individuals suffering from sleep apnea are also overweight. This extra weight has been named as the cause behind sleep apnea.

Yet sleep apnea seems to precede weight gain in most cases, suggesting that the fragmented sleep caused by sleep apnea causes an increase in fat. In scientific studies, the use of a CPAP (a device that helps regulate breathing) for sleep apnea sufferers tended to “melt away” visceral body fat.

Hmmm. So if fixing a disruption of sleep also improves the individual’s shape, it could be gathered that sleep deprivation is a direct cause, not a result, of weight gain. As Dr. Gregory and Dr. Mark write, “We have observed cases of sleep-deprived individuals getting fatter despite their best efforts at eating well and exercising appropriately. And we have seen a reversal in this struggle once they began to get more, or better quality, sleep.”

Check back soon for the next blog post: Common Disrupters of Sleep!

From the American Bar Association—another perspective on some aspects of the ACA (Obamacare) of which I was certainly unaware.

The below newsletter was sent to me via a friend – it shocked me.

I get there is need for oversight when Uncle Sam is handing out taxpayer money and when there are many people gaming the system – effectively stealing $$ and care from those who need it….  But…

With the amount of new regulations, changing rules, and  increasing penalties a small-time medical practice has to spend a lot of time and money just to not get in trouble with the government.    These new regulations might be good for the bean-counters but it will be forcing many small practices out of business.

I would criticize this as being anti-job creation, but with an additional $350 million tax dollars being assigned to hire fraud investigators I suppose the administration thinks this is a wash.   Geesh.

Already the legal climate of suing-for-malpractice-as-a-lottery-game causes doctors to think about patients as potential plantiffs –   Now increasing regulations cause doctors to have to think of patients as a regulatory burden and the cause of a potential out-of-nowhere fraud accusation.   What happened to doctors thinking of Patients as PATIENTS?    You know – the folks we took oaths to act in the best interest of ??

I practice medicine with a passion for finding underlying causes.  Unfortunately that style of practice does not fit in the name-the-disease, blame-the-disease, tame-the-disease  (or “script-em & street-em” if one will be a bit more crude) model the government bean-counters use for assessment.   I will not stand for being accused of fraud (and I never have been) when I am simply trying to do the best for my patients. IF you take government money you have to play by government rules. I do not believe any governmental agency can do a better job of caring for my patients than me.   For this reason I opted out of Medicare in 2007 and enjoy a relationship with my Medicare-aged patients that is now …well…  sacred.

Nobody between me and my patient.   Yea, I am a little possessive that way.     I serve them and they pay me.   If you could afford otherwise would you want a government-hired lawyer to defend you?   If you could afford otherwise would you want a government-contracted accountant to oversee your business?        Getting the government out of the middle of paying for healthcare is the only sure-fire way to get the government out of dictating what goes on in the exam room.   Some people don’t care about this – and that is fine – but I do.

Regulations on healthcare have far-reaching and practice-modifying implications for the kind of health care that is and will be available for you and your family.   Some are necessary, all are not bad, but all will change healthcare in several unforeseen ways.

Subject: Supreme Court Case Brief & Summaries: Enforcement Provisions of the Affordable Care Act;

Supreme Court Case Brief & Summaries A Service from the ABA Criminal Justice Section, www.americanbar.org/crimjust

“Supreme Court ACA Ruling Leaves Intact Little-Known Enforcement Provisions?

By Dan Small, Holland & Knight

The avalanche of media over the Affordable Care Act (ACA), combined with the sheer volume of the bill, have managed to obscure several extraordinary enforcement provisions which, if on their own, would be earthshaking themselves.

Today’s Supreme Court opinion not only leaves the high profile issues intact, but essentially the whole of the Act’s 974 pages. Lawyers who represent healthcare executives and entities need to focus on what’s in the Act beyond the scope of the national debate. Here are some of the key points.

Lowered Intent Standard: The Act, at pp. 698 and 913, lowered the government’s burden of proof for most healthcare fraud cases. Before, a defendant had to act “knowingly and willfully.” But the Act provides that, “a person need not have actual knowledge of this section or specific intent to commit a violation” of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS)( § 6402). This directly overrules decisions in a variety of courts requiring intent for an AKS conviction. For example, the Ninth Circuit, in Hanlester Network v. Shalala, 51 F.3d 1390 (9th Cir. 1995), held that, to convict under the AKS, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants, “(1) know that [the AKS] prohibits offering or paying remuneration to induce referrals, and (2) engage in prohibited conduct with the specific intent to disobey the law.”

Combine this with the so-called “One Purpose” rule that the OIG has been focused on, based largely on United States v. Greber, 760 F.2d 68 (3d Cir. 1985), and the impact may be significant. In combination, one could argue – for example – that if a healthcare executive approves a normal and legitimate payment to a third party for services rendered, but “one purpose” of that payment may be to encourage the person to use the company’s products, that may be a criminal kickback, even if the executive did not understand or intend that to be a violation. Then put this together with one of the Act’s other provisions, that increases the Sentencing Guidelines by 20-50% for a wide range of healthcare crimes (p. 912, §10606).

Increased Investigations: The HHS Secretary must expand and enhance data matching agreements among Federal agencies, making it easier for Federal agencies to share data and identify suspects. These expanded powers are matched by expanded funding. The Act dedicates $350 million over the next ten years to combat fraud and abuse, including the hiring of additional federal investigators and agents (§ 6402).

Required Compliance Programs: The Act requires all healthcare providers and suppliers to adopt compliance programs as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid, thus strengthening the program requirements for providers, suppliers and contractors (§ 6401 ). The OIG will establish the “Core Elements” of these compliance programs, but it’s a fair bet that they will be based, at least in broad brush, on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ “Minimum Requirements”. The time to get moving on this, for those not already engaged in the process, is now.

More Self-Reporting: The physician self-referral statute (or Stark law), prohibits a physician from making referrals for certain health services payable by Medicare, to an entity with which he or she has a financial relationship (ownership, investment, or compensation). Section 6409(a) of the ACA directed HHS to develop and implement the Medicare Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP), to facilitate self-reporting where someone believes there is an actual or potential violation. Section 6409(b) allows HHS to reduce the penalty for self-reported violations. Previously, there was no centralized procedure to voluntarily disclose a violation.

Turning Overpayments Into False Claims: Section 1128J(d)(1) of the Act requires anyone who has received a Medicare/Medicaid overpayment to report and return it, and to notify the government of the reason for the overpayment. The Act (1128J(d)(2)) generally requires that an overpayment be reported and returned within 60 days. Any overpayment retained after the deadline is an obligation for purposes of the False Claims Act (1128J(d)(3)). This means that simple errors in a cost report could subject a provider to False Claims Act liability, if the overpayment is not returned to the government in time. CMS also applies the False Claims Act definition of knowledge to overpayments, so that a provider cannot avoid having actual knowledge if they act in reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of the overpayment.

While the publicity and conversation has swirled around the broader reform provisions of the Act, what remains after the Supreme Court’s decision are still dramatic changes in the healthcare enforcement world.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Dan Small is a litigation partner in Holland & Knight’s Boston and Miami offices, a former federal prosecutor, and the former General Counsel of a national healthcare company. He is a frequent legal speaker and commentator, and the author of several ABA books on litigation, including Preparing Witnesses (3d Edition, 2009). The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the authors and editors, and have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association. Accordingly, these views should not be construed as representing the policy of the American Bar Association unless adopted pursuant to its Bylaws.

“Half of us mismanage our sleep to the point it negatively affects our health and safety. On average, each of us sleeps one and a half fewer hours each night than our great-grandparents did a century ago.”

- William Dement, MD, founder and director of Stanford University Sleep Research Center. “The Promise of Sleep”. 1999: Dell Publishing

Sleep provides our bodies with nourishment, just as food does. And just like food, quality is just as, if not more important than quantity. It doesn’t matter how LONG your body is in bed if the quality of your sleep is poor. Expecting poor quality sleep to meet our sleep needs is the equivalent of expecting junk food to meet our body’s nutritional needs.

Our brains keep detailed records of the amount of sleep that they are owed.  Getting insufficient sleep means that your “bank account” is overdrawn – you owe your brain sleep. This “sleep debt” must be paid off hour for hour by getting a full night’s rest, or your body’s “collection agency” will begin to take over and snatch up your other “health assets”.

This “sleep debt”, or chronic sleep deprivation, affects millions of people in the United States. It has been found to hasten the onset of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, memory loss, cancer, and immune dysfunction. In addition to these, it also ages our metabolism prematurely and leads to body fat accumulation.

Think you have a sleep debt? Try answering the questions below:

Do you use or need an alarm clock to wake?

Are you usually in the middle of a dream when your alarm clock goes off?

Do you feel very tired while driving?

Do you need your morning coffee before you feel awake?

Do you often think that “a bit more sleep” would help you feel refreshed?

Are you moody, depressed, or irritable throughout the day?

Are you sensitive to cold?

Do you crave carbs and sugar?

Do you crave soda, tea, coffee, cigarettes, or stimulants to help you get through the day?

Do you use sleeping pills on a regular basis?

Do you sleep late on weekends?

Do you need one or more naps to get through your day?

Are you over 65?

Do you fall asleep listening to music or watching TV?

Do you usually snore?

Have you gained more than 5 pounds over the past year?

Do you smoke or are you exposed to second-hand smoke routinely?

Do you tire easily or have trouble breathing during exertion?

Do you consume a moderate amount of alcohol routinely? Do you occasionally drink to intoxication?

Do you chronic pain or muscle cramps?

Do you have high blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, and/or homocysteine?

Have you been diagnosed with a sleep disorder (such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or insomnia)?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these statements, it is likely that you at least have a small sleep dept. If you answered “Yes” to most of these statements, your sleep account is considerably overdrawn. Check back soon to see the next blog entries in this series: How Sleep Affects Weight, Common Disrupters of Sleep, and How to Repay Your Sleep Debt!

Ok,  I am putting a line in the sand…   I predict the Institute of Medicine and the authors of the recent paper on Vitamin D could indirectly be responsible for excess deaths and increased disease as a result of people following their recommendations.    The report basically said that 600 IU of vitamin D is enough for everybody and every concern and that more than 4000 iU a day is dangerous.

Balderdash on both counts.

See the full commentary from Dr. Cannell below for more of the facts… now I will continue my rant…. 

This is a great example of how reactive the thinking in “medicine”  is and how we are having a hard time seeing the bigger picture of HEALTH rather than DISEASE.    You see,  Creating Health is very different than Treating Disease.   The IOM is working from a flawed paradigm that has largely caused our current health crisis.   They examine the data (likely not consciously)  like we should wait for a dysfunction to get so severe that we cannot ignore it any longer, name that dysfunction a “Disease” and now treat it with potent medications that often throw off-kilter the body’s own self-adaptive strategies.

These Treat-’em-and-street-’em approaches can be studied using a Randomized Trial (DBRPCT)  which assumes all people are “average and identical” so a single powerful (and often highly profitable patented) drug can be applied to all people (big market share).  This is even if that drug only makes a whiff of a difference that is impressively called statistically significant but is really nearly clinically meaningless.   All this is reinforced by our medical reimbursement system that pays us doctors to treat “Disease” and not to restore function… Too much positive reinforcement on the $$$ side of things to make many want to see change.   ….. Yea, that is a whole another series of posts to unpack those statements….  but the bottom line is the IOM is being REACTIVE instead of PROACTIVE in approaching this question and that approach is nested within a greater framework of the philosophy of the medical-industry in these times.

Finally just look at their darn name… the Institute of MEDICINE.    As long as we keep things “diseases” and don’t work earlier upstream in prevention and improvement of function the medical establishment will be forced to continue using last-ditch powerful medications, and thereby maintain control over the prescription pad and control over the money stream.    It is time to break the broken “Medical-Treatment System”  and replace it with true Health Care which focuses upon individual health-responsibility, and function and quality of life centered outcomes.    AND Don’t you DARE call what we currently have a  “Health Care System” because the payment structure for services and therefore most services themselves are not focused either on either health or care at present.

One clinical note.   I have been impressed with how much better Allergy Elimination Treatments proceed when an individual has enough vitamin D.    This makes good biochemical and physiological sense – as does taking fish oil – to improve the immune response to sublingual immunotherapy.   More on our approach to allergies at MaxWell Clinic.

Since Dr. Cannel has the right to speak on this topic at length given that he has dedicated the decade to fleshing out the story of Vitamin D in full I am reproducing his response to the IOM Vitamin D paper in full below.  Here is the link to the Vitamin D research counsil.

WHY is my kid bouncing off the wall?   Maybe he/she is toxic.   Seriously.   In a recent study of US children, those with higher levels of organophosphate (OPs) pesticide metabolites in their urine were more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children with lower levels, researchers report in the June issue of Pediatrics.

“Each 10-fold increase in urinary concentration of organophosphate metabolites was associated with a 55% to 72% increase in the odds of ADHD,” says lead study author Maryse F. Bouchard, PhD, of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Montreal. ADHD is characterized by inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity to the degree that the child has an impaired ability to learn and function at home and at school.

The Centers for Disease control says about three to seven percent of school-aged children suffer from ADHD, but it seems like more and more kids are being put on drugs to ‘calm them down’.  At MaxWell Clinic we have been doing more and more EEG neurofeedback and non-drug interventions to address this epidemic of attention and it is obvious that there is far more going on in the cause of this than just family history.   This is part of the “soup” of the brain that is being compromised.

In our testing of environmental toxins (which include organochlorine pesticides, PCB’s, VOC’s, parabens, phthalates, lead, mercury, and others) we are often shocked at the high body burdens present.    These compounds are by definition TOXIC, but because they occur in such great numbers and interact with each other over a long life-time and because each person’s genetics upon which they act are unique it is very hard to sort out the cause-and-effect nature of these things… Yet that does not excuse us from doing something about it!    I have given up on the cop-out that we need omniscience before action is taken.

Previous investigations of pesticides have focused on special groups with high levels of exposure, such as children from agricultural communities, and reported pesticides-related cognitive deficits (involving memory and attention), and behavioral problems. “This is the first study to link exposure to pesticides at levels common in the general population with adverse health effects,” noted Dr. Bouchard.

Dr. Goldstein, a specialist in child neurology with Western Neurological Associates in Salt Lake City, Utah, said the data on organophosphate pesticides and ADHD are similar to the data being developed 30 to 40 years ago with lead exposure, and it may turn out to be the same thing — that even small exposures (to organophosphate pesticides) are very harmful to kids.

People are commonly exposed to OP pesticides through eating fresh and processed vegetables, contacting pesticide-contaminated surfaces, breathing air near pesticide applications (both indoors and outdoors), and drinking pesticide-contaminated water.

Approximately 40 organophosphate pesticides are registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). About 70% of insecticides (pesticides that kill insects) used in the United States are OP pesticides.

Peaches, apples, grapes, green beans, and pears are among those fruits and vegetables that are conventionally grown with OP pesticides and are most commonly eaten by children, according to FoodNews.org. A 2008 US study revealed detectable concentrations of the organophosphate malathion in 28% of frozen blueberry samples, 25% of strawberry samples, and 19% of celery samples.

Other top uses of OP pesticides include corn, cotton, wheat, other field crops, and for termite and mosquito control. Certain pest control products for cats and dogs contain OP compounds.

OPs of primary concern include: azinphos-methyl (product name Guthion,chlorpyrifos (products Lorsban and Dursban), diazinon (product name Spectracide), dichlorvos (DDVP), dimethoate, thephon, malathion, methamidophos, naled, and oxydemeton-methyl.
How can we limit exposure?

Because of the known dangers pesticides pose to humans, the U.S. EPA limits how much residue can stay on food. But “the new study shows it’s possible even tiny, allowable amounts of pesticide may affect brain chemistry,” warns Virginia Rauh, a PhD at Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health who has studied prenatal exposures to pesticides. It seems prudent, therefore, to reduce pesticides exposure by reducing their use in agriculture.

Initial steps to take:

Change your mindset -  Organic foods don’t look as pretty because a few insects have taken a bite of them.   That is better than the fruit taking a bite out of your brain.   See the inner beauty of a not-so shiny apple that has been raised organically.

Choose organic produce, including frozen organic produce. A 2008 Emory University study found that in children who switched to organically grown fruits and vegetables, urine levels of pesticide compounds dropped to undetectable or close to undetectable levels.

Check the labels on any older pest control or gardening products in your household to make sure they do not contain chlorpyrifos (or Dursban, its trademarked name). If they do, contact your sanitation department for information on how to dispose of it as household hazardous waste, or check www.Earth911.org for information on hazardous waste disposal in your area.

Checking the label on pet care products. Avoid flea collars that list propoxur, tetrachlorvinphos, amitraz or carbaryl (recently cancelled for use in flea collars) as active ingredients. Instead, give your pet regular baths with a pesticide-free pet shampoo, and use a flea comb between baths; launder your pet’s bedding in hot water, and vacuum carpets regularly to eliminate flea eggs that could be hidden there. If you do need to use a chemical flea-control product, choose those dispensed in pill form as they usually contain the least toxic chemicals, and won’t leave a residue on your pet or in your home.

A good article at the Organic Authority has some more hints.  Leah Schuchter – who has interest in peri-natal wellness has this to say.

OK,  remember the commercials for Orlistat?  You know the ones.. the great weight loss drug that after a bunch of images of thin people dancing around with shining post-Viagra smiles plastered on their face THEN had to enumerate the side-effects of the medication… one of which was “oily rectal discharge”.

You know that Americans are desperate to loose weight if they will accept “oily rectal discharge” as a stated side-effect.    This drug has been a blockbuster as it has now gone over-the-counter as Alli.   Now you no longer need your doctor’s help to enjoy oily discharge.

But wait, there’s MORE!   Now as a bonus you can get liver failure!    This is great for business if you are a transplant surgeon or a mortician.  In August the FDA learned..

WASHINGTON — The FDA said it has received 32 reports of serious liver injury — including six cases of liver failure — among users of diet drug orlistat, which is sold as a prescription drug under the trade name Xenical and as an over-the-counter diet aid under the name Alli.

So the FDA has now confirmed these reports and is now placing a warning on the box.   Good for them – to protect us from a drug that has no known benefit except short-term-weight-loss-from-oily-discharge.  Your tax dollars at work.

In two of the reported cases, the patients died from liver failure, and in three cases patients required liver transplantation.

According to the FDA’s statement, healthcare professionals should weigh the risks of the medications with the benefits of weight loss before recommending orlistat to their patients.

Just read that last statement again…  It might have some shred of helpfulness IF ORLISTAT WERE NOT OVER-THE-COUNTER as Alli !!

The tragedy of these type of medications is that they have the same effect as taking a battery out of a screaming fire-alarm.   Suppressing the symptoms without treating the cause.    There are solutions to weight loss that work long-term and do not endanger the very life you are trying to live better.  We advocate these at the MaxWell Clinic.

I have also had the privilege to write the forward on an amazing book on this subject that will be out in the next month.   It helps people to find those hidden causes of worsened weight and shape.  More to come on that when it hits the shelf.

So if you can get by with missing your oily discharge, then please throw away your Alli and Orlistat and use your liver for more enjoyable adventures.

So, THIS is why The Boss wants me to sleep…he has an agenda…Like number 1,2,3 & 4 on the left…and probably 5,6 & 7 as well.  Number 8 means HE has to work for ME.  WAKE UP CALL to the dangers of sleep deprivation!