DESTROY ALL PATHOGENS IN DONATED BLOOD

". . . technology to inactivate nearly all pathogens in donated blood exists—and [has] for over a decade." 

from Wired . . .

Giving blood is a reminder that human are sacks of microbes, and blood is a very good way to spread the nasty ones. Have you ever used needles to take drugs? the questionnaires probe. Had a tattoo? Lived with a person who has hepatitis? And even if you’ve done none of the above, you could still have some new virus no one ever thought to ask about. Like Zika. Last week, Brazil reported its first cases of Zika transmission via blood transfusion.

But that’s preventable, even the new viruses. The technology to inactivate nearly all pathogens in donated blood exists—and it’s existed for over a decade.

In Europe, blood banks have been using Cerus’s Intercept system for platelets and blood plasma transfusions since the early 2000s. In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration finally approved the system in the US. And this week, Cerus announced a partnership with the American Red Cross, the single largest supplier of blood products in the US.

In a time of Zika and chikungunya and other once obscure viruses creeping through the Americas, a system that can knock out all pathogens, known or unknown, makes sense. “It is not practical to keep adding a new test every time some emerging disease comes along,” says Jed Gorlin, medical director of Memorial Blood Centers in Minnesota. “We cannot possibly keep up.” The American Red Cross’s battery of current tests, used on all donated blood, includes six viruses, including HIV and hepatitis B and C. Each additional test adds somewhere around several dollars per unit of blood.

The system especially makes sense in places where wide-spread diseases threaten the safety of the blood supply. In Puerto Rico, where the chikungunya virus is prevalent, the Red Cross has already been testing Intercept in the blood supply. And if it’s widely implemented in the US, the system would certainly ease the minds of hyper-vigilant blood recipients in mosquito-friendly climates. But the killer app for a system like Intercept may not have to do with viruses but bacteria. It’s all about the money. To understand that, it helps to understand how Intercept works.

Intercept exploits a simple distinction: The useful components of donated blood—platelets, plasma, and red blood cells—do not contain any DNA or RNA. Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and even white blood cells, which are dangerous when transfused into immunosuppressed patients, do. Blood banks add a molecule called amotosalen to bags of platelets or plasma, and the molecule binds to the DNA or RNA when activated with UV light. The amotosalen is like a lock that prevents pathogens from replicating. Any extra amotosalen is then filtered out. The whole process takes just a few minutes.

Keep reading . . .

Your Lymphatic System: A Place Where Impurities Reside
 

THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM: WHAT IS IT?

The lymphatic system primarily consists of lymphatic vessels, which are similar to the circulatory system's veins and capillaries. The vessels are connected to lymph nodes, where the lymph is filtered. The tonsils, adenoids, spleen and thymus are all part of the lymphatic system.

Your lymphatic system is essentially your immune system.  All of the organs involved in the lymphatic system work to produce white blood cells to fight off infection.  

The spleen, which is located on the left side of the body just above the kidney, is the largest lymphatic organ, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). It controls the amount of red blood cells and blood storage in the body, and helps to fight infection. If the spleen detects potentially dangerous bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms in the blood, it — along with the lymph nodes — creates white blood cells called lymphocytes, which act as defenders against invaders. The lymphocytes produce antibodies to kill the foreign microorganisms and stop infections from spreading. Humans can live without a spleen, although people who have lost their spleen to disease or injury are more prone to infections.

Your tonsils are part of your lymphatic system.  Why do doctors insist upon having them removed?  They certainly should not be removed.  If they are swollen and infected, simply take Vitamin C, bring the swelling down and diminish the viral load of the infection.  Seems to me to be pretty easy.  But "doctors know best" I guess.  Uh, they don't.  If they're just following orders from their medical school days then they are just boobus. 

Tonsils are large clusters of lymphatic cells found in the pharynx. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, they are the body's "first line of defense as part of the immune system. They sample bacteria and viruses that enter the body through the mouth or nose." They sometimes become infected, and although tonsillectomies occur much less frequently today then they did in the 1950s, it is still among the most common operations performed and typically follows frequent throat infections.

SYMPTOMS of LYMPHATIC CONGESTION [good video here too]

Rings get tight on fingers

Soreness and/or stiffness in the morning

Feeling tired

Bloating

Itchy skin

Holding on to water

[for women only: Breast swelling or soreness with each cycle]

Dry skin

Brain fog

Cold hands and feet

FOOD REMEDIES for YOUR LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

The standard approach to your lymphatic system sounds like it is one of detoxing.  Yeah, since your lymphatic system is your immune system and it ain't working well, it means that you're chronically ill. There are foods and herbs to repair this condition and get your lymph system up to par.  Sydney Ross Singer suggests eating raw foods as one of the approaches to detoxing the lymph system.  I agree to a point.  One or two servings a day perhaps.  But your body really does well when foods are cooked.  Absorption is better.  His other suggestions I like.

Michelle Schoffro Cook recommends astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal or wild indigo root tea, though she doesn't explain why these particular teas improve the lymph system. 

Lynette Hingle recommends similar herbs. "Use herbs to clean out your lymphatic system. Dandelion root, yellow dock root, burdock root, goldenseal, nettles, parsley and myrrh cleanse your lymphatic system, says DetoxSafely.org."  In addition to these herbs, she also recommends the following "Eat natural foods that cleanse your lymphatic system. Some lymphatic cleansing foods are dark green vegetables, ginger, sea kelp, citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges, flax seeds, wheatgrass juice, radishes and garlic."

She adds some pretty sound advice on what to avoid:

Avoid processed foods. Processed foods put a strain on your lymphatic system, says DetoxSafely.org. Avoid white bread, candy, processed meats such as luncheon meats and hot dogs, fast foods, canned foods and packaged dinners, cereals and baked goods.
    

A Simple Guide to Types of Massage Therapy

from Inada
The art of massage has been practiced throughout the world for centuries. There are many different types of massage that are found to be the most commonly practiced, especially in the United States.

Most people think that a massage is something luxurious that is only sought after when they want to indulge themselves or “treat” someone else for a special occasion.

More recently, massage therapy has actually been proven to be a legitimate medical practice that aids in the healing of injuries, back pain, headaches, osteoarthritis, and even cancer. Massage has also been proven to help lower heart rate, blood pressure, and reduce stress.
 
Popular Types Of Massage Therapy:
In the United States alone, there are a number of popular massage techniques and styles. What follows is a little bit of information about some of the approaches to massage that are popular in the U.S.

SWEDISH MASSAGE
Swedish Massage is frequently what we mean when we talk generically about “massage therapy,” and is the most basic type of massage performed by trained therapists.
 
The massage therapist uses specific massage oils or lotions while creating long smooth strokes, kneading, and circular movements on superficial layers of muscle.  

4 common strokes of Swedish massage are: Effleurage, Petrissage, Friction, and Tapotement.

Effleurage relaxes the soft tissue of the body by using a smooth, gliding stroke.

Petrissage is the squeezing, rolling, and kneading of the body that follows the effleurage stroke.

Friction is used throughout the massage by creating deep, circular movements causing layers of muscle tissue to rub against each other. This helps to increase blood flow and break down scar tissue.
Finally, the use of a short, alternating tap done with cupped hands, fingers or the edge of the hand is called Tapotement. This is done on the topmost layers of the muscles.

This is all combined with movement of the joints, resulting in the relief of muscle tension. This enables Swedish massage therapy to be both relaxing and energizing. The techniques used in Swedish massage also make it a common therapy to be used after an injury in order to help quicken the healing process and breakdown scar tissue. 

For the specific type of massage you're looking for, please continue reading . . . .

"Turmeric contains polyphenols [with] . . . 600 health benefits."

I am beginning to believe all of the online buzz about the health benefits of turmeric, even the regenerative capacity of this spice.

So what's in turmeric that makes it so special and, quite frankly, so powerful?  Those compounds are curcumin, the main active ingredient in turmeric. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory and a very strong antioxidant; however, "the curcumin content of turmeric is not that high… it’s around 3%, by weight."  Despite its power, curcumin, the compound that most of the studies done on turmeric are based, does not absorb well.  IF you system is in some form of disrepair, you will definitely benefit from any amounts of turmeric your first time using the spice as a medicinal.  Kris Gunners insists that

. . . curcumin is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream. It helps to consume black pepper with it, which contains piperine… a natural substance that enhances the absorption of curcumin by 2000% (3).

Gunners gives us a tip on how to consume turmeric so as to get higher absorption:

I personally prefer to swallow a few whole peppercorns along with my curcumin supplement, in order to enhance absorption.  Curcumin is also fat soluble, so it may be a good idea to take it with a fatty meal.

One article from Alma Sommer claims that turmeric is "more effective at fighting headaches than Ibuprofen."  She explains that the patients in the study that compared Ibuprofen to turmeric that the patients "showed greater performance and claimed they had a higher level of satisfaction then that of the ibuprofen group."  And this point kind of brings home the advantages and disadvantages:

While Turmeric has been known as a safe and natural pain killer for centuries, Ibuprofen has been found to be very damaging.  Turmeric contains polyphenol which has been shown to have over 600 health benefits. “The Lancet review has found ibuprofen to be as toxic to the heart as Vioxx, a banned anti-inflammatory drug that caused thousands of deaths from cardiovascular diseases.” Turmeric is also very affordable and according to this study, it is definitely the better choice when it comes to remedying what ails you.

Turmeric is an excellent anti-inflammatory, but so are a lot of other foods, spices, minerals, etc.  Garlic is anti-inflammatory.  So are fish oils, one that Dr. Barry Sears called miraculous.  With so many choices of effective anti-inflammatory medicines available, it makes sense to select the ones that don't cost and arm and a leg, ones that we can take on a regular basis, part of our daily meals perhaps, and ones that have the least amount of unpleasant side effects. 

Okay, so we know that turmeric is an excellent anti-inflammatory.  Gunners tells us that it prevents cancer, that it lowers the risk of heart disease, that it prevents and treats Alzheimer's disease, works as a great arthritis medicine, fights depression, delays aging and fights age-related chronic disease, that it improves brain function and lowers risk of brain diseases, and increases the anti-oxidant capability of your body.  So it does a lot. 

One benefit I've seen and read over and over again are turmeric's benefits on the brain.  Gunners explains that it improves brain function, but what kind of function, suffering from what conditions?  He explains:

The neurons are capable of forming new connections, but in certain areas of the brain, they can also multiply and increase in number.  One of the main drivers of this process is Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which is a type of growth hormone that functions in the brain (20).  Many common brain disorders have been linked to decreased levels of this hormone. This includes depression and Alzheimer’s disease (21, 22).  Interestingly, curcumin can increase brain levels of BDNF (23, 24).  By doing this, it may be effective at delaying or even reversing many brain diseases and age-related decreases in brain function (25).  There is also the possibility that it could help improve memory and make you smarter. Makes sense given its effects on BDNF levels, but this definitely needs to be tested in human controlled trials (26).

Another article by BioMed Central says that turmeric "boosts the regeneration of brain stem cells."  That's stem cells; not brainstem cells.   "The [subventricular zone (SVZ)] and hippocampus are the two sites in adult mammalian brains where neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, is known to occur."

My advice, my unprofessional, anecdotal advice?  Put two teaspoons of turmeric into a smoothie.  You can make the smoothie using your favorite kind of milk or yogurt.  Be sure to add the black pepper kernels for greater absorption.  Some folks will add pineapple or papaya or their favorite fruit.  Coconut is a great addition too.  A couple of folks at YouTube have suggested using orange juice as the base of your smoothie instead of milk or yogurt.  Okay.  

Further benefits of turmeric here.

MAGNESIUM HELPS FIX CALCIUM PROPERLY

"Magnesium helps to fix calcium properly"

One of the supplements that I love, one in which there are no adverse side effects, is magnesium.  When I do have a bout of high blood pressure, I take magnesium, and it is gone and managed for the next several months.  And because this mineral is so important in managing this condition and has benefits overall for everything else, I do prefer to take this nutrient in supplement form instead of a food.  Why?  Because some of the foods that are high in magnesium I have a mild allergy to.  Not allergic to bananas, but the sugar content does not help me.  I am, however, mildly allergic to brown rice.  I like brown rice.  I eat it on rare, rare occasions because I like the taste and like how I can doctor it up with vegetables, spices, meats, and so forth.  But I can only tolerate this on rare, rare occasions.  

The particular kind of magnesium that I take is Life Extension's, Magnesium L-Threonate.  This stuff produces amazing dreams when you sleep.  Talk about waking up refreshed and cogent.  Love this stuff.  Though truth be told I do like GABA for relaxation and focus.  But there are other benefits one obtains from magnesium, and I've lifted them from this article by Marcus Julian Felicetti and listed them below.  I thought that they were worth a gander.  

Though I am not a big advocate of high doses of anything or of everything, and not using the nutrient or soil deficiency argument but instead pointing to a diet that is inconsistent, I do believe that taking a little extra for a short time does right the ship so to speak.  Like a cold, for example.  It doesn't hurt to take high doses of Vitamin C with the sole and exclusive purpose of diminishing the viral load, particularly if you're living with other people whose immunity might be vulnerable during the winter months from being inside more hours of the day than, say, in the summer.  It's not nice to get other people sick.  Try it some time, and you'll see what it does to long-standing friendships.

Felicetti points to insufficient nutrients in our foods:

If you think that the amount of Magnesium you obtain from your food is sufficient without supplementation, then I would say thinking is for people who don't know. Be sure by having it tested. And when you do have it tested, aim to have optimum levels of Magnesium, not just meeting the minimum.

Then he reminds us that our soil is deficient, even on farms where organic products are grown:

Remember that even organic soils are depleted of minerals. And non-organic farming has virtually no nutrients in it. Furthermore, there are many ways in which Magnesium is lost from the body, e.g. alcohol, coffee, black tea, grains, soy, most pharmaceutical drugs, calcium supplements.

He adds that

Regular supplementation is a reliable way to boost your magnesium levels. For more information on what kinds of magnesium supplements are well absorbed and utilized, see my website.

Here is his list of benefits of Magnesium:

1. Better sleep - The sleep-regulating hormone melatonin is disturbed when Magnesium is deficient. Furthermore, Magnesium brings balance and controls stress hormones. Stress and tension are often reasons why people suffer from insomnia in the first place.

2. Relaxes the nervous system - Serotonin, which relaxes the nervous system and elevates mood, is dependent on Magnesium.

3. Bigger, stronger muscles - Magnesium allows the body to produce more Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1), which is a major contributor to the growth and strength of muscles. Furthermore, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the cell's energy store and is created with help from Magnesium.

4. Better flexibility -Magnesium loosens tight muscles. Without Magnesium, muscles do not relax properly and cramps occur. Magnesium is important for flexibility, because of low Magnesium results in a buildup of lactic acid, causing pain and tightness.

5. Bone integrity and strength - Magnesium helps to fix calcium properly. It may blow some people's minds that the calcium supplements they're taking are not only useless but are actually contributing to osteoporosis! There are actually about eighteen essential nutrients that contribute to bone health; Magnesium is definitely one of the most essential because it stimulates a particular hormone called calcitonin. And, it also suppresses a hormone called parathyroid that breaks down bone.

6. Remineralizes teeth -Magnesium deficiency causes an unhealthy balance of phosphorous and calcium in saliva, which damages teeth.

7. Alkalizes the body -Magnesium helps return the body’s pH balance. Magnesium reduces lactic acid, which is partly responsible for post-exercise pain (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

8. Hydrates -Magnesium is a necessary electrolyte essential for proper hydration.

9. Helps to relieve constipation -Magnesium can be used to cleanse the bowels of toxins.

10. Enzyme function -Enzymes are protein molecules that stimulate every chemical reaction in the body. Magnesium is required to make hundreds of these enzymes work and assists with thousands of others.

11. Diabetes -Magnesium enhances insulin secretion, which facilitates sugar metabolism. Without Magnesium, glucose is not able to transfer into cells. Glucose and insulin build up in the blood, causing various types of tissue damage, including the nerves in the eyes.

There are many other benefits of Magnesium: It helps prevent stroke, heart disease, period pain, and more. You can check out my website for further information on Magnesium and how exactly to increase magnesium levels effectively.