"For all those tax dollars, there is still a long waiting list for a host of operations, both routine and urgent."

from David Krayden at the Daily Caller

“Free” Canadian healthcare is not free, according to a report released Tuesday by noted conservative Canadian think-tank, The Fraser Institute.

The report illuminates that a “typical Canadian family of four will pay $12,057 for health care in 2017—an increase of nearly 70 percent over the last 20 years.”

Canada operates under a medicare system that is understood as single-payer. Not only does the federal government use money from its general revenue to finance this taxpayer-funded health care system, individual provinces also contribute by raising money through special levies that are deducted when Canadians pay their income tax.

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spoke repeatedly of her admiration for Canadian medicare, and Congressional Democrats could be moving in that direction in their response to the implosion of Obamacare.

“Health care in Canada isn’t free—Canadians actually pay a substantial amount for health care through their taxes, even if they don’t pay directly for medical services,” said Bacchus Barua, senior economist with the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Health Policy Studies, in a statement. He is the co-author of the institute’s report: The Price of Public Health Care Insurance,2017.

For all those tax dollars, there is still a long waiting list for a host of operations, both routine and urgent. Another Fraser Institute study recently revealed that 63,000 Canadians left the country in 2016 to seek medical assistance elsewhere — usually the U.S.

The think-tank compiled information from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information to base its claim that the “average Canadian family with two parents and two children with a household income of $127,814 will pay $12,057 for public health-care insurance this year.”

Barua told The Daily Caller that Canada is in a health care crisis. “Services are being rationed. In our last report on wait times in Canada, we discovered that the average wait time from referral to treatment was 20 weeks. That was the longest wait time in the history of our survey,” he said

The senior economist emphasized that the study was designed to show Canadian families what kind of value they’re getting for their health care dollar.  They will have reason to look at things differently if they read this study,” Barua told The Daily Caller..

h/t Lew Rockwell

8 GRAMS OF TURMERIC FOR FIVE YEARS STRIKES ANOTHER BLOW TO CANCER!!

As I read this article, what caught my attention was the "after five years of treatment."  Plus the treatment did not consist entirely or exclusively of turmeric.  It involved other medicines, "A woman diagnosed with blood cancer has beaten the disease with the "help" of turmeric," meaning not exclusively with turmeric.  Which makes one wonder--what percentage of the cure was achieved by turmeric, and which percentage of the cure was due to her other prescribed medicine? 

The article headlines nicely, "SPICE UP YOUR LIFE."  It sounds good. Followed by this upbeat piece

Dieneke Ferguson took eight grams of curcumin each night for five years and her cancer has remained stable.  

Again, not too bad.  But one must read on.  

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE

Eating curry is GOOD for you! Turmeric helped cancer patient, 57, beat myeloma after five years of treatment.

Dieneke Ferguson took eight grams of curcumin each night for five years and her cancer has remained stable

By Andrea Downey, Digital Health Reporter

25th July 2017, 12:04 pm

Updated: 25th July 2017, 12:04 pm

A WOMAN diagnosed with blood cancer has beaten the disease with the help of turmeric.

Dieneke Ferguson, 57, was diagnosed with myeloma in 2007 after complaining of high blood pressure, according to a report in the British Medical Journal.

Dieneke took eight grams of turmeric every night and her blood cancer stabilized

Within 15 months of her diagnosis her cancer had progressed to stage three.

Dieneke underwent several rounds of chemotherapy and in October 2009 had stem cell transplant, but the treatments didn't work.

In 2011 she began taking daily doses of curcumin, a key component of the spice turmeric, after another two rounds of stem cell therapy failed.

Dieneke took eight grams each night on an empty stomach.

A few months later she began a weekly course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in an enclosed chamber that mimics higher than atmospheric pressures.

Over the last five years her cancer has remained stable and her blood counts are within the normal range.

GETTY IMAGES

Myeloma is a cancer that begins in the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell which is made in the bone marrow

She has also maintained a good quality of life during this period, according to the report.

Curcumin is a polyphenol derived from the perennial herb turmeric and has been used as a traditional Indian medicine for centuries.

Curcumin is a natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and has analgesic properties, according to the BMJ report.

More recently, it has demonstrated an ability to slow or inhibit cell growth in a wide variety of tumor cells, including myeloma.

It has also been found to help alleviate a range of other health problems.

A 2016 review, published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, found that turmeric extract could help minimize the symptoms of arthritis.

Some research has even shown turmeric could could help prevent Alzheimer's by stopping the accumulation of proteins thought to cause the disease.

A 2008 study also found that turmeric can help lower cholesterol, therefore helping to prevent serious health problems like heart disease and stroke.

Myeloma is a cancer that begins in the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell which is made in the bone marrow.

Plasma cells form part of your immune system.

Normal plasma cells produce antibodies, also called immunoglobulins, to help fight infection.

In myeloma, plasma cells become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably and release only one type of antibody known as paraprotein, which has no useful function.

Unlike many cancers, myeloma does not exist as a lump or tumour.

Most of the complications arise from a build-up of abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Treatment is often aimed at controlling the symptoms of myeloma with a combination of drugs.

Since she began taking the curcumin, Dieneke has maintained her daily dose.

She told The Mail: "I have been on all sorts of toxic drugs and the side-effects were terrifying.

"I told my oncologist I was taking it and he was very interested, especially when it apparently made such a difference."

About 5,500 people are diagnosed with myeloma every year in the UK.

It is the second most common form of blood cancer, but only represents about two per cent of all cancers.

It is a cancer that begins in the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell which is made in the bone marrow.

Plasma cells form part of your immune system.

Normal plasma cells produce antibodies, also called immunoglobulins, to help fight infection.

Dieneke took her turmeric extract orally each night.

In myeloma, plasma cells become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably and release only one type of antibody known as paraprotein, which has no useful function.

Unlike many cancers, myeloma does not exist as a lump or tumour.

Most of the complications arise from a build-up of abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Treatment is often aimed at controlling the symptoms of myeloma with a combination of drugs.

In Dieneke's case doctors said more research is needed to determine if curcumin could be a future treatment for the disease.

  

The report said: "Whether such effects are observed in patients with active disease remains to be seen.

"The fact that our patient, who had advanced stage disease and was effectively salvaged while exclusively on curcumin, suggests a potential antimyeloma effect of curcumin.

"She continues to take daily curcumin and remains in a very satisfactory condition with good quality of life.

"This case provides further evidence of the potential benefit for curcumin in myeloma.

"We would recommend further evaluation of curcumin in myeloma patients in the context of a clinical trial."

DRIVING MORE THAN 2 HOURS/DAY . . . LOWERS IQ, ESPECIALLY IN MIDDLE-AGED DRIVERS

Okay, the New York Post has this article running, which was picked up by Drudge.  And anyone who has ever driven for a living--Uber, taxi, CDL, or long commutes in your own car or as a courier--these guys know all about how driving long periods of time destroys health.  Now there's proof.  Actually, there's always been proof, just that . . . well, you get the picture.  Bad for your health, but also bad for your brain.  Not good!

        Spending a lot of time driving may actually put your brain in reverse.

Not good.  Why?  How bad is it?  It's bad.  

A new British study found that spending more than two hours a day behind the wheel steadily lowers IQ, especially in middle-aged drivers, according to the Sunday Times of London.

Talk about a dagger through my heart.  What's the remedy?  Move. Movement. Exercise.  Get up off your heiny.

Driving is physically and mentally sedentary and can cause stress and fatigue, all factors in brain decline, experts told the newspaper.

“Staying mentally and physically active helps keep our brains healthy, so it is not surprising,” researcher Rosa Sancho said.

CHONDROITIN SULFATE REVERSES HEART DAMAGE

"heart and blood vessel disease could be reversed and prevented with natural molecules, particularly chondroitin sulfate."

I started this blog as a way to learn how through food to maximize daily intake of nutrients.  I did so because I thought that all of the claims about supplements were hype, and that too much of the supplement ingredients were either synthetics and substitutes and not something particularly nutritionally valuable.  But I was wrong.  It doesn't mean that my original intention to learn about how to maximize my daily nutritional profile was wrong.  On the contrary.  But there are just too many factors that play a role in getting the best nutrition you can.  

One is age.  I am over 50 now and my body is not producing certain fluids or hormones that I did when I was 22.  Stomach acid, meaning Hydrochloric Acid, is less.  That means that digestion is reduced.  And absorption of nutrients also declines.  What's the answer?  If nutrient absorption is a problem, it can't be easily or readily resolved simply by eating more or doubling down on the servings of carrots or broccoli for example.  We've got to account for calories.  And it should be known by now, for anyone who's read nutritional literature at all over the last 20 years, that calorie restriction is one of the main paths to living longer.  Now these paths toward life extension are not the same paths toward looking good or doing well. Something else or something other is required for that.  So how does one proceed? Well, to repair the first problem of absorption a few things should be considered.  One is betaine hydrochloride.  Zinc Carnosine also works.  But there is a single product that perhaps resolves low stomach acid as well as a host of other gastro-intestinal issues.  And that product is Garligest.  

Okay, so there is one problem solved or at least managed with a great deal of effectiveness and satisfaction. 

What else? 

Well, it depends.  It depends if you're a woman, a man, a woman of 32 or a man of 91.  It depends if you live in Toronto or in Los Angeles.  So lots of things to consider.  Having said that, you can check this list to see what kind of deficiencies that might need correction for you.  You'll notice that I am not recommending food choices in this article; instead, I am recommending supplements as advised by Bill Sardi.  I just think that these products do better.  

Several months ago I read up on zinc and could not believe what is it is capable of doing and how a zinc deficiency can wreak havoc on so many parts of our biology.  See here and here.  It's that latter article where I learned of Abram Hoffer, M.D. Ph.D and his use of zinc in his Vitamin C cancer treatments.  Linus Pauling is the guy who is most noted for observing the positive benefits of Vitamin C on cancer.  The irony is that Pauling didn't have the success that Hoffer did, the doctor who added zinc and other nutrients to his Vitamin C treatments.  So zinc is important. It helps regrow the Thymus Gland.  So there's that.  But it also helps with blood vessels: all of them--capillaries, veins, and arteries.  So take zinc.  I tried zinc acetate early last year and my chest swelled with vigor and health.  I thought "Is that the zinc that's doing that?"  Turns out yes!  For zinc repairs the Thymus gland which sits right in front of the heart.  

Vitamin C is excellent when you're under stress. 

Vitamin D should be taken everyday.

Vitamin E is excellent for blood vessels. 

The preferred form of Selenium is Seleno Excell.

Want to stave off Alzheimer's disease and keep your brain from shrinking?  First, stay off anti-depressants and take the fat soluble B1, Thiamine, called Benfotiamine.

Chondroitin Sulfate repairs heart tissue following a heart attack, stroke, or ischemic event.  See Dr. Lester Morrison's excellent efforts in that regard. And that's Chondroitin Sulfate, divorced from Glucosamine.  Bill Sardi tags Morrison as "The Man Who Cured Heart Disease Naturally."  And as one of the most astute and specific writers, Bill Sardi does not use words lightly.  Sardi writes

His name: Dr. Lester Morrison.

His qualifications: Director and Research Professor, Institute for Arteriosclerosis Research, Loma Linda University, School of Medicine.

Author: Coronary Heart Disease and the Mucopolysaccharides (1974, Charles C. Thomas)

In 1982 Dr. Morrison wrote: "I am Lester Morrison MD, and I have been a doctor for over 50 years. Much of that time has been devoted to finding a way to stop heart disease, which killed my mother, my father and several other members of my family and remains the number one killer in the U.S. and other developed countries."

Dr. Morrison provided compelling evidence in the 1960s that heart and blood vessel disease could be reversed and prevented with natural molecules, particularly chondroitin sulfate. This was over 20 years prior to the advent of the first cholesterol-reducing statin drug, Mevacor (1987).

Dr. Morrison writes that his ideas involving heart disease went back as far as 1942. He first began is his research using natural molecules to heal damaged hearts and arteries.

Dr. Morrison’s research was published in no less than 8 different medical journals. He began his studies in the 1940s, working with choline, a natural component of lecithin.

Here are the results (below) of an early study published in the American Heart Journal. Lecithin was later to become an important component in Dr. Morrison’s Heart Saver Program. (Dr. Morrison’s book for the lay public by this title can still be purchased.)

Comparison of Survival Rates: Choline (Lecithin) Patients with coronary thrombosis (blood clots in the heart) after 3 years 115 patients Deaths with choline 115 patients Deaths without choline 14 35 Source: American Heart Journal, July—August, p. 729, 1949
He later conceived of the idea that gelatinous material, then known as mucopolysaccharides, today known as glycosaminoglycans, could heal damaged hearts and arteries. His work involved chondroitin sulfate, a molecule that is a normal component of the connective tissue in the body. Dr. Morrison calls it "the glue of life."

He noted that chondroitin is the "coronary artery’s first line of defense against invasion by foreign substances," such as cholesterol, bacteria and tumor cells. Chondroitin contributes to the elasticity of the blood vessels.  

I find this stuff fascinating if for no other reason than this healing mechanism was known when my parents got married way back in the 1940s.  And yet people are trying to figure out what works, what doesn't, and what causes the greatest risks.  It's known already.  For heart muscle, take Chondroitin Sulfate.  

Find Chondroitin Sulfate here. 

Food is certainly more pleasurable.  But due to stress at work, environmental stresses, biological stresses, or stress of any kind, if we are running deficiencies it seems to me prudent to supplement with something more than an extra serving of broccoli.

Prolotherapy Treats Low Back Pain

 A little about Dr. Thomas Dorman, MD.

Thomas Dorman, M.D., of the Paracelsus Clinic in Federal Way, Washington, died unexpectedly on March 10, 2009, my birthday. He was 72. A most articulate individualist and patriot, Tom was born in British Kenya, where his father was a coffee merchant and during WWII helped supply travel documents for Jews escaping the Nazis. When communist Jomo Kenyatta came to power, the family moved to Israel, where Tom attended high school and later served in a parachute regiment during the 1967 war. Tom went to college in Liverpool and medical school in Edinburgh, and practiced in Canada before moving to America.

He had a newsletter, called Fact, Fiction and Fraud in Modern Medicine.  Unable to find his newsletters archived except for one or two.  Here's one on colonics.   

What follows are my notes from the interview below: 

1837, the idea of provoking scarring to strengthen tissue arose from a famous Parisian surgeon named Valpo.  This was taken over to America in the 1920s and 1930s.  The first article on prolotherapy, then called sclero -therapy, was published in 1936 by Earl Gedney of Philadelphia.  Learned by the Osteopaths.  Came into the medical arena in the 1950s by George Hacket who coined prolotherapy: Growth and treatment, a positive concept.   

h/t Lew Rockwell

He knew how to treat musculoskeletal conditions.  He learned too that

It has to do with nutrition.  His practice is entirely holistic.  He uses nutrition and prolotherapy.  

Who is a candidate?  He doesn't like the word candidate.  The people who benefit are people who've not benefitted from chiropractors.  He loves chiropractors.  Shocking that the medical industry isn't interested in this. 

Ask a physician what a pelvis does and the typical answer is that it's a birth canal and it's a device for hanging on muscles and ligaments.  That's a wrong answer.  

The right answer is the pelvis is a mechanical transducer of the forces of locomotion.  The human being when healthy is more efficient than any other creature, much more efficient than a horse or a dog or . . . .  We learned from the mechanics of he pelvis why it is that people are subject to this.  Typical scenario is a person who has a fall sometime later his back goes out by which he means his sudden accession/ascension pain from an unexpected movement he's very often deformed in posture and in severe pain that can be corrected manually.  But when it keep recurring, the ligaments are weakened and by prolotherapy we provoke restrengthening.  This is how these people are cured.  People can be turned around so that people's back won't go out anymore?  Absolutely. 

Cure back pain?  That's what he means.  9 out of 10 people when diagnosed are either cured or 70% improved.  These numbers are confirmed time and again.  Functionally back to normal with nominal pain.  

Typical

8 treatments cure a very large man after 2 months.  He'd been a delivery man and he was able to go back to work.  The guy was big and gave Dr. Dorman a very big hug.  It was embarrassing.  The man, filled with gratitude, was crying.

UPDATE:  There was a follow-up to Lew's post from Dr. Gary North here:

Writes Gary North:

Lew:

I sent my wife to Dornam in 2000. She was having terrible hip pain. He cured her through one weekly injection for ten weeks.

The same injections were used by another physician in 1983 to help her with her almost immobile arm.  They also helped me with my lower back pain 30 years ago.

The simple treatment was developed by Dr. Milne Ongley of Australia, who also treated my wife in 1983.  The AMA did not approve.  No more back surgeries! He is still treating patients In Mexico.

I find this stuff fascinating.