Newsletter v2n7

"Of several remedies, the physician should choose the least sensational." Hippocrates

The DOCTOR YOURSELF (SM) NEWSLETTER Vol 2, No 7 February 10, 2002 "Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A." Written by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of 300 natural healing articles with nearly 4,000 scientific references.

NIACIN AND THE STATIN DRUGS "Could you include the interaction of statins with niacin in your newsletter? My internist said I should not take the two together, but want to take niacin for my anxiety and bipolar illness." Mr. S. L.

Do not be dissuaded from taking niacin if you are taking statin drugs for cardiovascular disease. If an underinformed physician has told you that the two don't go together, it may be because s/he is not up to date.

From the New England Journal of Medicine (Brown, BG et al, "Simvastatin and niacin, antioxidant vitamins, or the combination for the prevention of coronary disease." Vol 345:1583-1592, No 22, November 29, 2001):

"Simvastatin plus niacin provides marked clinical and angiographically measurable BENEFITS in patients with coronary disease and low HDL levels."

Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., says: "The idea that you could not take them together was never based on good data, merely a very few cases. This new finding will put a world wide increase in the use of niacin."

Another point: In this particular study, antioxidant vitamins were not seen to be of benefit because, as usual, the doses of vitamin C and carotene were too low. For some patients, the vitamin E and selenium quantities would surely need to have been higher, but these quantities were not nearly as inappropriate as those of the C and carotene. The study used "a total daily dose of 800 IU of vitamin E (as d-alpha-tocopherol), 1000 mg of vitamin C, 25 mg of natural beta carotene, and 100 µg of selenium." The doses of vitamin C and carotene should have been at least ten to twenty times larger.

Vitamin E has already been found to be of great benefit in cardiovascular disease. New England Journal of Medicine had two articles in the May 20, 1993 issue (Vol. 328, pp 1444-1456), both of which clearly support vitamin E supplementation. Persons taking vitamin E supplements had an approximately 40% reduction in cardiovascular disease. Nearly 40,000 men and 87,000 women took part in the studies. The more vitamin E they took, and the longer they took it, the less cardiovascular disease they experienced. Such effective quantities of vitamin E positively cannot be obtained from diet alone.

Stampfer, M.J., Hennekens, C.H., Manson, J., Colditz, G.A., Rosner, B. and Willett, W.C. (1993) Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary disease in women. New England Journal of Medicine. 328:1444-1449.

Rimm, E.B., Stampfer, M.J., Ascherio, A., Giovannucci, E., Colditz, G.A. and Willett W.C. (1993) Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. New England Journal of Medicine 328:1450-1456

DOCTOR YOURSELF WEBSITE OF THE MONTH Does your state have laws protecting your right to demand natural health care? Does it protect your doctor from persecution if he or she provides drugless care to you? All this and more will be found at http://www.healthlobby.com/statelaw.html , an excellent reference website that you will want to tell others about.

WHAT I PERSONALLY LOOK FOR IN A MULTIPLE VITAMIN Multiple vitamins are probably the most economical means to get the highest nutrient quantities for the lowest cost. I personally try to come as close as possible to the following everyday intake of vitamins and minerals. The asterisk ( * ) indicates a large increase over current US government standards such as the RDA or RDI, which are usually WAY too low. The following opinion does NOT include children or pregnant or lactating women, whose needs are generally higher.

FAT-SOLUBLE VITAMINS Vitamin A, AS CAROTENE, 20,000 International Units (I.U.) * (10,000 I. U. if taken as fish oil.) Vitamin D, 600 I.U. * Vitamin E, 600 I.U. * WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS (Note: The dose of the water-soluble vitamins should be divided throughout the day. To do this, just take a lesser quantity of them at each meal. Vitamin C, 6,000 milligrams (mg) * Many people need FAR more than this amount. Vitamin B-1, 65 mg * Vitamin B-2, 65 mg * Vitamin B-3, 200 mg* Vitamin B-6, 65 mg * Vitamin B-12, 125 micrograms (mcg) * Biotin, 200 micrograms * Pantothenic acid, 65 mg * Folic acid, 500 mcg

MINERALS Calcium, 1,200 mg Magnesium, 600 mg * Iron, 18 mg for non-pregnant women. (Most men do not need to supplement with iron.) Iodine, 200 micrograms Zinc, 30 mg (men) * ; 15 mg (non-pregnant women) Manganese, 10 mg * Copper, 3 mg Chromium, 200 micrograms Selenium, 100 micrograms RELATED NUTRIENTS Linoleic acid, 3,000 mg Phosphatidyl choline, 2,000 mg phosphatidyl inositol, 1,200 mg (Note: Two rounded tablespoons of lecithin granules would provide the above.)

Omega-3 fatty acids, 500 mg Citrus bioflavinoids, 1,000 mg or more

REALITY CHECK: It is not possible to find all of the above in a single tablet (unless it were nearly the size of a hockey puck.) You don't want to take all your vitamins at once, anyway. Your body absorbs more a nd wastes less if you divide the dose throughout the day.

Why so much and why so many? Because a considerable amount of research ( http://www.doctoryourself.com/bibliography.html ) shows that these higher levels of nutrients result in healthier people. A person wanting to take fewer supplements would want to go out of their way to eat more salads, eat a lot of sprouts, and drink a great deal of fresh, raw vegetable juices each day. It is even better to get many of your nutrients from good foods than it is from bottles. A really good diet will reduce but probably not eliminate one's need for supplements.

SUPPLEMENT BRANDS What vitamin company is best? There are many good brands of supplements, and I have no financial connection with any of them. My opinion is, "Take what works for you." It is my longstanding policy to decline to recommend particular supplement brands.

NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC: What's the REAL difference? This is one of the most popular questions I get after a clinical nutrition lecture. I have so much to say on this that I will need to discuss it in the next issue.

Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C: The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D. Edited by Lendon H. Smith, M.D. Life Sciences Press, 1988

Stop giving fancy greeting cards and start giving people a copy of this book instead. In just 57 pages, you can share a professional lifetime with one of the most innovative physicians of all time, Dr. Frederick Robert Klenner. He is the medical doctor that spent nearly 40 years successfully treating patients by administering enormous doses of vitamin C, usually by injection. Dr. Klenner achieved truly remarkable cures of pneumonia, herpes, mononucleosis, hepatitis, atherosclerosis, infections, multiple sclerosis, childhood diseases, fevers, and even polio... all with vitamins. He had no trade secrets; he wrote and published 27 papers on how to do exactly what he did. Why haven't you seen them? Many were published in the smaller, regional medical journals such as Tri-State Medical Journal, and the Journal of Southern Medicine and Surgery. Such articles have been hard to come by, until now. Dr. Lendon Smith has done the world a favor by editing and condensing the essence of Klenner's work into this one slim volume. References to the original papers, plus many supportive sources, are included. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the book is that it contains Dr. Klenner's very detailed instructions for the nutritional treatment of multiple sclerosis.

"Vitamin C should be given to the patient while the doctors ponder the diagnosis," wrote Dr. Klenner. "I have never seen a patient that vitamin C would not benefit." Patients and doctors are still amazed that Dr. Klenner employed 350 to 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C per day... per kilogram patient body weight! Since a kilogram is 2.2 pounds, this works out to be between 26,000 and 75,000 mg/day for a 165 pound (75 kg) adult. That certainly is a lot of vitamin C. But then, think of all the suffering that might have been avoided if doctors in the 1950's had listened to this man. I'm glad I read about him, and now it is your turn. Incidentally, my children were raised all the way into college without ever having even one dose of any antibiotic, not once. Why? We did what Dr. Klenner said, that's why!

FREE DR. KLENNER INFORMATION: For a listing of illnesses that Dr. Klenner cured with vitamin therapy: http://www.doctoryourself.com/vitaminc.html For a summary of his dosage schedule: http://www.doctoryourself.com/klenner_table.html And for an important full text article by Dr. Klenner: http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html

HAVING TROUBLE SLEEPING? TRY THIS TOTALLY FREE TECHNIQUE: http://www.doctoryourself.com/ayurveda1.html

OR BORE YOUR SELF TO SLEEP, IF YOU PREFER, WITH MY OWN HYPOCHONDRIAC BEDTIME STORY http://www.doctoryourself.com/emperor.html

WHEN I WAS AN "IN-BETWEEN-AGER" I was just minding my own business one day when my father said this to me, without a preface of any kind: "As of today, I've been married longer than I've been single. Remember that." I have. I have also learned that a relationship one of the few things I know of that takes two people to make it work, but only one person to wreck it. Certainly your total health care requires a consideration of the health of your relationships. I am pleased to present some wise words by SUNY Professor Emeritus John I. Mosher, Ph.D. Four of Dr. Mosher's practical, down-to-earth articles are posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/relationship.html http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher2.html http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher_neuro.html http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher3.html

Newsletter Ideas? To submit a question or suggest a topic for the newsletter, email me at doctoryourself.com/contact.html

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision.

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