NEWS LETTER & TESTIMONIALS
HEALTH MATTERS
April 2009
Harvard Medical School in Ethics Quandary
(It’s
finally happening—the general public is catching on to how much influence
the drug companies have on our doctors. Now you will have an answer when
someone says to you, “If the nutritional support you are suggesting works,
why didn’t my doctor tell me about it?”)
New York Time, BUSINESS | March 03, 2009 -- By DUFF WILSON
More than 200 Harvard Medical School students and sympathetic faculty are
intent on exposing and curtailing the industry influence in their classrooms
and laboratories.
BOSTON — In a first-year pharmacology class at Harvard Medical School, Matt Zerden grew wary as the professor promoted the benefits of cholesterol drugs and seemed to belittle a student who asked about side effects.
Mr. Zerden later discovered …that the professor was not only a full-time member of the Harvard Medical faculty, but a paid consultant to 10 drug companies, including five makers of cholesterol treatments.
Mr. Zerden’s minor stir four years ago has lately grown into a full-blown movement by more than 200 Harvard Medical School students and sympathetic faculty, intent on exposing and curtailing the industry influence in their classrooms and laboratories…They say they are concerned that the same money that helped build the school’s world-class status may in fact be hurting its reputation and affecting its teaching.
The students argue, for example, that Harvard should be embarrassed by the F grade it recently received from the American Medical Student Association, a national group that rates how well medical schools monitor and control drug industry money. The Harvard students have already secured a requirement that all professors and lecturers disclose their industry ties in class — a blanket policy that has been adopted by no other leading medical school. (One Harvard professor’s disclosure in class listed 47 company affiliations.)
David Tian, 24, a first-year Harvard Medical student, said: “Before coming here, I had no idea how much influence companies had on medical education. And it’s something that’s purposely meant to be under the table, providing information under the guise of education when that information is also presented for marketing purposes.”
And school officials see corporate support for their faculty as all the more crucial, as the university endowment has lost 22 percent of its value since last July and the recession has caused philanthropic contributors to retrench. The school said it was unable to provide annual measures of the money flow to its faculty, beyond the $8.6 million that pharmaceutical companies contributed last year for basic science research and the $3 million for continuing education classes on campus. Most of the money goes to professors at the Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals, and the dean’s office does not keep track of the total.
But no one disputes that many individual Harvard Medical faculty members receive tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through industry consulting and speaking fees. Under the school’s disclosure rules, about 1,600 of 8,900 professors and lecturers have reported to the dean that they or a family member had a financial interest in a business related to their teaching, research or clinical care. The reports show 149 with financial ties to Pfizer and 130 with Merck.
To read the full article, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/business/03medschool.html?_r=1&em&emc=eta1
VITAMIN D & COLDS
“People with low blood levels of Vitamin D have a higher risk of colds and other upper respiratory infections, especially if they also have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“In a study of nearly 19,000 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the risk of an upper respiratory infection was 36 percent higher in those with low vitamin D levels (less than 10 mg/ml) than in those with normal levels (at least 30 ng/ml). The risk was 24 percent higher in those with intermediate levels (10-29 ng/ml).
“What to do: While the study needs confirmation, it’s worth taking 1000 IU a day of vitamin D to keep bones strong and possibly cut the risk of cancer, diabetes, and falls.” Nutrition Action Health Letter, April, 2009
SILVER SHIELD WORKS AGAIN AND AGAIN
(But You Must Take Enough)
“Some of you may know that I have not been feeling well. I have been perplexed why taking the Silver Shield was not getting me well. Well, it did, but then I got “it” again and it was worse the second time around.
“When talking to Dr. Pedersen, he explained to me that the Center for Disease Control says that there is now a 21-day virus going around. It is a respiratory virus and it is not accompanied by a fever. Bingo! He also said that if you start to get better and you get sick again, the 21-day count starts all over again. He does recommend taking a half-bottle of the liquid Silver Shield at the first sign of not being well. He recommends that you continue to take the Silver Shield daily after starting to be well so that it does not come back.
“My problem is that when I started to get sick, I was not taking enough of the Silver Shield as I was only taking a teaspoons twice a day, which is really for maintenance. So, learn from my mistake and take a half-bottle when you first get sick and then continue to take a tbsp. a day for at least a week after the ½ bottle is consumed. “ ---Phyllis Young, Honolulu, HI
“I received a call from Heidi Smith saying that her husband was very ill with a high fever and respiratory distress. At my suggestion, she put him on Olive Leaf Extract (3 capsules 3 times a day) and Silver Shield (a “glug” directly from the bottle every hour or so, taking a full 4 oz. in the next 24 hours). She called the next day to say he was feeling so much better and was able to go back to work. Considering that this respiratory viral infection going around hangs on at least 21 days for most people and often comes back a second time, this was very exciting news.
“Heidi was sending her kids to visit their grandmother the next day and was very worried that one of them might get sick while there and give it to Grandma so she started the kids (and herself) on Silver Shield as a prevention. Here was the e-mail I received shortly thereafter: Ed's cough is almost 100% gone!! The kids and I didn't get sick and all is well!!” ---Kay Lubecke, Anthem, AZ
SUPPORT YOUR LIVER
Spring is a great time to support your liver with detoxification. All drugs, pesticides, hormones, artificial chemicals, & synthetic vitamins must be broken down by the liver so supporting it is a great idea. If you are tired when you awaken after a full night’s sleep or with a dull, hung-over feeling, you may need liver support.
Here are suggestions for herbal liver support based on how a person is exhibiting liver issues:
