PODCAST #23 4-1-08

WELCOME TO THE 23rd EDITION OF THE HEALTH AND HAPPINESS PODCAST

Hypnosis: Living healthier and 14 years longer: Omega-3s: The government is trying to kill Medicare.

For breast cancer, a brief hypnosis session prior to biopsy or lumpectomy can reduce fatigue, pain and nausea and speed recovery. Sept 2007 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The following the four habits outlined in a study of 20,244 men and women, ages 45-79 enrolled in the EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study.

1. Not smoking
2. Drinking moderately- one to 14 drinks a week.
3. Keeping physically active, either on the job or in leisure time.
4. Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

Should improve your health and longevity.

An analysis of twins with different activity levels shows that there was a difference in longevity suggesting activity and not genes was the cause of increased longevity.

Omega-3 Study

To investigate, researchers had 11 women eat two servings of tuna or salmon each week, while another group of 12 women took in 485 milligrams of omega-3 in capsule form. Both groups got the same amount of omega-3s, just in different forms. After 16 weeks, blood tests showed omega-3 levels had risen an identical 40-50% in the red blood cells of both groups. Omega-3s in the plasma increased by 60-80% regardless of the source. Showing you can get your Omega-3s from fish or capsules.

Bad biased reporting by the N.Y. Times Newspaper.

An example of bad reporting by the N.Y. Times is titled Potential for Harm in Dietary Supplements. Approximately 245 Million Americans take vitamin supplements. A federal law requires supplement manufactures to report serious adverse effects to the Food and Drug Administration. It seems there very few reports of adverse effects. The same law applies to Drug adverse effects and there over 100 thousand reports of drug adverse reactions a year.
The article goes on to list 13 vitamins and minerals which the article states that can be hazardous when combined with various prescription drugs and over the counter remedies.
Of the vitamins mentioned only Vitamin K has been shown to interact with people taking coumadin the combination decreases clotting time which can be harmful for people undergoing surgery. The minerals mentioned can interact with the antibiotic Tetracycline and decrease its absorption.
There has been an effort by the drug companies (who are among the largest contributors to congress.)To prevent the population from taking vitamins which will improve your health.
Recently there are published studies that certain vitamins taken in conjunction with chemotherapy for cancer treatment has decreased the side effects of chemotherapy and improved the killing ability of the cancer drugs.

Medicare

Some of the programs that the Government administers are badly run. Medicare is one of the few programs that the government runs very well. The governments’ expenses for running Medicare are about 4%. The cost to Medicare of the private plans known as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans is about 17%. Medicare pays the MA plans
59 Billion Dollars or 7.1 Billion dollars more that if the patients had been enrolled in Medicare. This year the government (you the taxpayer) will pay $ 1,100 more for each enrollee in a MA plan. The services in MA plans are no better then Medicare. The MA plans are a money maker for the people running them and a high cost for the tax payer. Privatization is the government’s way to kill Medicare.

That’s all for PODCAST #23. I hope you found it interesting and informative. The next PODCAST will be the week of May 1

IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED ON THE HEALTH AND HAPPINESS PODCAST OUR E-MAIL ADDRESS IS
health@lencolabs.com.

For more information on this subject and other subjects go to www.lencolabs.com, thank you for listening to the health and happiness podcast with–Leonard Austin