Journey to Wellness November 200

Thanks so much Betty for the Almond Crusted Salmon recipe in the September newsletter. My family loved it. Keep up the good work. /s/ Shirley

Hi Shirley. I'm glad you liked the salmon recipe. I like it better than any salmon I have ever prepared at home. I mixed up quite a bit of the ground almonds combined with bread crumbs and seasoning the last time I prepared the salmon, and I stored it in an air-tight jar in my freezer. A few days ago I butter flied a chicken breast and used that mixture on the 2 chicken breast pieces. I sprayed the chicken with a canola oil, then sprinkled it with the breading mixture and pressed it into the chicken, then sprayed again with the canola oil before cooking the 20-25 minutes in a hot 400 degree oven. You might like to try that. Thanks again for your note.

Hi Betty. Thank you for your Journey to Wellness newsletter. I truly look forward to it every month. /s/ Roberta

Thanks, Roberta, for writing. I too always look forward to seeing how it evolves every month.

Dear Betty. I just had to send you a quick note to thank you for the Qi Gong exercises you included in the last two newsletters. You are right — what a great way to jump start your day before even getting out of bed. And I love that beautiful moving meditation you gave last month. Like you I have been doing that just before I get into bed at night, and it is wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do for all of us. /s/ Connie K

Thanks so much Connie. For those of you who missed them, here are links to the last two newsletters in which these were featured:

Jumpstart your day exercise
Moving meditation

Hi Betty. My name is Jennifer. I am a 34 year old healthy white female and although I have not been diagnosed with MS I have a lot of the symptoms that makes me believe that I may have the unwanted visitor. It all started about 9 months ago when I started to have muscle weakness in my left leg. I'm a waitress and so I thought I just pulled something and that with a little rest it would go away.

Then I started to notice that whenever I would get over heated that my vision would start to get spotty almost kind of blurry. At one point I got a bad flu and ran a high fever and during the fever I was blind as a bat until the fever broke. Then I noticed that I always had to urinate but when I would try I sometimes would sit there for several minutes waiting for it to come or forcing it out. So long story short I got health insurance back in June and I went to the doctor. I told him of my symptoms and that I was very concerned. He basically put me off. He wanted to focus on my thyroid. So I went through tons of blood work and a very painful biopsy of my thyroid only to find out that I am healthy. Ok I said but how come I can't wait on tables anymore or even go shopping without walking like I'm drunk? How come I can't get into a hot tub without loosing my vision? And how come every time I pee I feel like I have a audience?????

So his response was " well you probably have a dropped bladder, a pinched nerve, and chronic dry eye". I have never had children so therefore my bladder is right where it should be and I had a full spinal MRI and my back is perfect and dry eye??? Well I don't even know what to say about that. So I have been studying A LOT and unfortunately my symptoms fall under MS. I have to wait 6 months for my insurance to cover me so I don't have a pre-existing condition, so I can see a neurologist on my own.

I did actually see my doctor tonight at my family's restaurant and I told him my concerns and his response was that it could take many years to diagnose me and that I guess I can no longer go dancing!!!! Ahhh I wanted to slap him in the face. I asked him if there was anything that I could do to help myself until I can try and get a diagnosis and he said "No honey - unfortunately its a progressive disease and there is nothing that you can do but possibly slow it down when and if we can diagnosis you.

OMG! Excuse my language but I was so pissed off that I wanted to scream. But instead I walked into my office and went to the first ms page I saw and it happened to be yours. After reading what you had to say, I was able to take a deep breath and feel hopeful. Gosh I'm tearing up as I'm writing to you. I have to say thank you.

Thank you for making this "unwanted visitor" just that and not a debilitating disease. I'm just going to have to wait to take over my entire life. You have made me feel hopeful about whatever news my neurologist may tell me. I'm starting my meditation and yoga first thing tomorrow and I'm stopping all the fast food ASAP. I am very lucky that my mother in law is a Chinese acupuncturist so she is starting to treat me for whatever slight pain that I have and for my muscle weakness. I don't want to take up anymore of your time but I just wanted to share a little of my life with you and say "Thank You" once again. /s/ Jennifer S.

Dear Jennifer,

I am sorry to hear of your symptoms. They really do sound like classic MS . . . everything you described. Actually for most people MS isn't difficult to diagnosis today by a well-trained neurologist. Sometimes they make a decision not to tell you what they suspect, because they want you to continue to live a normal life for as long as possible. Unfortunately, most doctors, even neurologists, know little about MS. Actually since it is a syndrome with many different neurological symptoms, and you may only have one or two, it may take some time, anywhere from weeks to years, before you get a firm diagnosis.

The main thing to know is that you do not have to be a victim of this thing. I suggest you do several things right away:

1] Read the Suggestions for the Newly Diagnosed at my website.

2] Read the last year's archives of my Journey to Wellness newsletter. Start with the current, October 2008 issue, and study each issue, working backwards, through the last year. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter using the form at the website so you'll always get a notice when a new issue is posted.

3] Absolutely everything I know and have practiced myself is in an e-book I wrote, Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis. In time you will want to order that.

While you study all this, please remember that I am now 72 years old, and have lived with MS since I was 55 years old (definitely diagnosed at 58), and I have little evidence that I ever had MS at all!!

And if I can do it, you can do it to!!!!

I'm going to attach a report on the supplements you need to start taking IMMEDIATELY. Please don't hesitate to write anytime.

Research Reports

Quercetin May Protect Against Flu. The antioxidant quercetin found in red onions, grapes, blueberries, tea, broccoli, red wine and supplements might help you avoid the flu. That’s the word from a study at Clemson University and University of South Carolina. Mice appear to be more susceptible to flu after stressful exercise so in this study some of the animals ran to exhaustion on a treadmill while others didn’t exercise at all. The researchers then gave quercetin to some of the exercising animals, and to some of the inactive group, and then exposed all the mice to the flu.

They found that quercetin cancelled out the flu-promoting effects of the exercise – the mice that ran on the treadmill and received quercetin caught the flu at the same rate as the animals that didn’t exercise at all. The researchers noted that a recent human study showed that people who took quercetin were less likely to get ill after three days of exhaustive exercise compared with people who did not take the supplement (the human volunteers weren’t exposed to the flu virus.)

This study was published in the August 2008 issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

Only Half of Patients With MS Achieve, Sustain Response to Interferon Beta Therapy

CHICAGO -- November 10, 2008 -- Regular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluations show that only about half of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) achieve and sustain a response to treatment with interferon beta over 3 years, according to a study published early online and appearing in the January 2009 print issue of Archives of Neurology.

"Many clinical studies have demonstrated the ability of interferon beta to reduce contrast-enhancing lesions," the authors write. "However, little is known regarding the heterogeneity of the MRI response profiles between patients or within an individual patient over time."

Annie W. Chiu, and colleagues at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, assessed 15 patients with MS who underwent monthly MRIs and clinical examinations during a 6-month pretreatment phase and a 36-month treatment phase. During treatment, patients received injections of 250 mcg of interferon beta under the skin every other day.

Of the patients, 8 (53.3%) achieved a 60% reduction in the number of lesions at each 6-month period and were therefore classified as responders. Of the 7 non-responders, 3 (20%) initially experienced a reduction in the total number of lesions but then did not experience further reductions, 2 (13.3%) never reached the 60% level of reduction, and 2 (13.3%) failed to respond during the first 6 months but reached and maintained an optimal reduction in lesions of 60% or more thereafter.

Three patients in the responder group and all 7 patients in the non-responder group experienced at least 1 clinical exacerbation during the treatment phase.

"To our knowledge, our descriptive study provides for the first time a detailed long-term analysis of MRI patterns of patients undergoing long-term interferon beta-1b therapy. The results show that on close monthly MRI inspection, approximately half of the patients fail therapy from an MRI perspective," the authors write. "Also, we show that an additional small proportion of patients may not be necessarily recognized as MRI non-responders during the first semester of therapy, and frequent radiological monitoring is advised during the first year of therapy. Multiple MRIs, beyond the first 6 months of therapy, also disclose a small proportion of patients with a delayed but eventually sustained response to interferon beta and provide compelling information regarding the clinical outcome of patients during the course of a longer trial."

Look 10 Pounds Thinner — Instantly
Rarely have I known a woman who didn't want to look 10 pounds thinner. Here are some simple slim-down tricks. Enjoy.

How can you look 10 pounds thinner without eating less or heading to the gym? The answer doesn't involve a pill or a gadget. In fact, it's surprisingly low-tech: Stand up straight. "When you slump your midsection appears bigger than it is," says Janice Novak, author of "Posture, Get It Straight!" "There's nowhere for a little bulge to go but out and sidewise." When you elongate your spine, the bulge disappears or lessens. Slouching also exaggerates your spinal curve, causing you to lose height. As a result, your weight is spread over less body mass, which makes you look more compact.

Better posture not only makes you look better, it makes you feel better too, says physical therapist Jan K. Richardson, PhD, chief of the division of physical therapy at the School of Medicine at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina. "A lot of back problems predominantly come from poor posture," she adds. That's because when your body is not aligned properly, it puts undue stress on muscles and joints.

Anatomy of Bad Posture

Those of who have bad posture usually know it — we've all seen a candid photo of ourselves caught at a particularly bad angle, or an unflattering glimpse in the mirror that makes us vow to turn over a new leaf. Novak says that as computers have become more prevalent, so has poor posture. Pop quiz: As you're reading this article, is your head craning forward? Are your shoulders rounded, and your back bowed out? When you spend much of your day sitting in such a position, your upper back muscles aren't getting much of a workout; instead of being engaged, they get weak and stretched out. Your chest muscles, on the other hand, are overused and become too tight. "The problem with bad posture is that some muscles are working terribly hard and others not hard enough," says Novak.

Posture Pointers

Here are some expert pointers to help straighten you out:

■ "Imagine that a string is running through your whole body, and the string is being pulled at the top of your head so it elongates you," suggests Richardson. "Your ears should be over your shoulders, your shoulders over your hips and your chest lifted. Your goal is to achieve this posture all the time. "

■ If the string imagery doesn't work for you, start with your shoulders. First pull your shoulders down from your ears and then press them back. Lift your rib cage up. You may find that these two moves pull the rest of your body into alignment.

■ Still uncertain whether you've got it right? Stand against a wall. The back of your head, shoulders, butt and heels should all be touching it.

Even when you know what to do, standing tall is easier said than done. For one thing, just being conscious and remembering is difficult — you're trying to break a habit that's been going on for years. And second, it can be exhausting. When you pull your shoulders down and back, the muscles in the upper back are working a lot harder than they're used to. What this means is that it's going to take time to strengthen the muscles required for good posture. But don't worry. Experts say it's never too late, and you can take it one step at a time. Here's how:

Start small. Novak, who teaches a workshop to improve posture, has her students correct upper body alignment by lifting the rib cage, as if a string was attached from the breastbone to the ceiling, making sure shoulders stay relaxed. Then she has students pin a ribbon to the top of their shirt, pull the ribbon taut and pin to the bottom of the shirt, then try to keep the ribbon taut for five minutes. If they see slack in the ribbon, they know they're slumping and can correct their position.

Pull in your belly button. "Your abdominal muscles support your lower back. When they're weak, the lower back sags forward, putting too much pressure there, also squeezing the joints and nerves of the spine," says Novak. When you exhale, pull your belly button toward your spine, which will pull your pelvis into neutral position, taking pressure off joints, nerves and soft tissue in the lower back.

Hit the gym. Strengthening the muscles in the mid-back — the rhomboids and lats — as well as the lower trapezius will go a long way toward helping maintain better posture. If you know your way around the gym, seated rowing machines and lat pull-down machines target these muscles. If this sounds like Greek to you, or you're not in the best of shape, consider hiring a trainer, who can teach you proper form, to avoid injury. You can also do resistance work at home, with free weights or exercise bands. For videos, slide shows and detailed instructions of numerous exercises, visit mayoclinic.com. Novak's book also contains detailed instructions.

Remember to stretch. Richardson points out that range of motion is just as important as strength. "As people age, they lose flexibility in their shoulder and chest muscles," she says. "They tighten up." To check how flexible you are, try to lift your arms above your head. If that's difficult, Richardson suggests trying a gentle yoga class to stretch and increase your range of motion (get your doctor's OK first). Just as you want to strengthen the under-used muscles, you need to stretch the over-used, tight muscles of the chest, neck and upper back. The resources mentioned above also contain information to stretch properly.

Sit up straight. When using the computer, make sure your monitor isn't too low. You shouldn't have to look downward to see the screen. Instead, adjust your chair so that the top of the monitor is at eye level. Your feet should be flat on the floor, thighs parallel to the floor, with your knees forming a 90-degree angle.

Take frequent posture breaks. If most of your day you are sedentary, stand up every hour and get yourself into alignment.

From Here and There

Here's an exciting new website:

I have just found an interesting alternative health website, www.HealthierYou.com. Check it out for interesting healthy-related articles. The following sample highlights how the pharmaceutical industry stretches the truth:

Beware the Heart Hype About Statins

By Warren Matthews

What is all this about?

Over the last few days there have been headlines all over the world about what I am going to tell you. If you haven’t seen them yet, it won’t be long before you do, or, hear about them. Here are a few examples.

“Statin cuts stroke risk in healthy folk: Study”"It's a breakthrough study, it's a blockbuster. It's absolutely paradigm-shifting."

"A highly anticipated study has produced powerful evidence that a simple blood test can spot seemingly healthy people who are at increased risk for a heart attack or stroke and that giving them a widely used drug offers potent protection against the nation's leading killers."

“Heart attack risks cut by 50%”

These headlines are not limited to the USA. They are worldwide. I was on an airplane between New Zealand and Singapore a couple of days ago and I picked up newspapers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia and they were all singing the same tune and obviously had been receiving the same news releases from the public relations firms coordinating the ‘assault’.

Well, you are probably thinking, “what’s wrong with this?” After all if a risk of a heart attack could be cut by 50%, then surely that is good!Agreed…but, is it really that good or just a manipulation of figures which are technically correct but misleading if only part of the picture is painted.

I’ll explain. The study (discontinued after two years) sponsored by the manufacturers of Crestor, (a potent statin drug that was originally rejected by the FDA because of its many dangerous side effects) found that compared to a placebo the statin drug reduced the level of C-Reactive Protein in the blood which in turn resulted in a reduction of the number of patients over a 2 year period who either died, suffered a heart attack or stroke.

The reduction was 50%. Sounds good, doesn’t it, until you put it into perspective. Of all those who were not taking the statin drug 1.8% of them suffered from one of the above events over the two year period. But…the number of those patients taking the drug and who suffered from one of the above was less at 0.9%...a reduction of 50%. This is where the 50% reduction of risk comes from.

To put this into a clearer perspective, the volunteers had a 1.8 chance in 100 of suffering from one of the above ‘events’ if they did nothing…but, if they took the statin drug their odds improved to a 0.9 chance in 100 of having an ‘event’. Doesn’t look so impressive when you look at it that way does it?

I would hazard a guess that if the people on the placebo had substituted it with an Omega 3 capsule every day that the results may well have been balanced out…and if I may dare say so if they added Total Balance to the Omega 3 that they may have been 50% better than the statin drug! Added to this they would not run the risk of CoQ10 depletion, possible muscle damage, liver damage, possible impotency and memory loss. Instead their overall health would improve markedly.

Interestingly the study was abruptly stopped after two years. The reason…it was not fair on the people taking the placebo! Or, could it have been that the side effects were starting to take its toll?

What is C-Reactive Protein all about? C-Reactive Protein (CRP) has long been known to be a marker of a potential ‘heart event’ and interestingly I have been writing about it for the last eight years and urging readers to have it tested when they have their cholesterol and triglycerides checked. However, it has been largely ignored by the medical industry, as there was not a suitable drug to deal with it. And…there was no need for one either as there is plenty of natural options for dealing with inflammation in the blood.

For example, the correct form of a broad spectrum Vitamin E has been shown to reduce inflammation by 32% which is only marginally less than what the statin drug at 37% achieved on this study. Other natural substances may even be more effective in reducing inflammation, particularly if taken synergistically…such as Omega 3 fish oil and a number of other natural substances.

If you study more about inflammation you will become incensed at the audacity of this study but even more annoyed at those supposedly knowledgeable people in the medical industry and the authorities who allow this type of nonsense to become mainstream media events and thus contribute to irrevocable harm to the health of our nations people, not to mention the ultimate economic costs.

Featured Exercise DVDs and Books

I absolutely do not believe anyone can prevent
the tendency of MS to progress without a
consistent gentle stretching and deep breathing exercise program

The worst aspects of MS respond very positively to gentle exercise. Such a deal! And it really doesn't matter what level of disability one has. Many exercises can be done either standing, seated, or lying down. And deep breathing — which is so essential — can be done any time and any where.

I am often contacted by readers about various Qi Gong programs they have purchased that they cannot use. I understand. I have many, many different DVD programs but most do not work for me either. That is the joy of the Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors routine. It is designed specifically for people with limited mobility. It is simple and easy, perhaps deceptively so. At first it seems too simple. But over time when you really learn to work with it and do the simple movements in a slow, meditative way, the benefits are enormous. When combined with the QiGong techniques in The Healer Within book, this is a superb healing tool.

Over the years I have evaluated personally many exercise programs, and the absolute best I know of are Tai Chi for Seniors by Mark Johnson, Yoga for MS by Shoosh Crotzer, and Gentle Fitness by Catherine MacRae. I am very confident in recommending them.

~ Yoga for Strength and Qi Gong for Healing ~

In response to questions from some of you, all of the DVD programs have parts that require standing. My observation of each one is as follows:

	Yoga for MS includes sections done standing (a small amount), some sitting, and some on the floor. (It demonstrates instructions for a helper for one who has problems getting up and down.) The standing portions could be done leaning against a wall or holding on to a chair back.
	Gentle Fitness also includes sitting, standing and floor sections.
	Tai Chi (Qi Gong) for Seniors includes both standing and seated portions. Most of this routine can be done seated in an armless chair (like a folding or dining table chair).
	The Healer Within can be done standing, seated or lying down. For the wheelchair-bound person with very limited physical ability, this is the program for you. This book includes sketches of each movement, in all three positions.

YOGA FOR MS AND RELATED CONDITIONS - I found this modified yoga program in the Yoga Journal about 11 years ago, and it remains a mainstay of my own exercise program. This program is recommended by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

TAI CHI FOR SENIORS - This is a simple, easy-to-do Qi Gong (chi kung) Tai Chi video program. It was the very first exercise program I found after being diagnosed with MS, and about 13 years later I still find it very beneficial and do it almost every day. This program complements the Yoga for MS routine beautifully.

GENTLE FITNESS - Catherine and I connected on the Internet about 8-9 years ago, and I ordered her Gentle Fitness. I find it an excellent program, and use sections of it together with the Yoga for MS program.

These videos make up my personal exercise library, and alternating the programs keeps me from getting bored. Together with deep breathing exercises for a few minutes at least a couple of times a day, and walking about a mile several mornings a week with my ExerStrider poles, weather permitting, not only keeps me fit and energetic, it keeps my legs strong and moving.

Each of these exercise DVDs are available for $29.50 each plus $4.00 shipping and handling. (There is an additional $5.00 charge for international air mail shipping.)

Follow this link for more information on these videos and books.

FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS includes just about everything I have learned in my own journey to wellness. It is an easy to read, understand and follow e-book guide to the management of Multiple Sclerosis using the healthy lifestyle approach that I practice and recommend. It incorporates each of the four areas, exercise, meditation, diet, and supplements. This book includes an extensive recipe collection as well as an all inclusive guide to the Best Bet for MS food plan. It now includes a complete guide to our Internal Guidance System.

Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis is available for $21.50.

You may order any of the above by providing credit card information by e-mail to me, or by calling 800-651-3155 (in the U.S. and Canada), or 530-753-5595.

Follow this link for more information on this e-book.

THE HEALER WITHIN (see more specific information included elsewhere in this issue) is an excellent book by Roger Jahnke, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, which I no longer carry in stock. You may, however, order it from Amazon.com. Just click on this Amazon link to order. The Healer Within includes very simple easy-to-do Qi Gong based movements that I highly recommend. The best thing about this book is that all the movements may be done standing, seated or lying down.

^{^{~ ~ ~ ~ ~}}

As always I hope you have found something in this issue of Journey to Wellness to help you along your own journey to wellness. If something in this newsletter raised a serious question for you, please send me a note and I'll try to respond. I thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. I love reading your correspondence. You are all very special to me. Please also remember that Journey to Wellness is intended to be interactive. I really want to hear from you! Please send me your experiences, challenges, etc. and I will try to include them. And please, include a photo.

Yet again I remind you, please remember to smile and laugh a lot, and to say "I love you" often to those you love. One never knows when we will be saying it for the last time. I truly do know for sure that when all is said and done, and we move on to our next experience, it is only the love that lasts!

As I write this, in a few days, November 18, it will be two years since my son, Kevin, graduated to his next experience, after a valiant 2-year battle with Adenocarcinoma Lung Cancer. This is my favorite photo (originally an 8" x 10") of Kevin and me, taken on Christmas eve when he was in his first year of law school.

Thank you Kevin for blessing me with your love for 42 years. You will live on in our hearts forever.

Big smiles and {{{hugs}}} to all of you.

Betty