Category Archives: Alternative Medicine

LONGbefore we learned about modern medicine, our ancestors have already designed tools and means to aid their sick people and have unlocked and deciphered the healing powers of the plants and herbs that surround them.

From simple tapal (patch) using leaves of tuba to hilot (traditional massage), aromatherapy andchiropractic, among others, it cannot be denied that Pinoys are accustomed to traditional and alternative medicine. In places where there are no doctors, most people rely on their alternative-medicine healers for immediate health solutions.

Traditional medicine as defined by the World health Organization is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

With these facts, former Health Secretary Juan Flavier in 1992, through the Department of Health, launched the alternative medicine program, which was institutionalized two years after a traditional medicine law was drafted.

However, it was former President Fidel V. Ramos who integrated the alternative and traditional medicine in the governments health care delivery system when he signed into law Republic Act 8423, also known as the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997, an Act creating the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) to accelerate the development of traditional and alternative health-care in the Philippines, providing for a traditional and alternative health care development fund and for other purposes.

It was also Flavier who sponsored the said Act.

As mandated in RA 8423, Pitahc will encourage scientific research on and develop traditional and alternative health-care systems that have direct impact on public health care; promote and advocate the use of traditional, alternative, preventive and curative health-care modalities that have been proven safe, effective, cost effective and consistent with government standards on medical practice; develop and coordinate skills-training courses for various forms of traditional and alternative health-care modalities; formulate standards, guidelines and codes of ethical practice appropriate for the practice of traditional and alternative health care, as well as in the manufacture, quality control and marketing of different traditional and alternative health-care materials, natural and organic products, for approval and adoption by the appropriate government agencies; formulate policies for the protection of indigenous and natural health resources and technology from unwarranted exploitation, for approval and adoption by the appropriate government agencies;formulate policies to strengthen the role of traditional and alternative health-care delivery system; and promote traditional and alternative health care in international and national conventions, seminars and meetings in coordination with the Department of Tourism, Duty Free Philippines Inc., Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp. and other tourism-related agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations and local government units.

The Philippines has several traditional health-care methods, and with more than 1,000 plants species that are believed to have medicinal properties, the birth of the Pitahc opened many doors of opportunities.

Numerous seminars, trainings and other educational talks about alternative and traditional medicine were conducted. Research and development of products made from herbs and plants were also carried out.

The institution is also successful in publishing books that collated all the medicinal plants that can be found in the Philippines. A number of researches about the common medicinal herbs were also conducted to better identify their uses and the benefits they provide to users.

The herbal medicine is a $100-billion industry and is growing continually, as many people around the world are adapting natural medicines. Nonchemical cosmetics, or those made from plants and other natural ingredients, are also currently in demand globally.

However, instead of contributing to the growth of the industry, Pitahcs purpose was once accused of deviating from its original mandate. According to reports, Pitahc has been manufacturing and distributing products in direct competition with the private-sector producers.

Going back to its original objectives and functions, the institute made a big change in their structure to focus on the works that it is directed to do.

A new face

A revered doctor from the Visayas recently joined the roster of Pitahcs executives, with her 25 years of experience as a medical doctor and six years as a hospital administrator, Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-De Guzman was recently appointed by President Duterte as Pitahcs director general.

In taking over the institution, Pabiona-de Guzman brings with her not only the education, numerous citations and even her years of expertise, but a heart with compassion to serve and be a channel of change and blessings to everyone who will come her way.

Pabiona-de Guzman maybe a petite woman but during an interview with the Health & Fitness, she bravely discussed the direction that the Pitahc will take in order to deliver the assignments the institution is tasked to do.

According to her, to clear up all the issues concerning the role of the Pitahc, the agency hired some experts who will help them to really transform the Pitahc as a research institution. To utilize the funds provided for them, Pabiona-de Guzman shared that this year they will commission their own research.

There are a number of research proposals on her table, but Pabiona-de Guzman is excited to announce their first commissioned research, which is very controversial due to the fact that it is included in the prohibited drugs.

Our first commissioned research will be about medical cannabis [marijuana] used for cancer. The Pitahc allotted P10 million for this endeavor, she shared, adding If we are successful with the research about medical cannabis, the Pitahc will have the intellectual property rights.

The soft-spoken doctor also shared with us the vision that she and PITAHC executives have for the traditional and alternative medicine industry in the country is to grow bigger, better and recognized as an effective and safe health-care solution.

She envisioned the countrys alternative-medicine healers to be on a par with their counterparts from Thailand and Malaysia, where they are recognized as doctors of alternative medicine. She said that in Thailand there are educational institutions for alternative-medicine healers.

After several years of schooling, there will be an examination they need to pass and those who will qualify will have a license to practice alternative medicine. Some of our neighboring Asian nations that have been advocating traditional medicine are very advanced, thus, giving their people more health-care options.

Aside from the researches the Pitahc will commission, Pabiona-de Guzman wants the Pinoy traditional healers to have know-how and skills upgrading, where they will be aware of the development and trends in the industry.

She said the agency is looking into more ways and channels where they can help the traditional healers to learn the other techniques that are effective and popular in other countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

Many Filipinos dont have access to western medicines and technologies, with alternative-medicine methods, drugs made from herbal plantswhich are known for their medicinal use are more affordable and also effective, we are giving the poor, the indigenous people a health-care option that they are accustomed to but, this time, improved and backed by science.

Pabiona-de Guzman, together with her people in her agency, vowed to make traditional and alternative medicine a part of our national health-care delivery system, for real.

Image Credits: Photos courtesy of PITAHC

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PITAHC: Reshaping, rebuilding Pinoy's health-care system - Business Mirror

Kathy Richmond was left seriously ill and needed to have her breast implants removed (Collect/PA Real Life)

A woman says she spent around 50,000 on alternative remedies after falling seriously ill as a result of her breast implants.

Kathy Richmond, 38, spent the money over a nine-year period on homeopathy, reiki, cupping, acupuncture, reflexology, a functional healer, craniosacral (a therapy involving light touch).

But she was still very ill.

Kathy, a mother-of-four from Reading, Berkshire, increased the size of her breasts from an A to a G cup.

She had the 5,000procedure done in 2007 on a whim following the birth of her two eldest children.

I never hated my breasts, she explained. But they changed after I had my two oldest children.

Being 6ft, I could carry off bigger breasts, so I decided to get implants. We had the money in the bank, so I thought, Why not?.

But two years later she became seriously ill and she now believes it was Breast Implant Illness an anecdotal problem that is not recognised by the NHS.

However, the NHS does warn of the dangers of breast implants with a long list of potential side-effects, including allergic reactions.

I didnt realise it was because of the implants then, she explained. My asthma, which Id last had as a child came back and my nails started flaking.

I also suffered with extreme fatigue to such an extent, I had to give up work as a fitness instructor.

She visited a GP in Reading, who suggested thyroid problems as a possible reason for her illness.

I did have thyroid problems, she accepted. But I didnt know why. I also had ring worm, a type of fungal infection and all sorts of other problems.

Kathy said: Initially I loved my implants, I didnt regret them at all. After a while, though, I started feeling very sick.

I experienced various issues from 2009, but became very sick from late 2014. I suffered from hives, brain fog, with weight gain, depression, vertigo, hair loss and more.

There were stains on my face that looked like tea, the asthma Id not had since I was a child worsened, I developed anxiety and fungus formed on my nails. It was terrible.

She suffered with persistent ill health for the next nine years so she tried a variety of alternative therapies.

She said:I saw a reflexologist, underwent lymph drainage, saw a functional healer a type of medicine which focuses on interactions between the environment and the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems and even had craniosacral, a therapy involving light touch.

I had reiki healing, cupping an ancient form of medicine and acupuncture. But still I was very ill. It was devastating.

In 2014 a homeopath suggested her breasts could be the cause of the problems. As soon as she said it, I wondered, Kathy said said. The dates added up.

Two years later she had them removed at a cost of 6,000 and that seems to have sorted the problems.

She said: The good news is, Im feeling better. As soon as they were removed, I felt a lightness in my chest. Thats why I am speaking out so other women dont have to suffer like I did.

She adds that she now regrets having the breast augmentation.

To understand whether a treatment is safe and effective, we need to check the evidence.

You can learn more about the evidence for particular CAMs by reading about individual types of treatment see our index for a list of all conditions and treatments covered by NHS Choices.

Some complementary and alternative medicines or treatments are based on principles and an evidence base that are not recognised by the majority of independent scientists.

Others have been proven to work for a limited number of health conditions. For example, there is evidence that osteopathy and chiropractic are effective for treating lower back pain.

When a person uses any health treatment including a CAM and experiences an improvement, this may be due to the placebo effect.

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Mum spent 50000 on alternative medicine after boob job left her seriously ill - Metro

Are you becoming as skeptical as I am about public information? Fake political news? Alternative facts about the state of the worlds economy? So now I ask how honest is medical news? Of course everyone knows that consuming stupid amounts of alcohol is unhealthy. But puritans and some doctors cant accept the proven fact that moderate amounts of alcohol can prolong life.

Professor Keith Scott-Mumby, an internationally known United Kingdom expert on alternative medicine, echoes what I have written over the years, that people who drink moderately live longer on average than teetotalers or those who drink to excess. In fact, there are over 20 studies that confirm this. In court its a criminal offense to withhold truth, so why doesnt the same principle hold true in medicine?

Scott-Mumby points out that the lack of discussion of the beneficial impact of alcohol has for years been a systematic policy of the U.S. public health establishment. For instance, the National Institutes of Health, which funded a research study on alcohol, forbad a Harvard epidemiologist who participated in the study from publishing the health benefits of drinking!

There is strong evidence that alcohol protects against heart disease. Studies show that it increases the good cholesterol HDL. Possibly more important, it dilates arteries and makes blood platelets less likely to clot, decreasing the risk of a fatal heart attack.

But Scott-Mumby says none of these facts was publicly reported when Larry King, the well-known TV personality, underwent a bypass procedure in 1987 after a heart attack. Later, in 2007, he hosted a two-hour PBS television special on heart disease featuring five experts who talked about exercise, diet and smoking. But there was no mention that abstinence from alcohol was a risk factor for heart disease.

Scott-Mumby also reports good news for Boomers, that the use of alcohol may protect against dementia. He cites the 2008 Research Society on Alcoholism Review based on the Whitehall Study, which analyzed 45 reports since the early 1990s.This showed that there were significantly reduced risks of dementia from moderate drinking. So why dont we hear more about this fact, particularly, when Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia are increasing?

He adds that the U.S. is not a heavy drinking nation, yet its health outcomes are poor, as it has almost double the amount of diabetes, cancer and heart disease compared with the English who drink more.

Ive often written about the advantages of moderate drinking. But according to Scott-Mumbys research, even serious drinkers, the ones who drink six or more drinks daily, still live longer than teetotalers! And he claims that puritans cant stand this fact.

So whats the message? Neither Scott-Mumby nor I condone the three-martini lunch, nor do we urge anyone to start drinking alcohol. What we are both saying is that neither abstainers nor doctors should distort the truth of the health benefits of alcohol.

All too often I have witnessed this at medical conventions. Researchers have detailed the many medical benefits of alcohol. But after confirmation by several speakers, finally one says, But we must not inform the public about this as it will result in car accidents, marriage difficulties and other societal problems.

But we dont prevent the sale of cars because some idiots drive at 150 miles an hour. So I believe it is hypocritical, dishonest and maybe even criminal, to withhold scientifically proven news about alcohol.

Today it seems that truth, like commonsense, is becoming an uncommon commodity. The motto of The Harvard Medical School at its founding was Veritas. I believed this motto when I was a medical student there, and I still believe it today.

This medical journalist is not, and never will be, an alcoholic. So I enjoy a drink before dinner with family and friends. I believe its one of the habits that keeps me relaxed at the end of the day and also alive all these years.

Past experience tells me that controversial columns do not please everyone, including doctors. But society is in deep trouble when it skirts truth, tries to hide it or simply ignores it. Facts are facts, and history has shown that Veritas eventually wins.

Dr. Ken Walker (Gifford-Jones) is a graduate of the University of Toronto and TheHarvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at the Strong Memorial Hospital,University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecologyat Harvard. He has also been a general practitioner, ships surgeon and hotel doctor.Seewww.docgiff.comfor past columns. For comments: info@docgiff.com

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Dr. Gifford-Jones: Puritanical lies about alcohol - MPNnow.com

Here is the alphabet soup of marijuana. (Apologies Lawrence grocers. Ive inadvertently created a stampede in the soup aisle.) Marijuana has a chemical compound called THC, which produces a high. In Kansas, selling a product with THC results in OTJ off to jail. Kansas has some of the strictest laws in the country regarding THC products.

But the cannabis plant also produces another chemical compound called CBD. It does not produce a high, but many people swear it helps relieve inflammation, pain, stress and other ailments. That chemical compound is legal, and Lawrence residents soon will get to find out for themselves whether it works. A store that specializes in CBD more commonly called hemp oil is opening at 19th and Massachusetts streets.

CBD American Shaman Lawrence is set to open today at 1901 Massachusetts Street, next door to the popular Alchemy coffee shop. Co-owner Trevor Burdett said the store will sell creams, liquids and other edibles that have the CBD oils in them. What the store wont be selling is anything that will get you high. Burdett said the CBD products are completely free of THC. That's an important disclaimer because products with THC are illegal in Kansas and also run afoul of federal law. The American Shaman company previously was selling products that had a trace amount of THC, but after a store in Mission got busted for selling them, the company changed its production processes to remove all THC. Thus far, that seems to have satisfied Kansas regulators, and the feds also have not stepped into the fray. Burdett said the new business will make it clear that marijuana is not the store's business.

Corey Landeth, co-owner of CBD American Shaman Lawrence, 1901 Massachusetts Street, arranges his display case of various hemp oil products as he and co-owner Trevor Burdett prepare their store at 1901 Massachusetts for business. According to Landreth and Burdett, all of their products are free of THC, the chemical compound in marijuana that produces a high. by Nick Krug

That is not our market, Burdett said. Were not looking for people to come in and get high. If they just want the euphoric aspects of getting high, that is fine. They can go smoke somewhere else.

Burdett and his business partner, Corey Landreth, though, know they will have to do some explaining to people who may mistake hemp and marijuana. We understand there is a market in Lawrence that we will have to talk to and tell them that they arent going to eat some medical gummies and get loopy.

Lawrence, however, may be better educated than most communities on the subject. There is the guy with his pro-hemp signs frequently in downtown Lawrence. (No word yet on whether we have to honk every time we go by the store at 19th and Massachusetts.) Burdett said the company looked at both Lawrence and Manhattan for the store and settled on Lawrence, in part, because it is a town open to alternative medicine.

At this point, I should remind you that hemp oil does fall into the realm of alternative medicine. The products are not FDA approved. You should think of them more like a supplement. Everybody will have to make their own decisions about the safety and effectiveness of the products. While stressing that more research needs to be done, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has noted CBDs potential to be a nonaddictive treatment option for certain types of conditions, although the article notes it doesnt seem to work for everybody.

Two of the many products offered by CBD American Shaman Lawrence are dietary supplements and elixirs produced from THC-free hemp oil. by Nick Krug

Regardless of its status in the medical world, there is no denying CBD products are catching on with many people.

CBD American Shaman, which is based in Kansas City, has about 70 products. They include water-soluble hemp oil that you can drink, hydrating body lotions, hemp oil capsules, face creams, lip balms and even hemp candy. (You know your grandpa is from the 1970s when he pulls out hemp candy from his pocket instead of a Werther's Originals.)

The store also has hemp-based products for pets. There are canine, feline and equine hemp oils for sale. Burdett said he knows of some weight lifters or people who suffer from extremely high levels of pain who take the stronger equine formula.

People who are wanting to control pain are expected to be a big market for the store. There is an American Shaman store that has opened in Topeka, and Burdett said it serves a lot of people with severe arthritis, fibromyalgia or other conditions that produce chronic pain.

Burdett said he spent some time at the Topeka store, and some of what he saw convinced him to open his own store.

We had people come in the store that didnt know where they were at, couldnt tell you who their family was because they were in so much pain, Burdett said. They would take a water soluble, and to see them come around in 10 or 15 minutes was amazing.

Besides pain relief, Burdett said there are some other frequent users of the products. Some believe CBD is effective in controlling seizures, which causes some people who have epilepsy to use the products. Some athletes also use the products with the idea that they help reduce inflammation and pain that come from particularly hard workouts. A particularly large market in a college town may be students who are looking for the purported stress-relieving benefits of CBD products.

As for how much all of this relief will cost, Burdett said many of the products are in the $40 to $70 range, but often last for multiple weeks.

Burdett believes the store will do plenty of business once folks catch on to what it is selling.

"Everybody hears about the medical benefits of marijuana," Burdett said. "We have a form now that is 100 percent legal that people can take on an everyday basis."

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Store that specializes in selling legal cannabis products opening in Lawrence - Lawrence Journal World (blog)

Physicians might be more appreciated than they think. A Pew Research Center survey found that63% of American adults had seen a healthcare provider in the previous year for an illness or medical condition. Of those, 87% thought that the provider listened carefully to their symptoms and concerns.

Nearly as many patients (84%) felt their doctor "really cared about their health and well-being." Four our of five Americans thought they received all the information they needed from their healthcare provider.

Those findings indicate that around 217 million American adults had positive experiences with their physicians. If you like you're doctor, you're part of a huge club. And if you're a doctor, congratulations -- it's highly likely that your patients think you're doing a good job.

Image source: Getty Images.

What makes the Pew survey results especially interesting is how they show patients have a very different perspective than physicians have.

A survey published in theArchives of Internal Medicineback in 2012 reported that physicians in the U.S. experience burnout more than any other profession. In 2015, a Medscape survey found that, despite making large salaries, nearly half of all U.S. doctors said they had experienced "loss of enthusiasm for work, feelings of cynicism, and a low sense of personal accomplishment." The findings from the Pew survey suggest that this burnout isn't having too great of a negative impact on physicians' relationships with their patients.

The top reason for frustration for physicians in the Medscape survey was "too many bureaucratic tasks." This probably is a reason why 23% of patients in the Pew survey reported that they "felt rushed by their healthcare provider." Still, though, many more patients didn't feel rushed than did.

Although most Americans appear to like their doctors, many are also taking other approaches for treatment of illnesses. The Pew survey found that nearly half of all Americans have tried alternative medicine outside of conventional medical care. Alternative medicine includesacupuncture, chiropractic, energy therapies, herbal dietary supplements, and other therapies that physicians typically wouldn't use for treatment. It should be noted, however, that only 20% of Americans used alternative medicine instead of traditional medical treatment, with others using alternative medicine in addition to traditional medical treatment.

Younger Americans appear to be more likely to try alternative treatments. The Pew survey found that 51% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 had used alternative treatments, while only 38% of adults age 65 or over had done so.

Image source: Getty Images.

Americans are also likely to do their own research on medical conditions. Just 30% of respondents in the Pew survey rely solely on what their doctor tells them. Roughly 36% do some research of their own to learn more about the treatment recommended by their healthcare providers. Another 21% check for other treatment options. Around 9% of Americans research potential side effects.

With so many Americans having positive experiences with their healthcare providers, you might expect they'd think overall health in the country was improving. But they don't.

The Pew Research Center survey found that 48% of American adults think that the health of children is worse than it was 20 years ago, with 20% thinking it's about the same. Only 31% think the health of U.S. children has gotten better over the last two decades.

Around 42% of the survey respondents felt that the health of U.S. adults was worse than it was 20 years ago. Roughly 24% thought adult health was about the same as two decades ago, with 33% viewing the health of adult Americans as better than it was in the past.

Why such pessimism? A couple of other findings in the Pew survey could point to the answer. Nearly all (95%) of Americans said that getting enough physical exercise was important to improving health. However, a whopping 79% of Americans think they should be exercising more.

Perhaps the main message from the Pew survey is that most Americans could have the following conversation with their primary physician: "I like you a lot, doc, even though I'm not as healthy as I should be. It's not you... it's me."

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Like Your Doctor? You're Part of a Huge Club | Business Markets ... - Madison.com

(Objectives) We examined the clinical efficacy of dietary manipulation (DM) for female patients with interstitial cystitis (IC) in stable condition who were followed in our hospital. (Patients and methods) This study included 20 female patients with IC in rather stable condition who were followed at our hospital. In cooperation with the nutrition control team, we created a basic IC diet menu for 1 month (total daily calories, 1,500 kcal; protein, 65 g; fat, 40 g; carbohydrate, 220 g; water, 1,000 ml; salt, 7 g). Data regarding daily food intake and food-related symptoms were collected by detailed interview of each patient conducted by the doctors, nurses, and nutritionists at our hospital. In accordance with the abovementioned nutrition control, we set meal menu to control IC symptoms and advised the patients to reduce the intake of specific food items to the maximum possible extent.The following food items were removed from or restricted in the diet of patients: tomatoes, tomato products, soy, tofu product (seasoning was acceptable), spices (pepper, curry powder, mustard, horseradish, etc.), excessive potassium, citrus, high-acidity-inducing substances (caffeine, carbonate, and citric acid), etc. We evaluated the following factors to determine the efficacy of this diet menu 3 months after the start of the intervention: O'Leary-Sant symptom index (OSSI), O'Leary-Sant problem index (OSPI), urgency visual analogue scale (UVAS) score, (0, no urgency; 10, severe urgency), bladder or pelvic pain VAS (PVAS) score, (0, no pain; 10, worst possible pain), and numerical patient-reported quality of life (QOL) index (0, highly satisfied; 6, highly dissatisfied). (Results) OSSI and OSPI improved from 11.7 to 10.1 (p<0.0001), and from 10.7 to 8.8 (p=0.01), respectively. The UVAS score significantly reduced from 6.4 to 4.8, and the PVAS score significantly improved from 6.5 to 4.8 (p<0.0001). The patient-reported QOL index significantly improved from 5.1 to 3.9 (p<0.0001). (Conclusion) Although repeated notes were taken and patients who were followed up for a long term were consulted on the meal, as appropriate, at the time of visit, DM was found to alleviate the symptoms of IC. DM as a systematic treatment modality for IC should be attempted more aggressively because of its non-invasiveness, without alterations to the other IC treatments.

Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai zasshi. The japanese journal of urology. 2016 Jan [Epub]

Hitoshi Oh-Oka

Department of Urology, National Hospital Organization, Kobe Medical Center.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28740049

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CLINICAL EFFICACY OF DIETARY MANIPULATION AS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE ... - UroToday

Friday Night Inc () said its subsidiary, Alternative Medicine Association (AMA) is to start manufacturing and distributing products under the well-known Krypted vaping brand.

With most popular cannabis brands now wanting a presence in the critical Las Vegas market, AMA is attracting new brand-expansion conversations daily, and Krypted is the fourth brand to be added to Nevada-focused AMA's exclusive manufacturing and distribution network.

The Krypted team will be in Las Vegas next week for the kick-off meeting and to prepare for the initial production run, Friday Night revealed.

AMA has already obtained state approval for their logo and product names and the first sales should occur by 15 September.

Terms include making AMA the exclusive manufacturer & distributor in Nevada for an initial term of three years, renewable annually after that, with a 15% production royalty.

Krypted, a big name in the California vaping scene, is providing AMA with all packaging and marketing support.

Intriguingly, Friday Night said AMA would launch an apparel and merchandise brand on 15 August, so if you've ever wanted to wear a pair of AMA-branded socks, now's your chance.

AMA said it has recruited an industry lifestyle branding and marketing veteran to rebrand and establish a comprehensive lifestyle approach that will expand and maximize AMA's presence within the Vegas market.

Friday Night sees AMA as a lifestyle and a global brand that will transcend into multiple business verticals that support AMA's core business.

Meanwhile, Friday Night revealed that demand for recreational cannabis continues to increase.

We look forward to our next fiscal year that began on August 1st, 2017, and the new challenges and rewards this year will bring us. With everything going on, we are confident that we will continue to outperform," said Mark Zobrist, the chief executive of AMA.

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Friday Night Inc welcomes Krypted brand to its stable - Proactive Investors UK

In our latest podcast, Jessica and I discussed the past week in politics and atheism. (We now have timestamps for each story!)

We discussed:

BYU-Idaho asked a student why she dropped out so she told them the truth. (0:42)

The Mayor of Knoxville (TN) finally admitted a Bible sign hanging in the police department was illegal. (5:30)

The White House Bible Study is bad enough, but the instructor is worse. (13:42)

Donald Trumps Religious Right lawyer cant stop lying for him. (17:56)

An NFL player thinks dinosaurs arent real and fossils are fake. (23:23)

The Activist Mommy has a lot of advice on how to beat your children properly. (26:33)

Bastyr University, a naturopathic school, says a former student is defaming them online. She says shes just sharing what she learned there. (37:24)

Atheists are asking the Supreme Court to rule on prayers at school board meetings. (52:11)

Rod Dreher is frustrated by Christians who support Trump, but hes part of the problem. (59:50)

Ark Encounter has a new silly excuse for why attendance is low. (1:06:17)

Wed love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play, stream all the episodes on SoundCloud or Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below. Our RSS feed is here. And if you like what youre hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!

(Image via Shutterstock)

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Podcast Ep. 175: Alternative Medicine Isn't Medicine - Patheos (blog)

Chuck Norris

By now you may be familiar with the story of Eden Carlson, the two-year-old who was found last year face down in the family swimming pool, barely clinging to life. Rushed to Arkansas Childrens Hospital, she spent nearly two hours without a heartbeat and it would take constant CPR at both the house and the emergency room to get a return of circulation. Initial hospital tests showed she had suffered severe brain damage.

As chronicled in a report published in the July issue of the journal Medical Gas Research, over the next two months, Eden progressively lost muscle control as well as her ability to speak, walk and properly react to commands. Unresponsive to all traditional approaches, at the two-month mark, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was recommended and Dr. Paul Harch, Clinical Professor and Director of Hyperbaric Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine was brought in.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a form of therapy that I am intimately familiar with. It was instrumental in treating my wife, Gena, during her recovery from gadolinium poisoning. The therapy exposes a patient to pure oxygen within the confines of a carefully controlled pressurized chamber.

Because hyperbaric oxygen therapy was not available at Arkansas Childrens Hospital, Dr. Harch began a bridging treatment to prevent permanent tissue degeneration until he could get Eden to a hyperbaric treatment center. Fifty-five days after her near-drowning, Dr. Harch began by giving her oxygen at the same air pressure as air at sea level for 45 minutes twice a day. After these treatments, Eden became more alert and started to speak and even laugh again, according to the report. Then, 78 days after her near-drowning, the doctors gave Eden oxygen therapy in a pressurized chamber. She would ultimately have 40 sessions, lasting 45 minutes each, spread over five days a week. Edens mother reported that by the tenth round, her child appeared to be near normal.

She was able to walk again, Dr. Harch tells CBS News. Her language development accelerated and ended up improving to the point that it was better than it had been before the accident.

Dr. Harch goes on to explain that every time you experience hyperbaric oxygen therapy you are manipulating gene expression in a beneficial way, inhibiting cell death and inflammation while promoting tissue growth and repair. He has also stressed that his report does not claim to resurrect brain cells with oxygen treatments, as some critics have implied, but rather, he says that the oxygen treatments led to the growth of brain tissue, likely because the oxygen stimulated the expression of certain genes.

The story of little Eden Carlson is now being hailed as one of the first such confirmed cases of brain damage being reversed using this alternative treatment. But there are other successes in the field to report.

Take the case of 56-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran Fritz Kruger. A cancer patient, Kruger had his prostate removed in 2012. This was followed by extensive radiation treatments. Following the treatments, he was showing no signs of cancer, but the radiation had taken a toll on his body, causing painful after-effects. I had blood in my urine, Kruger explains in a Mayo Clinic report. There was so much scar tissue that they couldnt find the opening from my kidneys into my bladder.

Krugers Veteran Administration doctor recommended hyperbaric oxygen therapy which led him to the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Dr. James Banich, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who also works with wound care and hyperbaric medicine.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is very well-documented as an effective treatment for radiation injury, says Dr. Banich. Better oxygen delivery allows for better wound healing and the ability to fight infection.

Throughout the course of Krugers 30-day treatment he continued to improve. His symptoms eventually went away and have not returned.

In the Mayo Clinic report, Dr. Banich notes that hyperbaric oxygen therapy also is effective for diabetic patients who have wounds on their feet that will not heal. Researchers at Mayo Clinics Rochester campus are now in the midst of research and clinical trials to explore the benefits of the therapy for other types of wounds.

There are many other stories that can be told of the benefits of hyperbaric medicine as a viable, low-risk form of alternative medicine. You just dont hear about them because the practice remains relatively small, underfunded and underreported.

At least some doctors and hospitals are beginning to see the value of this form of treatment. An estimated 1,300 U.S. hospitals have hyperbaric facilities, triple the number of medical facilities offering the service in 2002. Yet earlier this year, the Federal Drug Administration saw the need to issue a warning to consumers that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is being promoted as a treatment for many conditions for which the federal agency has not approved its use. Among them PTSD, Alzheimers disease, and diabetes diseases that remain not fully understood, or in some instances even curable; situations where such a low-risk alternative treatment as hyperbaric oxygen poses little risk.

Meanwhile, military veterans whove returned from deployment with a diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury or Post Traumatic Stress are left with no current treatment except pharmaceutical medication as the Veterans Administration continues to question the science behind Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Write to Chuck Norris with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebooks Official Chuck Norris Page. He blogs at ChuckNorrisNews.blogspot.com.

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Chuck Norris covers astonishing results of new therapy - WND.com

To the editor: I am writing in regard to the July 20 column by Mara Schiffren, Patient, heal thyself. My two best friends are pediatric oncologists. One is a Harvard Medical School M.D., Ph.D. geneticist at Sloane Kettering, the other is my classmate from veterinary school at U.C. Davis, a DVM, Ph.D. pathologist at St. Judes Childrens Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. I have shared tears with both of my best friends as they described to me the trials of confirming an astrocytoma or glioblastoma, both brain tumors, to the parents of their 3- and 4-year-old children. Leukemias, lymphomas, retinoblastomas and more bring heartache and shatter to the lives of parents in pediatric oncology wards across the country. A 3-year-old child has not the worldly circumspect to alter their lifes nutrition and lifestyle. Ms. Schiffrens flippant remarks regarding health and medicine are reflective of a seeming cynicism, a lack of knowing and an absence of compassion. I disagree with her dark perspective of todays medicine. I see the world of todays therapeutics as wonderfully changing. How integrated has the world of medicine become! As an equine veterinarian, alternative medicine abounds: acupuncture, chiropratic, holistic and herbal therapeutics are all incorporated into managing the lives and careers of horses. My brother, a graduate from the Yale School of Medicine, integrates an array of holistic therapeutics into his practice. Nutrition, exercise, meditation, and lastly, therapeutics, are brought on board. The world of both human and veterinary medicine has been dramatically changing for good in the past recent years, incorporating an array of diverse perspectives. A milestone example of changing therapeutics in my world as an equine veterinarian would be in the world of treating autism. As an equine veterinarian, horses have been substantiated to be one of the few successful therapeutic modalities for improving cognition, speech, balance and empowerment in special needs children. Who would have thought that which nickers and whinnys would replace a pill bottle? The world of human and equine medicine is wonderfully changing for the better, despite the cynicism of Mara Schiffrens article. Matt Eliott, DVM North Salem

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Another Perspective on Health and Medicine - TAPinto.net