I’ve said many times that it’s vital to find the cause of your disease in order to treat it right. Unfortunately, doctors often fail to find the cause of chronic fatigue and digestive problems.

My friend Margaret recently experienced this. She had been bloated for years. She had tried a variety of healthy diets, took enzymes and probiotics, and had every diagnostic test her doctor could think of including one for ovarian cancer (bloating is a common symptom for this disease). All tests came back negative.

She had also taken the test that should have revealed the cause of her discomfort. It didn’t, because most labs that test for this condition miss identifying the problem. And the majority of doctors who recommend this test assume that the labs they’re using are accurate. Well, I’m here to tell you they’re not. I’ve seen it over and over again. The right labs can uncover the hidden problems that other labs miss.

Margaret was able to find the source of her discomfort because I insisted she get re-tested with a different lab. Why was I so adamant? Because her symptoms and lifestyle pointed to one of the most difficult-to-diagnose problems: parasites. And parasites contribute to the inflammation and immune problems that are at the core of many diseases, including digestive problems, chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory bowel disease. If you have an overgrowth of parasites, it can easily compromise your health.

Parasites cause inflammation by irritating tissues in the small intestines where nutrients are absorbed. If you have any unresolved inflammatory problem (cancer, diabetes, and any condition that ends in “itis”), I urge you to check for parasites and their resulting inflammation — with a lab that’s likely to find them.

I first talked about parasites more than six years ago. Since then I’ve seen that a lot of people who insist they don’t have parasites do have them. They also have other inflammatory problems. Most labs are just not finding them.

There are several reasons for this. Some parasites and their eggs hide in the folds of the small intestines too high up to dislodge easily. And some stick so well to the intestinal lining that a single random stool sample test — the most common test for parasites — will miss them. It’s natural to prefer taking a test that requires only a single stool sample. But this test may not find your parasites.

Why get tested if you feel fine?

Parasites are everywhere. They’re in our water — especially well water and water in foreign countries. They’re on our pets. And they’re in our food supply, as you know from hearing about E. coli contamination and salmonella on fruits, vegetables, fish, and meats.

Tapeworms are common in countries where they eat a lot of pork. If you’ve traveled outside the U.S., especially to Mexico, South America, or Asia, you’re at a high risk for a parasite overgrowth or the presence of tapeworm, a parasite found in swine feces. Most labs don’t routinely test for worms.

So, the question isn’t whether or not you have parasites. It’s whether or not you have too many of the harmful kinds. And whether or not you have increased inflammation both from parasites and from your diet.

Finding accurate information

When I began researching the subject of parasites and labs, I turned to one of the country’s experts, my colleague Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS. She began her career in nutrition by studying with some of the world’s top experts. During that time, understanding and eradicating parasites became her passion.

Ann Louise has written two of the best books I’ve ever read on parasites: Guess What Came To Dinner? (Avery, 2001) and The Gut Flush Plan (Avery, 2008). Together, they are invaluable in understanding parasites and how to best detect and eliminate them. You can get her books online or from Uni Key Health Systems (800-888-4353). Mention this newsletter for a 15% discount.

Finding the right lab

There are more than 500 different species of bacteria that live in your intestines. This doesn’t include various kinds of fungi, worms, and other critters. Not all of them are harmful, but a number of them are. So it’s good to check for them periodically.

No lab can identify all types of parasites. Sometimes the lab can find them in a single stool sample, while you may need two or three samples to find others.

Sometimes it’s easiest to find parasites through saliva tests. I don’t mean that there are parasites in your saliva. But saliva tests can detect antibodies to parasites as well as markers of inflammation caused by various worms, such as those found in kitty litter. Saliva tests can also identify food sensitivities to gluten (wheat, barley, and rye), milk, eggs, and soy that increase inflammation in the digestive tract. Identifying various causes of inflammation gives you a huge advantage. It helps you know which remedies to take and which dietary changes to make.

Ann Louise and I chose the same lab based on price, testing methods, the ability to find multiple types of parasites, and the inclusion of a food sensitivity test that gives additional vital information. We both prefer the expanded GI Health Panel from Diagnos-Techs (GI-02). It consists of several stool and saliva samples taken on different days.

Why I like this test best

One of the biggest problems with parasites is that they cause inflammation, which causes increased permeability in the intestinal lining. This allows toxins and tiny food molecules to leak through, contributing to inflammatory problems throughout your body. Eventually, it can lead to autoimmune diseases.

The expanded GI Health Panel test finds and identifies the parasites that cause inflammation. But it does much more. It also tests for four common foods that may be causing additional inflammation. Unless and until you treat this inflammation with dietary changes, you will never get completely well.

Some labs have you purge before collecting stool samples. Besides being harsh and traumatic, a purge will burst many parasites. This means the lab can’t see them under a microscope. At best, using a microscope detects only some parasites.

The GI-O2 panel can cost anywhere from $265 to $325 or more, depending on whether or not your doctor charges you for a visit or gives you a personalized report and treatment suggestions. Medicare, and some other insurance companies, often reimburse for this test. Talk with your doctor about this.

How to order a GI-02 test

There are two ways to order this test: through a doctor who works with Diagnos-Techs, or through Uni Key, a company that handles all of Ann Louise’s books and anti-parasite herbal formulas.

To find a doctor in your area who uses Diagnos-Techs’ tests, go to www.diagnostechs.com and click on “Provider Directory” to search for someone near you. Or call them at 800-878-3787. You can also ask them for a patient packet that you can take to your doctor who can then set up an account and order your test kit.

In addition, your doctor can prescribe Alinia or another anti-parasitic prescription drug for the first stage of your treatment. Herbs and dietary changes take longer to treat and can eliminate more parasites and their eggs. I find this combination works best in people with high levels of worms and other parasites.

You may just want to contact Uni Key (800-888-4353) to save you the expense of a doctor’s visit. You will receive all of your results with specific recommendations in an individualized letter from Ann Louise’s office for natural, non-toxic, non-invasive formulas. Uni Key can provide you with a kit for the GI-02, as well as the insurance codes you’ll need for possible reimbursement.

Be sure to follow-up with a re-test after four months. Many people feel just fine and still have parasites that can lead to future health problems. Don’t assume that because you feel good that your parasites are under control.

So begin your journey today to find and eradicate parasites. Just know that if you get rid of parasites and still feel terrible, it’s not the lab’s fault. You may have missed an important step: inflammation from foods. I’ll talk about this in detail next month.

When “Nothing” Works Better Than “Something”

Some of the best scientific studies compare a drug, nutrient, or other therapy with absolutely nothing. The results of these studies then become the foundation for the medical treatments doctors use in their practices.

Pharmaceutical companies make fortunes based on this approach. In fact, chances are, if you’re taking any pharmaceutical, the drug company compared your medication with a non-drug — or “nothing” — many times over.

If this sounds unusual, it’s not. Shamans, medicine men, and doctors have used this method for centuries. It’s also a component of the most sophisticated clinical trials conducted today. The FDA recognizes this approach as being both accurate and legitimate, while many physicians argue that it’s bogus and all in a person’s imagination.

I’m talking about the placebo effect.

A placebo is a pill or therapy that has no active ingredients. It often contains sugar, saline, or distilled water. In “placebo-controlled” studies, some participants take the inactive substance, while others take the experimental drug. The participants don’t know which substance they’re taking. Researchers have seen it over and over again: A placebo can improve a condition when the person believes it will.

The place of placebos in studies

Placebos are used as a control in scientific studies, but they can do much more. Dr. Andrew Leuchthr, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, found that placebos can have the same physiological activity as real drugs. He gave a placebo to some patients with major depression, and an antidepressant to others. Then he imaged their brains. The patients who took the placebo showed the very same physiological changes as the patients who took the active drug!

In another study, researchers gave a group of people a placebo and told them that the pill was a stimulant. Their pulses raced, their blood pressure increased, and their reaction times improved. Then they gave the same people another dummy pill, and told them it was a sedative. Their blood pressure dropped, their pulses slowed, and their reaction times worsened.

The theory behind the placebo effect is that fake treatments using inactive substances improve a patient’s condition because they believe and expect they will work. Robert DeLap, MD, who heads one of the FDA’s Offices of Drug Evaluation, is familiar with this concept. “The more you believe you’re going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that you will experience a benefit,” he said.

In fact, an analysis of 26 studies concluded that 32% of patients responded to dummy pills. This placebo effect has been so effective at times that pharmaceutical companies have found placebos often outperform their drugs. In many cases, “nothing” continues to work better than “something.”

Treating with placebos

Placebos have outperformed surgeries, as well. In 2002, surgeons performed almost three-quarters of a million arthroscopic knee surgeries. For this surgery, an arthroscope is surgically inserted into the knee and looks around. Then it removes bits of cartilage that could be causing inflammation and pain.

A group of researchers decided to test its effectiveness. They performed traditional arthroscopy on one group of patients. In the other group, the surgeons made three small cuts in their knee but removed nothing. Both groups had similar improvement. The sham surgery was just as effective as arthroscopy. Arthroscopic surgery costs insurance companies and uninsured citizens billions of dollars every year. Sham surgery costs much less.

Doctors also give placebos when their patients insist on getting a medication that is either inappropriate or may have more risks than potential benefits. At least the dummy pills won’t hurt them.

“You’ve got to be there on the oncology ward,” says placebo researcher Michael Jospe, “and see how suffering people get so demanding of drugs that might be extremely harmful to them.” If a doctor refuses to give his patient anything, he knows they’ll find a doctor who will. Placebos can protect a patient from more harm.

The best placebos

Many years ago, a psychiatrist colleague of mine said to me, “We don’t need better drugs. We need a better placebo.” He was right. But how can we design a dummy pill or treatment that’s better than others? A letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last March may have found one way to do just this.

Researchers stung the wrists of study participants with a mild electric shock, then gave all of them a brochure that described the benefits of this new painkiller. In half of the brochures, this pill was said to cost $2.50 a dose. In the other half, the pill was discounted to 10 cents a dose. This placebo worked for the majority of participants, but the more expensive pill outperformed the cheap pill by 85 to 61. For some, a better placebo is a more expensive placebo.

A good placebo serves an important role in mind-body medicine. It may be a sugar pill or a medication that hasn’t been adequately proven to be effective. If a placebo works — mission accomplished.

But the placebo response strongly depends upon the beliefs of the patient. This means it is impossible to predict when a placebo will give a positive result and when it won’t. There are, however, conditions that can optimize the placebo response. They include a good rapport and open, caring communication between doctor and patient. This takes time. Time that many physicians don’t have or won’t give to their patients, even when it means a better outcome.

There is much more to the subject of placebos that are explored in an excellent new book, The Placebo Response and the Power of Unconscious Healing by Richard Kradin (Routledge, 2008). It’s easy to read and understand and could open up new pathways for healing for you. And the placebo response could explain why some health products being sold based on testimonials – not science – are giving such good results.

So, what does all of this mean for you? That placebos are as potent as medicines. That your mind and beliefs can and do affect how well or how poorly you may respond to a particular therapy. And that a powerful mind-body connection exists that can help you heal better and faster.

One answer is to have faith and a positive attitude both in your doctor and in your treatment. And if you don’t, consider finding another.

This Popular Drug May Protect You From Heart Disease and Stroke … If You’re a Man

t’s one of the most widely used over-the-counter medications ever sold. People take around 40,000 tons of these pills each year worldwide. In fact, you probably have a bottle of it sitting in your medicine cabinet. And millions of people take it every day, believing it protects them from heart attacks and stroke.

It does — if you’re a man. But if you’re a woman, it can be much less protective.
In fact, it might not work at all. So if you’re relying on this drug to keep your arteries healthy and keep you from having a stroke or heart attack, it’s time to do more than take this drug.

In addition to just not working like we’ve been told, this common medication has a serious down side. It happens to be one of the top 10 drugs that cause gastrointestinal problems including ulcers, bleeding in the stomach, heartburn, and vomiting. I’m talking, of course, about aspirin.

We’ve been assured that aspirin’s benefits outweigh its consequences. I disagree. So do at least seven good, sound scientific studies that concluded this drug flat out doesn’t work for many people. They found no benefit for the primary prevention of heart disease — even in diabetics and people with clogged arteries who are at high risk!

Recently, a team of researchers in Scotland conducted a large randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. It evaluated the effects of aspirin in more than 1,200 healthy women. All of them were 45 years
or older.

These women had never had a heart attack or stroke. But all of them were at high risk for them because they already had diabetes or peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD is a condition where the arteries in the leg are partially blocked, making walking difficult.

Aspirin didn’t reduce their risk for having a first non-fatal cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke, or death). It’s true that they had fewer strokes, but not fewer heart attacks.

Why was this? Well, it could be for a number of reasons. One is that we women have a higher risk for having a stroke than a heart attack. We also have one-fifth as many heart attacks as men and tend to develop heart disease 10 to 15 years later than they do.

The risk of gastrointestinal bleeding increases with age — one more reason why you shouldn’t rely on aspirin to keep you healthy. There’s no reason why you should exchange one risk for another.

Low-dose aspirin seems to work best to prevent heart attacks and stroke in women over the age of 65. And the older you are when you begin to take it, the better. You reduce the risks that come from long-term use.

If you have a history of heart disease or strokes, or currently have symptoms of either condition, the benefits of taking an aspirin every day may be greater than the risks.

But if you’re using aspirin — even a low-dose pill — to prevent a heart attack or death and you’re younger than 65, there’s a good chance it won’t work and could cause digestive problems.

What you can take instead

If you want clean, clear arteries to reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke, I have a better suggestion for you than aspirin: Padma Basic. This is an herbal supplement that originally was developed in Tibet for people with plaque in their veins and arteries: peripheral artery disease.

There are many, many sound scientific studies on Padma Basic. People throughout Europe have used it for years. What’s more, I have had impressive first-hand experience with it.

Several years ago, I started taking Padma Basic because it supports the immune system, reduces inflammation, and increases circulation. After taking Padma for about two years, my doctor recommended I get a CT angiogram to make sure I didn’t have clogged arteries. You see, heart disease runs in my family.

My cardiologist was shocked with my results.

This CT angiogram showed I had 00.00 arterial plaque! Nothing. Not a trace of plaque. He had never seen absolutely clear coronary arteries in someone my age (I was over 65 at the time of the scan).

Padma Basic isn’t in a lot of health food stores. It can be a bit hard to find. But you can get it through Advanced Bionutritionals (800-728-2288). I took two small tablets three times a day for three months, and then two tablets twice a day. Now my maintenance dose is one twice a day.

You can read an article on Padma Basic on my website. It appeared in March 2005. Or you can ask the folks at Advanced Bionutritionals to send you a copy of my book, “Padma: An ancient Tibetan herbal formula” (Basic Health, 2003). It’s only $4.95 and is packed with information.

Padma Basic is safer than aspirin. It won’t give you digestive problems. And I think it’s more effective.

NUTRITION DETECTIVE

The Answer to All Your Household Odor Problems

There’s a big difference between masking an odor and eliminating it. I grew up with the former. I remember that my mother used the best solution she could find: Air Wick. But all that did was leave a chemical smell that combined with cooking odors or the “accidents” our pets left for us.

Since then, there hasn’t been a real, safe, natural odor eliminator until now. It’s PureAyre. And it’s made from plant enzymes that break the molecular bonds of all naturally occurring odor-causing compounds. This includes everything from cigarette smoke and cat urine to the odors from mildew and new carpet VOCs. You smell it, PureAyre can probably eliminate it quickly and permanently. Even if your dog gets skunked!

I gave samples to a group of my testers and every one of them loved it. They tried it on baby odors, their dogs, fertilizer, carpet and fabrics, bathroom odors, and smoke. A few sprays and smelly odors were gone.

PureAyre comes in spray bottles for babies, pets, home and car, and marine odors. Don’t know which to buy? This may help you: they’re all the same! That’s right. The folks at PureAyre have just packaged their enzyme formula in different bottles and sizes. So go to your health food or pet store and pick some up. Or call them toll-free at 877-787-3297 and ask them for the current best deal and for the store nearest to you that carries their products. You may not need it today, but the next time you’re around some nasty smells, you’ll be glad it’s in your cupboard.

LETTERS

Q: I read that it’s useless to take resveratrol capsules because they are inactivated by exposure to oxygen. The source I read said it’s better to drink red wine because the fermentation process that produces the wine yields carbon dioxide that protects the resveratrol from the effects of oxygen. What do you say? — L.C., e-mail

A: There is some truth in this. However, it doesn’t take into account the fact that the coating in resveratrol capsules and tablets protects against exposure to oxygen. What this means is that there is limited oxidation in resveratrol supplements — at least the good quality ones like the product sold by Advanced Bionutritionals. And they do extensive research to make sure each tablet maintains its potency.

But there’s another aspect to consider. The amount of resveratrol that many studies have found to be protective and healthy is much higher than what’s found in a glass of red wine. In fact, many red wines have only 1.5 mg per liter (about 6.5 glasses per liter). The resveratrol supplement sold by Advanced Bionutritionals has nearly 100 times that amount (110 mg per daily dose). So you’d have to drink over 475 glasses of wine per day to get this much protection. Obviously, you can’t do that.

So if you’re looking for significant amounts of resveratrol — amounts that can protect your heart and brain — stick with the supplements.

Q: I’m confused. I read about the importance of magnesium and believe it. I’ve been taking Ultimate Bone Support for a couple of years. Everything I read is silent about magnesium. Should I take it? When? And how much? — P.K., e-mail

A: It is confusing, I’ll admit. Some people have asked whether or not they need to take more calcium if they take Ultimate Bone Support. You wonder about taking added magnesium. Both are necessary.

Here’s the bottom line: From all the research I’ve read the past 30 years, we should all take 500 mg each of supplemental calcium and magnesium. The rest we can usually get from our diet. Some people with arrhythmias, constipation, fibromyalgia, and chronic stress may need more magnesium than this. I usually tell them, “take magnesium to bowel tolerance” — up to 1,000 mg per day.

So why not put calcium and magnesium in Ultimate Bone Support? Wouldn’t that be easier for everyone? Not at all, because strontium, a key nutrient that puts the “ultimate” into the formula, should not be taken along with calcium or magnesium. They cancel each other out.

To get the maximum benefit from any bone support formula containing strontium, you should take it away from calcium and magnesium. Here’s a simple way to do this. Take your bone support formula morning and evening on an empty stomach — when you first wake up and after your evening meal. Then take your multivitamin or other source of calcium and magnesium with food at breakfast and dinner (or with a snack at any time). That’s what I do. That gives enough time for your body to digest the strontium so it won’t cancel out the magnesium and calcium.