Johns Hopkins Update - 
This is an extremely good article. Everyone should read it.
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (‘TRY’, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY. 

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins: 

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer  
  cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
  multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
  that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after  
  treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
  cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
  size. 

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a  
  person’s lifetime. 

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer 
  cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
  forming tumors. 

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
  nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
  but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors. 

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
   diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day 
    and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system. 

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
  cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
  in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can 
  cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc. 

7.. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars 
  and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs. 

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
  reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of
  chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor
  destruction. 

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
  chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
  compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
  to various kinds of infections and complications. 

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
    mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
    Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other
    sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
    cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply. *CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made
  with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute
   would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
   amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
  color Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt. 

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
  gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting
  off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer
  cells are being starved. 

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
  diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, 
   like chicken. Meat also contains livestock
  antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all
  harmful, especially to people with cancer. 

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
  grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
  an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
  food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
  enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
  cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
  growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
  healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
  vegetables including be an sprouts) and eat some raw
  vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
  temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).. 

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
  caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
  fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
  filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
  water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it. 

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
    digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
    intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic
    buildup. 

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
    refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
    to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
    body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells. 

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
    (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
    EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
    cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
    to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s
    normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
    unneeded cells. 

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
    A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
   be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
   the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
   have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy
   life. 

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
    environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
    get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen 
    therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
    cells. 

1. No plastic containers in micro. 

2. No water bottles in freezer. 

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.. 

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. 
Please share this with your whole email list……………………. 
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead. 

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

December 7, 2010
INDUSTRY NEWS
General Assembly Veto Session Update
Work Comp Reform Hearings
Illinois State Senate and House Work Comp Reform Committees held their first hearings last week in Springfield and Chicago. Several individuals representing the Joint Employers Group on Workers Compensation offered testimony on reforms that would make Illinois’ work comp system and rates more competitive with surrounding states. Illinois-specific issues targeted for reform included primary cause of an injury, wage differential, choice of physician, requiring the use of AMA guidelines for determining extent of injury, greater emphasis on utilization review reports, and lack of resources committed to work comp fraud by the Department of Insurance.
A panel of labor leaders from the AFL-CIO testified that the special committees should only abide by the “agreed bill process” where any changes have to be agreed to by all parties. Representatives from the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association blamed the insurance industry for Illinois’ high costs and called for rate regulation and the creation of a state-run fund to compete with private insurers.
Both chambers’ bipartisan committees will continue hearings in December with the goal of passing a bill in early January. Reforming Illinois work comp laws is a daunting task even when business, labor, trial lawyers and the insurance industry agree. If labor and the trial bar don’t participate, it will be challenging for democratic leaders to sway rank and file members to vote for changes opposed by these groups.

The Nov. 21 article, “Inaction on Medical Errors Draws Fire,” was very concerning and at the same time very important for several reasons.

First, public reporting of patient safety and medical errors such as “never events” in Iowa hospitals is essential for patients and consumers.

Second, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and its director are trying to do their job and should be supported and commended.

Third, it raises a larger question about conflict of interest of hospitals and the role of the Iowa Hospital Association. Are they really serving the public’s interest or their own?

Public reporting of hospitals’ and other health care providers’ quality and patient safety is essential. It is important for consumers, patients and families to be aware. For instance, there are about 195,000 preventable deaths from medical errors in hospitals each year.

Transparency of this information has also proven to be an important catalyst for improvement in health care. What will it take to motivate hospitals and other providers to make health care of higher quality and safer?

The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals is charged with protecting the health and safety of Iowans. It is responsible for inspecting, licensing and/or certifying hospitals and other health care providers, among others. The department is on target with the effort to require Iowa hospitals to publicly report “never events,” as these are a major patient safety issue.

Never events are 28 occurrences on a list of inexcusable outcomes in a health care setting. The list was compiled by the National Quality Forum. They are adverse events that are serious, largely preventable and of concern to both public and health care providers for purposes of public accountability. They include surgery performed on the wrong body part, a foreign object in a patient after surgery and patient death or disability associated with a medication error. Iowa should join 27 other states that already require reporting of these events.

Iowa is often mentioned as a state with high quality care compared to other states. However, new information shows Iowa’s overall health care quality was ranked in the average range by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Average isn’t nearly good enough. Studies show there is wide variation in the quality of care in Iowa by health facility and provider group and much opportunity for improvement. There is a growing consensus that health care quality and patient safety need to be greatly improved across the country. Iowa should strive to be “best in class,” or in the top 10 percent nationally. Transparency is a key to achieving this.

AARP recently released a poll showing 75 percent of older Iowans feel the state should require hospitals to publicly report the number of serious errors that occur in their facilities. We believe the majority of all Iowans agree. Yet the Iowa Hospital Association, its lobbyists and others from the industry continue to resist public reporting and accountability.

The Department of Inspections and Appeals should continue to actively pursue public reporting of hospital patient safety – including never events – to the fullest. We hope that whoever the department director is in 2011 and beyond will see this as a key priority. Also, it is time for a major overhaul of the Iowa Hospital Licensing Board membership. The department is charged with protecting the health and safety of the
public. In order to carry out its responsibility the board membership should be broad based and not be a creature of the hospital industry, as its majority is today.

Like Congress, Americans Split Over Health-Care Reform

HealthDay
Amanda Gardner
December 06, 2010

Americans are still deeply divided over the nation’s new health-care reform package, with 28 percent of adults wanting to repeal the legislation while 31 percent favor keeping all or most of the reforms.

Another 29 percent aren’t sure what should be done.

Those are several key findings in a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll, taken three weeks after the November elections that saw Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives with a pledge to dismantle — or, at the very least, curtail — the controversial legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in March.

But the poll revealed an interesting paradox: Large percentages of even those people who want the law repealed are happy with many of its provisions.

“Pluralities want to repeal all or most of the law, but want to keep much of what’s in it,” said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll. “As we showed in the last Harris/HealthDay poll, it’s easy to believe all the bad things about the law if you don’t know what’s in it,” he added.

Two-thirds of the poll’s respondents said they like the fact that the reform package prevents insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. Another 60 percent want to keep the provision for tax credits so small businesses can afford coverage for employees. Fifty-five percent like the idea that the law allows children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26. And just over half support the idea of new insurance exchanges where people can shop for insurance.

Only one part of the new law is widely unpopular: the stipulation that people without health insurance buy it or face a penalty. Fifty-seven percent of the respondents oppose this and only 19 percent support it.

Ambivalence towards parts of health-care reform appeared even among those who said they would like the legislative package repealed. For example, 44 percent of this group said they would like to keep the provision that bars insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, and 38 percent favor offering tax credits to small businesses to help pay for employees’ insurance.

Most of those who want to repeal all or some of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act said they think it’s an unwarranted expansion of big government that will lead to “higher taxes,” “rationing” of health care, and possibly even “socialism.”

Eighty-two percent of opponents think the law is a “government takeover of the health-care system”; 81 percent feel it is “too expensive” and “will mean higher taxes”; 77 percent believe it will reduce the quality of individuals’ health care; and 74 percent believe it will lead to a “rationing of health care.” Seventy-one percent call it a “form of socialism.”

“This squares with other recent polls that are showing a split in overall public support for the law, but with majorities in favor of specific provisions allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26 and helping small businesses pay for insurance coverage,” said Sara Collins, vice president for Affordable Health Insurance at The Commonwealth Fund in New York City.

Experts such as Thomas R. Oliver, professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, hope that understanding of the 2,500-page law will improve as time goes on.

“There’s a substantial gap in the general public understanding, [but] the more informed people are, the more they understand,” Oliver said. “They’ll realize they have a connection with problems experienced by millions of Americans.”

Meanwhile, provisions of the law are rolling forward, and by 2014 most of the major pieces will be in place, at least according to the legislation’s timeline, Collins said.

“Right now it is the law of the land and the provisions are rolling out,” she said.

The poll was conducted online within the United States from Nov. 19- 23, and included 2,019 adults aged 18 and over. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

More information

Read more about the poll methodology and findings at Harris Interactive.

SOURCES: Humphrey Taylor, chairman, The Harris Poll; Sara Collins, Ph.D., vice president, Affordable Health Insurance Program, The Commonwealth Fund, New York City; Thomas R. Oliver, Ph.D., professor of population health sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and associate director for health policy, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, Madison; Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll, Nov. 19-23, 2010

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