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NHT News. Vol. 6 No. 1 Mar 2010

Denice Moffat

NATURAL HEALTH TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER

March, 2010               Volume 6 Number 1

In This Issue:  

 (Please note that full names are never used in this newsletter or on my website without the full consent of the sender or client. Some cases also encompass groupings of cases with similar symptoms and suggestions for healing in an attempt to educate the general public.)

Trending
Life in Five Short Chapters

Health in the News:

News of the Weird:  After several days of hard work, a team from the Russian army was able to rescue 10 tons of beer in kegs that had sunk in a truck in the Irtysh River near the city of Omsk and then were trapped under solid ice. (The truck itself could not be pulled out, but few cared about that.) And a dead, 50ton, 50-foot-long sperm whale, being transported by flatbed truck through Tainan City, Taiwan, to the National Cheng Dun University in January exploded because of a buildup of gases from decomposition, drenching bystanders and nearby cars in an awesome deluge of blood and innards.  (Denice’s note: I just couldn’t resist sharing both of these.) 

Alzheimer’s: A Form of Diabetes? (Thanks to Judie in Kamiah, ID for sending this.)

Gee, this sounds like more evidence supportive of using the Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears (www.drsears.com) Read on. . .

An intriguing paper from a 2005 Brown University study has linked declining insulin production in the brain to Alzheimer’s disease, leading inevitably to the question — could Alzheimer’s be a form of diabetes? In the study, the scientists autopsied the brain tissue of 45 patients diagnosed with different degrees of Alzheimer’s called “Braak Stages. This study showed that:

It was suggested that this work ties several concepts together and demonstrates that Alzheimer’s disease is quite possibly a Type 3 diabetes. Interesting. The report appears in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Helpful Links and references:

What’s New on the Website?  

Well, it took some doing but we finally found a way to make the Search box work on the website again. Thanks for all the input from you readers. I actually had to hire a couple of people to figure it out then I had to go to each and every page on the website (that’s over 800 pages folks) and replace the code on each page. 

Still working on a website update. The WordPress program may still be a go eventually but I also tried the Go Daddy program. Spent about 60 hours trying to understand and make things work between the two of them but it’s still in process and now it’s gardening season! Ugh. The thing that is driving me is that FrontPage won’t be supporting the program in about 6 months so I can’t update anything on the website after that. Gee, just what I wanted to do, rebuild a humongous website and recreate new links for about 16,000 items. I hope it will go easier than what it sounds—maybe with some new and fancy options that it doesn’t currently have. I’ll let you know. 

This January I delved into the dark side of bookkeeping. We hired a virtual assistant to train us in how to use our QuickBooks program. Most of the time spent with her was spent hyperventilating but we’re going to get through this. Then, when we consult I’ll be able to email receipts. She has lots of tricks in her bag and will be steering me to people who can help me put my consults online someday as well. Of course I have to update that website first. So much to learn.  (Note: OK, so that didn’t work out so well. Everything got rather messed up, I got really behind and she absconded with $700! Live and learn. It’s back to the regular processes. Oh well.) 

Case of the Month: Seizures and Epilepsy 

Gosh we’ve had more than our share of seizure cases these last two months. These are interesting cases because by the time the parent or owner of the child or dog gets to the emergency room, the seizure is over. Ultimately it seems like it is the driver of the vehicle that would actually benefit more from the injection of valium as they are the ones that are usually upset and shaking with anxiety after viewing the seizure. If you’ve experienced seeing a human or animal with seizures, you know exactly what I mean. 

A seizure is defined as a sudden, involuntary, time-limited alteration in behavior where the body’s motor activity, consciousness, sensation or autonomic functions are temporarily out of control and the brain’s electrical activity is out of rhythm.  The body will be rigid with the head back (called opisthotonas). Tremors, unconsciousness, running, paddling limb movements and sometimes chewing movements occur along with SLUD signs (Salivation, Lacrimation, Urination and Defecation). Seizures usually last from 2-3 minutes but can last up to 15 minutes in severe and advanced cases. 

Categorizing Seizure Activity: There are more than 30 specific types of epileptic seizures which we won’t go into here because I am not an expert on the subject, but generally seizures fall into two general categories–partial and generalized. 

Partial seizures can be simple or complex.

Generalized seizures involve many parts of the brain. Generalized seizures are further categorized into petit mal (absence seizures) and grand mal (tonic-clonic) seizures.

Status epilepticus is a generalized seizure lasting longer than 15 minutes without recovery into consciousness. These are life threatening.

Common triggers: Often a trigger or aura will accompany the seizure. Common triggers are: Lack of sleep, hormonal or menstrual cycles, alcohol, smoking, stress and flashing or flickering lights. Once, when teaching an anatomy class many years ago, I had a student with seizures who was affected by the light ballasts going out in the florescent lights of our classroom—as they flickered it triggered a seizure.  

The Pre-ictal phase: Some people experience an unusual physical sensation before the onset of a seizure. This aura, which varies by individual, can be a strange taste or odor, a tense feeling, or even a sound. 

In addition, not all seizures are the result of epilepsy. Other rule-outs (non-epileptic events in this case) that cause seizure activity include: narcolepsy, heat stroke, tetanus, cardiac  arrhythmias, pre-eclampsia and low blood sugar. Getting a good history on the seizure victim will help eliminate most of these rule-outs. 

The Seizure Diary: One helpful thing that can be done to help diagnose the core cause of seizure activity is to keep a record of seizure activity. Log onto a calendar . . .

  1. When the seizure occurred
  2. How long it lasted
  3. If the bladder/bowels were evacuated
  4. If a pre-ictal aura was detected
  5. What time of day it occurred
  6. How close to a meal the seizure was and
  7. Any environmental or other activities that may have been different. 

This information will help us rule in or rule out the core cause or causes of the seizure. 

Finding the Core Cause of a Seizure: In both the medical and veterinary field the doctor will want to ask a litany of questions, perform a neurological exam, get a temperature, run blood work to check liver/kidney/pancreas and electrolyte functions or to see if there are indications of infections/parasites or cancer, perform a urinalysis, possibly do skull radiographs, an Electro Encephalogram (EEG) or even extract some cerebral spinal fluid to check for infection/parasites or cancer antibodies. 

Even checking the animals toe nails to see if there is abnormal wear or shredding may tell us if the seizure was caused from chronic disease (wear on just one or two nails or feet) or the animal has just been hit by a car (nails will often be shredded as the animal tries to run away from being hit by a car so the likelihood of trauma-induced injury would be higher).

With these tests a practitioner should be able to narrow down the field to determine if this is a case of epilepsy, narcolepsy, fainting, behavioral disorder or something as rare as a transient vestibular attack. 

Most times what these tests actually do is tell you what the seizure is NOT caused by. This can be quite aggravating because you’re putting out a lot of money on cases like these and they usually don’t happen during office hours so emergency fees are also involved, but that’s the way it works. 

Core causes of seizures can include congenital, infectious, metabolic, toxic, traumatic or environmental components: 

Congenital causes of seizures:

I once had several cases of epilepsy in a line of Pomeranians where the father of the dogs was an unneutered cryptorchid (only one teste had descended). He often bred his daughters and other relatives “accidentally.” He carried a weak gene that was passed to his siblings so we had many generations of pups with epilepsy. This is totally irresponsible by the way and any animal with epilepsy should be neutered in my opinion. 

Congenital causes usually manifest in seizure activity at an early age so knowing the age of the animal/human is important.  

Infectious/Inflammatory diseases: 

Metabolic disorders: 

Toxins: Lead, organophophates, carbamate, chlorinated hydrocarbons, strychnine, slug bait (metaldehyde), alcohol (delirium tremors), xanthenes like theorbromine, diet pills, mood elevators, tea, coffee beans and chocolate or other forms of caffeine overdose, nicotine or tobacco overdose

Uneducated pet owners sometimes force their pets to ingest a wad of tobacco for worming purposes but nicotine is very toxic even in small doses and the animal’s nervous system just can’t take it. Nicotine is also in some insecticide sprays. 

Alcohol/drug withdrawal: Even taking away alcohol or drugs can cause the body to have a seizure when it’s not done correctly. It’s good to tell all your secrets (no matter how embarrassing that may be) to your doctor so we can help you. 

Trauma to the head: Trauma to the head can instigate damage the electrical pathways (primary cause) or be responsible for secondary vascular problems. 

Vascular problems and disorders: Inflammation of the arteries, blood clots, plaque or hardening of the arteries. 

Environmental influences can decrease seizure thresholds. 

Idiopathic–meaning we don’t really know what caused the seizure to occur. Unfortunately for most practitioners most of the seizures fall into this category after running the gambit of tests which is why I like muscle testing. It seems to give us more answers and something we can DO to attend to the core cause. 

Treatment of Seizures: 

Most medical doctors and allopathic vets are taught to control seizure activity with medications. Many of the medications are damaging to the liver so several blood tests are usually done to monitor the dose of anti-seizure medications. The medications and blood testing are continued for the life of the animal or human. I prefer this as a last resort. 

We like to find the core cause of the seizure and eliminate what we can, minimize what we can or send the patient/client for the correct procedures to overcome the whole seizure thing altogether.

Often just some well-placed wormers, herbs, detoxifiers (like carob, dark leafy green vegetables, burdock or other liver cleansers), or fats (like a half piece of bacon each day for dogs and some people or some extra fats in the diet—saturated or unsaturated depends on the patient’s needs) will do the trick.  Sometimes we will dispense a product called Min Chex (a Standard Process Product) which helps the brain repair the electrical pathways between the left and right sides of the brain. 

A well-balanced food is always in order here. Dogs and humans who are epileptics can’t miss too many days of the diet that works for them and still stay in remission in some instances. 

I always recommend that the person or owner see the movie First Do No Harm. This movie discusses the Ketogenic diet which is often so helpful for epileptics. We believe that the body knows what it needs and most of the time it can tell us what it wants and how it wants to be treated through the use of muscle testing. 

Every once in a while one of these cases will have to be managed with light doses of anticonvulsants such as Phenobarbital, primidone, phenytoin, valproic acid, Clonazepam or valium but if we can find that core cause and take care of that we aim to keep these drugs at a minimum and for short periods of time. 

Helpful Links and References:

Product of the Month: Carob  Ceratonia siliqua

Carob pods with beans

 

Picture reference: https://blog.growingwithscience.com/category/learning-outdoors/page/5/

Carob is also known as St. John’s Bread or locust bean. Originating in Syria and Anatolia this 55 foot shady evergreen tree with shiny leaves produces fruit pods. The carob bean is dried, crushed and sometimes roasted to produce a sweet powder used in cooking. People have lived on the pods in times of famine and it has been written about in the Bible and Talmud. The trees are now widely distributed throughout the world—especially in the Mediterranean area and grow well in the United States after being introduced in 1856. They can be found in Texas, Florida and California.  

Historical uses and benefits of Carob include:

Carob has been used to improve digestion, decrease cholesterol, as an anti-diarrheal and for treating asthma, lung cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension, cough, flu and anemia. Carob is also used as an expectorant, especially for smokers, which may be one reason why carob is used in the tobacco curing industry.

My Guides have often recommended carob powder over the years as a heavy metal detoxifying agent but I have yet to find the pharmacological or biomechanical reasoning behind their recommendation. It just seems to work.

The active component in carob is Gallic acid which acts as an analgesic, antibacterial, antiviral (polio) and an antioxidant. 

In the food industry carob is used as a chocolate or coffee substitute. It is rich in phosphorus, calcium and vitamin E. The pods are chewed or made into flour which is added to other flours for baking, making candy or flavoring drinks and alcoholic beverages.Sometimes it is added to flavor dog biscuits. Boiled it turns into a thick, honey-like syrup or molasses rich in manoglactan (trade name Tragasol) which is used as a stabilizer and thickener in baked goods , ice cream, salad dressings, sauces, mustards, cheese and some meat products. The seed residue, after gum extraction, is made into a 60% protein flour safe for diabetics to eat.

Pods: The pods are relished by horses, cattle, pigs, goats and rabbits but should not be fed to chickens. Because the pods contain 1.5% tannin they should comprise no more than 10% of the diet. Tannins interfere with protein assimilation so suppress growth rate.

Seeds: The seed gum is used in cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, detergents, paint, ink, shoe polish, adhesives, sizing for textiles, photographic paper, insecticides and match heads and is also utilized in the tanning process, for bonding paper pulp and thickening silkscreen pastes.

Helpful Links and References:

Book Review: Forty-Something Forever: A Consumer’s Guide to Chelation Therapy © 1997) by Harold and Arline Brecher

What is Intravenous Chelation? The name chelation comes from the Greek work ‘chele’ meaning to grab like the claw of a crab or lobster. When a substance is chelated it is grabbed, trapped and transformed by the chelating agent. In the case of intravenous chelation, the chelating substance is calcium ETDA (Ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid).  

EDTA removes chromium, iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, mercury, cadmium and aluminum. EDTA is the treatment of choice for lead poisoning but some of these other minerals our body uses beneficially so it’s important to work with your chelating doctor to replace the good minerals through supplementation.  The authors discuss vitamins, minerals, food additives, and how to shift your lifestyle during and after chelation and they do a pretty good job of it too. 

Did you know that EDTA in solution is the substance used to keep the heart donor’s heart alive before it is transplanted? 

According to the Brecher’s research:

Gee, well this doesn’t sound so promising but what does a person do who has blocked arteries? Well, the answer for you may be intravenous chelation. 

The Brecher’s write in a down-to-earth, understandable way as they explain the different heart medications, what each does and how it works on the body. Definitely a must read if you’re on any heart medications or have any circulatory issues. 

What does intravenous chelation help?

Smoking is a big no-no for people with heart disease of any kind.  It eliminates the effectiveness of heart medications and displaces necessary oxygen in the lungs. Cigarette tobacco also contains the heavy metal cadmium. Chelation is NOT as effective when patients continue to smoke (but at the clinic in Mexico where I went there was actually a smoking porch outside with a big line of people on their IV drips smoking the whole time! People just do the best they can.) 

Do you take low-dose aspirin as a preventative for heart attacks? Well, studies have shown that this works but taking it long term increases the incidence of strokes and macular degeneration. (Dr. Denice’s note: And blood typo O people have thin blood to begin with so thinning it out even further causes all those little bruises you see on the skin of older people.) 

How is IV Chelation done? Therapeutically, EDTA is diluted with some other vitamins and buffers by mixing it with a liter of intravenous saline solution. This solution is slowly fed into the patient a drop at a time using an intravenous (usually butterfly) catheter which is inserted by a skilled technician. The solution drips into your body over a period of 3-4 hours. The clinics I’ve been to are set up with about 40 Lazy Boy recliners so you can relax while you’re having your treatment. The nurses bring you orange juice, coffee and snacks sometime during the treatment. A heated bean or rice bag applied to your arm helps heat the solution making things more comfortable. 

Contraindications for Intravenous chelation: IV chelation is not recommended for people who have cerebral aneurysms and brain tumors (but not other types of cancer). (Denice’s note: If you’ve had bypass surgery then you’ll have to wait 3-8 weeks after the surgery was done. Chelation is not safe is you have a urine creatinine of >3 or evidence of renal insufficiency. Coumadin levels will need to be adjusted if the patient is scheduled for more than three chelations in one week—these were not listed in the book.)   

Is IV Chelation safe? I asked this question of the doctor who ran the chelation clinic where I received treatments  several years ago. Of the tens of thousands of treatments she had given over the years she said only one person had died on her, “but that was a man coming up the stairs for his first chelation treatment. He hadn’t been chelated yet so I guess that doesn’t count “she said. I guess she’s right.   

More than five million successful treatments have been given at this point in time and that number is quickly rising. 

Are there any side effects to the Chelation Therapy? Yes but they are mild if they do occur. Sometimes the patient will experience decreased blood sugar, occasional leg cramps (the EDTA also draws out calcium from the body and lining of the blood vessels which helps decrease arteriosclerosis), mild headache or wooziness. These symptoms can be dealt with by eating a full meal before being chelated and taking your supplements. Localized pain from the catheter and cold fluids going into the vessel can be managed with a hot pack and raising the arm up over the head. 

How much does IV Chelation cost and is it covered by insurance?  To have IV chelation in the United States your doctor should be certified to do the procedure by the American College for Advancement in medicine.  Some people believe that the treatments in the US are not as strong but if they are an ACAM certified practitioner, they must follow a specific protocol and it’s important to balance out the chelation solutions so that the blood cells will be not be damaged, happy. Because of this fact, I believe the solutions on either side of the border are probably the same.   

Many insurance companies cover chelation treatments if your doctor recommends them or you are a poor candidate for surgery. A recommendation for 20 initial treatments then five treatments per year as a maintenance program is routinely suggested. 

Dr. Moffat’s Note: I have a fairly large “snow bunny” practice (retirees going to Arizona during the winter) and many of them go over the border from Yuma, AZ into Mexico to get their chelation done. It runs about $75/treatment down there (just about half of what the states charge when I last checked). 

Transportation is included in the process and a taxi picks you up at the border then drives you to the clinic and back so you don’t have to drive your own car (which is not recommended—they drive crazily down there and you’d need special insurance to cross the border).  

Pre-treatment blood work (within 15 days of doing the first chelation) costs extra and is necessary before the treatments start. 

There are doctors just over the border in the United States who will perform the blood tests. You’ll need to fast for several hours before blood is taken.  They then fax the results to the Mexico clinic. Before your first chelation the doctor in charge at the clinic will do a physical exam and ask you questions about medical history, your diet and habits. 

One of the challenges with going to a Mexican clinic is that the phlebotomists and nurses all speak Spanish and can’t communicate with the Americans that well. I once sat with a frightened first-timer and patiently explained in detail why the nurses wanted to put in a larger catheter (she was so frightened that her veins collapsed). I ended up literally holding her hand the whole four hours as I was getting my own treatment accomplished. Her husband had received several treatments previously, but I don’t think she trusted him and she probably didn’t think she came back for the rest of her series. It’s good to know what you’re getting into before you sign up for a set of treatments. 

What is in the Chelation solution? The solution contains 500 ml. Normal Saline as the base solution in which Magnesium Sulfate (for high blood pressure cases) or Magnesium Chloride (for normal or low blood pressure cases), Potassium Chloride, B-complex, Vitamin C, EDTA, Sodium Bicarbonate, Lidocaine, Vitamin B6 and B12 and sometimes Gerovital H-3 (in Mexico) is added. The osmolarity of the solution should equal 310 mm/liter so that the body will accept it safely. Sometimes an extra injection of Calcium is given if the patient feels pain and the vessels are trying to spasm. Often an injection of Vitamin B-12 is given in the arm at some point in the treatments. 

What about oral chelators? Can I use them instead? In my experience these have not proven to be useful. The authors of Forty Something Forever agree, “EDTA doesn’t work via the digestive tract” according to their research. They also agree with me that products advertised as an EDTA substitute (many containing Butcher’s Broom) also do not work although live, raw fruits and vegetables and natural high-quality Vitamin E, pychnogenol and other antioxidants are pretty good in preventing plaque buildup. Other practitioners believe that oral chelation supplements work. You will see Ora-Plus, PGF-400 (garlic supplement) and Lipex (cholesterol lowering) among others. 

Supplements often recommended as a circulatory protocol include CoQ10, Vitamin C (not just Ascorbic acid which is only one molecule of the vitamin), a mixed tocophorol Vitamin E, a calcium/magnesium trace mineral supplement and fish oils. 

This is an awesome lay person’s reference book for those of you who are having heart issues or contemplating bypass surgery. 

If you are thinking this treatment sounds scary you should educate yourself. A good way to start is to read the book and check out the websites and references below. Talking to others who have had chelation treatments is also very edifying.  Forty Something Forever is a good place to start. There is lots of information describing the whole picture of health including diet, fats, recipes, references and resources. You’ll be glad you read it. 

One thing to note about chelation therapy—it is NOT and alternative to changing unhealthy lifestyle choices that caused your illness to begin with. You are in charge of your life and health practitioners are here to help you learn about and make better choices. We’re happy to do that too! 

Helpful Links and References:

Ask Dr. Moffat: 

Dear Dr. Moffat: I have a couple of questions about carob and heavy metal cleansing: How do you take it? How much? With food or on an empty stomach? and I’ve read that you shouldn’t do a heavy metal cleanse unless you’re under a doctor’s care because so many toxins get released and that the chance of the heavy metals reabsorbing (i.e. into the brain) is great and this may cause even greater harm—-What do you think? Thank you so much in advance for any light you can shed on this for me….I’m certain I have a serious mercury issue as well as lead….and at this moment my finances will not permit an on-going relationship (and tests) with a doctor who would monitor this. Warm regards. Saralee C. 

Dear Saralee: Take the carob with food, mixed with or in something—applesauce or a smoothie? Some people encapsulate the carob because they don’t like the taste. I’ve recommended it in cookies sometimes depending on the age of the patient. Kids take it better that way. The dose is ½ to 1 teaspoon/day for 4-6 weeks. I’ve never had anyone have any problems with this remedy. About that mobilizing and re-absorbing issue? If you don’t have a holistically oriented doctor I doubt they’d believe or validate this concern anyway. I’d go for it.  I have Amalgam detox drops if you still have some mercury after trying this. We’d need an initial consult though. Good luck Saralee. Denice

 

Hello my name is Lorena. I had an experience today with my two year old daughter which has me concerned.  As I was doing laundry my kids told me that their sister was either eating or was about to eat dog feces.  Well I am not sure if that dog has any type of worms and I just want to know what I can do to make sure my daughter doesn’t get any.  Can you please let me know what I should do to keep her safe and worm free?  Thank You, I would really appreciate it. Lorena 

Dear Lorena: Ewwwh! Gross. Actually if the dog had Coccidia or Giardia then she could get that. Most likely she is giving herself roundworms because the feces is covered in soil which contains the roundworm eggs. I’d worm her with Reese’s Pinworm medication (Pyrantel pamoate) and I’d worm the dog as well for roundworms. You may also want to bring a fecal sample from the dog to your local vet for a worm check and tell them your story. They should do a floatation AND a direct smear (so get a really fresh sample to do this or bring the dog in so they can take one directly from the critter). They should then be able to do the appropriate thing. Good luck! Denice 

Questions: How can I remove Mercury (from amalgam fillings) from my system? 

Answer: We carry Amalgam and Mer Detox homeopathic drops here. Both formulae seem to do a good job removing mercury. 

Hi Denice. As soon as we hung up Steve said “I should have asked about the tinnitus.”  He has significant hearing loss and complains about ringing in his ears.  Is there anything that will help this? Mary  

Hi Mary. That’s a tough one because there are many causes for tinnitus. Some of the core causes of tinnitus include: 

Tell Steve I’m testing he has some kind of subluxation but when I ask where it is in his body his body isn’t talking (which may be why it didn’t come up in the energetic reading today. I’ll make note of it in his record and see if that layer will let me in next visit.  

Question: How would I get lead out of my system?

Answer: The Guides say to take Carob Powder—about ½ to 1 tea/day for 30 days is what the usual dose has been I’ve noticed over the past 15 years of doing this work. And to answer a few more of the most frequently asked questions: It doesn’t matter if the carob is raw or roasted. No, you’ll probably not be able to find any research supporting this treatment. It was my Guides who suggested this treatment year after year. I was only able to discover what it was used because I had a large Mormon population from Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah who kept testing they needed carob. When I asked why they needed carob it always came up “for heavy metals”. Wish I could validate that info for the scientific community but it seems to work all the same and won’t hurt anyone. Thanks for asking.

Just to review a little bit about lead poisoning, how you get it and what the symptoms are:

Lead Poisoning:  Chronic lead poisoning (also known as saturnism, colica pictomim, Devonshire colic, dry gripes, painters palsy or the dangles) has a history of being widespread in 18th Century Europe and is still common in our environment today.  In our lifetime lead poisoning can still be through contamination of household water through lead pipes, exposure of workers in silver and lead mines, potters, and those who use pewter to eat or drink from. Lead also comes from cookware, rum, some paints (especially red colors), linoleum, caulk, toys, solder, batteries, weights, golf balls, bullets and cosmetics.

Symptoms of lead poisoning increasingly painful, colicky abdominal pains associated with tenacious constipation or diarrhea & vomiting, unnaturally pale or yellowish skin (also known as sallowness), fatigue and progressive weight loss advancing into weakness, flaccid paralysis of the arms, hands and wrists (called wrist-drop or palsy). Blindness, seizures, difficulty walking, tremors and unusual behavior is also associated with lead toxicity.

Be sure to tell your vet if there is a possibility of lead poisoning that you are aware of, such as living in an older house or a dog that tends to eat unusual objects.

Lead poisoning interferes with certain enzymes in the body. It causes the red blood cells to be weak and easily destroyed. Anemia can result from this but is usually mild. Blood vessel irritation leads to the other clinical signs.

Most of the time lead poisoning occurs in younger dogs and childred because they are the most likely to ingest unusual items such as fishing sinkers or lead putty. Older homes that have been remodeled recently are a common cause of lead poisoning. Older buildings are always a risk for lead based paints and items like lead curtain weights (a favorite play toy among parrots).

Diagnosis of lead poisoning: Lead poisoning can be diagnosed with a blood test. It is a treatable condition but the treatment can be expensive, especially if extensive supportive care is necessary for extended periods. Retreatment is sometimes necessary.

If there is lead poisoning in a pet, it is important to consider the possibility that it might also occur in children in the household if it is related to old paint or lead containing objects available for ingestion. Please tell you family doctor or local health department if your pet is diagnosed with lead poisoning and you have children.

Dr. Moffat, I found your website by accident and am very impressed and appreciative of the information you provide.  The one thing that I am surprised that you don’t discuss is the importance of minerals in water.  When one drinks distilled water, the body is not replacing the minerals that are going out.  Every time you urinate you are losing minerals.  The more you drink, the more depleted you can become.  I suppose with mineral supplementation, this is minimized, but I think it is very dangerous to drink water without minerals and distilled is the worst.  Thanks again for your website and I look forward to learning more from you.  I welcome any wisdom you can share regarding the above.  Thanks! Stuart L. 

Thanks for reading the site Stuart. So, the minerals issue. . .What kind? Soft or hard water? Does the patient have kidney problems or are they a stone former? What supplements are they currently taking? Do they eat their fruits and veggies or do they sugar out? 

All these things determine what kind and type of water and minerals are best for the body. We don’t get that many minerals from the water we drink as much as the live foods we eat—especially the fruits and vegetables. Many of the minerals in well water are not able to be assimilated by the body. 

Many of us live in area where we have wells that have too many minerals in them or there are harmful minerals such as copper and arsenic in our wells. This is why I ask people during my consult with them what kind of water they drink, where it comes from and if it’s from a well or not. Kind of complicated stuff but I’m of the thinking that we are all individuals and not any one product, food or water is perfect for every body. Does that make sense? Distilled water may just be the best water for some people and especially older cats with renal failure or some dog breeds such as the Dalmatian who form certain types of bladder stones. Now. . . 

Just a little plug for home water filtration systems:  

In addition to fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides, a vast array of pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, personal care products, hormones, animal feed supplements and veterinary drugs – are being found in our fresh water and drinking water sources. 

Many of these pharmaceuticals can exist unchanged in groundwater for years. The concentrations of these substances is in the parts per million to parts per billion but with some drugs it has been found that fish are exhibiting effeminizing affects at these smaller the concentrations. No one really knows what the consequences of long-term chronic exposure will be. 

Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.

Adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.

Our young children are at most risk to the side effects of these pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals, even from drinking water, can pass into the mother’s milk. According to one Utah State University Extension, up to 90 percent of oral drugs can pass through humans unchanged. These often then move through wastewater into streams and groundwater. 

Will our own hormones be disrupted over time? Or can this lead to some antibiotic resistances? Some studies have shown that pharmaceuticals in water can act as endocrine disrupters to decrease sperm counts, increase some forms of cancer, decrease the number of male fetuses being born, quicken puberty and disrupt thyroid hormones in children causing hypothyroidism. 

The federal government doesn’t require any testing for pharmaceuticals and hasn’t set any safety limits for drugs in water so most water systems are not tested for these substances. Pharmaceuticals also permeate our underground aquifers where 40 percent of the nation’s water supply comes from. One article I read stated that Federal scientists who drew water from aquifers close to contaminant sources in such as landfills and animal feed lots in 24 states found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs. 

Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells and people who drink bottled water aren’t in the clear either, experts say. Septic systems fail and often bottled water comes from taps and is just repackaged. Bottlers do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry’s main trade group. 

Currently there are no recognized, independent testing standards to show which devices can remove pharmaceuticals from water but many home water filtration devices do provide some of the best overall protection to treat your water. 

Nano-filtration and reverse osmosis systems remove many of these drugs and activated carbon filters, distillation, ozonation, and advanced oxidization have likewise shown promise in removing many contaminants. 

Note: When searching for an in-home water filtration system make sure that it is a Gold Seal Certified product approved by the Water Quality Association for products that remove a variety of contaminants. 

Helpful Links and References:

Tips and Tricks for a Healthier Life: 

Hi Dr. Moffat. I thought I would share this great website that lists dog and infant products that contain cadmium and other heavy metals: www.Healthystuff.org   (Thanks to Colleen McGowan for sharing this tip.) 

7 Human foods that may poison your pets: I had been cooking up omelets a couple of times a week and giving some to Maggie until she got sick. We figured out it was the onions in the omelet. I knew that onions were toxic to cats but I didn’t realize that dogs also don’t do well with onions. With this in mind, I thought you’d be interested in some other human foods that you should not be feeding your pets. Here they are: 

Raisins: May cause renal failure in dogs. Various components have been ruled out (pesticides, heavy metals like zinc and lead, fungal contaminants) Dogs react to both commercially grown and back yard grapes, just picked or dehydrated raisins.  The larger the amount they eat the more concern you should have. 

Fruit with seeds: I had a seizuring dog in my practice that wouldn’t stop eating crabapples. We figured out it was the cyanide in the seeds as he was eating LOTS of crabapples over a period of a several weeks. We treated him by detoxifying his liver, supported his system, gave him some glandulars to support brain electrical activity and gave him some Whole Body Detox drops by Professional Complementary Health Formulations. The owner raked up all the apples and cut down the crabapple tree because the dog wouldn’t stay away from it. Currently the dog still gets a quarter teaspoon of bacon grease daily which has prevented more seizures (it’s been about 2 years now.) 

Sugarless candy: Xylitol can cause liver failure in dogs. Reference: https://www.vetinfo.com/dtoxin.html 

Macadamia nuts: Macadamia nut toxicity in dogs is called nut toxicosis. Within twelve hours of eating the nuts dogs start to develop symptoms including the inability to stand, ataxia (walking wobbly), depression, vomiting, muscle tremors, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), weakness, and an elevated heart rate. Usually the symptoms go away within 48 hours but the weakness, vomiting, and fear can lead to dangerous, and sometimes deadly, shock. These symptoms can be even worse if your dog also eats some chocolate with the nuts. Then the effect of both combined is much worse and kidney failure can set in.  Reference: https://www.cvah.com/article/MacaNutTox.html 

Raw Salmon (Salmon Disease): This is primarily a problem in the Pacific Northwest and California. If you feed a raw meat diet it can be a problem anywhere. Salmon disease is caused from the infection by a rickettsial organism, Neorickettsia helminthoeca. It is unusual in that the rickettsial organism does not directly infect the dog but is instead carried by a trematode parasite (flatworm or fluke) called Nanophyteus salmincola . Nanophyteus salmincola are found to infect freshwater snails particularly which are ingested by the salmon. Neither the fluke nor the rickettsial organism act as pathogens in the fish. The dog is exposed only when it ingests the secondary host – an infected fish. The encysted fluke larvae then burst and embed in the dog’s intestinal tract releasing the rickettsia.  The dog gets really sick and all the lymph nodes swell up. If you can treat the dog with Cestex that first 24 hours after he/she eats the fish, the wormer will kill the offending parasite but if you miss that window of opportunity then you have a real (and expensive) mess with IV fluids, IV tetracycline and supportive care. The dog can actually die within a few short days with this disease. Once they overcome the disease they do become immune to future exposure however.

Onions and garlic: Dogs and especially cats develop hemolytic anemia if they eat enough onions. I don’t think that it matters too much whether the onions are cooked or not. The quantity of onions required is high enough that dogs can generally tolerate small doses of onions without any problem and moderate amounts of onion without clinically apparent disease, even though there may be measurable changes on lab test results. Cats are more sensitive to onion toxicity than dogs are. I can’t find an exact quantity of onions required to cause toxicity problems  in dogs,  but there are several case reports of onion toxicity and they involve whole onions or sizable portions of chopped onions (like a cup or more).  I think that feeding dogs meat that has been cooked with onions is pretty safe but you might want to avoid giving them the broth from around something like pot-roast if there were a lot of onions used in the cooking, just to be safe. Note that baby food often has onion in it so don’t use that food for force-feeding your cat.

Large amounts of garlic will produce similar toxicity problems in both dogs and cats. I think that the amount required is not likely to be eaten by a cat but there are probably a few dogs who would lap up a container of spilled garlic. Often dogs like the flavor and it is used as a natural wormer. I may think twice about doing that now that I’ve read this new information.

Client Testimonials:  

Thank you so much for everything. I love knowing you’re there. I have lost a pants size at the gym. I admit, I haven’t been taking my supplements on a regular basis but as you know I often don’t. I am sorry for that! I have however been eating really healthy natural foods, so has Sammy. He doesn’t have seizures anymore, not that I can see. I had to really trust myself to go against the doctors and try a natural way. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your help. I am so grateful to you. Amy R. 

Denice’s Note: Sammy was five when Amy first called for an appt. We detected some allergies to petrochemicals, household cleaners, found a fat that was good for his body, educated Amy on the Ketogenic diet, supported the cyst in his brain with protomorphogens, had her get a water filter to protect him against heavy metals and suggested cranio-sacral therapy (which she didn’t do). It took Sammy about 5 months to get to an 80% reduction in seizures but I believe we could have resolved that sooner had all the suggestions been followed. I don’t know what happened to the cyst in his head. I’m hoping that since the seizures went away it eventually resolved. We shall see in years to come. 

Hi Denice.  We are doing just fine.  Macy has not had any more seizures since the bad episode on July 24th-25th.  I have been following your directions and she is seeing Dr. Jessica as you recommended for energy work once per week now.  Jessica feels she is doing much better. Thank you, Judy D. 

Healthy Recipes: Homemade Egg Noodles 

This winter our “girls” were laying fewer eggs with the shorter days. It just wasn’t worth it to take 4 dozen eggs/week to the local Co-op, so we stored up a few dozen and decided to make egg noodles. We invited our new neighbors up for a noodle making adventure. Shylah (age 12), Savannah (age 8) and Shauna (age 4) spent two hours with me blending, kneading, putting noodles into the electric noodle cutting machine and laying them gently onto cookie sheets and dehydrator racks. There were noodles everywhere we looked in various stages. 

It was my goal to experiment using different flours so we made four batches of egg noodles.

Since I have so many clients that are allergic to gluten, we experimented with Quinoa, Teff, Amaranth and Millet flours. I was trying to find flours that would feel and act like wheat flour. We all learned quite a bit about the flour textures and manageability, which ones tasted good, and which flours we could actually substitute for lasagna and spaghetti noodles. 

I was amazed at the attention span Shauna had for the process. I think this was the first time she cracked an egg on her own. The first one went onto the floor. “Oh, don’t worry about that, we’ll give it to Maggie. Here, try it again” I said and she tapped it the second time with agonizingly great care before she delivered it to the mixing bowl. The three girls stuck with it for almost two hours, then I finished and cleaned up after they went home. It was a great experience for all. The next day I took them sample bags of all the dried noodles. They cooked them up and did taste tests (recorded below the recipe) for all of my readers.

Egg Noodle Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt (The noodle machine directions said not to use salt in the recipe if you used the electric noodle cutting machine because the salt will corrode the cutting blades but I put it in anyway.)

4 free-range eggs (Araucana eggs have lower cholesterol and I hear duck eggs have a fuller bodied texture but we don’t have ducks yet so I haven’t tried duck eggs with this recipe.)

Corn starch or more flour for the rolling surface

Preparation:

  1. Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. We used the mixing blade on the Mixmaster.
  2. Beat the eggs and plop them into the flour mixture with the mixer on low. The dough will be sticky.
  3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. With well-floured hands, knead dough, incorporating more flour if necessary, until it is smooth and no longer sticky.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes.
  5. Divide the dough into workable portions and pre-roll it with a rolling pin before putting it into the noodle maker. We used corn starch on the board as it gives the noodles a silky smooth texture. Smash them flat (about ¼ inch thick) and roll them flat enough to feed through the electric rollers two to three times until the noodle dough is thin enough to put through the noodle blades.
  6. Sprinkle with cornstarch as necessary to keep from sticking.
  7. Run them through the noodle machine starting with the thickest setting.
  8. Adjust the settings on the machine to make it as thin as you like then run the dough sheet through the cutting blades.
  9. Lay noodles on a cooling or drying rack and let sit until ready to cook.
  10. Repeat rolling and cutting the rest of the batch. (You can store the leftover dough overnight in the fridge but we were just trying to get all those dough balls processed so we could clean up.)

Prep Time: 40 minutes             Cook Time: 10 minutes      Makes 12-24 ounces of noodles.

To Cook fresh egg noodles:

Boil noodles in well salted water until tender to the bite. Serve with butter, sauces or cheese, with stews, or in soups.

Using an electric Pasta machine:

Taste Testing and notes on the different flours:

Thanks to Angie (Mom), Shylah, Savannah, Stephanie, Shauna and John (age 2) for their input.

Quinoa:  Texture is kind of rough and grainy. Better with thicker noodles (like lasagna) Comments: “Wow—I feel like I’m eating vitamins.” “Soft texture, quick cooking. Leafy green rich flavor.” Angie though she’d like to experiment with the Quinoa flour using different cereal grains and in bread making. The taste-testing team gave it a 5 star rating though. Denice’s note: Funny aftertaste.

Teff: Love the color and this was the smoothest dough when compared to using wheat flour. Texture is great for thin noodles and spaghetti. “Looks like chocolate. Rich, meaty flavor.” John  was disappointed the noodles didn’t taste anything like chocolate so just ate the sauce. Four star rating. Shylah really liked these and I did too. I think I’d make them again. Maybe next winter if it snows and we’re stuck inside for longer periods of time. I need to get a better drying situation though.

Amaranth: Grainy spinach-like flavor. Texture was better than Millet or Amaranth but not as good as Teff.

Millet: Mild and nutty flavor. Flavor is good but it doesn’t make very good noodles. Texture is really grainy and the noodles fall apart before and after cooking so actually they are like bits and pieces of some form of grainy substance. Steph didn’t like the salad taste. Savannah thought these were good with sauce. Denice liked both the texture and flavor of the flour but it didn’t make very good noodles.

Want to see step by step on how to make noodles (complete with pictures)? Go to: https://localfoods.about.com/od/preparationtips/ss/makeeggnoodles.htm

Inspiration & Perspective:

“Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you’re worrying, you are planning. When you’re appreciating you are planning…What are you planning?”  www.abraham-hicks.com

From Service dog to Surfer dog: Inspiring video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4

Guidance from Eileen Caddy: Work Always For the Good of the Whole

“Move swiftly and surely through these troublesome times, these times of great sorting and sifting, of cleansing and purifying, and be not depressed or weighed down by them. Do not become part of them. Rise above them, for only when you do this can you be used to help lift and transmute the disease in the world. Work always for the good of the whole. Look for the very best in every situation and throw the light of truth onto the dark and hidden places and reveal and transmute all that is not of the highest.” From www.findhorn.org

What’s New at Our House? 

Well it’s been quite the winter. Many of you have told me how cold and snowy it is but we’ve had an exceptionally warm winter. With such minimal snow here in Deary, ID we’ve been able to work out in the back 40 clearing land, picking and piling up leftover logging slash and building/burning huge slash piles. Bambi is quite happy. We watch her and her three children outside our bedroom window as we meditate in the morning. Michael headed to town this afternoon to fetch us the lumber we need to set up that used hoop house we purchased last year. 

It’s so nice to clear forest floors in this weather. I gave Maggie our dog a complex last summer. We have so many wasps, yellow jackets and bald hornets to work around. Every time she feels something on her coat she whips her head around trying to bite it. I was seen by Michael more than once screaming and flailing my arms running towards the house screaming, “Run, Maggie, run!” as we flew through the woods trying to out run a nest we’d stirred up as we were working. This is much better. We’re getting lots done and no worries about being stung. 

We originally were planning on not being rushed to put the greenhouse up but I planted several flats of flowers, herbs and vegetables last Sunday and Crop, my gardening Guide has obviously taken over. The backs of the packages stated that most of what I planted would take about 7-35 days to germinate. Imagine my surprise and horror when nearly 2000 seedlings all started bursting out of the soil within 2 days! So now we’re under the gun to get that greenhouse up. It will be interesting to see what this year brings us. 

Most of the locals ask us what we’re growing. “Test plots” I tell them.  When they find out that we think we’re going to grow vegetables they kind of grin with that look of, “Won’t this be interesting. Obviously they don’t know Deary.” 

Well it looks pretty simple on the Salad Gardening for Profit DVD. And we’ve been pouring over, assimilating and absorbing all the Eliot Coleman books and five years worth of Market Gardening Success newsletters for several months now. How hard can this be when you’re using their techniques which are definitely different than what people are doing here right now? Of course these may become famous last words. We shall see. 

It’s kind of a family joke that whenever something goes wrong we ask, “What would the Arnosky’s do?” The Arnosky’s are from Texas and they fight all kinds of weather disturbances, droughts, and natural disasters trying to make a profit with their flower gardens. Whenever they encounter achallenge Mr. Arnosky just goes into his greenhouse and plants a few more trays of Zinnias. 

We have run out of plug trays and grow light space to plant Zinnias right now. Hopefully they will get planted by the end of March. Lord knows we have enough Zinnia seeds for this year! 

We don’t know what will grow here yet or what we want to grow, so we purchased about 250 different kinds of seeds. We’ll narrow it down some after we figure out what grows here and what we don’t have to micro-manage to have it survive. 

We’ve decided that if we grow enough produce for us to eat this year and sell enough plants, produce and flowers to cover the costs of what we’ve already spent, then we will be overjoyed. Anything beyond that this year will be gravy. Next year we’ll aim at making a profit. Michael says “I’ll believe it when I sees it.” Ye have little faith I say. We shall see. 

Our eventual goal is to have Michael make a decent living as a farmer, sell our goods through local Farmer’s markets, restaurants and/or CSA’s, grow or raise everything we can here at Elk Meadow Farm & Nursery (we just got our nursery license this month) and eventually have some really nice permanent greenhouses where we can farm the back side of the calendar and provide the local Co-op with fresh, home-grown veggies during the winter months. We’ve checked and no one is doing that right now. “Local” means within 300 miles of Moscow. 

Of course I want to raise some fish (Tilapia or Bass) in one of the greenhouses like Will Allen (https://www.growingpower.org) is doing in the movie FRESH (www.FreshtheMovie.com) and build a creek inside the greenhouse which is the only feature our property is missing that I have my heart set on. “It’s a GREAT day at Elk Meadow Farm & Nursery” is our motto. We’re having a wonderful adventure here. 

Local Events: 

Dr. Randy Robirds: Friday June 18- Sunday June 20th, 2010. Creative Emotional Wizardry Seminar. $600 ($500 Early Bird Discount) To be held in Las Vegas at the Tuscany Hotel and Suites https://www.tuscanylv.com (Special price of $69/night). Here’s a very special wild and crazy must experience seminar you won’t want to miss. Check out Randy’s website for the event:  www.cewseminar.com Randy will be hosting a 3-day seminar to share the techniques and concepts his clients think are pure magic from Heaven. This may be a “one & done seminar as he’s president of the Just Like Sugar company and that has really taken off. 

Muscle testing is the primary modality used to verify and understand the relevance of information exchanged between the Doctor and the patient. If you are not able to perform muscle testing this seminar will not have the relevance needed for your practice. Although you do not need to be a Doctor to attend this seminar, you NEED to know how to muscle test to use the techniques discussed during the event. The information will be new and challenging to your current methods. Take what you learn and play the next day! If it’s not for you and your practice, you will know it. Randy says, “I believe you will LOVE what you see!” (I do believe, Randy. See you there.)  

I can personally attest to this man’s amazing talents and gifts. I must have over 300 healers, massage therapists, nurses, and doctors of all kinds in my practice, and I also have quite a few clients who know how to muscle test. This seminar is for professionals and lay people alike. If you can muscle test, you should go. For those of you who already muscle test, let me know if you’re going. Randy is the kind of person who gives you wonderful techniques that you can use on your clients that following Monday, PLUS you’ll most likely be able to work on issues that are still holding you and your life back. Lots of great people and gifted healers will be there. Hope to see YOU there. Introduce yourself to me if you go. 

That’s it for this Month!

Be Healthy.  Denice

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Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1993. She has a content-rich website at www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free newsletter.

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