Obesity is a medical condition that occurs when there are excess fat cells in the body.
It raises your risk of various adverse health effects and conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure).1 Clinical obesity can also impact lung function.
Difficulty breathing, gasping, and breathlessness (dyspnea) can be symptoms of obesity.
If breathing difficulties become severe and chronic, a healthcare provider may diagnose shortness of breath as obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS).2
There are several ways that obesity and breathing problems are linked, though more research is necessary. Below are examples of the relationship between breathing problems and obesity:
Pressure on the lungs:Excess fat tissue in the abdomen or chest adds pressure to the lungs, making them work harder to expand and contract. They may not fill completely and can work slower, affecting breathing capacity.3
Pressure on the airways:Excess fat deposits in the neck (pharyngeal fat)4 can put pressure on the airways when you lie down, which can cause snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).5
Inflammation:Obesity is associated with increased inflammation—the body’s immune response. Bodily inflammation increases susceptibility to a range of conditions, which can impact breathing.6
Hormones:Excess fat cells in the neck affect the hormones that help regulate breathing. Researchers believe this causes OHS.5
Shared risk factors: Poor lung function, asthma, and other issues are associated with obesity risk factors, such as smoking, lack of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle.
Obesity puts you at higher risk for a range of cardiovascular and other diseases and conditions, including high cholesterol, cancer, and liver disease, among others.1
You are also more likely to experience breathing problems, including:7
Asthma
Attacks of gasping breath
Dyspnea
Obstructive sleep apnea (SOA)—which causes snoring and disrupts sleep
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS)
These issues—which often overlap—can cause carbon dioxide to build up in the blood, making getting enough oxygen more challenging.
Can Obesity Cause Shortness of Breath and Wheezing?
Alongside shortness of breath, you may experience wheezing or hear sounds when you breathe, especially during physical activity.
Physical exertion increases lung activity as your body demands more oxygen. When air travels in and out of your lungs faster, it increases pressure on the walls of the airways; this causes louder exhales and inhales. Excess weight can exacerbate this issue as the lungs work harder to keep up.3
Excess neck or abdominal fat can narrow the airways, resulting in louder breathing. Airway obstructions have a similar effect.6
Symptoms of Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome (OHS)
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a chronic condition that causes dyspnea, wheezing, and breathlessness both during waking and sleeping hours. Many factors contribute to this condition, including:8
Excess carbon dioxide (hypercapnia)
Insufficient blood oxygen (hypoxia)
Reduced inhale (respiratory drive)
The effects of disrupted or inadequate sleep
Weight-related impaired lung function
The symptoms of OHS include:9
Daytime sleepiness or sluggishness
Depression
Dizziness
Dyspnea and breathlessness
Fatigue, tiredness after minimal effort
Headaches
Snoring, choking, gasping, or difficulty breathing at night, interrupting sleep
How OHS Is Diagnosed
To diagnose OHS, healthcare providers rule out other potential causes of breathlessness and breathing problems, such as COPD or other lung issues. First, they’ll assess your medical and family history, medications, and other factors. They will perform a physical evaluation and may order additional tests. Diagnostic methods may include:8
Auscultation (listening to your lungs with a stethoscope)
Measuring your weight and height
Calculating your body mass index (BMI)
Measuring around your neck and waist (circumference)
Spirometry (assesses lung capacity and how quickly you exhale)
Plethysmography (a measure of lung volume when inhaling and after exhaling)
Lung diffusion tests (determine how much oxygen gets into your blood when breathing)
Exercise tests (track breathing and cardiac function while active—walking on a treadmill or performing another exercise)
BMI and Obesity
Though BMI is still widely used, it’s a flawed and outdated measure. It does not account for important factors such as body composition, ethnicity, sex, race, and age. Despite its bias, healthcare providers often rely on BMI because it’s an inexpensive and efficient way to assess potential health status and outcomes.
Obesity and Shortness of Breath Treatment Options
Treatment goals for obesity-related shortness of breath are to increase oxygen levels, strengthen the lungs, and manage weight. Treatments for obesity and OHS may include:98
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP): A CPAP machine pumps air into your lungs through a ventilator mask you wear while you sleep. It keeps the airways open, treating OHS and nighttime hypoxia.
Oxygen therapy:Also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, this treatment option involves breathing in supplemental oxygen from a tank.
Tracheostomy:In rare, severe cases, this surgical procedure delivers additional air through a hole in the neck.
Lifestyle changes:Your provider may recommend dietary changes and increased physical activity for weight management. Ensuring you’re getting enough sleep is also essential.
Medications: If lifestyle changes alone are not working, your healthcare provider may recommend medications for weight loss.10
Weight loss surgery: Weight loss surgery reduces the stomach’s capacity, thus reducing calorie intake and spurring weight loss.
Can Losing Weight Help With Shortness of Breath?
The evidence is clear: losing excess weight should help with obesity-related breathlessness. In one study, men with obesity who undertook a three-month weight loss program saw significant improvement; losing about 10% of body weight led to more substantial reductions in dyspnea measurements and symptoms during exercise.3
Researchers also found this effect in women after moderate weight loss over 12 weeks. They, too, reported less breathlessness with exercise, improved oxygen levels, and other signs of healthier lung function.7
Losing weight helps improve shortness of breath because it reduces pressure on the lungs or airways, improves breathing regularity, and reduces how much oxygen you need. In addition, researchers noted that weight loss can also affect brain activity, regulating the sensation of breathlessness.7
Summary
For some, obesity can cause shortness of breath. Excess weight places extra pressure on the lungs or airways, making breathing more difficult. Excess weight can also raise the risk of other conditions that affect lung function, such as asthma.3
In severe cases, shortness of breath can develop into obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), a chronic breathing problem related to excess weight. This condition disrupts sleep and causes other symptoms, like dizziness, headaches, snoring, and choking at night. Treatments for OHS include therapies to improve breathing and methods to lose weight.9
By Mark Gurarie who is a writer and editor. He is a writing composition adjunct lecturer at George Washington University.
Ah, the saying “Money talks, and bullshit walks” is a colorful way of emphasizing the power and influence of money in certain situations. Essentially, it means that actions—or in this case, tangible resources like money—carry more weight than empty promises or meaningless chatter. Money often acts as a decisive factor in getting things done, solving problems, or influencing outcomes, while insincere talk tends to fade into irrelevance.
The phrase “money talks, bullshit walks” suggests that money can influence people and get things done, while bullshit or empty promises often fail. 1The phrase gained popularity during the Abscam scandal in 1979, where it was famously used by politician Michael Ozzie Myers 2. It implies that relying on material resources is more effective than relying on rhetoric or deceit 3. Overall, it highlights the power of financial resources in negotiations and decision-making 4.
Money has become a cornerstone of modern society because it serves as a universal medium of exchange. Before money, bartering was the norm—trading goods or services directly. But that system had limitations: what if you had eggs and needed shoes, but the shoemaker didn’t need eggs? Money solved this by acting as a common denominator, allowing transactions to flow freely.
In essence, money represents value. It enables the exchange of resources, facilitates trade on a massive scale, and drives economies by giving people the ability to specialize in their work rather than being entirely self-sufficient. It’s not money itself that “makes the world go round,” but rather the systems and relationships it sustains.
On a broader level, money also wields immense influence because of what it symbolizes—security, power, opportunity, and sometimes even freedom. Of course, its importance varies depending on individual perspectives and cultural values.
What are your thoughts? Do you think money’s role in society is positive, or does it create more problems than it solves?
It’s a phrase that highlights practicality and results over words or hollow intentions.
Do you think it holds true in most situations, or is there room for exceptions?
Its the reason our health care system will never be fixed in the United States. Money is the most important commodity in an economic system. Indeed, money “makes the world go ’round.” This is because money is the general medium of exchange. We sell our products and services for money, and then use it to buy the products and services of others.
Money also permits us to comparison shop. Since all goods are traded for money, every item in the market has its own money price. Consumers and producers are easily able to evaluate the relative money costs of consumer goods as well as the resources with which these goods are manufactured. This allows an efficient and economical use of the resources and commodities in society.
Controlling the printing press enables the government to be a consumer without first being a producer. Money also enables an efficient transfer of resources between savers and investors. People who wish to save their money are able to loan it to those who wish to spend it.
This process has been the basis upon which entrepreneurs and businessmen have been able to invest in the plant equipment and new and improved machinery that has given us our high standard of living.
Finally, money tends to keep people honest. If I want to buy what others have for sale, I must have money to do so. But, ultimately, the only way I can have money in a free-market economy is if I have earned it by producing something for which other people are willing to pay me.
Thus, my ability to obtain what others have produced is dependent upon first having produced something which others wish to buy from me. In a free-market society, each man serves his fellow men as the means to achieve his own personal ends.
The Danger of a Currency Monopoly
Since the beginning of recorded history, governments have had an insatiable desire to consume wealth. Kings and princes, tyrants and democratically elected representatives have never run out of ideas on ways to spend what others have produced and earned. And when governments have discovered that no further wealth can be extracted by means of taxation, they have resorted to the debasement of the currency.
In ancient times, governments “clipped” gold and silver coins; in more recent times, the invention of the printing press enabled governments to produce oceans of paper money; and in the era of “high tech,” governments merely add to the money in the economy by pushing a button on the computer — vast sums of checkbook money instantly appear on the balance sheet.
Money evolved in society out of the interactions of a multitude of buyers and sellers searching for ways to overcome the difficulties of barter. This is what makes a monopoly over the power to create money so valuable to governments.
Since money, as the general medium of exchange, is readily and willingly accepted by every member of the society, the control of money enables governments to have access to the society’s wealth without having first produced anything to acquire that money in exchange. Controlling the printing press enables the government to be a consumer without first being a producer.
In our century, governments have rationalized this process. They have declared that their purpose is to stabilize the economy, guarantee full employment, and assure a balanced financial environment. In 1913, the U.S. government established a central bank — the Federal Reserve System — to do this job. Its record speaks for itself: a “great depression” in the 1930s, a series of economic booms and recessions of various frequency and duration in the post-World War II era, and unending inflation for five decades. By their fruits you shall know them.
Government monopoly and control over money has been an economic and social disaster. Wealth has been squandered and misinvested, the savings of millions have been destroyed through inflation, and the social fabric of societies has been weakened at various times during periods of monetary debauchery.
Privatizing Money
In a time when the belief in socialism is dying around the world, it is time to realize that government monopoly of money is nothing less than monetary central planning. It, too, has been a failure. And it is time to “privatize” money for the same reasons that are being proposed to privatize the production and marketing of goods and services in the communist East and the democratic West. Only private enterprise, operating in a free market, can eliminate political abuse in the disposal of resources and can guarantee efficient use of those resources for the satisfying of consumer demands.
Contrary to government-created myth, money is not the creation of the State. Historically, money evolved in society out of the interactions of a multitude of buyers and sellers searching for ways to overcome the difficulties of barter. Commodities such as gold and silver were found by individuals to possess the qualities and attributes most useful in providing a sound and stable medium of exchange.
Government and the Gold Standard
In the 19th century, the friends of individual freedom and economic liberty advocated the establishment of a gold standard to limit governmental abuse of the printing press. Unlike paper money, gold cannot be manufactured through the turning of the handle of the printing press. The amount of gold in the market is limited by the profitability of mining it out of the ground. The quantity of money, therefore, is controlled by the market forces of supply and demand.
The Federal Reserve System must be abolished for individuals to use and contract in whatever money they desire.But the mistake these friends of freedom made was that they still believed that governments had to be given the authority to manage the gold standard, even while that gold standard was meant to check governmental abuse of the money-creation process.
The fox was assigned the role of watching over the chicken coop. As was to be expected, the system failed. The 20th century has seen tidal waves of inflation in various countries as governments found ways to circumvent the trust assigned to them under the gold standard and then rationalized the issuance of vast amounts of paper monies — all done in the name of the “national interest.”
Money must be separated from the State. The Federal Reserve System must be abolished; all legal tender laws prohibiting individuals from using and contracting in whatever money they desire must be eliminated. The market — which means all of us in our roles as consumers and producers — should be left free to decide which commodities shall be selected as the most advantageous mediums of exchange. Also, the market should be left free to determine the economically most useful forms of banking and financial intermediation.
Contrary to government propaganda, this would not lead to economic “anarchy” or collapse. Rather, it would be the foundation stone of freedom and prosperity in the 21st century. Government has been the cause of monetary disorder in our society. A free market in money and banking would be the solution to our “age of inflation.” Government central-planning of money has been tried and it has failed. It is now time for monetary freedom to be given a chance.
It was published in two parts on Medium: Part 1 on June 26, 2020 and Part 2 on July 5 2020.
Money is a projection screen
Even if it often appears otherwise in everyday life, money is only one thing: a medium – physical or virtual – on which we project, as if onto a neutral screen, our fantasies, desires, and insecurities. You may think this is a bold statement, given that you know for a fact you need money to pay your rent or mortgage, to buy food, to pay for your holiday. So, what do we mean when we say that money exists in this way and functions through the process of projection?
The object which we call Money has its own intrinsic value as being an object in its own right. Its separate monetary value only comes into existence through human projection. We agree that it qualifies as money: how much of it there is and how much of it you need to acquire something else for it. Money therefore has no intrinsic worth of its own and in a sense does not exist.
At best, we are looking at a piece of printed paper or embossed metal, or, as is more often the case these days, we look at zeros on a computer. In another way, money might be viewed as a promise and only works if we collectively trust in and value this promise. It is a cultural construction that functions through projection that we treat as if it were a law of nature.
In contrast, laws of nature are something that man did not invent and that applies equally to all of us, everywhere – whether I believe in laws of nature or not. Unlike money, the role and effect of gravity or radioactivity is not negotiable. But since money is a human invention functioning through collective projection, the assigned value and meaning of money is absolutely negotiable. Since we seem to have forgotten this, we pretend that money is as real as gravity or radioactivity.
To quote Yuval Noah Harari ‘Money is not coins and banknotes. Money is anything that people are willing to use in order to systematically represent the value of other things for the purpose of exchanging goods and services…Money was created many times in many places. Its development required no technological breakthroughs – it was a purely mental revolution. It involved the creation of a new inter-subjective reality that exists solely in people’s shared imagination.’
If you are interested to learn more about the history of money, we suggest Yuval Noah Harari’s thought-provoking compilation named Money or this insightful article in the German WirtschaftsWoche (in German only) on credit.
It is impossible for us to not create projections
Today we know from brain research that what we experience as reality is an internal creation or, in other words, a projection of our consciousness.
Our mind is incapable of recognizing anything that happens without naming it in the same breath. The moment of perceiving reality cannot be separated from the moment of interpretation, or, in other words, the moment of creating reality. Even if we want it to seem that way, our brain is not a camera that records something. The performance of our brain is most comparable to the latest virtual reality glasses that you can put on your nose. Like a computer, our brain calculates a virtual reality in real time, which then appears on the screen of our glasses. There we usually see what seems logical and consistent to us based on previous experiences i.e. our reality.
Money is just another of our so-called ‘realities’. We do not deal in real matter; we deal in illusions, in projections. However, this fact is not trivial. Every projection has a practical consequence in terms of the experience it creates. For example, my experience with money seems to support my original definition of money, which gives me the feeling of having evidence that money is indeed what said it was in the first place. Money is not per se what I think it is or what you think it is. It becomes, or appears to become, what one says it is through projection. Projections are circular in nature – they trap us in a hall of mirrors.
Incidentally, the fact that we have projections is not problematic. Projections are a normal and indispensable phenomenon of being human. Projections are our method of wresting meaning from meaningless events and sensory impressions. We cannot not create projections. Moreover, when applied consciously, the process of projection is precisely how we manifest our visions and intentions. When we project consciously, our projections become a tool and facility for our use.
However, when we are not conscious of our projections, which is in many instances the case, things appear to be happening to us as though being caused by external reality or nature, whereas we are actually causing them ourselves, without being conscious of this. This puts us in a state of conviction of a reality beyond question, which is an illusion. We have the feeling of being used by or being enslaved by money.
Not only can we then succumb to our personal illusions, but the more other people share these illusions with us, the more real they seem. It’s a true case of the emperor’s new clothes. In terms of money we will say something like, “Money makes the world go around”, unaware that it’s we who make this world go around, maybe in ways that we don’t particularly like or agree with, and think someone else or something else, like money, is the cause.
Basically, there are three different types of projections:
The First Type: Negative Projections
The first typeis characterized by unconsciously projecting negative qualities or attributes onto money.
Someone with projections of this type might complete the sentence ‘money is…’ with statements such as ‘money stinks, money is dirty, money means responsibility’.
People with these types of projections onto money suffer from the illusion that they have to earn their existence with great effort: money either does not find its way to them from the beginning or it slips through their fingers.
On an unconscious level, people with what we shall call ‘negative projections’ try to avoid money or to get rid of it because they do not want all the negative attributes associated with money in their lives.
The theme that runs like a common thread through the lives of these people is financial hardship and the constant struggle for sufficient resources.
Through their unconscious negative relationship with money, money predictably flows out of their pockets into the pocket of people with the second type of projection.
The Second Type: Positive Projections
The second typeis characterized by unconsciously projecting positive qualities or attributes onto money. For people with positive projections money means freedom, self-confidence, luxury, and power.
People with these projections suffer from the illusion that they must secure their existence. One could also say that they suffer from the illusion that they can secure their existence only by amassing more and more money.
Driven by the gnawing feeling that they can never have enough of the magical substance, all their actions are aimed at accumulating more money and then securing it.
The dark side of their projection is greed. This greed is triggered by the belief that there is something outside themselves and that only they can possess or be with money.
The Third Type: Mixed Projections
The third type of projections is a mixture of the first two types.
It is characterized by the fact that it alternately — or even simultaneously — projects negative and positive attributes onto money and is driven by them.
People of this type are usually able to make money — but they are not able to keep it with a sense of enjoyment.
As soon as it is there, it melts away before their eyes or they actively give it away. They oscillate helplessly between the two extremes of ‘longing to have’ and ‘not being permitted to have’. They are appalled by their own greed and feel neither comfortable or understood in the company of people with type one, nor in the company of people with type two projections.
Uncovering your Type
If money in principle has a hard time finding its way to you and you often fight for resources, you probably have unconscious negative projections (Type 1) onto money.
If you have money but are often worried about losing it or concerned about how to acquire more, you probably have unconscious positive projections (Type 2) onto money.
And if you earn money but somehow never have any money, if you are often plagued by feelings of guilt and then voluntarily and involuntarily find ways to get rid of money as quickly as possible, then it is likely that you are wavering between the projections of both types, between disgust and greed (Type 3).
Another way to do a quick self-diagnosis, even if rather superficial, is to look at the state of your bank account. If you’re chronically in debt you may be Type 1. If you’re steadily saving but concerned about the future, you may be Type 2. If your bank account is usually around zero, you’re probably Type 3.
And if you are one of those rare individuals for whom money really doesn’t matter, who are just as happy to have money as to give money away, as to have no money as to get money — count yourself lucky and exceptional!
Money Projection: Experiment
Just in case you are still not convinced that money functions through projection — let’s do a quick experiment. Take two separate pieces of paper. Leave the first piece of paper empty. On the second piece of paper write: ‘I promise the owner of this paper 100 hours of my time’, then put your signature to it.
Now imagine if you were to give one of these notes to another person. Which of the two notes feels more valuable to you?
Presumably the note that says ‘100 hours of my time’ feels more valuable. This note contains a promise. A promise is a projection of an anticipated result in the future. The value of that note exists in your thoughts — and maybe in the thoughts of the person you are giving it to. But just because we can share projections, it still doesn’t become a law of nature!
Since we cannot escape our projections, our goal can only be to become aware of them and to deal with them more playfully.
Maybe you are thinking, ‘Pfff — easier said than done!’ In fact, our unconscious projections are so persistent because our attitude towards money is part of our identity — which is what we will explore in CU*money. If you would like to take a deep dive into your identity as revealed by your relationship with money, join us on the journey.
Exploration of Autism Prevalence in Amish Children
The Amish community, known for its traditional lifestyle and distinct cultural practices, has been the subject of numerous discussions concerning the health conditions prevalent among its members. One particularly intriguing topic is the prevalence of autism among Amish children. Various factors, including cultural beliefs, genetic influences, and vaccination practices, contribute to the community’s unique health profile. This article delves into the complexities surrounding autism rates in Amish communities, dispelling myths and providing evidence-based insights from recent studies.
Autism and Health Concerns Among Amish Children
Is autism less prevalent among the Amish, and what health concerns are associated?
The prevalence of autism among Amish children appears to be lower than that of the general U.S. population, with estimates suggesting a rate of approximately 1 in 271 compared to the national average of 1 in 166. However, this lower prevalence may be influenced by cultural practices, including limited access to behavioral assessments and a reluctance to seek formal diagnoses. A physician who has treated numerous Amish children in Pennsylvania claims he has not encountered a case of autism among thousands of patients, highlighting how rare it can be perceived within the community.
Despite the lower autism rates, Amish children are not immune to other health concerns. Studies indicate that, while they experience lower incidences of conditions such as diabetes and asthma due to their physically active lifestyle, they are still affected by various health issues.
For instance, there are documented cases of breast cancer and juvenile leukemia within these communities. Interestingly, the same epidemiological studies have also suggested that rates of diabetes among Amish children can be comparable to surrounding non-Amish populations.
Moreover, vaccination remains a topic of significant discussion within the Amish community. Although about 14% of Amish parents choose not to vaccinate, the majority still receive vaccines. This is an essential aspect as it refutes the myth that Amish children are completely unvaccinated, with evidence demonstrating that vaccination rates, while lower than the general population, exist and do not correlate with a complete absence of health conditions.
The complex interplay between cultural beliefs, healthcare access, and genetic factors necessitates further investigation into the health dynamics of Amish communities, revealing a nuanced understanding of their well-being.
Vaccination and Autism: Understanding the Amish Context
Can vaccinations affect autism rates, and what is the situation among the Amish?
Research consistently demonstrates that there is no direct link between vaccinations and autism. Numerous studies find that both vaccinated and unvaccinated children show similar rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In particular, a 2019 study focused on the MMR vaccine indicated no increased risk of autism in vaccinated children.
Within the Amish community, vaccination practices vary. While a survey found that about 14% of Amish parents choose not to vaccinate their children, this suggests that the majority do receive vaccinations, contradicting the belief that they largely avoid them. As such, it’s inaccurate to characterize them as an entirely unvaccinated population.
Despite some reports of lower autism prevalence in Amish communities, experts highlight that this may stem more from cultural attitudes towards diagnosis and healthcare access than from an actual absence of autism. For example, it is not uncommon for parents to prefer alternative health practices, which can lead to underreporting of autism cases.
In summary, while vaccination rates among the Amish may be lower than the general population, they are not negligible. Continuing efforts to foster trust and address vaccination concerns could further clarify these observations, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of autism across different communities.
Genetic Factors and Autism in Amish Populations
How do genetic factors contribute to autism in the Amish population?
Genetic factors significantly contribute to autism in the Amish population. The genetic homogeneity within these communities allows researchers to identify specific genetic variations linked to neurodevelopmental disorders.
One notable study involved genome sequencing of the Old Order Amish, revealing distinct genetic risks for mood disorders, which include bipolar disorder and depression. These conditions can have overlapping symptoms with autism, complicating the understanding of neurodevelopmental issues in these populations.
Screenings conducted in Amish children indicate that while the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is lower compared to the general population, this difference may be influenced by cultural practices. For example, some researchers have noted that cultural factors, such as preferences for alternative medical practices, can impact the likelihood and manner of diagnosing conditions like autism.
Research focusing on the CNTNAP2 gene has recently indicated a shift in understanding. Initially believed to be a significant risk factor for autism, recent findings suggest that rare mutations in just one copy of this gene do not substantially contribute to autism risk. Instead, it is the mutations in both copies that present a more pronounced risk.
This evolving understanding highlights the importance of considering both genetic and cultural influences while studying autism within the Amish populations, and encourages further research in this unique context.
Reassessing Recent Research on Autism in Amish Children
What does recent research say about autism in Amish children?
Recent studies have gathered substantial evidence regarding Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) among Amish children. One significant study screened nearly 1,900 children in Holmes County, Ohio, and Elkhart-Lagrange County, Indiana, revealing a prevalence rate of approximately 1 in 271. Out of 25 children who screened positive for ASD, seven received an official diagnosis.
This data challenges common misconceptions about autism in the Amish community, particularly the belief that unvaccinated Amish children do not experience autism. Despite a lower incidence of reported autism, experts confirm that cases exist within the population. This discrepancy may stem from cultural practices regarding diagnosis and the availability of healthcare resources, which influence how caregivers report their children’s developmental behaviors.
Furthermore, research consistently debunks the myth linking vaccinations with autism. Studies indicate similar diagnosis rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, reaffirming that autism is not absent among the Amish merely due to their lower vaccination rates. Genetic investigations have also explored mutations in the CNTNAP2 gene, which have been connected to autism, emphasizing that while the community exhibits lower rates compared to the general population, cases still arise and merit investigation.
Cultural Influences on Health Outcomes in the Amish
How do Amish cultural beliefs influence health outcomes related to autism?
Amish cultural beliefs significantly influence health outcomes related to autism. Their preference for community-based healthcare and alternative medicine affects how conditions like autism are perceived and diagnosed. Autism does exist in Amish communities, with prevalence rates comparable to the general population. However, access to formal diagnoses is limited, often delaying early intervention.
The closed genetic pool of the Amish may contribute to certain genetic variations that can affect autism rates. Lifestyle choices and dietary practices prevalent in Amish communities also play a role in health outcomes.
Additionally, traditional values in Amish culture lead to a reluctance to embrace practices such as preventive genetic testing or modern medical interventions that conflict with their beliefs. This unique combination creates a distinctive health profile, impacting diagnosis, intervention, and the overall management of autism within the Amish population.
Considerations Regarding Healthcare Decisions
Amish healthcare decisions are shaped by both cultural beliefs and communal considerations. Most Amish families prefer solutions that prioritize their spiritual and traditional values. Vaccination rates, while lower than the general population, still reveal that only about 14% of Amish parents refuse vaccinations.
Such preferences illustrate the complex interplay between faith, tradition, and modern medical practices. The emphasis on home-based and community healthcare reflects a commitment to maintaining their cultural identity while navigating health concerns within their unique community context.
Separating Myths from Facts: The Reality of Autism in Amish Communities
Are the claims about zero autism rates in Amish communities accurate?
Claims suggesting that autism is ‘very, very rare’ among unvaccinated Amish children are unsubstantiated. Research indicates that some Amish communities do vaccinate their children. Autism is present within the Amish community, contradicting myths of its absence. Studies have consistently shown that autism affects the Amish population, although its prevalence may be lower due to cultural and diagnostic factors rather than any unique immunity.
The notion that unvaccinated children in the Amish community do not exhibit autism is contradicted by research. For instance, a study screening 1,899 Amish children found notable cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with 25 children screening positive and 7 receiving confirmed diagnoses.
Moreover, while there may be lower reported rates of autism within these communities, this does not mean the condition is absent. Cultural beliefs and access to healthcare significantly influence autism diagnosis rates in Amish populations, contributing to misconceptions about autism within these communities.
Conclusion
As we explore the nuanced relationship between the Amish community and the prevalence of autism, it becomes evident that Amish children are not exempt from this neurodevelopmental disorder. Cultural practices, genetic predispositions, and evolving vaccination trends all blend to shape the understanding of autism within these communities.
It is crucial to consider these various factors when interpreting health data and setting public health narratives. Observing traditional communities like the Amish offers unique insights into broader societal questions about how culture, genetics, and healthcare intersect, enforcing the necessity for further research and thoughtful healthcare interventions.
Are you being bought and bribed? “The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue”. Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor in chief of NEJM wrote in 2009 that, “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.
I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor” This has huge implications. Evidence based medicine is completely worthless if the evidence base is false or corrupted. It’s like building a wooden house knowing the wood is termite infested. What caused this sorry state of affairs?
“The medical profession is being bought by the pharmaceutical industry, not only in terms of the practice of medicine, but also in terms of teaching and research. The academic institutions of this country are allowing themselves to be the paid agents of the pharmaceutical industry. I think it’s disgraceful”
The people in charge of the system — the editors of the most important medical journals in the world, gradually learn over a few decades that their life’s work is being slowly and steadily corrupted. Physicians and universities have allowed themselves to be bribed. The examples in medicine are everywhere. Research is almost always paid for by pharmaceutical companies.
But studies done by industry are well known to have positive results far more frequently. Trials run by industry are 70% more likely than government funded trials to show a positive result. Think about that for a second. If EBM says that 2+2 = 5 is correct 70% of the time, would you trust this sort of ‘science’?”
I am mocking science for how stupid it all is.
Those awesome CDC protocols killed millions during Covid…. Go science
After all, why go through all the trouble of building gas chambers and rounding up people for mass extermination when you can achieve the same result without any resistance at all if you simply label the chemicals jabber goonies, Fluoride, GMO’s, em-R-in-A and Chemotherapy!
I think we already know. No alcohol, no dope, no TV, no Internet, good sleep, manual labor, and good food. Their way of eating no vaccine etc blows up anything about how healthy vaccines are..
Very true though they certainly have a problem with pedophilia, rape, incest, and flat out child and animal abuse.
The women are treated terribly. The crimes the Amish commit are well known here in Pennsylvania. I respect their way of life in one way but loathe them in another if that makes sense.
Other tribes/settlements don’t have these things either. There’s no $ to be made from the healthy.
That’s because the Amish don’t vaccinate their children. I read that they plan to start forcing them or finding them. I don’t know the details or if it’s true.
Hmmm, study a large group that would potentially PROVE that everything you’ve been feeding the public is actually harming them….AND, you’ve been lying about it the entire time?? I wonder why they ignore this particular community…
Crazy ain’t it …. Do the Amish delay cord clamping? Answer: probably, they do home births.
Autism / Early cord clamping Just wondering why no one talks about early cord clamping ever?
Birth Injuries Related to Umbilical Cord Clamping: “Autism”, cerebral palsy, anemia, hypovolemia, hypotension, ischemia, shock, shock lung, respiratory distress, oliguria, hypoglycemia, ischemic encephalopathy, mental retardation; neural, behavioral and developmental disorders.
*The “MOST IMPORTANT FINDING was that delayed cord clamping resulted in a 47% reduction of risk of infant anemia.” Hutton EK, Hassan ES. Late vs Early Clamping of the Umbilical Cord in Full-term Neonates. JAMA, March 21, 2007—Vol 297, No. 11 1241-1252
[July 2008] The ethics of Cord clamping and stem cell collection by Hilary Butler Immediate cord clamping is the equivalent of removing one third of an adult’s total blood supply (10 pints), or three and one third pints. That is classified as a severe hemorrhage. But in babies, immediately cord clamping is worse than a hemorrhage. The blood in the cord and the placenta is what has “breathed” for the baby, as well as circulating food in, and wasting out.
The baby needs that full quota of blood for correct intracranial pressure, lower blood volume, and to decrease the risk of anaemia in later life. Furthermore, there are unanswered questions about whether depriving the baby of that “abundant” supply of the stem cells which Professor Williamson considers have such wonderful medicinal prospects when ‘harvested’, may contribute to the development of serious diseases later in life as a result.
……Immediate cord clamping should be called “unethical premature cord clamping”. Delayed cord clamping should be renamed “normal” or “appropriate cord clamping”. I’ve read about that.. Now I know why the drs I. These hospitals cut the cord pretty much instantly
Worse for babies and they get to sell the placentas for big bucks.
We’re considered aborted when it’s cut early. Then I believe we get our SS # which means we’re adopted by the government.
We should fire Science
The government has but they don’t want the public to know the truth
They live a good wholesome life. They keep away from TVs and keep science at a good distance especially the new brainwashing distorted science!
Just trust the cience !!
Maybe an image of text that says ‘Restaurants are safe people.
See science below. Walking Sitting VIRUS VIRUS’
And maybe science should study the unvaxxed, Who are NOT suddenly dying.
The Amish people are associated with the notions of simplicity and convention. The community is synonymous with the unwillingness to conform to mainstream society.
You may believe their insular policy compromises their health. Get ready for a surprise because the Amish community is one of the healthiest around. A look at some facts and figures shows that illness is rare among Amish folk. Learn some of their best practices, and boost your health.
Who are the Amish People? The Amish are a Swiss Anabaptist community with fundamental Christian beliefs. They have links with Mennonite churches but are distinct from them. They are descendants of a group of Alsatian Anabaptists led by Jakob Ammann.
The Amish speak a variety of West Central German known as “Pennsylvanian Dutch.” Groups of them flocked to Maryland, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, and New York from Switzerland in the 19th century.
What makes them stand out is their philosophy of simple living. You can tell an Amish person from their every day, fuss-free garb. The men wear pants with buttons. Women wear long skirts and white headdresses.
The Amish Philosophy The Amish community bases its regulations on a set of strict rules they call the Ordnung, A literal interpretation of the Bible is a premise for their beliefs.
Ther community values humility, and it extols the need to be patient with others. Yielding to others is a hallmark of maturity. They place community needs above their own, and keep work and play within the Amish sphere of influence.
Individualism and pride threaten community harmony; the Amish adopt a culture of sharing and a minimalist lifestyle.
Perhaps the most important hallmark of Amish culture is its resistance to modern cultural influences. You will not find telephones or microwaves in an Amish household. The Amish people travel using physical means of transport, often going about on horses.
Notably, much older Amish folk refuse to visit doctors or hospitals, preferring to rely on traditional herbs and remedies when they fall ill.
The Top 10 Health Secrets of the Amish People You may think that such a philosophy has adverse effects on their health. However, the Amish people seldom fall ill. Research has shown that Amish children have fewer incidences of allergies compared with the kids who grew up on European farms.
Their secrets to good health are straightforward and accessible, yet people of the secular, modern world rarely tap on them.
1. The Amish Shun Vaccines For a start, they do not get vaccinated, despite pressure from the government. The absence of vaccines may explain why there are few people with disabilities or autism in the community.
2. The Amish Eat Organic Food One important hallmark of Amish culture is farming. The community is self-sufficient and grows produce that is free of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). The toxins in GMO products cause inflammation. The Amish people are robust, thanks to their preference for natural foods. Amish people process foods, which are high in fat, sugar, and artificial ingredients. Because they avoid these harmful excesses, many of them have trim and fit figures.
3. The Amish Diet Consists of Many Healthy Fats The Amish eat high-fat diets, but the fats they consume are healthy. They take in grass-fed dairy, packed with vitamins A, E, and K2. The incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease in this community is negligible.
4. The Amish are Physically Active People The Amish community boasts a small, 3% obesity rate. Amish people take an average of 18000 steps a day. According to Professor David R Basset of the University of Tennessee, the Amish show people of the modern era how far they have fallen behind regarding physical activity.
5. The Amish Use Physical Forms of Transport This community relies on physical forms of transportation. Many of them are expert horsemen and do not rely on tractors to do farm work. The exertion keeps them physically fit.
6. The Amish Have Little Stress
The Amish live stress-free lives. You will find few incidences of fatigue and heart disease within this community because it bases its existence on cooperation and harmony. Because they do not compete, their lives are relatively stress-free. Stress elevates cortisol, which triggers heart disease in the long-run.
7. Emphasis on Calmness What also helps to lower stress levels in this community is serenity. The Amish people focus on patience, tolerance and waiting for others. This mindset encourages calmness and pressure-free life.
8. A tech-free Life Removes Health Hazards The Amish community’s complete rejection of technology explains why many of its people are in perfect health. Radiation from television sets, computers, and mobile devices emit an odorless gas known as radon, which may trigger cancer in the long run. Their back-to-basics lifestyles prolong their lives.
9. More Exposure to Nature As farmers, the Amish folk have constant contact with nature. They have immediate access to fields and other natural environments. Amish people have less exposure to smoke and other pollutants associated with urban living.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows why a natural setting keeps the Amish healthy. Researchers compared Amish people with the Hutterites, another farming community which shares similar ancestry.
They found that Hutterites were more allergic than the Amish because they lived further away from their cowsheds and livestock.
10. Sense of Community The Amish take care of themselves. Many of them devote themselves to caring for the elderly and other members of the community with chronic illnesses.
Though they may rely on natural remedies and avoid conventional health practices, many of them compromise and see doctors when there is an absolute need.
What makes the human brain unique? We compared it with monkeys and apes to find out
Story by Rogier Mars, Katherine Bryant
Scientists have long tried to understand the human brain by comparing it to other primates. Researchers are still trying to understand what makes our brain different from our closest relatives. Our recent study may have brought us one step closer by taking a new approach—comparing the way brains are internally connected.
The Victorian paleontologist Richard Owen incorrectly argued that the human brain was the only brain to contain a small area termed the Hippocampus minor. He claimed that made it unique in the animal kingdom and, he argued, the human brain was therefore clearly unrelated to other species. We’ve learned a lot since then about the organization and function of our brain, but there is still much to learn.
Most studies comparing the human brain to that of other species focus on size. This can be the size of the brain, size of the brain relative to the body, or the size of parts of the brain to the rest of it. However, measures of size don’t tell us anything about the internal organization of the brain.
For instance, although the enormous brain of an elephant contains three times as many neurons as the human brain, these are predominantly located in the cerebellum, not in the neocortex that is commonly associated with human cognitive abilities.
Until recently, studying the brain’s internal organization was painstaking work. The advent of medical imaging techniques, however, has opened up new possibilities to look inside the brains of animals quickly, in great detail, and without harming the animal.
We used publicly available MRI data of white matter, the fibers connecting parts of the brain’s cortex. Communication between brain cells runs along these fibers. This costs energy and the mammalian brain is therefore relatively sparsely connected, concentrating communications down a few central pathways.
The connections of each brain region tell us a lot about its functions.
The set of connections of any brain region is so specific that brain regions have a unique connectivity fingerprint. In our study, we compared these connectivity fingerprints across the human, chimpanzee, and macaque monkey brain. The chimpanzee is, together with the bonobo, our closest living relative.
The macaque monkey is the non-human primate best known to science. Comparing the human brain to both species meant we could not only assess which parts of our brain are unique to us, but also which parts are likely to be shared heritage with our non-human relatives.
Much of the previous research on human brain uniqueness has focused on the prefrontal cortex, a group of areas at the front of our brain linked to complex thought and decision-making. We indeed found that aspects of the prefrontal cortex had a connectivity fingerprint in the human that we couldn’t find in the other animals, particularly when we compared the human to the macaque monkey.
But the main differences we found were not in the prefrontal cortex. They were in the temporal lobe, a large part of the cortex located approximately behind the ear. In the primate brain, this area is devoted to deep processing of information from our two main senses: vision and hearing. One of the most dramatic findings was in the middle part of the temporal cortex.
The feature driving this distinction was the arcuate fasciculus, a white matter tract connecting the frontal and temporal cortex and traditionally associated with processing language in humans. Most if not all primates have an arcuate fasciculus, but it is much larger in human brains.
However, we found that focusing solely on language may be too narrow. The brain areas that are connected via the arcuate fasciculus are also involved in other cognitive functions, such as integrating sensory information and processing complex social behavior.
Our study was the first to find the arcuate fasciculus is involved in these functions.
This insight underscores the complexity of human brain evolution, suggesting that our advanced cognitive abilities arose not from a single change, as scientists thought, but through several, interrelated changes in brain connectivity.
While the middle temporal arcuate fasciculus is a key player in language processing, we also found differences between the species in a region more at the back of the temporal cortex. This temporoparietal junction area is critical in processing information about others, such as understanding others’ beliefs and intentions, a cornerstone of human social interaction.
In humans, this brain area has much more extensive connections to other parts of the brain processing complex visual information, such as facial expressions and behavioral cues. This suggests that our brain is wired to handle more intricate social processing than those of our primate relatives.
Our brain is wired up to be social.
These findings challenge the idea of a single evolutionary event driving the emergence of human intelligence. Instead, our study suggests brain evolution happened in steps. Our findings suggest changes in frontal cortex organization occurred in apes, followed by changes in temporal cortex in the lineage leading to humans.
Richard Owen was right about one thing. Our brains are different from those of other species—to an extent. We have a primate brain, but it’s wired up to make us even more social than other primates, allowing us to communicate through spoken language.
More information: Katherine L. Bryant et al, Connectivity profile and function of uniquely human cortical areas, The Journal of Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2017-24.2025
Womb Mates and Cancer: Nature, Nurture, or Something Else?
Epigenetics are changing the way we look at cancer. And may help us beat it.
Is our cancer the result of nature or nurture?
Are we the victims of faulty DNA over which we have no control? Or of lifestyle and environmental factors that we can change? Or is there a third option?
Epigenetics is the study of that third option. This fairly new science covers the process by which nurture might affect nature. That is, diet and exercise might actually change the way our DNA influences our body. It’s a complex new field and scientists are even having trouble defining it.
One way of illustrating it is through the lives of twins.
According to the theory of nature’s influence, we are formed by the genes we are born with—twins separated at birth grow up to live eerily similar lives, sharing marital history, criminal pasts, even athletic ability and sicknesses. The theory of the influence of nurture, however, maintains that our environment shapes us—our economic status, parental involvement, exposure to specific risks, diet, exercise, and so on.
Epigenetics, however, demonstrates that environmental factors can actually influence our genes, changing our genetic processes to make us more or less susceptible to disease. Research published in PLOS Genetics on the influence of diet and exercise on the development of breast cancer demonstrates this epigenetic component.
Twins share the same DNA, which can make one more likely to have breast cancer if the other one is diagnosed with the disease.
Identical twins are formed from the same egg and begin in the womb with identical DNA; as the egg splits to become twins, the DNA likewise splits and does not necessarily divide equally, meaning that even identical twins do not have identical DNA. Fraternal twins develop from two different eggs and so they share DNA in the way all siblings do.
That’s the nature argument.
But not all twins share cancer—or any disease. It is common for one twin to get a serious illness that completely misses the other twin. This is the nurture argument—if twins share DNA but don’t share cancer, the environment has to have had some influence.
National Geographic’s January 2012 issue has a cover story on epigenetics and twins, with some compelling stories that show how unpredictable disease can be even for people with shared DNA. And that unpredictability is one of the motivators for the study of epigenetics.
As National Geographic writer Peter Miller describes it:
If you think of our DNA as an immense piano keyboard and our genes as keys—each key symbolizing a segment of DNA responsible for a particular note, or trait, and all the keys combining to make us who we are—then epigenetic processes determine when and how each key can be struck, changing the tune being played.
One way the study of epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of biology is by revealing a mechanism by which the environment directly impacts genes.
Studies of animals, for example, have shown that when a rat experiences stress during pregnancy, it can cause epigenetic changes in a fetus that lead to behavioral problems as the rodent grows up. Other epigenetic changes appear to occur randomly—throwing a monkey wrench into the engine of nature versus nurture. Still other epigenetic processes are normal, such as those that guide embryonic cells as they become heart, brain, or liver cells, for example.
Epigenetic researcher Alejandro Burga and colleagues, writing in the journal Nature, looked at why the same genetic mutation might affect people differently, using information from the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona Spain. Burga explains that identical cells do not exist:
In the last decade we have learned by studying very simple organisms such as bacteria that gene expression—the extent to which a gene is turned on or off —varies greatly among individuals, even in the absence of genetic and environmental variation. Two cells are not completely identical and sometimes these differences have their origin in random or stochastic processes.
So, while identical twins may appear identical, and while they are as genetically close as two humans can be, they remain individuals on the cellular level. One may be more cancer-prone than the other even without differences in the environment.
So, what is it: Nature? Nurture? Both? Neither?
It seems to be a complex mix of all of the above, with our cancers as unique as we are.
Improving our diet and exercise certainly have been shown in multiple studies to reduce our risk of breast cancer. But sometimes the environmental risks that make one twin more prone to illness are no more under their control than their DNA. The way the fetuses develop in the womb, for example, might improve one twin’s health while imperiling the other’s. And sometimes, that tiny variation in DNA between twins makes all the difference in susceptibility to cancer.
Epigenetics, while not answering the question of what causes cancer, is absolutely getting us closer.
The difference in cancer risk among triplets can be influenced by a mix of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Here’s a breakdown:
Genetic Variations: Even identical triplets, who share nearly identical DNA, can have slight genetic differences due to mutations that occur after the initial cell division. Fraternal triplets, on the other hand, have different genetic makeups, which can lead to varying susceptibilities to cancer.
Epigenetics: This refers to changes in gene expression that don’t involve alterations to the DNA sequence itself. Environmental factors, such as diet, stress, or exposure to toxins, can influence epigenetic changes, potentially affecting cancer risk differently among triplets.
Environmental Exposures: If one triplet is exposed to a carcinogen (like tobacco smoke, radiation, or certain chemicals) more than the others, their risk of developing cancer could increase.
Random Chance: Sometimes, cancer can occur due to random mutations during cell division, which aren’t influenced by genetics or environment.
Shared vs. Individual Factors: While triplets may share many environmental and lifestyle factors, individual differences—like immune system responses or personal habits—can play a role.
It’s a fascinating and complex interplay of factors. If you’d like, I can dive deeper into any of these aspects!
The occurrence of cancer in one triplet while the others remain unaffected can be attributed to a mix of genetic, environmental, and random factors. Here’s a breakdown:
Genetic Variability: Even identical triplets can have slight genetic differences due to mutations that occur after the initial cell division. For fraternal triplets, the genetic differences are more pronounced, which can influence cancer susceptibility.
Epigenetics: Environmental factors or random events can lead to changes in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. These epigenetic changes can increase or decrease cancer risk and may differ among triplets.
Environmental Exposures: Lifestyle choices, diet, exposure to carcinogens, or even infections can vary among individuals, even within the same family, leading to different cancer risks.
Random Mutations: Sometimes, cancer arises from random mutations during cell division, which are not inherited or caused by external factors. This randomness can explain why one triplet might develop cancer while the others do not.
Immune System Differences: Variations in immune system function, even among siblings, can influence the body’s ability to detect and destroy cancer cells.
It’s a complex interplay of these factors, and often, no single cause can be pinpointed.
If you’re curious about a specific case or type of cancer, I can help dig deeper!
We reference time now by date of diagnosis (August 18, 2017), when Jackson got sick and after Jackson Stout was sick. That date forever changed our perspective and view on life. It’s short, but worth it when you’re surrounded by the ones you love.
On Friday, August 18th, Jackson was diagnosed with Precursor B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or what is often referred to as ALL. It started earlier that day with a visit to the Pediatrician, Dr. Megremis, due to his recurrent low grade fevers and leg pain. After the doctor’s visit, we were sent for blood tests at Peyton Manning Children’s hospital and an x-ray for his leg pain.
The x-ray showed nothing out of the ordinary, but we were going to hear the results of the blood test later that evening. In the meantime, Jax was still fighting a fever. We were planning on attending a pool party that evening with our church family in Indianapolis; Jax insisted that we all go – so we went. It was during that party that we received the devastating news.
The voice on the other line said that she was the On-Call Pediatrician.
She was unable to contact Dr. Megremis, but she needed to share the information before it was too late in the evening. She continued to share that Jackson’s blood test results were abnormal and we needed to get him to the ER immediately. From there came a long pause and all I could hear was sobbing.
The words she said next will change our family forever, “Jackson has Leukemia”.
My heart sank. Levy looked at me and immediately ran over. I told him the news. The doctor kept saying, “I’m sorry” through her tears. At that moment a whirlwind of commotion happened. Levy pulled Jax out of the pool and gathered the girls. I ran straight to our friend, Paula, and began bawling in her arms. Friends were helping us get the kids out of their bathing suits and into their clothes and gathering towels and all our belongings.
We paused and a group gathered and laid hands on Jackson. We prayed. A rush of calmness came over us. I remember thinking to myself, “We can do this”. In a moment’s decision, it was suggested we leave the girls with friends so that we can tend to Jackson. The girls were scared and so was Jax. They gave their brother a hug goodbye and we headed straight for the hospital. We called our family (near and far) on the way and they were able to meet us there, including our Pediatrician. I can say that Jackson’s condition only got worse that night.
Over the next 6 hours and into the early hours on Saturday morning, Jackson was poked for blood draws, which were often unsuccessful, and an IV was started, again after many unsuccessful attempts. We hated watching him go through this. Each of the many blood draw attempts had everyone in the room in tears, especially when Jackson was asking why we were doing this to him. The weekend was tough. He was in so much pain.
We could not even hold or comfort him or even hold his hand. The pain in his bones was becoming more unbearable. We had so many visitors that first weekend which I know helped our spirits. Each morning, he’d ask if people were going to come see him that day. Thanks to our “village”, they kept us sane and gave us a shoulder to cry on. They took care of the girls and kept us well fed. They supported us and jumped to action, even when we had a crazy request for personalized hospital gowns.
Monday morning came and we received an answered prayer. His procedure was scheduled to get his bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture to test his spinal fluid for Leukemia, and a PICC line to replace his IV. It was all a success. Later that evening, we started to see a glimpse of our sweet Jackson again. Tuesday was a great day. We played in the playroom and Jackson dominated in air hockey. It was also our official start to chemo! Each of these past days has brought on their own challenges. We are slowly learning our new “norm”. We want to be prepared for our return home soon. Leukemia
Last night was tough. We got to the ER and immediately started with accessing his port (without numbing cream) and a peripheral blood draw from his hand, which was unsuccessful thanks to inheriting his Dad’s veins. He did great and was brave through it all! He received more platelets and a blood transfusion overnight. His blood pressure fell and his mouth sores have gotten significantly worse, likely all through his GI tract.
We have a prescription mouthwash to help numb and coat his mouth allowing him to hopefully eat something. He hasn’t eaten since Monday, so he’s receiving fluids and morphine to help with the pain. We will be here until we can eat and drink on our own… likely through the weekend. Prayers appreciated for our little trooper #jacksonstroop #jaxstrong
We are at the hospital today for IVIG Therapy. Jackson has had a runny nose for a couple weeks and just doesn’t have the antibodies to fight it off. This transfusion will give him the “good stuff” to replace what chemo has destroyed. So we are here, watching Paw Patrol and fulfilling all his requests for bacon #jaxstrong#jacksonstroop
“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12
.The girls were able to join Jackson for his chemo treatment on Christmas Eve – Lumbar Puncture with anesthesia. They stood by him in the “nap room” as he was being put under and were by his side when he woke. He even asked for them as soon as he woke up, laughing and smiling! These three truly have an unbreakable bond. #jacksonstroop#jaxstrong#wombmatesforlife
Another Chemo Day! All went smooth except that Jackson’s ANC came back that he’s neutropenic (basically his immune system is very low). So we are doing the best to stay germ free and out of the hospital! His sisters were by his side today and clearly Jax loves them dearly #jaxstrong#jacksonstroop
Today was pretty rough. Jackson woke with a fever, nausea and vomiting accompanied with aches and pains. He is being treated for a virus and tested for the flu. While at the clinic he received his regularly scheduled chemo, lots of fluids and antibiotics. He is also on Tamiflu until we receive the results of the cultures. After many hours at Peyton Manning’s we were home and he was able to eat something and play with Legos! His sisters were there the whole time and did a great job taking care of him. Prayers are appreciated that he doesn’t regress and we stay out of the ER tonight! #jaxstrong#jacksonstroop
At the hospital with Jackson. He woke up screaming in pain with what we think is a very swollen lymph node. It’s causing major swelling in his neck. He had a negative strep test earlier today, so hoping to get his pain under control and figure out what’s causing the swelling. While we are here, we’ve got a whole library of movies to keep us happy and in good spirits!
The CT scan showed inflammation of his salivary gland that goes down the left side and in front of his neck. We have a whole team (hospitalists, Oncology, ENT and Infectious Diseases) working on a game plan for Jax – we know he’s in great hands! We will be here for a couple of days as he’s also severely neutropenic. He’ll also receive IVIG therapy to help get his counts back up! We appreciate your thoughts, prayers and messages. Jackson even got a special video message from his classmates!
The very last part of our Leukemia journey! Jackson is having his port removed. It’s been a long road, but Jackson has officially BEAT CANCER Prayers work and God is good!
A fit and healthy mum who thought little of her ‘strange’ symptoms has been given just 12 months to live – leaving her devastated at the thought of not being there for her daughters
The doctor immediately sent her for tests, including a colonoscopy.
When she woke up from the procedure, she was given the devastating news that doctors had found a tumour in her lower bowel.
‘They brought my husband in and told me they were 99 per cent sure it was malignant… that’s when everything changed.’
Liza Mann, from Western Australia, has incurable bowel cancer
She hopes young people realise they are more at risk of the disease than ever
You can donate to her fundraiser here
READ MORE: Busy single mum ignored symptom that led to cancer diagnosis
A fit and healthy mum who was suddenly struck with a series of ‘odd’ symptoms has been given just 12 months to live – leaving her devastated at the thought of missing her young daughters grow up.
She is one of thousands of young people being struck down with the disease, with the risk of diagnosis before the age of 40 more than doubling since the year 2000.
Liza was in the best shape of her life and going to the gym regularly when she started noticing blood in her stools and some light bloating.
At first, she brushed it off.
‘I just thought it might have been haemorrhoids or something like that – I didn’t think too much about it,’ Liza told FEMAIL.
But when the bleeding worsened over six weeks, her mum urged her to see a doctor.
‘Thank goodness I had a GP that listened to me,’ she said.
Liza was blindsided by the diagnosis.
‘I was 36. I’ve always been fit and healthy. And this is the thing – everyone seems to think that bowel cancer is an old man’s disease, but it’s not. So many young people are getting diagnosed now. It’s crazy,’ she said.
Despite undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and chemotherapy to ‘mop up’ lingering cancer cells, the disease wasn’t done with her.
‘There was no evidence of disease for 11 months,’ she recalled.
‘And then, on my birthday in 2020, they found it had spread into my lungs. And now it’s incurable.’
She was told she had metastatic bowel cancer – meaning it had spread beyond the bowel and could no longer be cured
.
Liza Mann, from Kununurra in Western Australia, was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 36
‘It’s just terminal. Incurable,’ she said.
‘So then it was just a case of chemotherapy for the rest of my life.’
Liza said she knows all too well how easily bowel cancer can be dismissed in young people.
Just a year after her own diagnosis, a close friend – only 33 at the time – began experiencing similar symptoms.
‘She saw two doctors who just brushed her off,’ Liza recalled.
‘They told her she was too young, said it was just IBS.’
But Liza, who had already been through it herself, urged her friend to push for a colonoscopy.
‘I told her, “You need to demand it, these symptoms don’t seem right”,’ she recalled.
Liza was in the best shape of her life, going to the gym regularly, when she started noticing blood in her stool and some bloating
By the time doctors finally took her concerns seriously, the cancer had already spread to her liver.
‘It was too late,’ Liza said.
‘She only lived for about 12 months.’
Now, as she faces her own terminal diagnosis, Liza is determined to raise awareness, hoping no one else has to suffer the same fate.
For years, Liza defied the odds, undergoing treatment while still working, volunteering, and raising her two daughters, Alexis, now 11, and Sienna, 9.
She and her husband, Jarrod, a police officer, moved to Kununurra to give their girls an adventurous childhood.
‘We wanted to bring them up regionally – there are lakes, great bushwalks, camping, and fishing. It’s been a great place for them to grow up,’ she said.
But in November 2023, Liza was given the news no mother wants to hear.
Despite undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and chemotherapy to ‘mop up’ lingering cancer cells, the disease wasn’t done with her
‘They kind of gave me 12 months to live,’ she admitted.
It was a heartbreaking reality for Liza, whose biggest fear isn’t dying – it’s leaving her daughters behind.
‘How do you explain that to them? You try to be honest, but you don’t want them to stress out. They ask, “Mum, are you going to die?” and I just don’t know how to answer,’ she said.
Her biggest priority now is making memories with them.
‘My husband and I have always tried to create great memories for the girls. It’s never been about work for us – it’s been about lifestyle,’ she said.
Despite her deteriorating health, she recently took her daughters to the Philippines to see where their grandmother was from, followed by a trip to Universal Studios in Singapore.
‘We just want them to have these memories, you know?’ she said, her voice breaking.
Liza credits her resilience to her active lifestyle.
Despite her deteriorating health, she recently took her daughters to the Philippines to see where their grandmother was from, followed by a trip to Universal Studios in Singapore
‘Before I was diagnosed, I was doing CrossFit. I was at one of the fittest points in my life,’ she said.
Even after surgery, radiation, and years of chemotherapy, she stayed as active as possible.
‘My doctor told me the other week, “If it was anyone else, I don’t think they’d still be around”,’ she said.
Although she can no longer lift heavy weights, she still does Pilates, light workouts, and daily walks.
‘It’s good for your soul, good for your mental health. And I think it’s prolonged my life,’ she said.
Liza recently made the difficult decision to move back to Perth to be closer to medical care and her family.
‘I’ve been flying to Perth every three and a half weeks since 2020 for chemotherapy,’ she explained.
‘But my kids were getting over me being away all the time.’
Liza recently made the difficult decision to move back to Perth to be closer to medical care and her family
Now, as she faces the reality of her prognosis, she’s leaning on her loved ones for support.
‘My friends and family have been incredible. When I was first diagnosed, my friends did a meal train so I wouldn’t have to cook,’ she said.
‘My husband would grumble about some of the meals, and I’d say, “just be thankful, Jarrod!”.’
Her colleagues in Kununurra also became a second family.
‘When you work somewhere so remote, you become close.
‘I kind of became a mother hen to the younger ones – I’d cook them meals, make sure they weren’t just eating takeout all the time.’
Now, they’re returning the favour, stepping in to help Jarrod with school pick-ups and caring for the girls when Liza is too unwell.
But no amount of support can ease the pain of knowing she might not see her daughters grow up.
‘You put on a front for them – you have to be positive. But sometimes, it’s really hard.’
Early on-set bowel cancer is a serious problem in Australia, with the disease now the deadliest cancer for those aged 25-44.
Over the past three decades there has been a 266 per cent increase in bowel cancer incidence rates in adolescents and young adults (15-24 years) and people born in 1990 onwards have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer compared to those born in 1950.
Bowel Cancer Australia regularly receives feedback from younger people diagnosed with early-onset bowel cancer who have initially had their signs and symptoms attributed to haemorrhoids, food intolerances or a result of living a hectic lifestyle.
1,708 people under the age of 50 are diagnosed with bowel cancer Down Under each year.
Of those, 50.4 per cent are women and 86 per cent experienced symptoms.
While BCA recognises that lowering the screening guidelines may be one step forward for people aged 40 and older, it doesn’t address the rising rates of early-onset bowel cancer as a whole.
As a result, It is crucial for younger people and GPs to have a high suspicion of red flag signs and symptoms and to work together to ensure prompt investigations to rule out the disease.
Liza is sharing her story to spread awareness about early-onset bowel cancer in Australia. She has raised over $15,000 for the cause.
“Farrah’s Story” chronicles Farrah Fawcett’s two and a half year battle with cancer. Shot with her own video camera, the intensely intimate and emotional footage served as Farrah’s video diary in which she not only shared her thoughts and feelings but also her treatments in the U.S. and the alternative therapies she sought in Germany.
NBC News’ “Dateline”, originally aired “Farrah’s Story” on May 15, 2009, drawing in 9 million viewers. The show went on to be rerun numerous times, including this May 23, 2009 MSNBC broadcast.
NOTE: If you or a loved one is suffering from cancer or any other terminal illness, I’d advise skipping this documentary, which depicts cancer at its ugliest, as well as a woman who lived out the final years of her life in misery because of it. Instead, I’d suggest the lesser-seen and more-uplifting “Valerie’s Story.”
“An epic exploration of possibilities. What If is a Webby Award-winning science web series that takes you on a journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities, some in distant corners of the universe, others right here on Earth.”
Mabel Martinelli, director of the Cambridge Centre for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy, believes meditation is the best way to reduce the severity of depression – Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph
We’re used to hearing that depression is a chemical problem, one that starts in the brain and can only be fixed with medications like SSRIs which alter the levels of “happy” hormones in your system.
But the reality is that antidepressant medications only work for three in five people with moderate to severe depression. Those who don’t see any benefit from antidepressants or other mainstream treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), are often referred to as having “treatment-resistant depression”. Many more people with mild depression would rather stay away from medications completely.
“Depression is an emotional state that makes people interpret the events in their lives in a negative way,” explains Mabel Martinelli, the director of the Cambridge Centre for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy. “It’s only by helping someone to find some space from that feeling that they are able to get back in control of their thoughts.”
The best way to do that is through meditation, Martinelli says. You’ve likely heard before that this practice is the best tool for staying in control of your mind, yet it can be daunting or seem too “woo-woo” to really work.
But if you’re someone living with depression, stress or anxiety, it’s a technique psychologists want us to take seriously – and Martinelli, with 25 years of experience as a psychologist, has found that incorporating it into her practice has been hugely effective.
“Brain scans show that meditation alone can reduce the severity of depression,” Martinelli says. “Studies using MRI scans have demonstrated that meditation both quiets activity in the brain networks associated with depression, and that these effects last even after someone has finished meditating.”
Sessions that combine meditation with conventional therapy techniques have a name: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). “It was created for those with treatment-resistant depression where medications and other therapies don’t work,” Martinelli explains. “Studies show that MBCT is at least as effective as antidepressants when it comes to preventing people from being sucked back into depression.”
Why mindfulness-based cognitive therapy works
Two decades since it was developed, there is clear data to show that MBCT can treat both depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that an eight-week course of MBCT can dramatically reduce the severity of depression in people who haven’t responded to antidepressants, and can treat other people at least as well as those medications themselves.
“Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is the most powerful intervention I use in my practice,” says Martinelli, who is a qualified psychotherapist and also uses traditional methods such as CBT.
It may also leave people happier than antidepressants. “Antidepressants aren’t meant to bring people out of depression and into a happy psychological state, but to a neutral one,” says Martinelli. “MBCT looks at how people can change their lives not just to end or avoid depression, but to be truly happy.”
What mindfulness-based cognitive therapy involves
MBCT “took elements of that older technique and combined it with cognitive therapy to see how it could treat mental illness,” says Martinelli. It’s inspired by another therapy called mindfulness-based stress reduction, which teaches meditation and acceptance to people over the course of eight weeks to help them cope with stress and anxiety.
Every session of MBCT involves 40 minutes of meditation, with participants meditating alone for 40 minutes each day between sessions. A course of MBCT also lasts for eight weeks. It is “best delivered to a group rather than one on one, but can work either way,” Martinelli says.
The therapy also draws on principles from CBT. “After four weeks we introduce those cognitive therapy elements, which involve looking at people’s thoughts, emotions and routines,” Martinelli says. “In the same way as traditional CBT, this helps people to break the cycle between their thoughts, emotions and actions.”
The best-proven benefit of MBCT is that it prevents relapse where someone has already suffered from depression and has made a partial or full recovery.
“Where someone has experienced a significant bout of depression once, the chance that they’ll experience this again is 50 percent,” Martinelli says. “After three or more episodes, that rises to 75 to 80 percent. We call this the kindling effect, where people become much more likely to go back into depression when they experience negative thoughts or emotions,” says Martinelli.
“Normal therapy sessions won’t work at that point, because you can’t think yourself out of a truly deep depression. But MBCT can still be effective, and has been shown to be more effective than antidepressants when it comes to preventing a relapse in the first place.”
I don’t like meditation. I battle depression daily, even with antidepressants. I don’t like meditation because either I get bored, or I hallucinate. I have enough trouble with random hallucinations as it is. I get tired of telling my brain to just shut up and send the dancing bananas home. Yes, animated dancing bananas with canes and straw boaters. Amusing, but only for a few bars. Mindfulness is just part of my everyday experience and training.
I couldn’t do science without it, being aware of every change and sensation as I peer through a microscope or view the contents of a test tube. I go into sort of a trance state as I do science, observing everything and incorporating what is relevant to what I’m doing. What it doesn’t do is ease my depression. It’s just something I do
I use music as a form of meditation. I find new groups (or rely on known favorites) that play complex, asymmetrical music that challenges the brain, and has so many different instruments and sounds that I have to listen multiple times trying to focus on each. Beats Antique, Shadowfax, Snarky Puppy and Polyphia are a few. Apparently, I also do mindful eating, which I didn’t realize until reading this article.
I eat slowly, sometimes focusing on the flavors and textures, but also sometimes focusing on reading or listening to music while I eat. Multitasking like this is a good way to keep the mind from engaging in negative thoughts. Hobbies can also help, like painting miniature figures. Analyzing things like investments (stocks, funds, bonds, etc) or sports statistics can also keep the mind occupied. It’s all about keeping the mind occupied with things I like.
“When someone is sceptical that meditation can help them, I encourage them to try just three minutes of sitting to see how it makes them feel,” Martinelli says. “Most people feel better even after this, and notice the difference it makes to their thoughts.”
While it’s conventional that people focus on their breath while they meditate, “it’s also possible to focus on another sensation in your body or on a sound. There are lots of guided meditation soundtracks available online that can be very helpful for this”.
2. Do a survey of your day
One of the last steps in MBCT is for people to make a list of everything they do in a day.
“The point is that people identify things that are depleting them, and that are neutral, and try to change the depleting events into neutral ones, and the neutral ones into positive ones,” says Martinelli. “The point of this is that it leaves people feeling happier, and more in control of their lives, which improves the quality of their thoughts.”
This is easily done at home. Martinelli recommends that you try making a list once a month to track how your habits are changing. “Especially at the end of the year, it’s such a lovely experiment to do – and you can also give yourself a pat on the back for how much you actually deal with in a day.”
3. Make your first bite of the day a mindful one
“There’s a well-known practice of eating a raisin as slowly and as mindfully as you can,” Martinelli says. “Mindful eating can be very powerful, but it doesn’t have to involve raisins.”
When having your first bite of breakfast or sip of coffee in the morning, “just try to be present with that experience and bring curiosity to it, about what it’s like to be in the moment”. This will help to keep you centred throughout the day and in better control of your thoughts.
4. Get grounded
“When you’re anxious, your body is pumping adrenaline and you can feel quite out of control,” Martinelli says.
The trick is to make your brain realise that it isn’t in immediate danger. “This can be as simple as just looking outside and counting the number of objects that you can see, or just feeling the sensation of your feet on the floor,” says Martinelli.
“It isn’t about telling yourself that there’s nothing to be worried about, but letting those feelings pass without judging yourself for having them.”
5. Find something that you love, and have more of it
“When you purposely do things that you enjoy and pay attention to what makes you feel happy when you do them, you’re training your brain to reach out for positive experiences,” says Martinelli. “Then you start to bring the good things to your attention, instead of just the bad.”
Doing so is as easy as “finding something that gives you pleasure, whether that’s your favourite song or a piece of chocolate,” Martinelli says. “Just really notice how pleasant it is and how good it makes you feel in your body.”
Though I totally agree with you regarding a need to get outside and be active, due to various reasons, i.e., debilitating physical/emotional trauma, etc., many cannot even leave their bed, unfortunately! In such situations, more intensive treatments are necessary. I’m also not a fan of meds, but for certain people, they’re quite effective, along with dietary health and other interventions. I consistently favor natural solutions, but for those who can’t partake in them, I’m very grateful other options exist!
7. After losing my husband, I found myself in a deep depression.
I tried medication but that made me feel worse. What finally worked was having things to do. Hobbies and ‘to do’ lists were my new best friends. Boredom creates depression. Talking about it or meditating only delays the feelings. Work them off and feel better.
8. Depression is mental, is it not?
Seems like one could look in the mirror and say….””SNAP OUT OF IT…you’ve got a job that pays a living wage and you’re healthy, so straighten up and stop whining”” wait until you can’t afford food or shelter, THEN WHINE and feel “”victimized”” !
Cognitive Dissonance is a thing…it’s real.
Understanding the above works wonders…not just for depression but for all things in life. Making the decision to ‘Not Be Depressed’ is the most helpful ‘cure’ to removing depression. Depression is a conscious decision. Ergo, MAKE the conscious Decision to ‘NOT be Depressed’
It’s the NEED to ACCEPT TO BE ABLE TO MOVE ON AND AWAY FROM THIS EMOTION OF DEPRESSION. I know, unlike millions other’s, I’ve had changes with the first impression perspective and can only think on how people take their lives for granted. Accepting certain fields of emotions is the KEY as you do move on and away, only to be in the same position for depression and to ACCEPT never changes and only those who do this will be only ones on how this works.
I start my day off with a sermon. everything else on this list is spot on. I’ve experienced situational depression, but it didn’t change when my situation changed. It took a while and a couple of different doctors. I was prescribed Duloxetine for chronic pain and depression, and Lamotrigine for mood stability. Explosive anger which usually ends in breaking something or getting’ my butt broken. Meditation, yoga, tai chi, and any other gentle workouts will really help the most. Learn conscience relaxation to experience full awareness of relaxing every part of your body starting with your toes.
Learn to use controlled breathing while you do these things. Be good to yourself and show gratitude and praise for your life, no matter how bad of a situation you’re in. The last one I went through took fifteen years. I prayed and thanked Jesus every time I thought about it. If you need a doctor, don’t settle. They say not to doctor shop.
When it comes to finding a doctor make sure he gets you and you feel comfortable, because it will speed up your recovery. When you find one, you listen to and be open and honest to your doctor. It will help you heal even more. Mental functionality isn’t always healable, but it is treatable. The trick is to learn coping skills so you can apply them whenever you need them. God Bless,
LoaAnyone with depression should look into ALL side effects from EVERY medication that they are on. I was diagnosed with depression until I went off of every medication I was prescribed (NINE!!) and found out that I was SO much healthier underneath than doctors led me to believe. Living a healthy lifestyle with nutrition, exercise, meditation, and self-care was the magic cure for me along with avoiding all man-made chemicals such as OTC meds and food additives.
Something I’m sure that doesn’t get brought up a lot and people aren’t willing to talk about: stop drinking alcohol. Our culture in America is constantly surrounded by the consumption of alcohol and the majority of television and online advertisements are for alcohol products.
Friday and Saturday nights are connected to going out to bars and having a few drinks. I received treatment for alcohol abuse and something that a counselor said that stuck with me was “cut out alcohol for 6 months and see if you still have depression.” It took me a year of sobriety to get completely off of any depression/anxiety medication I was on.
Since not everyone thinks they have a problem with alcohol, they don’t think their depression has anything to do with drinking. So my advice: try being sober for 6 months and see if your depression symptoms are still there. It’s one of those topics where if people don’t see themselves as an alcoholic they don’t think they have a problem with alcohol, so they don’t correlate their depression with alcohol consumption. Yeah, if you’re depressed, maybe don’t take a depressant (alcohol).
I’ve learned not to drink if I am sad, depressed, angry, stressed, etc. But I did get into craft beers and higher end bourbons kind of as a hobby, an exploration. It was more about trying new and unique things than getting drunk. But I also try to have 2-4 days a week where I don’t drink, once every two years I go a month without alcohol, and I am religious about not mixing drugs and alcohol on the same day. However, if someone is experiencing extreme or even moderate depression, avoiding alcohol is probably a good idea.
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NOTE: When I went through severe depression in 2005 and early part of 2006 it was like falling into black hole and when I was about to climb out of it falling deeper back into it. Caused by Lexapro. It wasn’t until my doctor finally told me after my father was gone.
Well, he’s gone now and he wouldn’t want to see you go through depression much like you didn’t want him going through cancer and I myself wouldn’t want to go through it.
So Now Is the Time to Get The F*ck Over It Sermon That Worked. Depression is a side effect of feeling sorry for yourself and focusing too much on a cantaloupe size tumor on someone’s breastbone.
So, is THIS what finding a local Lyme Literate doctor is all about?? See new patient outline/pricing below. This wouldn’t even include testing/meds and no assistance whatsoever with insurance paperwork.
***Our practice is dedicated to a natural approach that requires tracing back to the root cause. Thus, we often address polypharmacy to ensure the safety and care of each patient. Please access Dr. S’s blog for additional health information: xxx
Below will be all necessary documents for patient onboarding. We ask that you review and sign each document attentively. These documents will need to be uploaded to your chart upon scheduling.
Each patient will pay a non-refundable deposit of $195 per visit that is deducted from the visit total.
We do not accept insurance. Your insurance may cover any labs necessary for your second follow up visit and so forth, but it will not cover the fee(s) for the visit.
PLEASE READ:
As of April 2024, we are a non-profit organization. This is a private practice accepting patients as members only. If you would like to schedule with us, we ask that you please review and sign our private membership form. This PMA does NOT require any payment.
As of October 2024, our practice is now protected through The Body Healthcare Private Membership Association. This is Christian based, however, we are not imposing our religion onto patients– meaning that The Body Healthcare believes in Christianity but you do not have to in order to become a member. This protects our out of state patients, our in-state patients and our practitioners from medical tyranny that would prevent you from receiving care from our functional medicine practitioners.
In which case, we ask that you review and sign The Body Healthcare PMA so we are able to treat you as our patient. There is a $10 monthly membership fee through The Body and a member from The Body Healthcare will initiate contact to discuss payment options upon receiving your signed document (listed below).
PMA/Deposit/Cancellation/Short Intake/Medicare Opt-Out will all be included in this link, please review and sign:xxxxxx
THE BODY HEALTHCARE PMA:xxxxx
Pricing & Scheduling:
Visit costs will depend on the complexity of the patient per the provider. Each provider is well-versed under the advisory and training of Dr. S. The first visit is frequently scheduled with a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. If the patient has multiple significant health concerns/conditions, they would be scheduled with Dr. S.
During your initial visit, you will be discussing your lifestyle, medications/supplements, wellness habits, allergies, acute or chronic illnesses, etc. Thus, the visit may be an hour long. The initial visit (depending on the complexity of the health concern) will be either $435 or $491. If the initial visit is to be scheduled with Dr. S, it will be $1,000.
After your first appointment, your provider will tailor a lab order according to your lifestyle to source the root cause of your health concern/condition or even to benefit your wellness plan. A follow-up visit is necessary to review your labs and/or adjust the care plan your provider will have given you via FullScript. The cost of a follow-up visit will be either $435 or $491. If you are to follow up with Dr. S, it will be $543 or $648.
Upon scheduling any appointment, you will pay a $195 non-refundable deposit that is deducted from the visit total (listed above) that is due on the date of the appointment.
Uh yes this is why it’s difficult to diagnose let alone fully treat the complexities of Lyme, chronic illnesses, etc.
I was able to get diagnosed for $650, add’l labs cost me $2700. Then I was told to treat it all would cost me $600 PER VISIT 1-2x/wk., hundreds of $$ for supplements monthly, and $275×2-3 ozone treatments per week for 3-6 months to put just my Lyme into remission.
Not to mention add’l mold toxicity, MCAS, pots, EBV, etc. I have yet to be able to afford anything other than bare minimum labs, the occasional doc app & a few supplements. I will die before ever being able to be properly treated because I can’t afford it.
I can only imagine what this doctor would prescribe for nutraceuticals, herbs, RX, especially if he does his own commerce. This is exactly why I’ve been self treating (Buhner Protocol) after a positive tick panel from Vibrant 2.0. I’m just waiting for some recent bloodwork results to make sure I’m not creating any harmful issues. I had decided that if any of my blood work was way off that it might be time to see a specialist, but I highly doubt I will do that now.
In Alabama there is a Lyme literate provider that is also well versed in how Covid has complicated things as well as discovering some vein compression issues that have been a barrier for Lyme patients to hit remission. The way the pricing and appts are set up is very affordable compared to going to the various different doctors we all have to go to before getting in with a knowledge provider.
The appts are out of pocket and the first one is always the most expensive because it is an incredibly detailed appt with prep work put in before the appt as well. Then follow ups go down from there. They always give you the codes so you can file them yourself on insurance if you would like too. No expensive specialty testing is run. They try to keep all labs and testing with labs that will be covered by insurance.
Also, the only supplements recommended are one tailored specifically for you and kept at a manageable level where you do not go broke or get terrible pill fatigue. They try to keep things as economical is they possibly can. People sometimes shy away with the initial visit cost but the amount of work the provider puts in before hand then the amount of time they take in the room and then also fielding any incoming triage messages etc. takes a lot of time.
When it is breaking down amount per hour of work, they make is not much, but their goal is to get patients better because they could make ten times more working at a urgent care or hospital and not have the high stakes that comes along with being a Lyme provider. Now that being said I can only attest to the place I go and how they are set up and do things to try and keep things economical as possible MedRenew Clinic Homeopathic. Looking for successes and information. TY
Can someone help with the recommended dosage of EGCG? TY
In Buhner’s book 800mg a day.
It is not my intention to scare anyone but only advice.
I had been researching protocols for quite some time before I dove in. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1989 and a very wise doctor. a friend suggested perhaps I had chronic Lyme. I finally started an herbal protocol without being tested… What could it hurt? I started slowly for 3-4 months and then stepped up the herbals to the recommended amount.
Started severe herx and after 6 weeks of building this rash over 85% of my body, I landed at the ER. My point? Herbal protocol for Lyme is VERY similar to herbal protocol for other internal parasites…had no idea what was lurking inside me #Herxtothemax#flukecity
Michelle Migneault Micket Author Moderator Heather Sklar Sunderland · How did they treat you for mold? I’ve read activated charcoal and bentonite clay
Heather Sklar Sunderland · Michelle Migneault Micket nourished, alkalized, opened detox pathways, gently detoxed using g a regenerative nutrition protocol. When I needed binders I used Cell core binders. I also addressed parasites, viruses, bacterial load, restored my gut and addressed other toxins. Sadly you have to address all of it not just the mold. There is more to healing outside of binders
Michelle Migneault Micket Author Moderator Heather Sklar Sunderland Yes, I understand. I started with a cleanse based on Parafy Herbal Protocol – Search and thought I was doing everything you outlined until it blew up in my face. Did you follow any specific protocol or practitioner? Still researching but I plan to start back carefully with Buhner Protocol.
Heather Sklar Sunderland · Michelle Migneault Micket I am a practitioner.
Michelle Migneault Micket yes it can be so… but also I feel the difference between cat’s claw supplements… and others also. I recuse antibiotic treatment in November for 20days, when I started-
First 2days felt ok, then on 3rd day I thought that I have heart attack… then slowly continued since doctor suggested to take off natural supplements, then only after i finished antibiotics continued herbs – cat’s claw, olive extract, curcumin, Boswellia, ashwagandha… then within 2 weeks got sick, 3 days high T and after that rush on all my skin, was red for 3 days, then it went away… also was on strict diet… then approx. 3-4 month felt better went of strict diet, changed supplements brand… had high stras period and unfortunately pains came back:(., then started again with herbs, but did not feel better- now I am little stuck-
Doctors in Latvia have very different opinions why to do with me. I can not test for Bartonella, Anaplasmosis, Riketich in Latvia – doctors over and over repeat that humans do not get it just animals
Ilze Ziverte I originally started an herbal cleanse protocol very similar to Rogershood Parafy – Search (what could it hurt?) I had started to suspect Lyme and many people with Lyme have parasite co-infections. Also was taking some of the supplements (coincidently) listed in the Buhner. Had no idea I was loaded with fluke parasites or had Lyme with co-infections. I herxed badly and now realize that terrible rash might have been an allergy to Cats Claw (still testing the other things I was taking) I now realize I need to go much more slowly and carefully…I’m carrying too much of a toxic load to be aggressive.
Ilze Ziverte Some say the testing is so flawed that it’s best to just treat the clinical symptoms. I will be starting back with a protocol outlined in this book-Healing Lyme: Natural Healing of Lyme Borreliosis and the Coinfections Chlamydia and Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, 2nd Edition Paperback – December 7, 2015 by Stephen Harrod Buhner (Author)
Ledum for tick bite. Oil on bite or homeopathic oral?
I find Ledum very effective for all new bites, Mozzie, Midgie or tick.
I use 4x 4×4 protocol.
4 drops 4 times a day for 4 days, then 3 drops 3x a day for 3 days, 2 drops, 2 x a day for 2 days, 1 drop the next day, then the same with the Ledum.
You can apply to bites that way too.
It is acute protocol for Homeopathic remedies unless it specifies differently.
If I start with Apis 5 days, I then follow up with Ledum (Ledum is antidote for Apis, so I don’t use together)
Need something topical for pain relief
I use my Rife machine on troublesome spots. I find best results with applying castor oil to my skin. if you add frankincense and myrrh essential oil (can buy the blend instead of separately) to the castor oil you’ll feel the heat absorb deep down. Very soothing along with pain relief.
Frankincense and myrrh also reduce inflammation. When I looked up the benefits again, I read these 2 complement the other. I haven’t taken frankincense orally but others that have swear by it. Place a cotton cloth over it. Then apply heat to the cloth. I use a heating pad. I use the over-the-counter Lidocaine Patches when the weather is especially rainy from Salonpas.
Magnesium cream, CBD cream, or Kanjo mentholated gel. Cryoderm. Not Bio freeze.
It has arnica and Boswellia in it and lasts for quite awhile.
Doesn’t smell great, menthol smell but works.
I use the spray and sometimes have to spray almost my entire body. Smell does fade.
Arnica Balm! This small company in NY makes some amazing stuff!
I use CBD cream, you want a minimum 1,000 mg. I always buy brands that have zero THC because I don’t like THC’s side effects. You can find these creams in health food stores. The brand I currently use is called “+PlusCBD” but there are others
DMSO Is Good For Some People – But :
Just A Caution :
Some People Cannot Tolerate Sulfur Compounds – NAC/Glutathione/Methione/Alpha Lipoic Acid/DMSO/Sulfur Based Antibiotics/Medications
High Sulfur Foods – Broccoli/Cauliflower/Brussel Sprouts/Cabbage/Maybe Kale/Garlic/Onions Etc.
Google/Search For More Information
Anyone using acupuncture for recovery? Would love some feedback, TY!
Yes! It’s what keeps me going. When I don’t have treatment at least 3 times a month, I notice a decline and feel so much better if I’m regularly receiving acupuncture treatments.
Yes, it has helped tremendously with pain, fatigue and cognition. I can’t afford to go as much as I’d like, and of course, insurance doesn’t cover the costs.
I did!!! It was the best thing I did. However, I started when I was in remission. Highly recommend it!! Another, however, found an MD who is Chinese medicine trained. Someone who has meditation music, soft lights, the whole package! I went to a pain clinic at first for acupuncture. It was a waste of time and money. But I highly recommended a real acupuncturist!!!!!
Made the plunge! Although my practitioner not knowingly has treated anyone with chronic Lyme, I sensed on our phone consultation he seemingly understood. It was comforting when he said we must start slow, so as not to trigger unwanted reactions. We started today with 30 minutes lying on my back with a needle between my eyes, one on each hand and one on each foot.
He placed a damp towel underneath my neck and my feet that had some kind of electric “wave” attached, although I didn’t feel a thing. I can’t say I feel any improvement yet, but I did come home and was able to nap without being woken by the usual back pain. I will be going back again in one week.
Looking for a recommendation for an air cleaner/purifier. TY
I have a 500 square ft gym that was built-out under my stilt house. It started getting minor black mold on the hardi board walls before the A/C was in place. It was remediated but continued to have high humidity for some time. I am very sensitive to mold and swear I smell it.
I set up an herbal infuser and running anti-fungal oils. The room has not been tested for mycotoxins and I have not personally either. I’m not getting the severe headaches/symptoms, but I need to try something as a last-ditch effort. I’ve asked people if they smell mold, and they say it just smells like the rubber flooring.
There is a concrete slab as flooring but for lack of a better term, it smells “earthy” It’s a great space with a Stotts Pilates reformer, full body Red Light panels, pro stretching table, etc. It’s instrumental to my recovery but I may not be able to use it. I’ve thought about setting off a bomb but I understand there is a residue that gets left behind that may harm the equipment?
Decided to try and get some exercise done before noon because normally my day is all downhill after that. Already had a handful of 30-minute treadmill sessions under my belt. First time I wore leggings instead of shorts, and within 20 minutes, I started having a severe histamine reaction on my feet and legs. Tried to work through it but I became INSANE with itching. I miss-stepped and fell.
Thank God, no serious injury. My guess is that I heated up more than normal, and the leggings caused friction on my skin. It was also the first time I did not take my first dose of protocol before exercise. Any insight is greatly appreciated.
April Iverson I am just starting to try and get back some mobility and it hasn’t gone very well. Just five months ago my husband and I did a seven-week backpacking trip through Italy… Over 800 miles. Halfway through the trip I crashed from a compromised immune system. Had my Vibrant 2.0 testing done the week I got back June 7. Chronic Lyme +9 additional coinfections. I’m determined to work hard to get it back before another May 2025 European cycling trip, but currently it feels pretty fruitless.
Michelle Migneault Micket it’s incredibly defeating. I used to enjoy the Spartan races, hiking and kayaking, in the gyms, and so much else I want to do. It does feel pretty fruitless. My heart goes out to you, I’ll keep you in my prayers and send all the best wishes for you to be able to achieve the European Cycling trip!
I do know some people have good results with their Lymes using hyperbaric chambers and red-light therapy. I haven’t been able to try these, but perhaps it may help your healing journey!
Pushing thought this is a bad strategy. I have seen people crash H.A.R.D…. Like might never be the same hard. And yes, many with secondary unnecessary injuries. Please listen to your body.
I don’t know if you would “push through” other very serious diagnoses, but even though mainstream doesn’t find this particularly serious, it very much is. Dr Neil Spector Lyme story – Search Videos had some great words on this.
Not to jump the gun but posting for those feeling completely hopeless. After 35 years of symptoms, a positive Vibrant 2.0 for Chronic Lyme/9 coinfections six months ago. Been “self-torturing” with extended Buhner Protocol and just 2 1/2 weeks ago I was ready to throw in the towel.
Look how things can make a turn so fast!! I can’t tell exactly why the turnaround as I have made some herbal changes over the last couple of weeks but I started acupuncture, and I believe it’s been the key. Don’t give up, relief might be just around the corner
I should add I had not got on my bike since coming home from a 7-week cycling trip in Europe clocking over 800 miles. I believe I may have caught covid after 3 weeks. I made it home and collapsed in bed for over 3 months only leaving to get my Vibrant bloodwork done.
At 4-6 months, spending about 1/2 the days still bedridden. Started acupuncture with a mini session with little results. 2nd more aggressive appt one week later I was able to start moving with less severe back/hip pain. 3 days later got on my bike on a whim and just did it! 12 miles and 2 days back in bed.
BUT back pain is better and way less fatigue so back on the bike the next 2 days! Had my 3rd appt today and walked the beach 3 miles, rested the remainder of the day. Time will tell but I feel like something is clicking. The Protocol has been hard work and a full time job.
Pamela Smart I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 35 years ago but somehow learned to work through the unknown. I believe I was in a latent state of chronic Lyme/fibromyalgia when I started an herbal protocol back in January in the “event” I possibly had chronic Lyme (what could hurt, right?) It was an utter disaster as I had no idea what kind of load I was carrying (this was months before actual testing). Everything must have gotten stirred up Most people don’t realize that “other” parasites go hand-in-hand with Chronic Lyme and find out the very hard way.
It finally landed me in the ER two weeks before going on the big cycling trip. Immune depressants worked well enough to ease the severe rash I had on about 90% of my body. I should’ve never gone on the trip but I felt it was a do or die situation.
I experienced a severe rebound within 3 weeks that I think was triggered by possible Covid from the cruise ship. I am still having pretty severe histamine reactions/rash but nothing like that pictured in the photo.
I believe the acupuncture treatments kick started my ability to move forward and plan on going at least once a week until the end of the year. So far my three sessions have included Frequency Specific Microcurrent as well. I’m blessed to have found a practitioner that is only charging me 125.00 for a series of 3 sessions!
Had a rough week, fibromyalgia back/hip flare no doubt from the added physical activity. Took the whole week to regroup with rest and heating pad. Histamine reactions are still there but made it through 2 short detox baths. 4th acupuncture/Frequency Specific Microcurrent and 2 days later back on the bike (18 miles)
Acupuncture worked really well for me. I haven’t had it for a while now, but I did a lot of treatments and did foot detox. I do a lot of Epsom salt, hot bath with baking soda and a little bit of peroxide. That’s a really good detox for the body. I stay on ivermectin off and on from time to time, then I get on crypto plus from doctors’ orders from my Lyme doctor that’s microbiology to fight things. My Lyme and infections started in 2004.
Wasn’t discovered till 2019 before I found out from a literate Lyme doctor to confirm the medical field that I had chronic Lyme disease. Mine was too late to heal because I already had it in my bloodstream for a long time. They said I needed a shrink. This is what we deal with you guys, love you all hang in there. There is always remission from time to time when the flare ups come back on your meds.
I try to think I’m normal and stop taking it along with so many supplements, chlorophyll CBD magnesium adrenal liver detox pills you name it. Mine has been digestive since 2008. I lost my gallbladder, never ending tendinitis flu like symptoms, headaches, body temperature changes, but you just pushed through them all and hung in there you guys there’s hope at the end of the tunnel praying.
Wanted to give a 2-month update…I continue to vastly improve using the extended Buhner Protocols.(Mostly powdered herbs/supplements) MCAS in remission, energy up, back pain considerably diminished and back to training! I’ve been VERY compliant for 8 months in spite of suffering pretty severe gastritis from protocols. Please don’t ask details of what I’m taking, it’s in the Buhner manual and one must research their own journey.
I’ve started to titrate down to dosing twice daily instead of three of the 60-70 individual herbs/supplements. I continue to be optimistically cautious but plan on titrating my current protocols (see in comments) in a attempt to find maintenance levels. Keep the faith folks. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through and a full-time job-with my only support coming from all of you out there. Thank you!
I know it took a lot of faith for you to push through some very dark days. If everyone had that faith, so many people would be getting better. I know it wasn’t easy, but yay!
Michelle I am so happy to read this. You have inspired me to do so much research and take my health into my own hands since the Medical Doctors have been useless for me other than costing me so much money. You give me hope and encouragement to keep fighting the fight. So happy for you!!!!
This is me a year ago. My testament to the value of going in low, slow, and one herb at a time. I had this rash over 90% of my body. After researching about one and a half years I decided to start an herbal protocol having no idea what type of load I was carrying. The treatment stirred everything up that I had been carrying for 35 years. I stopped all treatments and finally had Vibrant 2.0 testing done four months later.
Once I knew exactly what I was dealing with I was able to take a different approach. The hospital didn’t want to hear anything about tick borne illness or possible parasitic infection. They deemed this rash dermatitis and sent me home with steroids but I have since been told by other medical professionals that this most likely was Streptococcal A.
Extended Buhner Protocols for each infection, methylene blue, diatomaceous earth/activated charcoal , bor x, sole water, High protein, high-fiber, low sugar diet.
May I ask where you are sourcing a lot of the herbs?
Tincture or dry. How are you doing measurements etc.? That’s the complicated aspect of Buhner, and I love to see how people are managing that with diminished capacity. If that’s too, did you to answer that’s ok too… but I believe it one of the things that makes people not follow his protocol completely.
I am mostly using powdered herbs and supplements, I can find most on Amazon. The bulk of my stuff comes from Bulksupplements, Starwest, Bio Krauter, Pure Original, Horbaach, Vitamatic, and Nutracost. Only about 10% of the 60 to 70 different things I take are tinctures. I simply would not be able to afford the protocols if they were all in tincture form! (they are usually 3-4 times the cost of powdered)People will try to steer you from purchasing from Amazon for whatever reason but if you do your homework and go over the reviews I find them to be spot on (I disregard products that have unverified reviews)
A few things, mostly those for the extended protocols, I’ve had to get from Etsy or eBay. Buhner has most of the tincture dosing measurements and quite a few of the powder dosing but a “general” rule of thumb for powder dosing would be to double the amount of powder as compared to tincture. A 00-capsule filled with powder is roughly 600 mg. It took me a very long time to dissect the manual, and I made notes all along in my journal.
Believe me I know how difficult it is! For me it’s easiest to measure in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and full teaspoons. Buhner reiterates that his manual is simply a starting guideline and it is up to the patient to test each ingredient separately at a small amount and work up. If you do a Google search for each herb or supplement and add the words dosing + Lyme disease, you will find additional information to consider. I made a list of each infection I was suffering from, and then listed all the recommended herbs and supplements for each infection.
Many of them crossover. Get yourself going with 5-10 of the core herbs and supportive supplements for your particular infections. Many will recommend that you learn how to open your pathways so once you start killing off the infections, you can properly eliminate all the toxins that could make you feel pretty awful. Get started while you continue to research. The files that are listed in our group are very valuable. I had many months of downtime when I was at my sickest and I made it my full-time job. It took me six months to get all of my protocols in order and that is about the time I really started turning the corner. Best wishes
***another 2 month check-in…It’s been 10 months since I started self-treating with Buhner Protocols. Remission?? I think so! Started to titrate down protocol 2 months ago. Took a total break 2 weeks ago to give my gut a break and to test the waters, resuming today(Please don’t ask details of what I’m taking, it’s in the Buhner Manual and one must research their own journey) Biggest issues now-Gastritis, MCAS, and fatigue.
Results from recent labs (no Lyme antibodies tested) showed good Complement C4(12), Anemia, CBC, and Metabolic profiles BUT my Thyroid is TANKED! Started Hypothyroid treatment this week so too soon to tell if my fatigue will resolve. Call me crazy but still planning to leave for a 7-week bike-packing trip to Europe in just 45 days. I set a goal and I’m going to reach it- do or die! There is hope y’all, keep the faith! Thank you all for your continued support
I lost most of my mobility being laid up and bed-bound the first 4-5 months of treatment. I had total blocks in lower back/hips. I’ve been able to open those blocks by working on flexibility. The referred pain moved up my back to shoulders, arms and neck. It felt almost impossible trying to gain movement with the intense pain and severe fatigue. I felt stuck 5 months into herbal/supplement treatment when I tried acupuncture/Frequency Specific Micro current. It was instrumental in kick-starting my healing. I could hardly get on the table, now on maintenance once a month. Movement helps everything to open up and release. Touch your knees, reach for your toes, reach for the ceiling…No matter how little, just do it!
Michelle Migneault Micket Way to go! I too depend on a daily 22-minute stretch routine every day for almost 2 solid years. A year ago, I could not sit on my knees or get up off the floor without assistance. A good PT therapist knowledgeable with Lyme (her husband has it!) and a medical massage therapist have been my mantra. Will consider acupuncture later if this seems to persist. Nice to hear that it has been helpful to you.
(HealthDay)—Angie Gaytan never cared much for beets, but beets sure do love her—doctors say that veggie shakes, fruits, beet juice and other healthy foods likely helped the 16-year-old defeat her life-threatening leukemia.
Such a healthy diet helped more than Angie: A new study found that adopting a low-fat, low-sugar diet appeared to boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy in a group of 40 children that included Angie.
Kids who ate healthier, slightly cut their calorie intake, and burned a bit more energy through exercise wound up with a lot fewer cancer cells lingering in their bodies following their first month of chemo, compared with an earlier group of children who went through standard cancer care, said lead researcher Dr. Etan Orgel, a pediatric oncologist with the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“We found that just these moderate changes in diet and increasing exercise a bit was able to make the chemotherapy more effective and reduce the chances of having leukemia left over after the first month by 70%, which is a huge shift,” Orgel said. “As you can imagine, the cancer that’s left behind is the one that’s the hardest to cure.”
In Angie’s case, cutting calories meant eating her veggies by any means necessary.
“My mom wanted me to eat healthier, so she made me these juices with kale and celery and beets,” Angie recalled. “She would make different types of things I wouldn’t eat before. Beet juice—I would never have drank that.”
It seems counterintuitive, given that most people are taught from childhood that you should feed a cold to starve a fever, but Orgel and his colleagues expected that reducing calories would make cancer cells more vulnerable to treatment.
“For decades now, we’ve known that cancers need a lot of support from the body to grow. It needs nutrition,” Orgel said. “There’s been a lot of work trying to figure out how we can use that in order to make our chemotherapy work better or affect the cancer in some ways.”
The research team recruited a small group of patients between the ages of 10 and 21, and asked them to make lifestyle changes during their first month of chemotherapy that would result in a calorie deficit of at least 20%.
The kids all suffered from B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer affecting the white blood cells in the bone marrow. They received their chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif.
Healthier eating plan, fewer cancer cells left
“We chose this specific cancer because it’s the most common cancer in children,” Orgel explained. “It affects the most children across the country.”
Parents and kids met with a dietitian to help create an eating plan that would cut calories, decrease fat and sugar intake, and add protein, Orgel said.
They also met with a physical therapist to design an exercise regimen that would burn 10% more calories than their current level of activity. For Angie, this meant long walks with her parents, as well as some video-guided exercise programs in the living room.
By the end of the trial, about 4 in 5 of the kids met their diet goals, but only 1 in 3 stuck to their exercise program, researchers reported. The children didn’t experience any significant loss of fat tissue in their bodies.
However, their chemotherapy appeared to have been more effective. They had much lower amounts of cancer cells left in the body after treatment, which is a strong predictor of future relapse.
Angie finished treatment in June 2020, a little more than two years after her first diagnosis. She said she’s now cancer-free and her care has been cut back to monthly checkups.
A high school junior, Angie has been happy to get back to playing basketball, and she plans to study to become a nurse.
“I thought it was a good idea,” Angie said of the study. “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it would be something completely different. I didn’t cut anything out—it was just different, the food I ate.”Eating beets is boosting Angie’s prognosis
Good nutrition gives chemo a boost
This new approach to chemotherapy provides a valuable alternative to the usual approach of adding more drugs at higher doses, said Lauren Teras, director of hematologic cancer research at the American Cancer Society’s Epidemiology Research Program.
“Rather than increase the dose of these toxic chemicals that we know are horrible for your body in all other ways except they’re very effective at killing cancer cells, let’s do something that we know is good for the body and see if we can help make it more effective,” Teras said.
Teras liked that the diet and exercise plans were individualized to each of the children and was encouraged by the outcome, but added that more study in a larger group is needed.
“Their results were very promising,” Teras said. “I would put this in the category of ‘cautiously optimistic.'”
Later this year, a larger trial will commence involving children with leukemia at more than 20 hospitals across the United States, Orgel said.
“The first trial exceeded all our expectations, so we’re very excited to be launching the next trial later this year,” Orgel said.
The hope is that this approach also could help improve chemo effectiveness in adults, and that it’s so simple that it could be adopted by any hospital, Orgel said.
“This is something that people anywhere can do without a lot of resources,” Orgel said. “You don’t have to go to a major cancer center to adopt a nutrition plan.”
When the Sixteen-year-old Angie Gaytan in 2021 was battling something no 16-year-old should have to go through: leukemia.
Leukemia is a form of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. According to the National Cancer Institute, “[l]eukemia is cancer that starts in the tissue that forms blood. Most blood cells develop from cells in the bone marrow called stem cells. In a person with leukemia, the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells. Unlike normal blood cells, leukemia cells don’t die when they should. They may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This makes it hard for normal blood cells to do their work.”
Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, white blood cells fight infection and platelets clot the blood. Simply put, If we don’t have enough red or white blood cells or platelets, it makes it very difficult for us to stay alive. Leukemia is also the most common cancer found in children and teenagers.
But Angie and her doctors have a plan that is readily accessible and proving to be effective: healthy eating and exercising.
It’s not about deprivation.
According to this Medical Xpress report that discusses Angie’s journey, eating foods such as beets, fruit shakes and other nutrient-rich plant foods is really helping. And she’s not the only one.
“Such a healthy diet helped more than Angie: A new study found that adopting a low-fat, low-sugar diet appeared to boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy in a group of 40 children that included Angie,” according to the report.
Usually, when people think of a low-fat, low-sugar diet, they think of deprivation and maybe even how they might feel hungry if they follow such a diet. When we think of “cutting calories,” we tend to think of all that we can’t have. In this particular situation, it’s really about replacing it with healthier foods.
“In Angie’s case, cutting calories meant eating her veggies by any means necessary.”
I always say that healthy food is medicine, and this is clearly a perfect example of that.
“We found that just these moderate changes in diet and increasing exercise a bit was able to make the chemotherapy more effective and reduce the chances of having leukemia left over after the first month by 70%,” said Etan Orgel, a pediatric oncologist, referenced in the Medical Xpress report mentioned earlier.
Regarding exercise for Angie, a physical therapist designed an exercise regimen with a goal to burn 10 percent more calories than her current activity level.
“For Angie, this meant long walks with her parents, as well as some video-guided exercise programs in the living room.”
Check out this pH Labs blog about a woman with leukemia who exercised during treatment and found that doing this put her immune system in a better position to fight the cancer. A doctor mentioned in this blog said that evidence has shown that lifelong exercisers have a better ability to produce new immune system cells, compared to people who are sedentary.
So whether you have cancer or not, it is clear that healthy eating and exercise may go a long way in both the prevention and management of cancer. Keep in mind that every cancer diagnosis and prognosis are different. You always want to seek the advice of your doctor regarding diet/nutrition and physical activity if you have cancer.Foods to avoid.
Processed and ultra-processed foods are inflammatory foods (they promote inflammation throughout the body), so it’s best to avoid these foods as much as possible. Inflammation is believed to be a major contributor to all types of cancer. Salami, bacon, white bread, candy, soda, chips and frozen pizza are examples of processed and ultra-processed foods. These foods are generally nutrient-void and have excessive sugar, salt and unhealthy fats.
I also highly advise taking routine nutrient tests in order to determine if you have any nutrient imbalances or deficiencies. Most of us do, and it is harder for our immune systems to work at their full potential and fight off disease if we are not nutritionally balanced. If the test reveals you are not balanced, a competent healthcare professional can work with you on making the necessary dietary changes and recommend quality supplements if necessary.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor or another competent healthcare practitioner to get specific medical advice for your situation.
The pH professional health care team includes recognized experts from a variety of health care and related disciplines, including physicians, attorneys, nutritionists, nurses and certified fitness instructors.
This team includes the members of the pH Medical Advisory Board, which constantly monitors all pH programs, products and services. To learn more about the pH Medical Advisory Board, clickhere.
Love isn’t just a feeling that makes you swoon, write poetry, or spend late nights texting your partner. Believe it or not, being in love has tangible, science-backed health benefits that extend far beyond the emotional highs and butterflies. From reducing stress to strengthening your immune system, being in love can be a holistic boost for both mental and physical health. It might sound romantic, but studies consistently show that love and connection do wonders for the body and mind.
So how exactly does love impact our overall well-being? Well, it taps into the body’s natural responses, reduces harmful stress levels, and promotes emotional balance. Love isn’t just a fairy tale or a fleeting moment — it can be a powerful catalyst for a healthier, more fulfilling life. Whether you’re in the throes of a new romance, enjoying a long-term partnership, or surrounded by the love of family and friends, these connections enrich your life in profound ways.
Let’s explore the surprising ways love benefits our bodies, minds, and daily lives. You might just find yourself appreciating those moments of connection a little bit more.
Love Lowers Stress and Reduces Anxiety
One of the most well-documented benefits of being in love is its ability to lower stress levels. When you’re in a loving relationship, your body is flooded with feel-good hormones like oxytocin and dopamine — these natural chemicals counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol. In other words, being in love helps you stay calmer, even during life’s most challenging moments.
When you’re stressed, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, which can wreak havoc on your health over time if sustained. However, the presence of a loving partner or supportive social connection can shift your body back into a state of relaxation. Physical touch, like hugging or holding hands, boosts the release of oxytocin, which helps you feel safe, secure, and at peace.
Studies show that couples who report high levels of emotional support experience lower levels of anxiety and stress. Even simply being in the presence of someone you care about can ease feelings of loneliness and overwhelm, making the world feel less daunting. Love isn’t just about emotional bonding — it’s also about creating an environment of calm and security, which allows you to face life’s demands without succumbing to constant tension.
Being in Love Improves Heart Health
Your heart isn’t just a metaphorical symbol of love — it directly benefits from having close, loving relationships. Studies have found that being in love and experiencing emotional closeness can improve heart health by lowering blood pressure, improving circulation, and reducing the risk of heart disease. This isn’t just poetic — it’s science.
When you’re in a loving relationship, the body responds with better cardiovascular stability. Love activates the body’s natural production of oxytocin, which can lower blood pressure and promote better blood flow. Emotional bonds and physical intimacy (like cuddling or holding hands) further stimulate these health benefits by keeping the cardiovascular system balanced and reducing the effects of stress.
Conversely, loneliness and lack of connection are linked to higher risks of hypertension, heart disease, and other cardiovascular problems. Being in a loving partnership, or even simply surrounded by meaningful relationships, provides a buffer against these risks. So yes, love truly is good for the heart — literally and metaphorically.
Your immune system is your body’s defense mechanism, and guess what can give it a boost? Love. Studies show that people in supportive, loving relationships tend to have stronger immune systems compared to those who are isolated or lonely. Love promotes emotional well-being, reduces stress, and directly influences the body’s ability to fight off illness.
When you’re in a loving partnership, you experience less stress and anxiety, which can otherwise suppress immune function. High levels of cortisol — triggered by stress — can make it harder for the body to fend off viruses and bacteria. But with the help of emotional connection and the physiological effects of love, your immune system stays more robust and prepared to handle external threats.
Additionally, the physical touch associated with love, such as hugging or kissing, releases immune-boosting endorphins. These moments of intimacy strengthen not only emotional bonds but also your physical defenses. So, whether you’re cuddling with your partner on the couch or sharing laughter with friends, these moments aren’t just good for the soul — they’re good for your body, too.
Love Enhances Mental Health
Mental health and emotional stability are closely tied to the experience of love. Whether it’s romantic love, familial love, or platonic connection, having supportive and meaningful relationships can act as a buffer against depression, anxiety, and emotional struggles. Being loved and loving others gives you a sense of belonging, validation, and purpose — all critical factors for emotional well-being.
When you feel secure in a loving relationship, you’re less likely to feel isolated or overwhelmed by mental health challenges. Social support — whether it comes from a romantic partner, family member, or close friend — creates a space for sharing fears, seeking advice, and building resilience. This sense of connection helps you build coping strategies and reduces feelings of loneliness or despair.
Furthermore, the joy and happiness that come with love promote the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals are natural mood boosters that reduce feelings of sadness and elevate happiness. Essentially, when you’re in love, your brain is flooded with positive emotions that combat mental health struggles and promote a greater sense of balance and joy.
Love Promotes Healthy Habits
Being in love doesn’t just have emotional and mental health benefits — it can encourage you to adopt healthier habits. When you’re in a loving partnership or connected to a strong social network, you’re more likely to engage in positive behaviors that benefit your overall well-being. Your motivation to maintain good health is stronger when you’re thinking about the well-being of someone else or sharing healthy routines together.
Loving relationships can inspire better diet choices, increased physical activity, and improved self-care. For instance, partners often support one another in exercising, eating nutritious meals, or quitting harmful habits like smoking. Furthermore, emotional support can strengthen resolve, making it easier to stick to health-related goals.
Research shows that individuals in close relationships have higher success rates in managing chronic illnesses, quitting smoking, and maintaining consistent exercise routines. It’s no surprise that love can inspire these habits; shared goals and shared accountability bring motivation and a sense of companionship to otherwise challenging lifestyle changes.
Love Fosters Happiness and Long-Term Well-being
Perhaps the most obvious health benefit of love is its connection to happiness. Love provides emotional stability, companionship, and a sense of shared purpose — all of which contribute to a happier, more fulfilled life. And happiness isn’t just a fleeting emotion; it has long-term effects on well-being. Happier individuals report better quality of life, improved mental health, and even a greater sense of physical health.
The emotional security that comes with being in love can transform how you approach life. Knowing that you have a partner, family member, or friend by your side during both good and bad times can provide comfort and motivation. Love reinforces the idea that you’re supported, valued, and part of a greater shared experience. That sense of belonging leads to greater emotional resilience and improved quality of life over time.
Moreover, happiness triggered by love and companionship doesn’t just improve mood — it also boosts energy levels, enhances cognitive function, and promotes longevity. Studies have found that people with strong social bonds and loving relationships live longer, healthier lives. That’s right — love truly is a life-enhancing force.
Final Thoughts
Being in love is about so much more than candlelit dinners and shared laughter. Love has incredible, far-reaching effects on your mental, emotional, and physical health. It lowers stress, strengthens your immune system, enhances heart health, boosts mental well-being, and fosters positive habits. Love is transformative — not just on an emotional level but in every corner of your life.
While love may feel unpredictable or spontaneous, its health benefits are rooted in biology, psychology, and connection. Whether you’re deep into a romantic partnership, growing close with family members, or finding joy in friendships, the love you cultivate has the power to enhance your health and happiness.
The darkness cannot overshadow the illuminated room, can it? Michael Madden
Have you ever opened a door from a brightly lit room into one that’s completely dark?
The light from the room you are in pierces the darkness. It always reminds me of 1 John 1:5, where the Bible says, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all”.
I have considered myself blessed my entire life. I was born into a loving family that offered my soul to God on the day I was born. Growing up, I can’t begin to imagine how many times my guardian angels have saved me from myself. And I have walked alongside many bright lights in my life, but none no brighter than my wife Shannon Knight.
There’s something I need to share—a hard truth about cancer treatments that many people don’t talk about. No matter what treatment path you choose, whether conventional or healthier options, there is no definitive cure for cancer. Every option—chemo, radiation, surgery, integrative therapies—is hope. Hope for more time. Hope for healing. Hope to see the people you love again tomorrow.
But what happens when the system denies you even that hope?
I know what it’s like to sit in silence after a long day, wondering how much more you can take. To feel the clock ticking, knowing you’re running out of time to raise the money for treatments that could save your life. If you’re reading this and you feel broken—if you’re crying right now, overwhelmed and terrified—I want you to know I understand.
When I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I was given months to live. The healthier treatments that ultimately saved my life weren’t covered by insurance. They were labeled “experimental” because they didn’t fit the system’s priorities—priorities driven by patents, profits, and pharmaceutical control. So, I had no choice but to fundraise.
Fundraising for survival isn’t just about the money—it’s about what it takes from your soul. Every donation that came in felt like a small whisper of hope, a vote of confidence in my survival. But every day without donations was crushing. It felt like the world was telling me my life didn’t matter enough.
And here’s a harsh reality: sometimes even family members—those with the means to help—choose not to.
Maybe they have their reasons, but when you’re racing the clock, those reasons feel like silence in a moment when you desperately need a voice saying, “I believe in you.” It’s a heartbreak that no one should have to endure, but I’ve heard these stories over and over for over a decade.
If you’ve never been through this—never faced the terror of fighting cancer while racing time to fundraise for the treatments that might save your life—please don’t try to argue against it. This is real. This is what happens to people like us. No hypothetical, no intellectual debate can replace the raw, lived reality of this experience.
The pressure to survive consumes you. You feel like your worth is tied to the generosity of others, and the haunting questions never leave: What if I don’t raise enough? What if I run out of time? What if I lose my chance at life simply because I couldn’t afford it?
The truth is, this system isn’t built to save us—it’s built to profit off of us. Healthier, less invasive options like the ones that saved my life in 2011 are denied coverage because they can’t be patented or sold for massive profit. They’re dismissed as “unproven,” while people like us are left to fight two battles: one against cancer and another against a system that refuses to prioritize human life over money.
To those raising money right now: you are not alone. Your worth is not measured by the dollars you raise, the people who give or don’t give, or the system that has failed you. Your life is priceless.
I know how heavy this fight feels. I know the fear of fighting for your life while also worrying about how to care for your children or keep food on the table. But I also know this: You are extraordinary. Not because of what you’re battling, but because of the courage and strength you show every day, even when you feel like you have nothing left.
We need to demand better—a system that values people over profits, healing over bureaucracy, and life over greed. Until that day comes, I will continue to speak out, to fight for change, and to remind you that you are not defined by this broken system.
To everyone racing against time to fundraise for treatments: You matter. Your life matters. Keep fighting. You are worth every effort and so much more.
This system must change. Healthier options have shown the same success as conventional treatments, and it is not fair to be denied access to these life-saving therapies by health insurance. Every person deserves the chance to choose hope without fighting for survival in every sense of the word.
A Prayer for You
Heavenly Father,
I lift up every person reading this who feels broken, overwhelmed, and afraid. You know their struggles and their pain, Lord, and I ask You to bring them comfort and peace in this moment. Give them the strength to keep fighting, the hope to hold on, and the reassurance that their life is precious and valued in Your eyes. Surround them with people who will lift them up, provide for their needs, and remind them they are not alone. Please open doors that seem impossible to open and make a way where there seems to be none. In Your name, I pray. Amen.
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) and a peripheral blood draw from his hand, which was unsuccessful thanks to inheriting his Dad’s veins. He did great and was brave through it all! He received more platelets and a blood transfusion overnight. His blood pressure fell and his mouth sores have gotten significantly worse, likely all through his GI tract. 
Prayers work and God is good!
feeling hopeless in 
Check it out: 
Most people don’t realize that “other” parasites go hand-in-hand with Chronic Lyme and find out the very hard way. 
praying. 
