Mark Schauss: Real Life Health Issues and More

Now that my creative juices are strating to flow, I’ve started two new series of podcasts with my Let’s Talk Real Health podcast. The first one is on amino acids starting with my favorite, Glycine. The second coming out tomorrow is on the question I get asked more often than any other which is “What test should I run if my patient has _______”? I will be answering that question for 21 different health disorders.

Hope you enjoy them and have a great Independence Day weekend.

After another long hiatus, I’ve restarted my podcast and vow to keep up with a regular schedule. The latest interview is with Shari Kingston Adams who runs the Sykia Group, an educationbased marketing agency focused on the health lifestyles industry. For any health care professional who wants to improve their practice and increase the educational component of their practice, this is a can’t miss podcast.

Future podcasts already in the works includes information about amino acids, what laboratory tests to run for over 21 different disorders and health concerns and more interviews with top people in the complementary and alternative health industry.

The problem with the American society today is that we forgot that hard work and compassion and not over consumption is what made us a great country. We think that we have to have a bigger house, a better car, fancier clothes and more money than our neighbor that twisted our minds away from what truly makes us happy and that is compassion for others. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama once said, “I truly believe compassion provides the basis of human survival, the real value of life, without that there is a basic piece missing. We cannot be happy ourselves without thinking about the happiness of others.”  Isn’t that the truth?

From my vantage point, this is why the Republican party is in a free fall. They seem to want to retain the greed mentality without offering anything in return to society. Consumption, consumption, consumption. Drill for more gas, the hell with reducing our consumption. Cut taxes for the wealthy so that in some mythical way it will trickle down to the poor (what a monumental con job that was).

Lest the Democrats and liberals rejoice, they have lacked the backbone to make it clear to the American people that the way we’ve been doing things just doesn’t work. They meekly push half baked projects to curtail consumption but in reality, they still like the ability to enrich themselves and their friend. Just ask the thousands of lobbyists that roam the hallways of Congress.

Compassion for others is the only way out of the morass we live in. We don’t need a million man march to do that, we need each and everyone of us to think about it, and do something compassionate whenever we can. It doesn’t need to be everyday, just whenever you can. The ripple effect from one small act, can change the world.

Just got one of those feel good emails I felt like sharing with everyone. Thanks to Frank Cook for the big smile I got after reading it.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make   a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog.   He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

‘I want to repay you,’ said the nobleman. ‘You saved my son’s life.’

‘No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,’ the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hovel.

‘Is that your son?’ the nobleman asked.

‘Yes,’ the farmer replied proudly.

‘I’ll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy  If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.’ And that he did. Farmer Fleming’s  son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary’s  Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout  the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill .. His son’s name?

Sir Winston Churchill..

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Work like you don’t need the money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching.

Sing like nobody’s listening.

Live like it’s Heaven on Earth.

While Stumbling around the internet, I came across this video clip about what open-mindedness really is. Most people know that I am pretty open-minded about a lot of things but I have been accused of being very close-minded about products that just don’t have sufficient evidence to be anything except a scam. The video here shows how some people who accuse others of being close-minded are themselves the very thing they are accussing the other person.

Of all the issues I blog about, my criticism of zeolite, a much hyped, poorly researched, money maker, is one I get the most comments about. Usually, it is in the form of threats (I refuse to allow those to see the light of day), angry diatribes, accusations which border on the ridiculous and downright silly comments. But the one thread I see is a total lack of any responses to my belief that zeolite is nothing but volcanic ash that has uses in industrial cleanups but no value in promoting human health.

I cannot wait to hear from the supposed cancer survivors who claim zeolite cured them. Of course, when confronted with the request to prove they had cancer and to publicly reveal their name with the proof, they vanish. When asked to provide research papers that have gone through the peer-review process, the constant whining that “it is about to be published in a major journal” comes out. Unfortunately for them, this claim has been going on for years with no paper being published.

Then we see the conspiracy theory coming out that the big, bad establishment is out to get them and wants to hide the positive effects of zeolite so big pharma can make more money. When you have nothing to stand on, it is time to bring out the boogie man. Why can’t they can’t release the studies on their own? Maybe because they show that their product does little but chelate money from peoples wallets into their coffers.

Boy, I can’t wait to see the comments I get on this post.

I know I sometimes harp on the pharmaceutical industry and how so many studies that show negative effects or less than positive ones, but a report out of Massachusetts has me very concerned about the validity of many studies out there. If you read this report from MSNBC.com, you can see why I am so disturbed.

It seems that Dr. Scott Reuben was fabricating data about the effectiveness of a number of drugs, including the pain killer Celebrex made by Pfizer and the antidepressant Effexor XR made by Wyeth among others. While this is certainly bad news for the two pharmaceutical companies, it should make us wonder how pervasive this is not only in the pharmaceutical world but also in the nutraceutical community.

I have often times railed against outrageous claims made by the makers of supplements that seem to be heavily anecdotal and curiously non-scientific. One case is the zeolite claims of chelating heavy metals. Still waiting for that study that is due any day showing how great it really is. Been waiting for over three years for something that was supposed to be out already. I’ve heard doctors get on stage and claim super high “cure” rates for autism, only to hear different numbers every conference he spoke at.

Research fraud is more common than you might think which means you need to read the studies with a more critical eye and not to jump on the latest hot drug or supplement. The studies have to make biochemical sense and not just report possible effects that seem too good to be true. There are a lot of Bernie Maddoff’s in science so approach those claims from the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies with a grain of salt. The life you save could be your own.

The Effects of Petrochemical and Related Toxins on Human Health

Just last weekend, I gave a presentation at a conference put on by the Klinghardt Academy of Neurobiology on petrochemical toxicity and its effect on human health. Here is the Powerpoint of my talk. Please use whatever you want out of the presentation, please make sure you site me if you do.

According to Forbes magazine, the average pay of a senior executive in 1980 was 40 times the average workers salary. In 2007 is was 433 times. Want to guess why things got so screwed up? Yeah, I didn’t think it was so difficult to figure out. Greed.

Instead of capping the salaries of the fat cats in the banking industry and on Wall Street, I have a better plan. Make them recite and follow the Rotary 4 way test of the things we think say or do.

1. Is it the truth. (boy this one should make as big a change as any to the corporate culture).
2. Is it fair to all concerned (a little bit of careing for all the people in the world would make our planet a nicer place to live in).
3. Will it build good will and better friendships (this might have slowed down Bernie Maddoff)
4. Is it beneficial to all concerned. (wouldn’t that be great).

I have run my businesses with these four principles in mind. I go to sleep each night knowing that I am running an ethical and honest company and that in the long run I will make a positive impact on the world. If maybe, just maybe our government and all business would apply this 77 year old ideal to what they do, we’d have no budget deficits, our economy would be far stronger and our environment would be a lot cleaner.

To read more about how the 4-way test was developed, click on the link and read about why Herbert J. Taylor wrote this brilliant manifesto.

Aside from former Senator Lindsey Graham’s opinion that we should stop whining and that things are OK, today’s economic environment is tough, no doubt about it. There are a lot of good things that hopefully will come out of it though. The first is that we, as a society get away from the greed driven mindset that drove us into this economic dilemma in the first place. Secondly, maybe, just maybe we won’t devour our world’s resources in order to one up our neighbors. Maybe this will turn out to be a reprieve for our planet.

So what rational things can we do in these times of trouble?  I stumbled upon this website that seemed to have some rather intelligent suggestions. It comes from wikihow.com, a copy of the idea of Wikipedia but with the idea of being “The How-to Manual That You Can Edit”. The thoughts gathered are commonsense and doable.

Here are the 9 suggestions:

1. Quit using credit.
2. Nurture positive relationships with family and friends.
3. Enjoy the simple pleasures.
4. Do it yourself.
5. See frugality as a virtue.
6. Treat food with respect.
7. Reuse, reuse, reuse.
8. Practice good domestic skills.
9. Be thankful.

The last one is the most important. No matter how bad you think you have it, there are literally millions (maybe billions) of people who have it worse. Also, things will get better if you work at it and change your perspective as to what is important in your life.