Marijuana Does Not Raise Lung Cancer Risk

Tuesday , May 23, 2006

By Salynn Boyles

People who smoke marijuana do not appear to be at increased risk for developing lung cancer, new research suggests.

While a clear increase in cancer risk was seen among cigarette smokers in the study, no such association was seen for regular cannabis users.

Even very heavy, long-term marijuana users who had smoked more than 22,000 joints over a lifetime seemed to have no greater risk than infrequent marijuana users or nonusers.

The findings surprised the study’s researchers, who expected to see an increase in cancer among people who smoked marijuana regularly in their youth.

“We know that there are as many or more carcinogens and co-carcinogens in marijuana smoke as in cigarettes,” researcher Donald Tashkin, MD, of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine tells WebMD. “But we did not find any evidence for an increase in cancer risk for even heavy marijuana smoking.” Carcinogens are substances that cause cancer.

Tashkin presented the findings today at The American Thoracic Society’s 102nd International Conference, held in San Diego.

Boomers Reaching Cancer Age

The study population was limited to people who were younger than 60 because people older than that would probably not have used marijuana in their teens and early adult years.

“People who may have smoked marijuana in their youth are just now getting to the age when cancers are being seen,” Tashkin says.

A total of 611 lung cancer patients living in Los Angeles County, and 601 patients with other cancers of the head and neck were compared with 1,040 people without cancer matched for age, sex, and the neighborhood they lived in.

All the participants were asked about lifetime use of marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol, as well as other drugs, their diets, occupation, family history of lung cancer, and socioeconomic status.

The heaviest marijuana users in the study had smoked more than 22,000 joints, while moderately heavy smokers had smoked between 11,000 and 22,000 joints.

While two-pack-a-day or more cigarette smokers were found to have a 20-fold increase in lung cancer risk, no elevation in risk was seen for even the very heaviest marijuana smokers.

The more tobacco a person smoked, the greater their risk of developing lung cancer and other cancers of the head and neck. But people who smoked more marijuana were not at increased risk compared with people who smoked less and people who didn’t smoke at all.

The THC Connection

Studies suggest that marijuana smoke contains 50 percent higher concentrations of chemicals linked to lung cancer than cigarette smoke. Marijuana smokers also tend to inhale deeper than cigarette smokers and hold the inhaled smoke in their lungs longer.

So why isn’t smoking marijuana as dangerous as smoking cigarettes in terms of cancer risk?

The answer isn’t clear, but the experts say it might have something to do with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is a chemical found in marijuana smoke.

Cellular studies and even some studies in animal models suggest that THC has antitumor properties, either by encouraging the death of genetically damaged cells that can become cancerous or by restricting the development of the blood supply that feeds tumors, Tashkin tells WebMD.

In a review of the research published last fall, University of Colorado molecular biologist Robert Melamede, PhD, concluded that the THC in cannabis seems to lessen the tumor-promoting properties of marijuana smoke.

The nicotine in tobacco has been shown to inhibit the destruction of cancer-causing cells, Melamede tells WebMD. THC does not appear to do this and may even do the opposite.

While there was a suggestion in the newly reported study that smoking marijuana is weakly protective against lung cancer, Tashkin says the very weak association was probably due to chance.

Cancer risk among cigarette smokers was not influenced by whether or not they also smoked marijuana.

“We saw no interaction between marijuana and tobacco, and we certainly would not recommend that people smoke marijuana to protect themselves against cancer,” he says.

By Salynn Boyles, reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

SOURCES: American Thoracic Society 102nd International Conference, San Diego, May 23, 2006. Donald Tashkin, MD, professor of medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles. Robert Melamede, PhD, molecular biologist, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. WebMD Medical News: “Pot Smoke: Less Carcinogenic Than Tobacco?”

Marijuana joins the fight against Alzheimer's, memory loss

From SCIAM
Gary Stix

A large-scale study released this week showed that the herb gingko biloba has no effect in preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. But alternative medicine aficionados may find hope in a new research touting the bennies of another "herb" in preserving memory.

Scientists from Ohio State University report that marijuana, contrary to the conventional wisdom, may help ward off Alzheimer's and keep recall sharp. Their findings, released today at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington D.C.: chemical components of marijuana reduce inflammation and stimulate the production of new brain cells, thereby enhancing memory.

The team suggested that a drug could be formulated that would resemble tetrahydroannibol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot sans making the user high. But the research may ultimately drive those who fear impending dementia to roll their own solution to the problem.

Study co-author Gary Wenk, a professor of psychology, had already devised a preliminary version of a THC-like synthetic drug that improves memory in lab animals. His team at the meeting said that it works by activating at least three receptors in the brain targeted by THC—proteins on the surface of nerve cells that then trigger cellular processes resulting in reduced inflammation and production of new brain cells that can boost recall. Understanding how the compounds work may pave the way for a pharmaceutical company to prepare its own med for human clinical trials.

The researchers ducked the obvious question of whether it might be simpler, faster and cheaper to simply light up a joint. “Could people smoke marijuana to prevent Alzheimer’s disease if the disease is in their family?" Wenk said in a statement. "We’re not saying that, but it might actually work.”

Big Pharma's Crimes Against Humanity

Nuremberg Trials: Big Pharma's Crimes Against Humanity
by Gabriel Donohoe


(NaturalNews) After World War Two, scores of suspected Nazi war criminals were prosecuted by the Allies in the Palace of Justice in the city of Nuremberg, the birth-place of the Nazi Party. The defendants were drawn not just from the military, but also from medical, judicial, administrative, industrial, and other sectors of the German war machine.

Among the industrial prisoners charged with crimes against humanity were 24 managers of IG Farben, an organization without whom, according to U.S. Chief Prosecutor Telford Taylor, the Second World War would not have been possible.

In 1925, IG Farben, Interessengemeinschaft Farben, (Association of Common Interests), became a powerful cartel of German chemical and pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer (the aspirin manufacturer), BASF, AGFA, and Hoechst (now known as Aventis.) By 1933, the IG Farben group had become the largest chemical and pharmaceutical corporation in the world. And even today, although it doesn't use the name IG Farben, its companies remain the most powerful transnationals on the planet in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and agro-chemicals.

The IG Farben cartel was crucial to the Nazi war effort by supplying synthetic fuel, rubber, and other chemicals. They also manufactured Zyklon-B, the nerve gas used to kill millions at the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau and elsewhere. The cartel, later known as the Devil's Chemists, used unwilling inmates of the concentration camps as slave labourers and guinea pigs to test chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines. Tens of thousands died, and those who became too ill to be of any use were murdered in the gas chambers.

IG Farben worked closely with the Nazi regime and the SS and were perhaps the most important dynamic in driving the Nazi war machine, donating some 80 million Reichsmarks in return for chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries seized from occupied countries. Yet they could not have gotten to a position of such power without huge investment from John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Company. Together with Rockefeller they set up a company called Standard IG Farben.

Although he knew it would be used for war purposes, Rockefeller was able to organize a shipment of 500 tons of tetraethyl lead to IG Farben in 1938 which the Luftwaffe needed for aviation fuel. Amazingly, a year later, with war about to break out, he supplied them with up to 20 million dollars of tetraethyl lead which directly enabled Hitler to start the War by attacking Poland and France.

Even as late as 1942 he supplied the Nazis with oil diverted through Switzerland and refuelled German submarines in the Channel Islands. When charged under the "Trading With The Enemy" Act, Rockefeller got away with a 'slap on the wrist' (5,000 dollar fine) when President Roosevelt abruptly halted the investigation at the behest of the War Department. (The unpatriotic Rockefeller had threatened to stop supplying the U.S. with crucial supplies of war-time oil.)

IG Farben went on to build the largest industrial complex in Europe at Auschwitz to manufacture chemicals and explosives for the German war effort. The venture was financed by Deutsche Bank to the tune of almost one billion Reichsmarks. This complex, known as IG Auschwitz, covered some 24 square kilometers including the Auschwitz concentration camp from which it drew on a huge pool of slave labour. IG Farben directors were instrumental in turning this huge complex into the largest extermination camp in human history.

On a number of occasions, when orders were given by the Allies to bomb the complex, Rockefeller used his influence through John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War (who was a former legal counselor to IG Farben), to cancel the bombing raids, much to the chagrin of some of the Allied commanders. Furthermore, not one bomb fell on IG Farben's Headquarters back in Germany, at Frankfurt. Astounding, at a time when German industrial cities were widely bombed and pulverized, including Frankfurt itself.

At the Nuremberg Trials, 24 of the IG Farben directors and other industrialists were charged with genocide, slavery, and other crimes against humanity. Many of these unscrupulous villains would later play a key role in reinstating several IG Farben companies as huge players in the pharmaceutical/chemical industry not only in Germany but also throughout Europe and the United States. And several of these former Nazis would be pivotal in devising a pan-European trade association which has now evolved into the European Union.

Dr. Fritz ter Meer, a director of IG Farben who was directly involved in developing the nerve gas, Zyklon-B, which killed millions of Jews, was sentenced to seven years in prison but was released after four years through the intervention of Rockefeller and J.J. McCloy, then U.S. High Commissioner for Germany. An unrepentant Fritz ter Meer, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, returned to work in Bayer where he served as Chairman for more than 10 years, until 1961.

This same ter Meer, a convicted Nazi war criminal, went on to become one of the initiators of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1962, an organization that was nurtured by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and latterly the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Codex Alimentarius, supposedly set up to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade, is in reality extremely hostile to the world's vitamin, supplement, and natural food industries and seems determined to destroy them. Codex is controlled by Big Pharma whose only raison d'être is to promote disease and sell more pharmaceuticals.

Karl Wurster, chairman of the IG Farben company, Degesch, which manufactured the Zyklon-B nerve gas, was charged as a war criminal but was somehow acquitted. He later served as CEO of BASF of 13 years, until 1974.

Hans Globke co-authored the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Race Laws and was responsible for writing the new laws of the Greater European Reich in Nazi-occupied countries. After the War, Globke became a minister in Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's government and served from 1949 to 1963. He was free of any parliamentary supervision and controlled the Secret Service. He was also directly involved in plotting with the oil and drug cartel on how to take over and control European markets within the newly constructed European Economic Community (EEC), fore-runner of the current European Union (EU).

Walter Hallstein was a prominent Nazi law professor who stated in 1939: One of the most important laws (in occupied European countries) is the 'Protection Law of German Blood and Honor'. This Nazi "blood and honor" lawyer was instrumental in creating the European Union's basic structure and became the first head of the European Commission, an executive body adroitly designed to rule Europe without any interference from democratic control. This absence of democracy is quite evident in Brussels especially today. In 1957, Chancellor Adenauer and Hallstein signed the first European Treaty in Rome.

[Much of the information here on IG Farben has come from Dr. Matthias Rath, a tireless campaigner for health freedom and the scourge of Big Pharma. Dr. Rath, under the Freedom of Information Act, has managed to obtain tens of thousands of IG Farben documents from the War Crimes Tribunal that had been kept secret for six decades and has posted them on his website. See (www.profit-over-life.org) , also (http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/) . These are incredible sites –- you'll spend hours there! Check out articles on Codex Alimentarius, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and Dr. Rath's series of Open Letters to the New York Times.]

The domination by the pharmaceutical industry of current medical practice and their insidious influence on government legislation is a direct legacy of IG Farben and the Nazi war criminals who ran the original cartel.

Crimes are still being committed today on such a massive scale that millions of people have died since World War Two and millions more are being poisoned daily by these monsters. It is impossible in this short article to list all the horrendous criminality of Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Biotech, and their political henchmen but the following paragraphs provide some examples of the death and mayhem they cause.

In a recent report authored by Dr. Gary Null, Dr. Carolyn Dean, et al, (http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/mar...) some 780,000 Americans are killed by their doctors or by the medical system each year. 106,000 of these die from properly prescribed medicine in properly prescribed doses and over two million people are hospitalised because of adverse effects from taking these FDA-approved prescription drugs.

The directors of the companies who manufacture these drugs well know the harm they cause but do all they can to keep such adverse information from the public. These gangsters are driven by greed and profit; they couldn't care less about people's health or their lives. A good example is the scandal of Vioxx, a drug that was kept on the market even though it was known to cause heart attacks. Vioxx is believed to have killed between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Other dangerous drugs include Baycol, Bextra, Celebrex, and the list goes on...

Big Pharma is involved in rigging drug trials, ghostwriting the reports of "independent" researchers, bribing politicians, doctors, and scientists, and hiding reports unfavourable to their drugs. One particularly nasty example of collusion that appeared recently on NaturalNews.com was the case of Dr. Biederman of Harvard University who advocated mind-altering drugs for children while being secretly paid off 1.6 million dollars from the drug companies, (http://www.naturalnews.com/023408.html) .

And to maintain their markets, Big Pharma is very active in suppressing vitamins, minerals, and natural health foods. They also suppress any information on natural health and are energetically assisted in this by their friends in the FDA and other government bodies. They are helped by colluding politicians who push through legislation to favour big corporations and they remain unchallenged by mainstream media who have a deeper affinity for advertising revenue than for people's health.

Big Food poisons us with chemical additives, preservatives, colourings, flavourings, trans fats and other harmful ingredients. The effects of these deadly additives are well known and documented; aspartame, MSG, sodium benzoate, potassium bromate, sodium nitrite, and thousands more. It's no wonder most of us are sick, and we're getting sicker.

Governments turn a blind eye to crimes of toxicity and actively promote the dumping of fluoride and chlorine in our water, the use of mercury in vaccines and in dentistry, and to a host of other criminal acts committed in the pretext of advancing public health.

Again with government complicity, Big Biotech poisons us with Genetically Modified crops in a plot to own the patents to the very food that's nourished us for hundreds of thousands of years. GM crops pose one of the greatest threats to our health and survival on this planet. No one really knows what effects this frankenfood will have on us or future generations. GM food is currently suspected as a cause of Morgellon's Disease.

And what kind of a warped, evil mind would invent a "terminator" seed that is designed to become sterile when the plants are harvested so that the farmer is forced to buy more seeds from these already mega-rich corporations. What if these terminator seeds infiltrated the crops across the world?

The activities of Big Pharma, Big Food, and Big Biotech are well known to subscribers of NaturalNews.com and can be found by the Search facility on this website.

Now it is time to say, "Enough!"

This unmitigated evil must end. Those responsible must be stopped and made to answer for their crimes. We need to revisit Nuremberg and finish the job that was begun there some 60 years ago.

I propose compiling a record of all the people from the above-mentioned industries, mass media, politics, government regulation bodies, finance, and from wherever appropriate, and entering them in a register along with their observed crimes against humanity. This register would be presented as a prosecution document when the day of reckoning comes. These individuals are acting against the health interests of the people of this planet and must be dealt with accordingly.

When a name and a crime goes on the list, that person should be put on notice so that they can't say they were unaware of their crime or that they were just "following orders". This will also give them a chance to repudiate their crime and to join the ranks of the promoters of natural health and freedom of choice.

This book of records might become known as "The Nuremberg List" and widely publicized so that it quickly enters the public consciousness. Soon, the very mention of "The Nuremberg List" -- unlike "Schindler's List" which offered hope and salvation -- would instill fear of liability and punishment into those who persist in poisoning their fellow man. Perhaps a respected organization like Natural News might agree to compiling such a list.

Dr. Matthias Rath has already started things rolling by instigating proceedings against some of these corporate criminals. In June, 2003, Dr. Rath's Foundation lodged formal charges against those special interests behind the pharmaceutical 'business with disease' at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, the Nederlands. The ICC is the premier world court for cases of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Dr. Rath said, "We are convinced that one day soon these charges will form the basis for an international tribunal at the ICC that will shadow the scope of the Nuremberg Pharma Tribunal of 1947/48."

Among those charged are George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Dick Cheyney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other members of the Republican administration. Also cited are executives of the pharma/chemical/oil industries, mainstream media, financial institutions, and other culpable people. See more details here: (http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/The_...) .

Dr. Rath should be congratulated for his efforts and assisted in every way possible.

Let this be the beginning of the end for corporate tyranny and let good health and fair play prevail on this beautiful but defiled planet of ours.


About the author
Gabriel Donohoe is a writer, researcher, educator, and natural health therapist in Ireland. He can be reached at: gdonohoe@iol.ie

Infection Fighter - Cranberry Juice

(NaturalNews) For decades, the idea that drinking cranberry juice could prevent or treat urinary tract infections was greeted with doubt and sometimes even sarcasm by doctors who considered this an “old wives’ tale”. But in recent years, studies have shown that cranberry juice does exactly what countless grandmas and herbalists said it does. It wards off infections. But how?

Now comes word that researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have the answer. Cranberry juice creates what the scientists call an “energy barrier” that has the amazing power to prevent disease-causing microorganisms from starting an infection. This barrier changes the thermodynamic properties of infection-causing germs in the urinary tract. Simply put, the bacteria are then unable to hook onto cells and cause illness.

The study looked at two varieties of E. coli bacteria -- one with projections known as fimbriae which are believed to be used by bacteria to latch into cells and one without the hair-like appendages. The bacteria with fimbriae are found on many virulent bacteria, including those that cause painful urinary tract infections.

Both varieties were exposed to different concentrations of cranberry juice. The research team, headed by Terri Camesano, associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI, and a team of graduate students, including PhD candidate Yatao Liu, found that even at low concentrations the fruit juice made it difficult for the illness-causing bacteria to attach to cells. The scientists’ conclusions, recently published in the science journal Colloids and Surfaces, strongly indicate that cranberry juice repels bacteria with fimbriae. The juice had had little if any effect on E. coli bacteria without the hair-like projections, suggesting that something in the juice interacts directly only on the “bad bacteria” that has tentacle-like fimbriae.

"Our results show that, at least for urinary tract infections, cranberry juice targets the right bacteria -- those that cause disease -- but has no effect on non-pathogenic organisms, suggesting that cranberry juice will not disrupt bacteria that are part of the normal flora in the gut," Camesano said in a statement for the press. "We have also shown that this effect occurs at concentrations of cranberry juice that are comparable to levels we would expect to find in the urinary tract."

She also said that to take advantage of the antibacterial benefits of cranberry, it’s a good idea to consume cranberry juice regularly –- even daily.

In fact, drinking cranberry juice might do more than help prevent painful urinary tract infections. The Mayo Clinic is currently enrolling research subjects in a study to see if the fruit juice can help prevent cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have shown that cranberries can lower “bad” cholesterol levels, and help reduce the risk of gum disease, stomach ulcers and cancer.

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA’s "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic’s "Men’s Health Advisor" newsletter and many others.

My Daughter’s Story – It Might Save a Life

For at least the past six years my daughter suffered with a mysterious illness that came inches from killing her on more than one occasion. She went through (what we believed to be) every test available, from MRI’s to CT’s, from biopsies to blood work, from spinal taps to upper GI’s to lower GI’s and more. There was a lot of speculation, but no confirmation from any of the specialists seen. One specialist thought it was liver cancer, another said adhesions were likely blocking her intestinal track. One doctor even chalked it off as anorexic behavior! Another suggested gallbladder and this organ was removed. The doctor was unnerved to see her gallbladder atrophied and covered in a green coating unlike anything he’d ever seen, but had no idea as to what had caused this.

Nothing was found to indicate what might have triggered intestinal problems that caused daily vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea resulting in a rapid weight loss from 185 down to less than 100 pounds. (The symptoms continued even after her gallbladder was removed.) This caused severe dehydration which landed her in the hospital on numerous occasions. Due to her inability to keep anything down, I believe she suffered from malnutrition, although her primary physician disagreed. Regardless, her health deteriorated further until her organs and bones were affected. She then was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, kidney problems, and rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis with bone marrow leakage on her left ankle and leg. She was referred to a rheumatologist, but because of her fragile bones, no tests could even be run to learn more. However it was highly recommended that if and when she regained strength and bone mass that she have a hip replacement.

I could go on, but the bottom line is this…something was destroying my girl’s health and she was going to die if something weren’t done. Mind you, she would have good spells in between the worst spells. In fact she had times she could eat well and on a couple occasions even gained a couple of pounds. But then she would rebound and end up in the hospital again with another round of the same old tests being done. Her physician finally admitted there was nothing more they could do, they had exhausted all their diagnostic avenues. She was deemed terminally ill and allowed all the cortisone, steroids and pain meds she needed to get by.

I can honestly say that without the blessings of cannabis (with her physicians approval, although still illegal here) throughout her ordeal she would have died, no ifs, ands or buts. It gave her some relief over the intestinal distress, allowed her an appetite and offered some relief form the pain, stress and hopelessness she felt. She and I began searching for other natural options and finally she chose acupuncture for the pain of the arthritis rather than prescription drugs. This, too, was a godsend. She improved immediately and overall once the chi began to flow more smoothly and strongly. Thanks to the generosity of a good friend she was able to pursue this route of healing as her insurance wouldn’t cover it. So, for a time she improved. But then she got sick from listeriosis, a bacterial infection which caused a severe rebound of her previous illness. Despite others having consumed the same raw product, K was the only one who got sick. This was attributed to her weakened immune system…undoubtedly a result of the regular administrating of cortisone and steroids among other things. Thank goodness she had told the doctor she had been drinking raw milk. Once her doctor was aware of the possibility of listeria, she was also tested for c. diff. BINGO! Excuse the sarcasm, but it only took the possibility of having listeria to have it occur to the doctor to test further for c. diff? Having the symptoms for six years wasn’t enough? Having an outbreak at the hospital where she’d been treated wasn’t a clue either? Had K not mentioned raw dairy she most definitely would have died from the double whammy of listeria on top of c. diff.

Now that we had a diagnosis, what were her options? Antibiotics of course, what else was there. The irony being that is what most likely had caused the c. diff to begin with. Flagyl was the drug of choice along with a three day round of additional antibiotics for the listeria. After a week in the hospital she was better but far from well. They released her…lack of insurance will often result in early release. Once off the IV, she couldn’t tolerate the flagyl. Each time she took it, (despite the use of anti-nausea suppositories), up it came. The only alternative was to prescribe vancomycin at over $1,000. The risks with high doses of vancomycin? Not good, primarily not good was the risk of permanent deafness and death.

Not willing to risk further health problems, K was determined to get better and that nature had some way of helping her recuperate. So off I went to do some homework and find an alternative, which really is the whole point to this article length post. Since we now knew what we were dealing with and K had been on some super strong antibiotics, I immediately recommended she start taking pro-biotics, doubling up the recommended daily dose. I began researching natural and alternative methods, antibacterials, pathogen destroyers. I went to naturalnews.com and found information on colloidal silver. Yes, definitely. I thought if they still (to my knowledge) use silver to treat newborn babies eyes for infection in the hospital and in ointment to treat bacterial infections in burns, this made sense. (And, once you realize what all it can do to heal ills, you get a good understanding as to why you don’t hear much else about it in the medical and pharmaceutical community.) But that’s another whole story for a later date.

I searched other pathogen killers and found out about wild oregano and the studies conducted at Georgetown University that proved this wild herb from the Mediterranean was proven more effective in fighting bacterial infections than get this, VANCOMYCIN! See also the findings published in the journal of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry which is also published at Pub Med, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

There were other recommendations from me, but those that seemed they’d be most effective immediately were the wild oregano and colloidal silver. We decided to start K on both at high doses to attack the c. diff head on.

She used Silver 100 at 12 drops 3X daily, wild oregano at 5 drops 3X daily

and two probiotics containing Lactobacilli- Acidophilus and Bifidus at 3X daily.

I also recommended this synergistic blend of pathogen killers from

Baseline Nutritionals. 

(Please note, these are the products we chose to use. Others brands may be just as effective. I do not receive any compensation for referring to these specific products.

That regimen began near the end of March. She began getting better and within just a week or two her bowel movements normalized in ability, frequency and appearance. In her words, “No more green poop, Mom!” She began waking up without the nausea, vomiting and cramping she had become accustomed to and dealt with for the majority of the past six years! Her appetite returned and she was able to enjoy food again.

Now, just a bit over two months after starting her on this path to healing she is better than she has been at anytime in the last six years. She is still dealing with arthritis and occasional days with angina that hold her back, but otherwise she is feeling more normal and healthy than she has in years, able to get up from bed each day and actively participate in life. Her skin tone and elasticity have improved and she has even gained some weight! K has been able to resume gardening, cooking, cleaning and other activities she had been unable to do. As before, she continues to see her acupuncture therapist on a routine basis to assist her overall well being and reduce pain. And as before, I continue with sending Reiki treatments as well as hands on Reiki whenever possible.

K has kept a journal of her progress and adjusted her dosages as she felt appropriate, but continues to take the probiotics, silver and wild oregano on a regular basis to maintain her well being. Although we know that her journey through illness and traditional medical care has compromised her well being in permanent ways, we are grateful that she has regained a much higher quality of life than what she had experienced in recent years. And as a result we are even surer of following our instincts and looking to nature for true healing.

If you are dealing with c. diff, MRSA or other bacterial infection that may not respond to or may have been caused by antibiotic treatment or know someone who is, I would suggest highly that they look into these and other methods of natural healing. A good source of information and articles on natural treatments can be found by searching naturalnews.com. It could save a life. I know it saved K’s.

Is she cured? Without a $1200 test we can't know for sure. What we do know is that she has made a dramatic change for the better and she can quite literally live with that.