Musical instruments play an important role in music therapy. Sometimes therapists play them to exert a calming effect on certain kinds of patients. Often the therapy consists of patients themselves extemporizing on instruments they choose. Or a patient can undertake to learn how to play an instrument as part of healing. The piano or various wind instruments are popular in these uses, but any instrument can presumably be employed.
Amid the fanfare regarding initiatives to treat the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic, a noteworthy finding has been overlooked. After more than two decades of debate, experimentation by patients, and scattered clinical testing of non-drug therapies of HIV, we now know much better which ones actually work.
Micromin is a form of Transdermal Micronutrition (TDM) that is a treatment of certain effects of iron-deficiency anemia. Micromin has other potential applications as well, including in the area of environmental medicine where its ion-substitution effect can help ward off many kinds of toxic substances.
Micromin exploits a capability that human beings have inherited from distant ancestors. Its action suggests that in certain circumstances human beings can exhibit behavior reminiscent of medusa and polyp stages; and that the transition between the two can convey certain unusual benefits, especially in the area of gynecology and obstetrics. Micromin’s abilities to bypass the liver and to provide a steady supply of micronutrients differentiate it from gastrointestinal feeding and may explain some of its effects. There are some indications that Micromin’s mechanism of action overlaps with—and thus may elucidate—the mechanism of action of Traditional Chinese Medicine moxa therapy (moxibustion). In turn, this may mean that Micromin will prove effective in the various and at times remarkable indications for which moxa has traditionally been employed.
Advances in antioxidant therapy have led to significant benefits in many areas of human health. Vitamins C and E, phytochemicals like lycopene in tomatoes, and oral zinc have found relatively widespread use as prophylactics and treatments of bronchial asthma, cancer, and other disorders.
Still, the results of clinical trials of Vitamins C and E against atherosclerosis have been disappointing. Yet they were predictable because oxidative processes go on inside of arterial walls, whereas Vitamins C and E are known to operate only in the plasma and lipid membranes.
Meanwhile, statins can be effective antioxidants in cardiovascular disorders (Shishehbor et al., 2003a; Shishehbor et al. 2003b). Unfortunately, statins are rather expensive and may have unacceptable side effects.
It is a little-known fact that one can treat respiratory infections quite effectively without drugs, primarily with the use of physical therapies and correctly applied remedies. Here are three methods:
1. Therapeutic Gargling (TG). Many respiratory viral and bacterial infections commence with a sore throat or a small infection in the inside lining of the mouth–for instance, inside the cheek. In these cases, the invading microbe appears to establish a beachhead in the throat or mouth lining where it can safely multiply before the immune system can develop a response sufficient to wipe it out. Once the numbers of microbes reach a high enough level, they can break out and spread the infection throughout the respiratory tract or even system-wide.
On November 29, 2010 the University of California Washington Center hosted a seminar, sponsored by UCLA, on the 2001 anthrax mailings investigation.
At the first session, attended by 45, four panelists discussed the investigation itself, with the consensus emerging that FBI had made a series of errors and that its allegations against U.S. Army scientist Bruce Ivins lacked substance. (The case has never been tried in court because Ivins committed suicide.) The second session, for which 25 remained, analyzed the lessons learned and the broader implications of the case, which was the largest criminal investigation in American history.
The finding that NSAIDs can cause heart attacks and strokes in certain patients has disrupted the lives of millions of arthritis patients as well as throwing a scare into the pharmaceutical industry.
But it needs to be put in perspective. There is no better place to start than with the famous dictum of the Swiss Renaissance physician Paracelsus: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison. It is the dose alone that makes a thing not a poison.” In the case of the painkillers, it is likely that lower doses and limits on the duration of therapy would avoid most problems. Quite possibly, some of the people who suffered heart damage belonged to high risk categories for whom most or all prescription painkillers would be dangerous. In fact, NSAIDs and other pain relief drugs have shown themselves to be very effective and safe for certain groups of patients in modest doses for limited periods of time, so it is unreasonable to withdraw them from the market. Of course, they should compete there on the basis of their merits compared to other drugs.
If you eat a healthy diet, you probably don’t need to take supplements at all. Still, there are solid arguments for taking at least a few supplements; and in special categories such as pregnancy and over-65 years of age, you are well-advised to take specific supplements.[1]
Here is a list of suggestions with attached rationales. Clearly, you need to adjust this list to your circumstances and consult with a medical practitioner, especially if you have a specific condition or are considering megadoses.
Key Supplements
[December, 2008] No matter how deeply he or she gazes into a crystal ball, the world’s most far-sighted economic guru would not find it easy to predict the long-term outcome of the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC). So it might seem a bit premature to start drawing inferences from the collapse of renowned financial firms, market gyrations, and massive government interventions, especially if these inferences relate to the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Nonetheless, there is a compelling reason to endeavor to do so: correctly assessing the impact of the GFC and its economic consequences on how the War can or should be fought may save us from making serious errors. Considering how many serious errors have already been committed in both the GWOT and the GFC, this seems highly desirable.
Many Germans have earnestly sought to overcome the Nazi past by publicizing its depredations, by acknowledging wrongdoing, by seeking restitution of stolen property, and by maintaining a respectful, responsive stance toward Jews in general and Israel in particular. Still, such is the burden of the Holocaust that another approach may also prove attractive to certain Germans. It involves Yiddish.
While Yiddish contains elements of Hebrew and Slavic languages, it is mainly an old dialect of German. A German speaker can understand most of it, and in fact Yiddish forms part of the study of German linguistics and literature, correctly understood. This means that a simple initiative could help bring Germans and Jews closer.
A 52-year old male in generally good health began to feel soreness and painful twinges in his fingers. The inflammation was not in the knuckle joints but rather in the tissue surrounding them, which became increasingly red and sensitive to touch. Having previously used Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and methotrexate in succession to treat a case of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and having an old prescription for methotrexate, he obtained methotrexate from an online pharmacy and began to take it.
[August 16, 2021: The U.S./NATO withdrawal and Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have put an end to this issue, though it remains of historical interest.]
[January 31, 2018: This article was published in 2008. While some of the details have been overtaken by events, the main thrust of the argument has changed little. Keeping troops in Afghanistan for 16 years by now, with no end in sight, seems so palpably contrary to American interests that we must ask whether the U.S. Government has an unstated motive. By far the most plausible such motive is that the Israel Lobby wants us to keep our troops in Afghanistan to put pressure on Iran and to provide bases in the event of a war against Iran. In turn, the power of the Israel Lobby and the consequent possibility of war against Iran motivate the U.S. military to seek to remain. The cost of the war has climbed well beyond $1 trillion. Thousands of American soldiers have been needlessly killed, and thousands more maimed.]
[2008] According to media reports, American commanders in Afghanistan are asking for 5-10,000 troops above the 4,000 approved for deployment and the 10,500-12,000 already requested–for a total of up to 26,000. 32,000 are currently in Afghanistan. Overshadowed by the elections and global financial crisis, this proposed major escalation is moving ahead with little debate. And it is not a temporary ”surge”; the generals are seeking these new troop levels for the duration of the war, however many years that may involve.
Before we make this move, a weighing of pros and cons would appear to be in order.