Positive Health Online

Seeking Herbal Remedy for Vision

I am writing to find out if anyone who is short sighted to any degree has tried any combined herbal remedy to improve their vision (without a lens) and anti-oxidant and how well the treatments have worked and their names.

If anyone would like to share their experiences, I would be very grateful, as I would love to get my very good distance vision back.

Please telephone me on Tel: 01244 375067 after 6 pm or write a letter to the address below.

Vitamin C + Sodium Benzoate = Benzene – A Proven Carcinogen!

Last week, I told you about a wonderful beverage (green tea) you can drink instead of water. Unfortunately, many people drink soft drinks instead of water. You may already know how terrible these beverages are for you health. Even if it’s one of the heavily advertised sugar-free drinks, the artificial sweeteners can create major problems. There’s no evidence that using them helps you lose weight. And some chemicals, such as aspartame, can damage your neurons.

But now there’s an even bigger reason to avoid soft drinks. Many of these drinks have sodium benzoate as an ingredient. It’s a common preservative you’ll find in many processed foods. Food manufacturers typically use sodium benzoate in acidic foods because it controls bacteria, mould, yeasts, and other microbes. In addition to soft drinks, you’ll find it in juices, pickles, salad dressings, and jams. You’ll also find it in your car’s anti-freeze, as it also inhibits corrosion.

By itself, there’s no evidence the preservative causes any problems in people. However, when you mix sodium benzoate with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), a chemical reaction occurs. It turns the mixture into benzene. And benzene is a proven carcinogen.

In an effort to make their drinks more nutritious, many soft drink manufacturers are adding vitamin C to their drinks. And you’ll also find the same problem with naturally occurring vitamin C in many canned juice drinks.

How bad is the problem? The FDA recently tested 84 soft drink products and found that 54 of them had some detectable benzene. And some had levels as high as 79.2 ppb. Federal rules specify less than 5 ppb in drinking water. But there’s no legal limit on benzene in drinkable fluids other than water. Isn’t that a bit strange? In 2001, California published information that manufacturers should keep benzene levels below 0.15 ppb.

The soft drink industry is quietly moving to do something about it. That’s about 15 years too late. Testing in 1990 first revealed that some diet soft drinks may contain benzene.

Action to take: This is not a small thing, although the so-called experts will try to tell you that there’s no harm at these benzene levels. But there is no safe level of benzene. And no one is talking about how it reacts with other carcinogens in your body, which could be a serious problem. We already know it reacts with healthy substances like vitamin C.

There is a solution. Eliminate all processed foods and unnatural drinks. All processed foods have chemicals in them for preservation. And many of these preservatives can damage your health.

Esperanza Peptide Research Program Introduction

My name is Dr Kevin P Bethel and I am the Medical Director of the The Esperanza Research Foundation. I am a medical doctor, graduate of McGill University Faculty of Medicine and United States Board trained in the specialities of Family and Community Medicine, along with a second board certification in Anti-Ageing and Functional Medicine. I have other certifications including Homeotoxicology and Clinical Metal Toxicology, and Naturopathic Medicine. I have been the medical director of a multi-specialty clinic in the Bahamas for the past 5 years.

Inspiration for Writing this Testimonial
Shortly after I began my work in the Bahamas I was asked by a fellow physician to look at some of the research being done locally. I met with some other doctors from the Bahamas and around the world who were doing the clinical evaluation on three people with multiple sclerosis. I was invited to help so I could experience for myself that these clients were indeed disabled and then I witness the impossible. I saw people who couldn’t stand or walk stand and walk with assistance. I knew at that moment that I was witnessing history and I wanted to find out more. I was inspired to do what ever I could to get the word out about the Esperanza Peptide Research Program for Neurological Disorders.

My Involvement in the Esperanza Peptide Project
The head scientist and doctors who developed the Esperanza Peptide were very open and honest about sharing with me everything that they had discovered. They shared with me anything that I asked if they had the answer, and when I asked questions that nobody could answer they very honestly invited me to try and answer some of those questions with the research team. I have been a research Clinical Coordinator for Esperanza for almost 4 years and I do not have any financial interest in the project or the medications. I feel honoured to have contributed my time and knowledge to a very noble project. It is truly refreshing to be involved with a project that has the welfare of the clients at the forefront.

My Contributions to the Research Program
One of the first things I was glad to provide to the research program was to develop a systematic panel of clinical tests that we could use to objectively measure improvements in neurological deficits. Basically, the problem with most neurological testing is that the testing is structured to measure the decline in function because neurological medicine has very little hope for improvement with most neurological illnesses. The Esperanza Peptide is unique in that it halts and improves function in difficult to control and supposedly incurable diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, and it slows down and restores function in Parkinson’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

The second contribution I was able to make was that I was the first doctor to use the Esperanza Peptide on a post stroke person who was more than 10 years post stroke, and he still had measurable improvements with the peptide use! After that success, I was brave enough to use the Peptide medication on an acute stroke person (who still got standard care). With this acute stroke person, I had such dramatic restoration of function that the ER doctors who had diagnosed his stroke were amazed when they saw this person able to talk and stand from a total hemiparess situation! I was the first clinician to test the effect the Esperanza Peptide had on inherited congenital progressive fatal neurological conditions called Frederick’s Ataxia and SMA.

I am also proud to have contributed to development of the homeopathic preparation of the Esperanza Peptide. What I was able to document is that a specific homeopathic dilution of the peptide would still have the same effect as a regular dose, but surprisingly the specific homeopathic preparation has the advantage of extending the therapeutic effects up to 22-26 hours (extended from 2-4 hours with the standard medicinal preparations used in the program a few years ago).

Therapists to be Regulated out of Business

Practitioners of Complementary Medicine and Alternative Therapies are sleep walking to regulation through their own lack of action and many could be driven out of business. This is the stark warning from the British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA).

In 2000 the Government asked the House of Lords to take a close look at Complementary Medicine. They decided that therapies fall into two main categories – Group 1 which could do serious harm and therefore needed statutory regulation. This group includes Chiropractors, Osteopaths and Chiropodists. Group 2 therapies are unlikely to cause harm and therefore could be voluntarily self regulated. This group includes Aromatherapy, Shiatsu, Alexander Technique, Reflexology and many other treatments familiar (and some less so) to the public.

Voluntary Self Regulation (VSR) means setting and achieving minimum standards of skills, ethics, disciplinary procedures and methods of treatment. Unfortunately, few heeded the warning and VSR just did not happen. The Department of Health became impatient and funded the Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Medicine (now the PFIH) to the tune of nearly £1 million to progress VSR. In addition, there is a move to introduce a remote federal body that would almost certainly destroy holistic treatment as we understand it.

BCMA Chairman Terry Cullen says that although regulation will require voluntary registration, it could put many practitioners out of business.

“The Department of Health has made clear it will spend large sums of money educating the public to only use registered practitioners and if they do that then there is high risk of livelihoods being lost and patient choice thrown out the window” said Terry.

He went on to say that although it is almost too late to prevent this approach to regulation, there is still hope if practitioners get their act together.

“The BCMA is actively forming its own VSR Council within which all member organisations will be represented. The more organisations and members we have, the stronger our voice and the greater our opportunity to avert statutory regulation. I urge all complementary therapists and their organisations to join us in defending complementary medicine. If we fail to take action, the Government will do it for us which is bad news for everyone.”

The BCMA has always supported appropriate regulation because it safeguards the public. Unfortunately, the approach being considered by the government could seriously damage the profession. It would exclude therapists’ own Regulatory Councils and prevent input from their Associations, threatening at a stroke each therapy’s unique skills. The BCMA is committed to explaining the current risks and options for the future health of Complementary Medicine and the public.