Healthy by Nature radio show this week: Barry Estabrook from Politics of the Plate guest stars. He is the author of Tomatoland. This is an important show but, it was a holiday weekend last fall when it originally aired. So, I’m afraid too many listeners missed it. I enjoyed listening to it again. Click here to find podcasts, show archives and how to listen nationwide.
 
Pain
 Q. Barbara asked: Can you tell me what type of doctor will give someone a prescription for the Avazzia pain device? My son and I have environmental illness, allergies, chronic fatigue and myalgia pain. Do you think it would help with the pain from these illnesses? Thanks.
 
A. I do believe the Avazzia devices would help with the pain, especially the myalgia (muscle pain). I don’t know of anything better and it would not add another chemical to your already overburdened systems. Any doctor can write the prescription, but they need information. The folks at Avazzia have a packet for doctors explaining what they need to know. (Incidentally, we have a doctor on the show Oct. 27th who will talk about some of his success stories with pain and healing.)

Barbara, it sounds like you are dealing with a lot! It is interesting that both you and your son have similar issues. If you live in the same home, it makes me wonder if there is a common factor like mold. Fungus, either in the house or in our bodies can cause all the symptoms you described.
 
Mysterious skin problem
Q. Aimee asked: I’m 35 years old with 3 small children. I have always had cherry angiomas but recently I have started get many more of them. Is there something in my diet or my hormones that is causing this and how can I prevent them from appearing? Thanks!

A. I’ll have to admit that I was unfamiliar with this condition. (We aren’t talking about the tiny red dots called petechia–these are bigger.) A little checking convinced me that the medical community doesn’t know much either. They did give it a mostly Latin name (cherry = appearance; angi = having to do with blood and oma = a tumor of sorts). This is where we often have to start doing detective work and putting puzzle pieces together.

Often just getting the health basics under control will resolve a problem even if we never know why. Those basics are things like rest, exercise, clean water, vegetables, cutting out refined carbs as well as taking probiotics, fish oil, magnesium and vitamins. None of my reference books helped,so I did a little internet research.

I first went to PubMed.gov a service of the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Most scientific studies are archived there. However, the only thing useful was an article about workers who were exposed to bromides and broke out in these angiomas. LINK. Hmmm. That could mean that toxins in general are triggering angiomas. But also, bromides cause trouble by interfering with the mineral iodine that is very important for thyroid function. (A lot of us probably suffer routinely from too little iodine because it is no longer in the food supply as much as it used to be. Worse yet, sometimes, like in bread, iodine is actually replaced with bromides.) As you can see on the following site, given the broad range of effects that bromides have, it is possible that Aimee, you are too low in iodine. LINK

There is a lot of ridiculous information on the internet, but when I see the same thing several times from different consumers, I have to wonder if there isn’t something to it. One entry on the often-mentioned use of apple cider vinegar as a home remedy is included below. The results sounds very much like what happens with warts. That makes me wonder if the angiomas might not be caused by a virus like warts are. If that is the case, anything reducing immune function might set a person up for angiomas. On the program we talk about a lot of different ways to boost immunity–getting sufficient iodine is another.  

Here is a blog post typical of those about cherry angiomas: “The last time it bled I decided to apply ACV [apple cider vinegar] via Q-tip to the angioma and hold it there for 10 mins. I continued to apply ACV twice a day for 5 to 10 minutes for 4 days. The bloody angioma turned black and appeared to dry up. The black, dried blood scab fell off and underneath I found new pink skin with no sign of a cherry red angioma at all.”
 
Last Week
 Alfred Johnson, DO was in the studio. Because it is October I asked him about the use of thermography as compared to mammography and about hyperbaric oxygen for head trauma.

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My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

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The information contained in this newsletter has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The contents are for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Copyright 2012 Martie Whittekin, CCN