HealthyTroops.com - What's It All About?

10/12/07

This Week In HealthBeat News:

• HealthyTroops.com - What's It All About?
• We Get Letters - Complete With Lab Results...
• We Get Letters - And Compliments!
• Recent News From The FDA - "Power To The People!" NOT!
• Laughter is Good Medicine: The Times, They Are A-Changin'

HealthyTroops.com - What's It All About?
It's The Troops, silly!

By Nurse Mark

As you know, we here at the Wellness Club launched a new website last week - one devoted to providing healthy vitamins, energy drinks, and snacks to the men and women of our military forces.

We did this because when we went searching for some way to say "thanks" to our troops for their service and find something that we could send to show our appreciation we found little more than chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, sweet sugary drink mixes, and baby wipes in the "care package" offerings.

Don't get me wrong, 'cause I love a good chocolate chip cookie and potato chips are my Achilles heel - but these things are really not what someone living and working in harm's way needs to stay healthy and sharp.

So we went to work. We did a bunch of research. We formulated a vitamin pack with soldiers (and sailors, airmen, marines, and "coasties") in mind. We found truly healthy snacks and drink mixes. We gathered all these things together, and have made them available at bargain prices for you to send to our troops.

At least, those of you who want to do something more than just stick a magnet on your car to show you care.

Everybody who has heard about this effort says "Wow! What a great idea!"

Almost everybody.

One person wrote us to say "I am against wars and fighting - how could you possibly support this?"

To that person we say: This is not about a war, or the president's policies, or about politics in any way - this is about supporting the men and women of our armed forces who are obeying their call to duty and putting themselves on the line in performance of that duty. We believe that every one of these men and women would rather be home, with loved ones, instead of where they are now. If we can do something to help keep them healthy until they do come home, each and every one of them, we will sleep each night with a clear conscience.

Personally, I will express my political beliefs to the politicians - not to our troops by denying them my heartfelt support.

I don't need a "Support Our Troops" magnet for my car. I'm doing something real. I'm doing what I can to bring 'em home safe and healthy.

We have troops who are asking for your help: click here to learn more.

So, what are you doing support a troop besides the $1.98 car magnet?

As we say at Healthy Troops: "Put your money where your magnet is"!

We Get Letters - Complete With Lab Results...

By Nurse Mark

We get plenty of letters here - as you can imagine. There is something about being a medic or a lawyer or a tax accountant that seems to make folks feel that if they provide a few of the facts of their circumstances the professional will be able to render them fast, accurate, and free advice. Look around at the next party you attend - the doctor or lawyer or tax accountant will be immediately obvious as the person being button-holed in the corner by someone earnestly discussing their very important problem...

And we actually encourage folks to write us with their questions! Here is a recent example:

Dr. Myatt,

i am a 60 yr. old male living in xxxxxx, xxxxxx... 6', 195 and in good health.. i take no medication, except vit/minerals.. i work out 4 days a wk both cardio/free weights... married for 40 yrs. but for the last 5 yrs ED has been a problem...i was over weight and lost 25 lbs in may, from the same local dr that prescribed testosterone and hgh shots.. it did seem to help... i have been on neither since feburary.

i read your articles all the time and 2 wks ago had a number of blood tests taken..

testosterone............ 836
free testosterone 169
sex hormone binding globulin 34
free testosterone % 2
dhea sulfate 46
pregnenolone, serum 18

my goal is for my body to work the way it was designed, disregarding the age factor... i want efficiency..

thank you for your comments...

O.K., here are some comments:

First, you are doing things right - taking vitamins (I hope they are optimal dose vitamins, like Maxi Multi and not some wimpy little one-a-day...!), exercising, losing weight. Bravo. (You probably have 10 to 20 pounds more to go in the weight department)

The HGH shots we have a bit of concern about - Human GROWTH Hormone is designed to make things grow - and it is not especially selective. That means it could stimulate the growth of otherwise quiescent abnormal (cancer) cells - not a good wellness outcome to be sure!

Now, with regard to the lab results - good for you for having a look. Unfortunately, one set of lab results does not a give complete health picture. This is not like baseball where a single number such as a "Runs Batted In" or your car, where a compression test can provide useful information. Not only that, but each lab has slightly different ways of arriving at those numbers, and without the other information on the lab results they are just that - numbers.

There is a reason that each new patient consultation here involves a team of experts and hours of work to research - there is more to a case than an isolated set of labwork numbers.

Furthermore, ED can have a wide variety of causes - not all of them hormone-related.

So, wait, wassup? Does this mean no free advice? Of course not! Our Wellness Club website is jammed full of free advice, just waiting for you!

My suggestion to this fellow is that he check out our page on Men's Health and Senior Health - and try the recommendations that are found there. Give them a good try, be faithful, and if you are not seeing the results you want in 2 to 3 months, consider a consultation with Dr. Myatt. There is also a whole bunch of good (and free) information and recommendations on the page where we discuss impotence and ED. Again, these suggestions are not overnight cures - they need time to help your body repair and return to the "efficiency" that you seek.

After all, you wouldn't really expect a car mechanic to figure out that "jiggity-squeek, jiggity-squeek" in your car, or an accountant to sort out your taxes at a cocktail party, would you?

Oh, and by the way, as far as we are concerned here at The Wellness Club, you are just entering middle age at 60...

Along the same lines is this letter from Donald:

Greetings,

I am not sure where to begin. So, I will make a terse statement. I am a Poly Trauma survivor X2. I am a L/leg BK amputee; have an IGA nephropathy; chronic renal hypertension; many "hot spots"( by multiple Nuc-Scans) throughout the skeletal frame; 1/2 of the right kidney, atrophied; carpectomy L/wrist; R/wrist fused; and DJD in C-5 and C-6 sets. Of lately a private Allopath., has diagnosed Minears Disease. I'm 56 years down the continuum and have no desire to cave in to THE BIG PHARMA thing.

Would like to talk to some one about allowing my own body to heal itself. Of the 13 some ODD prescription meds/drugs put upon me I only am taking the hypertensive meds. The MD's are both private and VA.

Sincerely,
Donald

Whew! Donald - that is quite a list of problems - I hardly know where to begin either! In fact, you have so much stuff going on there that without being able to fully review your charts and medical records, we can't even start to make sensible recommendations - please consider a consultation with Dr. Myatt.

It sounds like you have not only survived your traumas, your have done well to have survived both conventional medicine and Big Pharma! Give us a call, let's get you set up with a consultation, and let's get you onto the path to better health!

Otherwise, this is just another one of those "My car started making this 'jiggity-squeek, jiggity-squeek' noise, right after I hit the pole and rolled it down the bank - and now it smokes and starts hard too, and pulls to the right ever since I hit that pothole - what do you think it could be, and do you think some of that new mystery oil additive would help?" kind of questions...

We Get Letters - And Compliments!

A collection of comments - By Nurse Mark

Stephen has been working with Dr. Myatt for a little while now, ever since his conventional specialists spoke to him the words we all dread to hear: "We're sorry, there is nothing more we can do for you."

Stephen called me that day, wanting to know if I could recommend "some herbs" for his problem - instead of herbs he got a consultation with Dr. Myatt.

She recently congratulated him on his progress (progress that has his specialists baffled!) as he forwarded to her his most recent test results which prove, in conventional medical terms, that he is healing from his illness.

Stephen wrote back to say:

Dr. Myatt...

The congrats are what I extend to you. I truly believe life would have been over for me if you had not come along

Stephen

Stephen, people like you are what keeps us doing what we do! Thank You!

Recent News From The FDA - "Power To The People!" NOT!

By Nurse Mark

The first notice is self-explanatory to anyone who has been following the FDA's quest for power:

FDA Amendments Act Gives Agency Renewed Resources for Regulation

On Sept. 27, President Bush signed the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act into law, ensuring that the agency has the additional resources needed to conduct the comprehensive reviews necessary for new drugs and medical devices.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2007pres/09/pr20070927e.html

This puts the FDA formally into the drug business, in the form of the Reagan-Udall foundation, and the tone of the article makes me remember slogans from years ago: "Better Living Through Chemistry!" Seems those are memories from around the same era as thalidomide, Love Canal, Agent Orange and other examples of "better living through chemistry" brought to us by Big Pharma and Big Industry.

Then there is this little tidbit:

Initiative Aims to Boost Number, Variety of Generic Drugs

FDA has launched the Generic Initiative for Value and Efficiency (GIVE), a program aimed at increasing the number and variety of generic drug products available to consumers and health care providers. Generic drugs generally cost less than brand-name counterparts, and competition among generics has been a key factor in lowering drug prices.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01719.html

Of course, the whole idea is that the more drugs out there, the more "choices" doctors, pharmacists, and patients have, the better. More business opportunities too, don'cha know...

This would fit perfectly with another recent FDA initiative: Allowing your pharmacist to prescribe your drugs for you:

The FDA recently stated in a Federal Registry notice: "Some groups have asserted that pharmacist interaction with the consumer could ensure safe and effective use of a drug product that otherwise might require a prescription. Because pharmacists have the training and knowledge to provide certain interventions, they may be able to ensure that patients meet the conditions for use and educate patients on appropriate use of the drug product."

Okee Dokee then... you see the ad on prime-time TV, figure that the aches and pains that you think you have just must be the same as the ones that the slick ad said the nice drug would cure, you stop off at the pharmacy, tell the nice pharmacist what you want, assure him that you really, really do need it and there isn't any good reason for you to not have it, and presto! you have a new drug to try!

See folks? Better living through chemistry!

Laughter is Good Medicine: The Times, They Are A-Changin'...

Sent to us by a subscriber:

As we are all getting a little more "mature" with each passing day, I'll pass this along without further comment

Subject: 1975 vs 2007

1975 : Long hair
2007 : Longing for hair

1975 : KEG
2007: EKG

1975 : Acid rock
2007: Acid reflux

1975 : Moving to California because it's cool
2007 : Moving to Arizona because it's warm

1975 : Trying to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor
2007 : Trying NOT to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor

1975 : Seeds and stems
2007 : Roughage

1975 : Hoping for a BMW
2007 : Hoping for a BM

1975 : Going to a new, hip joint
2007 : Receiving a new hip joint

1975 : Rolling Stones
2007 : Kidney Stones

1975 : Being called into the principal's office
2007 : Calling the principal's office

1975 : Screw the system
2007 : Upgrade the system

1975 : Disco
2007 : Costco

1975 : Parents begging you to get your hair cut
2007: Children begging you to get their heads shaved

1975 : Passing the drivers' test
2007: Passing the vision test

1975 : Whatever
2007 : Depends

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, this will certainly change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshmen. Here's this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1989

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

The CD was introduced the year they were born.

They have always had an answering machine.

They have always had cable.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel", or "de plane, Boss, de plane".

They do not care who shot J. R. and have no idea who J. R. even is.

McDonald 's never came in Styrofoam containers.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Do you feel old yet? Pass this on to the other old fogies on your list. Notice the larger type, that's for those of you who have trouble reading...