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Alfred, Your son has a very serious condition and I think if you want to go “natural” that is great. But please contact Dr. Kokayi he has the scientific and holistic background to help your son. I can also assure you his first priority is healing, not money making. I know this because he is also a friend. The Internet is a great tool to gather information, but it is also filled with conflicting and unverifiable information which may confuse and scare you! How will you discern the good from the bad? This is where a caring educated integrative doctor can be of great help.
Best,
KeithJust got this announcement this morning — the father of orthomolecular medicine has just won an award (see article posted below). Rebecca is correct about the use of vitamins to cure underlying causes of conditions — I saw one stat that said 90% of all diseases today are related to nutrition, including schizophrenia and most other mental disorders (they are certainly NOT caused by the ubiquitous chemical imbalance in the brain theory!). When I thought about your son taking prednisone, I thought of Jerry Lewis and Jane Pauley. Did you ever see Jerry’s Moon Face when he was on steroids? And poor Jane took prednisone for hives, the prednisone made her depressed so they save her SSRIs (paxil,prozac et al) which catapulted her into a manic state. They then locked her up in a mental ward for 6 weeks while they doped her with all kinds of mind-altering drugs, and then told her that she had always been bi-polar but didn’t know it! Now she’s on Lithium and all kinds of other psychiatric drugs, and then I heard that she was suing everyone for using her as a guinea pig and an advertisement for why people should take these drugs. So if there was a way to reduce, or even eliminate, your son’s use of prednisone-based medications, that would be a good thing, but please do it under the care of a doctor who knows what he’s doing, and the guy Keith recommended sounds like the ticket!!
Victoria MD wins prize for theories on megavitamins Cindy E. Harnett,
Times Colonist; — with files from CanWest News ServicePublished:
Saturday, November 03, 2007
A retired Victoria psychiatrist who helped develop a mega-vitamin
therapy for schizophrenia and other illnesses half a century ago was
recognized with a $125,000 prize in alternative medicine this week.“I was really quite surprised,” said Dr. Abram Hoffer, 90. “It was like
the Oscars. I had no idea I was going to win.”The judges of the first Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary
and Alternative Medicine wrote: “His stubborn pursuit of non-toxic
orthomolecular [megavitamin] approaches to mental and physical disorders
has helped thousands of patients with conditions ranging from
schizophrenia to cancer.”
[Times Colonist / Retired Victoria psychiatrist Dr. Abram Hoffer, 89,
has won the $125,000 Dr. Rogers Prize for work in complementary and
alternative medicine. Hoffer says the two most important vitamins are
niacin and vitamin C.] [View Larger Image] View Larger Image Times
Colonist / Retired Victoria psychiatrist Dr. Abram Hoffer, 89, has won
the $125,000 Dr. Rogers Prize for work in complementary and alternative
medicine. Hoffer says the two most important vitamins are niacin and
vitamin C. Debra Brash [Email to a friend] Email to a friend [Printer
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Hoffer, who worked with mega doses of niacin and vitamin C, attracted
praise but says his relationship with the College of Physicians and
Surgeons “wasn’t friendly.” Hoffer recalls being attacked in journals
and the media by skeptical medical colleagues, although his hypothesis
that mega-doses of vitamins could help treat the symptoms of
schizophrenia was later advanced by Nobel Prize-winning physician Dr.
Linus Pauling.Although he no longer practises medicine, the author of about 30 books
and 600 papers in medical journals says he is still busy consulting,
writing and researching.One of six children, Hoffer was born on a Saskatchewan farm in 1917 and
completed his first degree in agricultural chemistry. His master’s and
PhD in biochemistry were based on research into the vitamin content of
cereals, and his focus soon shifted to human nutrition.Armed with a medical degree from Toronto, he became director of
psychiatric research for Saskatchewan in 1950.He’ll never forget his time practising at three psychiatric hospitals in
Saskatchewan. “It was absolutely awful and once you got in, you never
got out,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.Half the 5,000 mental patients in Saskatchewan were schizophrenics, and
at the time, experts blamed the illness on a host of causes, including
homosexuality, masturbation, colon infection and more.Hoffer was given the job of director of psychiatric research, and with a
“free hand,” spearheaded the use of mega-vitamin therapy.He was joined by British-born research psychiatrist Dr. Humphrey Osmond,
and the two became psychedelic pioneers — and guinea pigs — bent on
discovering why hallucinogens created symptoms resembling schizophrenia.The team’s first breakthrough came when they developed a theory that
people who undergo stress sometimes produce excess adrenaline, which
oxidizes into adrenochrome. The latter chemical has psychedelic
properties they suggested could induce schizophrenia.Next, he theorized that niacin (vitamin B-3) could counteract the
oxidation of adrenaline into adrenochrome, protect brain receptors and
reduce adrenaline stress. B vitamins are now commonly referred to as
stress-busters, but back then, the theory was revolutionary. Hoffer
himself has taken three grams a day for 50 years.“It keeps me alive, active and busy,” he said, noting the amount of
niacin in the average multivitamin is insignificant.Hoffer then came up with the idea of combining niacin and the
antioxidant vitamin C.Hoffer will share a $250,000 prize pot with Dr. Alastair Cunningham of
Toronto, creator of The Healing Journey, a non-profit program that helps
cancer patients use relaxation and mental imagery to cope with the
disease.The two were selected from a field of 57 nominees by an independent jury
of international medical experts.Maravilla, thank you so much for providing the info & links—I was thrilled to hear of more recognition for these great doctors/researchers. Orthomolecular medicine is the area of research that I’m most interested in and specifically with how that relates to human behavior because so much damage has been caused by the psychotropic meds prescribed and methodology used in hospitals. One thing is essential, you must find the people that are actually serious about their work and educate yourself because there is a myriad of books and Internet sources that aren’t worth the pages/sites they’re printed on and can actually make you quite ill. I have been using alternative medicine and combo of allopathic/naturapathic (when necessary) for years, but just because something is natural doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you which is why any use of megavitamin dosages needs to be monitored by a qualified physician. I do not know Dr. Kokayi personally (I think Keith is very lucky to have him as a friend), but I can’t tell you how many times I have heard him speak, this man knows his stuff while showing an added dosage of compassion and humbleness. Thanks again, you made my day with this news!
With the exception of a few things, Western Medicine and their voodoo drugs have been killing a million people a year. 100,000 die JUST from taking the medicine. Another 150,000 die from drug interactions, and then there are all the medical mistakes that occur in hospitals, and the rampant treatment resistant infections you are likely to get if you go to the hospital. There is no substitution for good health. If you don’t have it, you’re at the mercy of the witch doctors who get bribes from Big Pharma. I saw what Western Medicine did to my loved ones. They ain’t getting me unless they can catch me. On my e-mails, I have this signature line: “The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness.” Arthur Schopenhauer
One of the things I love about living in CR is that so many of the campesinos still rely on folk remedies and rarely go to doctors. When I see these 80 year old campesinos out working in their fields or riding their horses, I know they are not in the clutches of Western medicine. I want to live like that in CR — simply, and close to the earth. Everything else is a sham.
I just went out today and bought the Cod liver oil in gelcaps. I took two myself and when I got home I told my son to take them also. Rebeca, I will be sure to go light on the supplements, until we see the Dr. I don’t want to play around with his health, so I will be contacting Dr.Kokayi when I am off on Wednesday. Keith, thanks again for giving me his name. I really want my son to see a doctor who knows what he is doing and has the ability to use alternate therapies. With the inhalers and other things he has taken for his asthma, it only seems to have gotten worse in the past year. Although he is feeling better today, we never know when it will flare up again. The best thing would be to get to the root cause and figure out a method of treatment. I know how bad the steroids can be and certainly don’t want to condemn him to a lifetime of dependency on them.
I probably am just realizing how bad some medications can be and am reevaluating my opinion of most of them, thanks to all of you. We live in a time where life expectancies have been rising, but I question when “Third world” countries have equal or longer ones, what is really going on. Wealth and health are not synonymous. We all are not going to live forever. One of my favorite sayings to my friends who were on health kicks, and tried to get me to join in, is, “In a hundred years, you and I cannot have this conversation.” Now I see that even though that statement is most likely true, we should take better care of ourselves so we can live a fuller and happier life.
Maravilla, I appreciate all of the information. If you only knew all the meds he takes regularly, you would jump through the roof. I wouldn’t want to post them here. As parents we were only concerned for his well being, and now I’m not so sure we have done the correct thing. I know how you fell about these pharmaceutical companies, and sometimes I thought you might have been overdoing it a bit. I see from the many reactions of others, you may have been too easy on them. I am aware of the commitment to change one’s lifestyle and take responsibility for our own health. It is not an easy task. I don’t know if we can make that complete change, but now I am able to understand there are better choices with regard to what we should be doing.
When I started this post on healthcare costs, I never thought it would involve my family and myself the way that it has. My son doesn’t even have his own healthcare from his job, so this will be a real personal learning experience for us. This forum is supposed to be about Costa Rica, and all the things we love about it. It now has become very personal to me. Because of all of you, I feel like I have benefited the most. This website has had more than a large impact on our family. Life is strange that way.
There is a lot of information to absorb from all of the responses, and I will have to reread them all to fully understand them.
I sincerely thank each and every one of you, for your help, kind words and genuine concern. Scott, my personal thanks and appreciation to you as well.
We all do the best we know how for ourselves and certainly for our children— when we know more and we know better than we can also make better choices. Your son is young and resilient and I’m sure under Dr. Kokayi’s care he will regain his health in spite of whatever meds he’s been on. Our bodies have an enormous capacity to heal if we provide the right conditions! Please know that I have benefited from your kind and thought provoking words many times before and I’m only glad that I could offer you some info that may be of service. Pura Vida Alfred!
I was preparing one of my vacation houses for a guest, my maids do a great job of cleaning but yesterday when we went to the house that was to be rented we found mold. It just appeared, we alway check for it and think we have done a pretty good job. Yet, because of the rain and damp conditions of this season you have to keep looking in dark corners in cabinets, behind refrigerators for mold. Some of the furniture we get needs an extra coat of varnish because most of the wood was dried but not like we dry it in the US.
We do a constant maintenance and cleaning because I had a very good friend who died from mold, he lived in a motor home off the shore of San Diego and my aunt had to move from her home because of mold. So, my attention to mold has many reasons. Also I’ve had friends here that lived in typical TICO homes with very few windows and very dark corners who suffer from many asthma attacks. One such friend has been in the hospital about twice a year since being here. She finally decided it was her living conditions. In fact she knows it was because since moving to accommodations with larger windows and more sunlight she has had to take less medication and has had no attacks this year.
I talk to many people and they want to come to Costa Rica and live as cheaply as possible, you can do that but you need to be aware of your surroundings and the hazards. Many of us come from climates where no one really talks about or is faced with the problem of mold. In fact many years it has killed many people but it is not an advertised disease or condition. You have to be very careful in your home and where you stay when on a vacation and when you come here to live permanently, if you are building make sure your walls are covered with the mold protection prior to painting. Don’t just assume that the contractor took care of that..
We had to wash all the walls, take down and wash all curtains, bed linen, pillows, towels, put the mattresses in the sun and use mold fighting chemicals all over the house. It took 4 workers and a lot of supplies to accomplish the job. Everything in that house had to be washed to include walls and ceilings, ceiling fans everything. Not that mold was on everything . I had my workers wash absolutely everything. That is one thing that need to be considered Alfred. I had not thought of it earlier, it did not even cross my mind but it is something you may want to consider.
Rebeca, I appreciate your words of confidence. We always try to do what we think is best for our kids. Children are the most precious things we have in this world. They are not possessions, but rather a gift from God. It is our responsibility to do everything in our power to protect those gifts.
There are times you will second guess yourself while trying to do your best. We balance a life of work and family, sacrifice and recreation, not always in the proper proportions. Ultimately, you find the things you do, you do with love and the best of intentions. The answers always seem to come, no matter how late. This may be one of those times. Finding some of these answers, in a most unlikely place as this forum, gives us reassurance that someone other than ourselves controls the universe.
Jenny, Some years ago we had allergy testing done for both our sons, and myself. Environmental allergies, such as mold in the home, was not on the list of things they were allergic to. I wound up with a dust mite allergy, and removed most of the carpeting in the home to cope. I think it is about every seven years or so your body changes and you may lose or gain new allergies. When we do the tests again, as I’m sure the doctor will want to do, we will see if any issues in the home need to be addressed. We also use a dehumidifier in the basement which helps, and have redone our bathroom tub enclosure due to mold.
Life is a journey. We never really arrive at a destination while we are on this planet. In this journey, you may meet the worst and best of people. I consider myself lucky to have met so many of the best right here.
Pura Vida
Life is funny that way, you never know when it’s going to offer you a wonderful treat or a not so wonderful surprise, but it’s always easier when experienced with people that care about you. Pura Vida Alfred…
Jenny, You’re right to be concerned, a mold allergy was exactly what induced my asthma in CR and I had a very airy and light filled home that was cleaned on a daily basis, but high indices of biodiversity means also being exposed to life forms that I was not accustomed to. The spores that would induce my asthma were in full swing between June and Sept (just as the rains had settled in) and by August I was desperate–the rest of the year was uncomfortable but not as bad. I have met a lot of expats that have similar reactions just about 6 months after they arrive in CR because by their bodies are just not used to it and so it is great advice to keep the house clean, aired out but a mold spore free place would be impossible since it’s carried in the air we’re breathing even when outside. Not all of the different types of mold we come in contact with have been shown to damage our health, but anything foreign to us can certainly make our bodies react. We also have to keep in mind that the cleaning products we use can also affect our health and most certainly can bring on an asthma attack. If I was exposed to “tylex like” cleaning products for only a few minutes, I would actually come out as if I had a major cold (even in the US after the asthma had set in)–not to mention what that does to the environment they are released in. Bleach sometimes is the only thing that will work with certain stubborn & health risk mold conditions (barring blasting them w/frozen nitrogen), but usually much more environmentally friendly choices can clean our homes enough so that we can live in them without being negatively affected and without damaging the other living beings that co-habit our environment. Once the lung inflammation reaction has set in, almost anything can trigger an asthma attack, being exposed to heavy traffic & other airborne irritants, eating certain foods, physical exertion (which is really hard when you need to exercise in order to strengthen your lungs) and emotional stress. That’s why it’s so important to do everything necessary to fortify our bodies so that it can face new allergens and other conditions that stress our bodies without becoming ill. Thanks for bringing the mold issue up because it certainly is a concern in such a humid environment as CR.
The only reason I’m not harder on Big Pharma is that I really try NOT to offend people who still believe they are there to help you. I spent nearly ten years in litigation with the biggest pharma in the world. I know things about how they operate that would make you NEVER taken another medication. And the FDA is NOT there to make sure those drugs are safe; they are there to protect the profits of the hand that feeds them. They are no better than street thugs and murderers. The few hundred million they pay out in these big lawsuits is just part of their operating expenses, and those people who their blockbuster drugs kill outright are simply collateral damage. having said that, it’s quite possible that your son is reacting to taking so many medications. There are side effects to all of them, and interactions as well that can produce symptoms of so many other things. You’ve never mentioned how old your son is? You said he has a job, so he’s not in grade school. If he’s being treated for one of those bogus dx’s such as ADD/ADHD, or the other litany of disorders that are so popular today, you might want to consider taking a close look at each and every medication he is on and see what the side effects are. Doctors know very little about how meds interact with each other. A good pharmacist is your best bet for this information. If he’s not getting better, and in fact seems to be getting worse, now is the time to get to the bottom of his health issues.
Vinegar, and lemon are great bacteria fighters. White vinegar is very cheap and can be easily added to warm wather with a little soap. Thanks for reminding me about chemicals and also telling me about tilex. Also, a specialist here in cleaning told me that the Costa Rican products smell good but they are not real good disenfectants.
My advice is that no one should take getting a cold lightly and a lot of colds are actually not colds.
This forum has be great and informative, because many people have gotten sick and it can be prevented. Prevention is the best health care, you and I talking and exchanging experiences and information. Some times it is not a bad plan to bring your own pillow to sleep on while you are on a vacation. That is the item we keep close to our nose.
Prevention is the best health care plan, not to say we dont need the other things, but you and I taking better care of ourselves is the best plan and it is very cheap. It feels good to talk about things that do matter in Costa Rica. No matter how big our house is or how good of a contract we get for building or how much it cost to travel. Health is the one most important item and we discuss it to little. We do have some health concerns here in Costa Rica. Thanks Alfred for starting the ball rolling.
Maravilla,
Thanks, wow what an experience and it should be shared. Many things are happening to many people and they think that they are the only ones it is happening to. I learned while living in Germany that the US is more money concious then people welfare concious. The Germans will not accept a lot of US medicines and products because the way the are handled and tested. The will not purchase our beef and not because of mad cow disease, it is because we load our cattle with almost 1,000 different chemicals. That is why our young boys are developing tits and the young girls are wearing size double D bras. That also some of the reasons obesity is on the rise. It has a lot to do with how our food is processed, raised and treated.
Medication, has just been accepted and I can not understand why because we take things off the market after a few deaths then they repackage it and re name it and put it back on the market. Look at sweet and low and splenda, both toxic chemicals for sale and you do not have to be 21 to purchase them.
Big Pharma is infuriating for all the reasons you’ve mentioned and some others such as preventing the research, production and marketing of useful medicines (alternative & otherwise). For the last 3 decades (that I know of and probably more) you could buy an ointment in CR called VitaMerfen which was produced by a Swiss company and was based on Vit A. This is such an incredible medicine for cuts, abrasions, burns and even large lacerations–it promotes healing and prevents scaring better than anything else out there. It was always used in the burn ward of the CR Children’s Hospital and I used it for everything from my daughter’s diaper rash to severe lacerations for everyone in my family. Sometimes one application was enough for your body to heal so it wasn’t something that promoted incremental use. If there was ever a “pomada de canaria” this was it for us. It was available everywhere in CR (not in the US) until a big US pharma co. which is prominent in NJ bought it from the Swiss. Now you’re lucky if you can find a tube of it somewhere in a rural pharmacy. Sometimes after a few weeks, Fischel will get some, but it has been increasingly getting harder to find. I really think they bought it to put it out of business because why would something that is simple, doesn’t hurt you, does what it’s supposed to do beautifully and was ALWAYS available before in CR now be so incredibly difficult to find?
Patrick Holford has a new book out called “Food is better medicine than drugs” — I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve ordered it from the library. The reason I sued big pharma is that I took a drug that made me sick for not just a few days or weeks, but YEARS! I was so outraged so I called the company and complained about what their drug did to me, and their response was “we’ve never heard of anyone having this reaction. You must have some underlying medical issues.” I called them every name in the book and told them point blank that I was going to sue them and win — so I rounded up several thousand plaintiffs who had the same reaction and we did sue, and we did win, but of course Big Pharma gagged us all and we are not allowed to tell anyone how much money they gave us to go away! That experience opened my eyes to what western medicine is all about and it ain’t about making you better, it’s about them making obscene amounts of money even if they kill a few thousand people! Thankfully, I don’t see a lot of Ticos taking lots of meds; they are more into folk remedies and living simply. I know I could learn a lot from them as they live in such a way that promotes health, although I still don’t understand their fascination with American junk food! Pretty soon, we will see the obesity epidemic in Costa Rica as well, if they keep wanting to imitate our lifestyle!
I buy white vinegar by the gallon in Costa Rica. I use it for everything — I put it in my laundry in place of bleach (which is bad for your septic) and I use it in place of fabric softener, which is another product that is loaded with carcinogens and causes allergic reactions in a lot of people. I also use white vinegar to clean my granite countertops, the bathrooms, toilets, windows, etc. It is a fraction of the cost of many disinfectects, which are also loaded with all sorts of synthetic scents that cause allergic reactions. White vinegar is one of the best kept secrets I know of. The Ticos laugh at me when I buy two or three gallon jugs at a time! They seem to be addicted to the other stuff that has a dozen different scents but doesn’t do nearly as good a job as white vinegar!
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