Deodorants and Breast Cancer: Separating Urban Legend From Legitimate Concern Roughly a decade ago, a claim spread rapidly online suggesting that deodorants and antiperspirants—especially those applied to the underarm—cause breast cancer. The idea gained traction quickly, not because it was proven, but because it sounded plausible. Most breast cancers are diagnosed in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, near the armpit. Combine that observation with the fact that many underarm products contain biologically active chemicals, and a hypothesis was born. But what does the science actually say? Why the Concern Arose in the First Place Many conventional underarm products have historically contained ingredients such as: Parabens Aluminum compounds Phthalates Propylene glycol Triclosan Talc and silica Polyethylene glycols and ethoxylated compounds Some of these substances have been studied for endocrine-disrupting or estrogen-mimicking properties, which natural…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Modern living has created a problem the human body was never designed to handle—exposure to excessive amounts of environmental toxins, especially heavy-metal and oil-soluble toxins. Toxicity is one of our leading causes of disease, and the overall chemical load to which we are now exposed is unprecedented in human history. Toxic chemicals are bioaccumulating in our tissues faster than we can get rid of them, creating an unprecedented epidemic of chronic disease. Since our bodies were not designed to deal with the amount and variety of toxins we are accumulating—saunas to the rescue. Heat causes toxins to be released by cells, and hyperthermic (sweat) treatments have been used by cultures around the world for millennia (American Indians used sweat lodges). Hyperthermic practices are known to reduce levels of organic toxins such as pesticides and PCBs, as well as heavy metals like lead and mercury. Our bodies were designed a…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis The average American breathes in about two heaping tablespoons of airborne particles each day. The smallest of these particles can lodge deep in the lungs where they remain and cause serious problems. Now there are shocking new findings regarding such particles. In mid-May, Canadian researchers reported in the journal Science that fine airborne particles can cause genetic mutations that are passed on to future generations. Most of these fine particles emanate from industrial plants, power plants, incinerators, and diesel-burning vehicles. In 1999, a study in Los Angeles indicated that 71 percent of the cancer risk from air contaminants came from diesel emissions; now we know why. The fine particles from these emissions cause DNA damage, and such damage is the first step in the development of cancer. The researchers said they didn’t know if it was the particles themselves or toxic chemicals carried by the particl…

. . . more you can do on the above issue S. 1310 is currently "in committee." It is standard practice that when bills are introduced in either the Senate or the House of Representatives they are sent to a special committee made up of Senators (or Representatives) to study the bill and then come back to the whole group with recommendations. Since the committees receive hundreds of bills, many bills never get reviewed. Instead they "die in committee," and need to be reintroduced the following year. S. 1310 has been sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. If any of your state senators sit on this Committee, contact them and let them know of your opposition.  The members of the Committee are: Alaska - Lisa Murkowski (R) Arizona - John McCain (R) Colorado - Michael Bennet (D) Connecticut - Richard Blumenthal (D) (co-sponsor of S. 1310) Georgia - Johnny Isakson (R) Illinois - Mark Kirk (R) Iowa - Tom Harkin (D), Chairman of the Commit…

. . .slow cooking at lower heat is best Holidays are times when everyone breaks a few rules. However, you can minimize damage with these 5 tips for a healthier thanksgiving meal. 1. Choose organic turkey. Organic turkeys are usually more delicious than conventional birds, and they're free of pesticides and hormones. They're given antibiotics only when sick rather than as a standard practice, to stimulate growth and compensate for unsanitary living conditions. 2. Use low temperature cooking. Cooking at high temperatures saves time, but high temperatures (over 370 degrees Fahrenheit) create excessive toxic chemical reactions. It's best to preheat your oven to 325 degrees and cook the bird at this temperature until the stuffing reaches 165 degrees (at this temperature any harmful bacteria have been killed) and the meat in the inner thigh is 180 degrees. 3. Make a healthy stuffing. If you need to be strict in food combining, "stuff" with a quartered, peeled yellow onion; a bunc…

. . . cancer-causing fumes There's a good reason why many people get headaches when they stand near tumble dryer vents. Prof. Anne Steinemann, a pollution expert at the University of Washington, led research that analyzed fumes emitted from clothes dryers drying clothes washed using scented detergents, with added scented dryer sheets. The researchers found more than 25 volatile organic compounds including 7 hazardous pollutants -- 2 of them, acetaldehyde and benzene, carcinogens. Steinemann pointed out that such toxins are health hazards not only for people living in homes where scented detergents and dryer sheets are used, but chemicals from these products get into public air and go down the drain into public waterways. Acetaldehyde is a toxic emission from automobiles. Steinemann and her group estimated that acetaldehyde emissions from the top five brands of scented laundry detergents would equal about 6% of automobile emissions in the Seattle area. Non-toxic laundry deterge…

. . . You're on your own for now! You might be wondering how it's possible that dangerous chemicals are allowed in common personal care products. It's because our laws in this area were written before "better living through chemistry" had shown its darker side, and they've never been brought up to date. As a result, manufacturers can introduce and include any chemicals they like in their products without safety tests. It's left up to the public to prove the chemicals are harmful through the courts. This is next to impossible when you're dealing with a slow erosion in health caused by hundreds of different toxins working together. Two new laws, the Safe Chemicals Act and the Safe Cosmetics Act, were proposed this past spring to remedy the situation. They embody the "precautionary principle" of not allowing synthetic chemicals into general use until they've already been proven to be safe.…

. . . it can be challenging How about products that say they're "hypoallergenic," "natural," "herbal" or even "organic?" Sorry, but because this market is unregulated, such product descriptions are meaningless. How about buying products at the health food store? Sorry again, but genuinely non-toxic products are relatively rare, and most health food store products don't pass the test. Now manufacturers do have to list all ingredients on the bottle, so you can become an expert on the particular ingredients to avoid. I've written about many of these in prior Newsclips, and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done an excellent job in making educational materials about common toxins available on their website. (Also see, "Is Your Bodycare Toxic" by the EWG, at www.shareguide.com/bodycare.html.) However, manufacturers don't have to list unintentional ingredients, i.e., impurities. For example, a Canadian study recently found heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead and others)…

 . . . many don't remove enough to meet current standards I firmly believe that our Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System is the best bargain in home filtration systems available. Yes, there are cheaper ways to purify water, but do you really get a pure, safe product? A recent article in The Chicago Tribune reported that many popular pitchers with built-in filters, including Brita and PUR, don't reduce lead enough to meet current standards. If you purchased one of these pitchers before 2007, it may have been sold as reducing lead, but that was before industry standards required that filters remove lead particles as well as dissolved lead. The water pitcher type filters simply can't do this. Certification now requires that a filter take water with 150 parts per billion (ppb) of lead and reduce it to 10 ppb or less. Our Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System not only meets these certification requirements, but greatly exceeds them. The two causes of disease are nutritio…

. . . they do permanent damage and are devastating our health We have more bacteria and other microflora in our bodies than we have cells, and our health is totally dependent upon them. Yet antibiotics devastate these populations and, in the process, devastate our health. I've been talking about this for the past 25 years. Now an establishment doctor, Martin J. Blaser, MD, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, has come to similar conclusions. In a news making commentary in the journal Nature, Blaser states that although concerns about antibiotics have been centered on bacterial resistance, there is a much worse problem in the "permanent changes to our protective flora." He has urged the medical community to curtail use of broad-spectrum antibiotics which kill both good and bad bacteria, citing findings that some of the beneficial bacteria may never recover, and that this may lead to increases in infections and other diseases, specifically obesity, alle…

. . . it prevents celiac disease Celiac disease is an extreme autoimmune response to gluten (found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut and triticale) resulting in degradation of the intestinal wall. This greatly impairs absorption of nutrients. Celiac disease now affects 1% of the population (its incidence has been growing rapidly) and has a genetic component.  Spanish researchers studied 75 newborn babies over the first 4 months of life. They were classified according to genetic predisposition to celiac disease (high or low) and whether they were breastfed or bottle fed. The researchers found that among those genetically predisposed to get celiac disease, certain gut microflora tended to predominate; however microflora in those who were breastfed were more like the microflora found in the babies with a low genetic predisposition.  In other words, although the babies will be followed to see who actually gets celiac disease, breastfeeding appeared to be protective against it. …

David from rockstarreviews.com, reviews Raymond Francis’ book, Never Be Sick Again. David explains the basis of Raymond’s Beyond Health System. There is one disease, cellular malfunction, two causes and six pathways. David enjoys the section where Raymond opens up and tells his own story of disease and how he changed his life. The book takes readers “outside the box of traditional medicine.”  Watch the full review to hear more about Raymond’s simple to understand guide to health.…

According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, approximately 10 percent of Americans are taking antidepressant medications.This means that over 31 million Americans are gobbling Prozac, Zoloft, Norpramin, Luvox, Paxil, and other antidepressant psychiatric drugs like M & M's. This drug use accounts for billions of dollars in pharmaceutical sales annually. Yet according to a landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association say that antidepressant medications work - as well as placebos and not more. In other words, people in depression studies who are given sugar pills instead of antidepressant drugs do as well as the group who gets the drugs. Before you ask yourself whether you should simply take a Tic Tac instead of a Paxil, there is more disheartening news about these drugs. Many Americans are taking antidepressant medications instead of changing their own behavior or life circumstances. According to Maryland medical doctor Ronal…

Fluoride is one of the biggest medical frauds in history. Fluoride is an extremely powerful toxin that has for more than a half century been falsely promoted as preventing dental cavities. Fluoride causes a wide array of severe health problems, including cancer, hyperactivity and/or lethargy, muscle disorders, and damage to immunity, teeth and bones. And as studies continue to confirm, fluoride damages the brain. A recent study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials concluded that chronic exposure to elevated levels of fluoride results in decreased memory and learning ability. Levels of fluoride in drinking water, within the range of levels currently allowed, negatively impact children’s intelligence. Numerous studies in humans have found an association between high levels of fluoride in drinking water and reduced intelligence. More than 100 animal studies have linked fluoride to brain damage. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 41 percent of 12 to 15 year-olds have dental f…

We all know that smoking is unhealthy and that secondhand smoke is harmful. However, did you know it can harm your hearing? A surprising new study from the U.S. Department of Tobacco Control has concluded that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke are 14 percent more likely to suffer hearing loss in the low to midfrequency range. The mechanism by which the hearing loss happens is not fully understood. Previous studies have also found an association between smoking and hearing loss.…

When Health Care Becomes “Disease Care”: How Over-Treatment Took Hold Most patients assume medical decisions are driven solely by what’s best for their health. In reality, the modern health-care system is shaped by powerful structural incentives that can quietly push care toward over-testing and over-treatment. A growing body of research suggests this problem is not marginal—it’s systemic. What Physicians Themselves Are Saying A study published in Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed 627 members of the American Medical Association and revealed striking admissions: 75% acknowledged that fear of malpractice lawsuits leads them to over-treat patients 62% agreed that diagnostic testing would be reduced if it did not generate revenue These findings highlight a reality many patients never see:medical decision-making is often shaped by legal and financial pressure, not just clinical need. Why Over-Testing Is So Common Physicians are typically reimbursed…

A new study in the Journal of Internal Medicine regarding treatment of infectious diseases found the same shocking inadequacy as previous studies. The researchers concluded that only 14 percent of the recommended treatments are based on sound scientific evidence. This finding is right in line with all the other studies that have found only 10 to 15 percent of medicine to be science based. The researchers discovered that, even when doctors follow existing medical guidelines to the letter, 86 percent of the time they are using treatments that have little or no scientific support. The problem is when doctors follow the existing guidelines, they mistakenly believe they are practicing "evidence-based medicine," but there is no scientific evidence behind the guidelines. In reality, the guidelines are based on the assumptions or opinions of the members of the guideline-drafting panel. Most people have the misconception that their doctor is using the best that modern science has to offer…

A recent study in the Journal of Neurology found that people who consume foods rich in vitamin B12 reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer’s in their later years. Vitamin B12 is found in animal sources of food, which is one of the reasons a strict vegetarian or vegan diet is not advisable for most people. Vitamin B12 deficiency has resulted in many documented cases of brain abnormalities in strict vegetarians.…