Neuroimmunology, Part 2

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

Did you know that 80% of your immune system is in your gut? All of the bacteria in your body are called the Bionome. You can control the 80% in your gut; the other 20% is beyond your control, for good or bad. As science learns more about our defense mechanisms, they are realizing that antibodies to disease are but a small part of our lines of defense. Unfortunately, antibody titers are all that conventional medicines approach to disease control cares about. A TH1 response occurs in reaction to naturally obtained infectious diseases.   A TH2 occurs with vaccines and with a few other areas of body responses, like toxin and allergy mediation.

You want a TH1 response for most insults to your immune system. What is involved in a TH1 response? It includes the first, second and third lines of defense. The first line of your body’s defense of itself is actually any barrier that blocks invasion at a portal of entry (mouth, nose, ear, eye, etc.) This line of defense limits access to internal tissues. It is your skin, secretions of eyes, mouth and mucous membranes. It really isn’t a part of the immune system, per se, because it doesn’t involve recognition and response, just barriers to entry. This is where your bionome is important. It’s like a yellow alert to your system.

Neuroimmunology, Part 1

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

I recently attended a twelve hour continuing education seminar titled, “Neuroimmunology: Patterns of Influence,” by Dr. Stephen Marini, M.S., D.C., PhD. Today’s article comes from this seminar.  It is going to concentrate on some challenges to the medical paradigm that are held so dear by most physicians, yet makes so little sense when compared to verifiable, scientific truth. This is a very difficult subject to write about due to its complexity, but is vitally important to understand when learning about how to stay healthy naturally.

The conventional medical paradigm holds to some very wrong headed public health ideas, which completely drives their research agendas and public health policy. First off, medicine believes the immune system is independent and autonomous (works alone without help). Scientific research shows this to be completely false. Can thoughts of the mind affect your physical health? You bet.  Have you  ever heard of the placebo effect? Does physical trauma affect the psyche or nervous systems? Sure. No one system stands alone, yet this is how medicine treats the immune system when it tries to fake it out with immunizations for contagious disease.

They believe that natural immunity (actually getting a disease and recovering) is the same as artificial immunity (shots). It is not!  This subject will be another whole article.

Alternative Artificial Sweeteners

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

In this article on sweeteners, I will present a few acceptable alternatives to the chemical slurries commonly used. There are six sweeteners to consider: stevia, stevia based alternative, xylitol, dextrose or pure glucose, and lastly, sugar and honey in moderation.

We’ll start with my favorite of the bunch, stevia. Stevia belongs in the herb and shrub genus in the sunflower family. It comes from the Central and South Americas. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories, no fat, carbs or sugars. It has a negligible effect on blood glucose, so diabetics and low carb dieters can use it without worry.

Artificial Sweeteners

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

How many of you think you are doing yourself a favor by reducing calorie intake with artificial, no calorie sweeteners? You know the pink, blue, yellow, and now green packets. Advertisers entice people to use artificial sweeteners as a means to lose weight. Did you know it doesn't really help at all? Would you believe it actually makes you fatter? Studies show that artificial sweeteners have adverse consequences, including tricking the body into desiring MORE calories. Plus, the long list of side effects connected to them just doesn't make sense for your health. This week, we’ll look at the ones you should avoid, and in the next article we will cover what you can safely use as alternate sweeteners.

First, to prove my point above, a study by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, presented this report at an American Diabetes Association meeting. Diet sodas are not a “guilt free” treat at all. After following 474 diet soda drinkers for 10 years, they found that their waists grew 70% more than those who drank non-diet sodas. For those who drank 2 or more diet sodas a day, their waists increased, on average, over 500%. Waist size indicates the amount of fat at your organs, which is strongly linked to type II diabetes.

Soy

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

How many of you think that soy is a healthy protein source that can be substituted for some meats in your diet? We’ve been told that you need to reduce saturated meat fats and eat more ‘vegetarian.’ This is how most ‘health’ providers will council you when it comes to heart health, cancer prevention and good nutrition. What does good research say?

Research done by commercial soy producer’s claim that Asians have a diet high in soy and yet they have lower rates of breast, prostate and colon cancers.  Asians have been found to eat, on average about 10 grams, or fewer than 2 teaspoons, of soy per day. About 1.5% of their calories are from soy. Compare that to the 100 grams of soy protein recommended by Protein Technologies International to supposedly reduce cholesterol levels. That’s ten times what the Asians consume. In 1992, the Swiss Health Service estimated that 100 grams of soy protein provided estrogen equivalent to the pill.

Betaine Hydrochloride

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

In my initial consultation with prospective new patients, I try to cover any and all ill health symptoms each person reports. I do this to allow me to open the conversation about topics not usually associated with a chiropractor. One of the symptoms reported the most is acid reflux, heart burn, gas and bloating, or whatever you wish to call it. They are all linked by having a single cause, in many cases.

Many of you are already saying, “Well, that’s easy, it’s too much stomach acid.” WRONG! This is a common misconception propagated by the endless TV commercials for antacid drugs. Strangely enough, the symptoms of overproduction and underproduction of stomach acid are virtually identical. Therefore, it is unwise to jump to conclusions regarding what is occurring in the stomach without actually testing.

PSA Screening

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

I read a recent update on prostate cancer screening this week. Let’s look at PSA screening in light of recent research results. Then we can see how preventing prostate enlargement and cancer is your best plan of action.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force recently put out its latest recommendation on prostate screening. It essentially says that routine screening of men, at any age, is worthless. Why? They say the harms outweigh the benefits! While a few may benefit, many more are harmed.

A PSA (prostate specific antigen) that is elevated tells you only one thing, the general size of the prostate. A high PSA does indicate enlargement, but it gives you no clue as to why. There are no good tests to differentiate between those who need treatment for cancer, and those who don’t. Therein lays the conundrum.