The Bravewell Collaborative, a philanthropic organization, partnered with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene this past February’s Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. The primary goal is to make a shift in US healthcare. John Weeks, publisher and editor of The Integrator Blog, poses this question to the integrative medical… Continue reading Integrative Medicine and Healthcare Reform
Tag: Pulse of Natural Health
Going Back to Basics May Help Us Achieve Healthcare for All
According to Peter Chowka of NaturalHealthLine, the first two months of President Obama’s administration “have set the stage for the greatest transformation of American healthcare since the country declared its independence from Great Britain 233 years ago.” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has been quoted as saying Congress hopes to enact a mandate that… Continue reading Going Back to Basics May Help Us Achieve Healthcare for All
Does the Medical Industry Have a Fundamental Lack of Integrity?
Two recent articles—one in the New York Times, the other in the Wall Street Journal—speak to a crisis of integrity in the medical industry that has led insiders like Dr. Jerome Kassirer of Yale and Tufts to muse that some of their colleagues appear to act as “paid prostitutes for the drug industry.”
Media Distortion Damages Both Science and Journalism
Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD, director of the Autism Research Centre at University of Cambridge, recently published a study that showed a positive correlation between levels of fetal testosterone (measured by amniocentesis) and the number of autistic traits a child shows post-natally. None of the children in the study, however, had actually developed autism. What was being… Continue reading Media Distortion Damages Both Science and Journalism
When the Sum of the Parts Exceeds the Whole
The first nationwide study of human drugs in fish tissue is completed. Researchers found that fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major US cities contained pharmaceutical residues, including medications used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder, and depression.
Comparative Effectiveness Research—Will the Risks as Well as the Benefits Be Considered?
According to the FDA News, a bill to establish a comparative effectiveness research institute is scheduled for introduction in the Senate. The Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2008, sponsored by Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Max Baucus (D-MT), would evaluate the effectiveness of different drugs and medical devices that exist for the same treatment. The… Continue reading Comparative Effectiveness Research—Will the Risks as Well as the Benefits Be Considered?
“Study 15”: After Twelve Years of Silence, It’s Now Known as the Cursed Study
Two physicians once leaned over to me during a break in a live radio interview and whispered, “It’s the joke in medicine: Newer is not necessarily better, especially when it comes to drugs.” I was dumbfounded. New drugs had to be better, right?
The Texas Medical Practice Act—A Model for 49 Other States
State medical boards across the country routinely target doctors who practice outside the rigid norm of conventional medicine. Some states, like Kentucky and North Carolina, banned the entire profession of integrative and nutritionally oriented physicians from practicing in years past. Other states, like Connecticut and Texas, are notorious for their vigorous assaults against physicians who… Continue reading The Texas Medical Practice Act—A Model for 49 Other States
GMO a Big NO on National Wildlife Refuge Land
Genetically modified organisms, or GMO foods, are on grocery store shelves already. They are present in nearly 80% of processed foods that contain crops such as corn and soy and their byproducts. The long-term effects on human health and the environment from these non-natural products are unknown. A federal survey has revealed that most Americans… Continue reading GMO a Big NO on National Wildlife Refuge Land
Toxic Body Burden
Flame Retardants Linked to Hyperactivity, Dioxin Linked to Immune System Impairment