Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Maca Root Effective For Menopause
By Bita Jaworski
Natural Support for Changing Hormone Levels
As a mother of two, I decided early on to raise my kids on healthy natural diets, remembering to make sure I maximized their outdoor time throughout their childhood. My husband was keen on pushing for their creative development, while I instinctively knew that once they developed a taste for greens and fresh produce, I wouldn’t have too many worries about their health.
Now the kids are adults and my worries for their health and safety are not my main preoccupation. Now I’m beginning to be concerned about myself… I hear many women my age complaining about difficulties with their menopausal symptoms, but I hear just as many of them worrying about the (mostly unadvertised) side effects of Hormone Replacement Therapies (HRT’s)!
In hormone therapies, synthetic versions of our own natural estrogens, progesterone or other hormones are administered to compensate for our body's own inability to produce them anymore.
As an advocate of wholesome lifestyles, I diverted early on from the heavily promoted HRT trend, not feeling right about consuming hormone pills to stifle the undesired effects of a natural hormonal shift. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of night sweats, hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, joint stiffness and all that womanly jazziness, but the token difficulties still didn’t motivate me to hop on the hormone therapy train, especially knowing that HRT’s carry severe health risks, including high blood pressure, blood clots, and increased risks of breast and uterine cancers. Somehow the short-term reliefs didn’t add up to be worth the health risks for me.
Some days my husband would avoid me altogether, not knowing in which direction my mood would fluctuate and not wanting to risk a rift between us. I must admit I took a harder blow than a majority of the women around me, but I’d resolved to let my body run its course.
About half a year into the menopausal changes I came across maca, the Peruvian plant root and medicinal herb. A health-conscious friend of mine informed me of its traditional usages for treating menopausal symptoms. Maca is widely recognized by the people of Peru as an herbal remedy for all sorts of hormonal imbalances. The maca root is a potent superfood containing carbohydrates, dietary fiber, fats, essential minerals such as selenium, calcium, magnesium and iron, amino acids, and fatty acids (including the linolenic, palmitic, and oleic types).
I quickly learned that in the world of herbal treatments, maca helps reduce menopausal symptoms by balancing the body’s fluctuating chemistry, and it does this through prompting the adrenal glands to stabilize the diminishing hormones of the thyroid and pancreas. The adrenal, pituitary and thyroid glands are all connected and being rich in organ-supporting minerals, maca seems to greatly benefit menopausal women.
With this knowledge I was excited beyond belief about the prospect of effective herbal remedy, and looking deeper into the uses of maca, I realized that more and more women are skipping chemical hormone treatments and opting for maca powder as an alternative to artificial measures. In the growing trend of climacteric women who look for natural and non-animal remedies (preferably as a food source) to various bodily ailments, this holistic Andean natural supplement seems to soothe our concerns.
Now that I’ve incorporated maca into my daily diet I use less of my energy in self-rejecting dismay, and focus more on embracing the fluctuations. Thankfully, nature provides its own ingenious solutions to the entirety of the living system, and my patience has paid off in many ways.
Because maca affects the body on a cellular level and gives it a chance to readjust, it’s important to take enough, take regularly and to be patient in allowing the body to revitalize at its own rate. Some women notice maca’s beneficial nutritional effects within two weeks, for others it might take a little longer, perhaps even up to 3 months. A measurement to start with is 1/2 teaspoon daily, increasing to 2 tablespoons daily, depending on personal preference. Mix the powder with juice or use in smoothies, oatmeal, organic yogurt or herbal teas.
Source: http://www.beonliving.com/lifestyle/author/32
Natural Support for Changing Hormone Levels
As a mother of two, I decided early on to raise my kids on healthy natural diets, remembering to make sure I maximized their outdoor time throughout their childhood. My husband was keen on pushing for their creative development, while I instinctively knew that once they developed a taste for greens and fresh produce, I wouldn’t have too many worries about their health.
Now the kids are adults and my worries for their health and safety are not my main preoccupation. Now I’m beginning to be concerned about myself… I hear many women my age complaining about difficulties with their menopausal symptoms, but I hear just as many of them worrying about the (mostly unadvertised) side effects of Hormone Replacement Therapies (HRT’s)!
In hormone therapies, synthetic versions of our own natural estrogens, progesterone or other hormones are administered to compensate for our body's own inability to produce them anymore.
As an advocate of wholesome lifestyles, I diverted early on from the heavily promoted HRT trend, not feeling right about consuming hormone pills to stifle the undesired effects of a natural hormonal shift. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of night sweats, hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, joint stiffness and all that womanly jazziness, but the token difficulties still didn’t motivate me to hop on the hormone therapy train, especially knowing that HRT’s carry severe health risks, including high blood pressure, blood clots, and increased risks of breast and uterine cancers. Somehow the short-term reliefs didn’t add up to be worth the health risks for me.
Some days my husband would avoid me altogether, not knowing in which direction my mood would fluctuate and not wanting to risk a rift between us. I must admit I took a harder blow than a majority of the women around me, but I’d resolved to let my body run its course.
About half a year into the menopausal changes I came across maca, the Peruvian plant root and medicinal herb. A health-conscious friend of mine informed me of its traditional usages for treating menopausal symptoms. Maca is widely recognized by the people of Peru as an herbal remedy for all sorts of hormonal imbalances. The maca root is a potent superfood containing carbohydrates, dietary fiber, fats, essential minerals such as selenium, calcium, magnesium and iron, amino acids, and fatty acids (including the linolenic, palmitic, and oleic types).
I quickly learned that in the world of herbal treatments, maca helps reduce menopausal symptoms by balancing the body’s fluctuating chemistry, and it does this through prompting the adrenal glands to stabilize the diminishing hormones of the thyroid and pancreas. The adrenal, pituitary and thyroid glands are all connected and being rich in organ-supporting minerals, maca seems to greatly benefit menopausal women.
With this knowledge I was excited beyond belief about the prospect of effective herbal remedy, and looking deeper into the uses of maca, I realized that more and more women are skipping chemical hormone treatments and opting for maca powder as an alternative to artificial measures. In the growing trend of climacteric women who look for natural and non-animal remedies (preferably as a food source) to various bodily ailments, this holistic Andean natural supplement seems to soothe our concerns.
Now that I’ve incorporated maca into my daily diet I use less of my energy in self-rejecting dismay, and focus more on embracing the fluctuations. Thankfully, nature provides its own ingenious solutions to the entirety of the living system, and my patience has paid off in many ways.
Because maca affects the body on a cellular level and gives it a chance to readjust, it’s important to take enough, take regularly and to be patient in allowing the body to revitalize at its own rate. Some women notice maca’s beneficial nutritional effects within two weeks, for others it might take a little longer, perhaps even up to 3 months. A measurement to start with is 1/2 teaspoon daily, increasing to 2 tablespoons daily, depending on personal preference. Mix the powder with juice or use in smoothies, oatmeal, organic yogurt or herbal teas.
Source: http://www.beonliving.com/lifestyle/author/32
Special thank you to all NaturalNews readers from the Health Ranger
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews Tip of the day (from Mike):
Eating blueberries really does improve memory and brain function, but beware of dried blueberries because many of them are sweetened with sugar. Check the labels to be sure, or choose organic frozen blueberries, which typically have no added sugar.
NaturalNews) I've been writing for NaturalNews now for over six years, and in that time the most important thing I've come to realize isn't something about herbs, or nutrients, or Big Pharma... it's that I'm blessed to have you as a reader. And in this thank-you article, I'd like to share exactly why I feel to blessed and honored to continue writing for you.
When I was a kid, I used to volunteer in nursing homes. I would bring water to the elderly patients and refill the cups on their bedside stands. At the time, I thought my job was to deliver water -- it wasn't until many years later that I realized my true job was to bring these elderly patients something far more important: The smile and conversation of a young boy. The water was inconsequential compared to the joy these elderly patients experienced from spending a few minutes talking with a vibrant young boy, often while holding my hands in theirs.
Although I didn't know it at the time, this was my first experience as a healer. As it turns out, it was the first of many.
There's a simple truth that every healer understands: The healer heals himself (or herself) at the same time they encourage healing in others. The simple act of expressing compassion, positive intentions or the energy of self-healing to others also activates that response in your own being. This is one of the tenants of Buddhism, by the way, which is one of the religions I've studied. Buddhism says that the very act of expressing compassion toward others activates the various mechanisms of self-love that exist within yourself. It's a wise and universal truth to remember.
For me, writing articles on NaturalNews.com has been an act of compassion towards my fellow human beings. No matter what I'm writing, whether it's a series on self healing or a condemnation of the pharmaceutical companies, it all resonates with a common thread: A deep-rooted desire to end suffering among fellow human beings and see more people live out healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.
That single mission has driven me to write over two thousand articles over the last six years -- articles that I've been told have touched the lives of a huge number of people. And although I may be the vehicle for typing these words onto the page, it is YOU who has made this effort possible and turned NaturalNews into such a popular online destination for people seeking the truth about health and healing.
Without your support -- your hyperlinks, your purchases of our books and your participation in our reader feedback polls -- none of this would be possible. You are the positive force that has given us the financial ability to pay the rent (and the staff) to keep NaturalNews going. You're the people who share these articles with others and thereby touch their lives in a meaningful way.
Of course, not everybody is ready for the bluntness of the information I publish on NaturalNews. For these six years, I've relentlessly pursued a simple policy when it comes to the news: Tell the truth and don't pull any punches. NaturalNews isn't designed to be pacifist, or politically correct or to appease any corporate interests. It's designed to give you the information you need, whether positive or negative -- information that can make a material difference in the health and safety of you and your family members.
Because of this, NaturalNews readers are a very special kind of people. They are the self-thinkers, the questioners... the true Skeptics! NaturalNews readers span all political parties, all religious affiliations and all races and nationalities. They believe in these things which remain the core principles of everything I write on NaturalNews:
• Empowerment of the People via truthful information.
• A sacred respect for all living things.
• Individual liberties combined with personal responsibility.
• Holding others accountable for their actions.
• Being prepared for the unknown.
• Compassion towards fellow human beings (as well as animals).
• Honesty and personal integrity; walking your talk.
• Healthy skepticism towards those who would seek to sell us factory-made, unnatural foods, products or medicines.
• Pursuing sustainable living with mindfulness of the effects of our actions on others: Other people and other living systems.
These beliefs put NaturalNews readers in a class of consciousness that is more advanced than the mainstream population. That's not said in a condescending way but rather with an understanding that different people are ready for expanded awareness at different times in their lives. Some people who don't follow NaturalNews today may very well find themselves enjoying it two years from now.
The fact that YOU get NaturalNews right now speaks volumes about who you are and the journey you've taken to get to this point. It means you've evolved past the child consciousness that corporations and authority figures often prey upon to control mainstream consumers. It also means you've embraced this very important idea of thinking for yourself in all circumstances.
There is no more important process of adulthood, in my opinion. And that's why I welcome and honor all those NaturalNews readers who may not even agree with everything published on the website. (I don't even agree with all of it, either.) We publish a variety of views from different authors who represent different perspectives on the world. You will continue to see a diverse collection of viewpoints, theories and explanations on NaturalNews, and your ability to see the value in NaturalNews does not depend on you agreeing with every article published on the website.
In fact, I would be disappointed if you agreed with everything! As a thinking, higher-consciousness human being, your job is much the same as mine: To take in information, evaluate it based on your beliefs and experience, and then decide what elements hold value for you and can become an integrated part of your life.
If you read just one article on NaturalNews in an entire year that makes a lasting, positive impact in your life, then it's worth the reading! That's why I keep writing; with the desire and the intention that every article I put out there is going to reach the right people at the right time so that it has exactly the message that person needs to hear to get off chemotherapy, for example, or to save their children from excessive mandatory vaccinations. The more people we can turn on to vitamin D and sunlight, nutritional healing and personal health responsibility, the more of a positive impact we can all make on the future of our world.
This is why I offer you my deepest gratitude for your ongoing support of NaturalNews and our articles, cartoons, videos, books and now even the NaturalNews Store. Please know that your support is mirrored here with our own efforts to keep reaching more people with a truthful, powerful message about self-healing and sustainable living.
And throughout this year, by the way, you will see powerful new features implemented on NaturalNews.com. Our website is expanding in both content and functionality with new initiatives that you'll see rolled out over the next few months. It is your support that has made this possible, and I thank you for enabling us to continue our pursuit of our important mission.
You already know this, but it's worth repeating: NaturalNews speaks with an honest voice that is un-contaminated by any corporate agenda. We are not owned, influenced or controlled by powerful corporations. We are merely operated by ordinary people with extraordinary passion for telling the truth about health and healing.
Our message is not approved by the FDA, the CDC or the WHO. We will likely never receive mainstream coverage on CNN. We will never be acknowledged by the mainstream media in any honest way that tells the whole story of our mission, our positive impact and the lives we've touched with these efforts.
We have no advertising budget. We have no public relations firm. Individuals find us one at a time, for their own reasons, and they often discover a refreshing truth with NaturalNews -- a unique perspective on the world that at first shocks them, and then later comforts them. People notice right away that it feels different from the pre-packaged, processed "junk" news presented to them by supermodels reading teleprompter scripts on cable news channels. NaturalNews is real. It's genuine. It's written by people, not corporations. It's written to benefit YOU, not the quarterly dividends of some corporate sponsor.
NaturalNews will continue to stay real. The network is not for sale. The editorial content cannot be bought off. And I will personally continue to exercise our First Amendment rights to their fullest in my condemnations of drug companies, the FDA and anyone I see engaged in acts of corruption or dishonesty that harm my fellow Americans.
We will continue to oppose the criminal conspiracy of the cancer industry; the incessant disease mongering of the drug companies and the FDA's attempts to censor truthful speech about nutritional supplements. With your support, we will help fight mass fluoridation, mandatory vaccinations and the mammography industry with the only weapon we really need: The TRUTH.
The truth is on our side, friends, and we will one day emerge victorious in this battle for the safety and dignity of our fellow human beings. It is my deepest desire to one day see the natural products industry set free from the tyranny of the FDA; to see moms and dads teaching their children how to improve their health with sunlight instead of sunscreens; to see mass fluoridation outlawed and to see the criminal CEOs of drug companies arrested and brought to trial for their crimes against humanity.
With your help, we will continue to work toward these ends -- towards health freedom for all. I foresee a healthier, happier and brighter world in our collective future, and with your help I believe we can get there!
Thank you for your continued readership and support.
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews Tip of the day (from Mike):
Eating blueberries really does improve memory and brain function, but beware of dried blueberries because many of them are sweetened with sugar. Check the labels to be sure, or choose organic frozen blueberries, which typically have no added sugar.
NaturalNews) I've been writing for NaturalNews now for over six years, and in that time the most important thing I've come to realize isn't something about herbs, or nutrients, or Big Pharma... it's that I'm blessed to have you as a reader. And in this thank-you article, I'd like to share exactly why I feel to blessed and honored to continue writing for you.
When I was a kid, I used to volunteer in nursing homes. I would bring water to the elderly patients and refill the cups on their bedside stands. At the time, I thought my job was to deliver water -- it wasn't until many years later that I realized my true job was to bring these elderly patients something far more important: The smile and conversation of a young boy. The water was inconsequential compared to the joy these elderly patients experienced from spending a few minutes talking with a vibrant young boy, often while holding my hands in theirs.
Although I didn't know it at the time, this was my first experience as a healer. As it turns out, it was the first of many.
There's a simple truth that every healer understands: The healer heals himself (or herself) at the same time they encourage healing in others. The simple act of expressing compassion, positive intentions or the energy of self-healing to others also activates that response in your own being. This is one of the tenants of Buddhism, by the way, which is one of the religions I've studied. Buddhism says that the very act of expressing compassion toward others activates the various mechanisms of self-love that exist within yourself. It's a wise and universal truth to remember.
For me, writing articles on NaturalNews.com has been an act of compassion towards my fellow human beings. No matter what I'm writing, whether it's a series on self healing or a condemnation of the pharmaceutical companies, it all resonates with a common thread: A deep-rooted desire to end suffering among fellow human beings and see more people live out healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.
That single mission has driven me to write over two thousand articles over the last six years -- articles that I've been told have touched the lives of a huge number of people. And although I may be the vehicle for typing these words onto the page, it is YOU who has made this effort possible and turned NaturalNews into such a popular online destination for people seeking the truth about health and healing.
Without your support -- your hyperlinks, your purchases of our books and your participation in our reader feedback polls -- none of this would be possible. You are the positive force that has given us the financial ability to pay the rent (and the staff) to keep NaturalNews going. You're the people who share these articles with others and thereby touch their lives in a meaningful way.
Of course, not everybody is ready for the bluntness of the information I publish on NaturalNews. For these six years, I've relentlessly pursued a simple policy when it comes to the news: Tell the truth and don't pull any punches. NaturalNews isn't designed to be pacifist, or politically correct or to appease any corporate interests. It's designed to give you the information you need, whether positive or negative -- information that can make a material difference in the health and safety of you and your family members.
Because of this, NaturalNews readers are a very special kind of people. They are the self-thinkers, the questioners... the true Skeptics! NaturalNews readers span all political parties, all religious affiliations and all races and nationalities. They believe in these things which remain the core principles of everything I write on NaturalNews:
• Empowerment of the People via truthful information.
• A sacred respect for all living things.
• Individual liberties combined with personal responsibility.
• Holding others accountable for their actions.
• Being prepared for the unknown.
• Compassion towards fellow human beings (as well as animals).
• Honesty and personal integrity; walking your talk.
• Healthy skepticism towards those who would seek to sell us factory-made, unnatural foods, products or medicines.
• Pursuing sustainable living with mindfulness of the effects of our actions on others: Other people and other living systems.
These beliefs put NaturalNews readers in a class of consciousness that is more advanced than the mainstream population. That's not said in a condescending way but rather with an understanding that different people are ready for expanded awareness at different times in their lives. Some people who don't follow NaturalNews today may very well find themselves enjoying it two years from now.
The fact that YOU get NaturalNews right now speaks volumes about who you are and the journey you've taken to get to this point. It means you've evolved past the child consciousness that corporations and authority figures often prey upon to control mainstream consumers. It also means you've embraced this very important idea of thinking for yourself in all circumstances.
There is no more important process of adulthood, in my opinion. And that's why I welcome and honor all those NaturalNews readers who may not even agree with everything published on the website. (I don't even agree with all of it, either.) We publish a variety of views from different authors who represent different perspectives on the world. You will continue to see a diverse collection of viewpoints, theories and explanations on NaturalNews, and your ability to see the value in NaturalNews does not depend on you agreeing with every article published on the website.
In fact, I would be disappointed if you agreed with everything! As a thinking, higher-consciousness human being, your job is much the same as mine: To take in information, evaluate it based on your beliefs and experience, and then decide what elements hold value for you and can become an integrated part of your life.
If you read just one article on NaturalNews in an entire year that makes a lasting, positive impact in your life, then it's worth the reading! That's why I keep writing; with the desire and the intention that every article I put out there is going to reach the right people at the right time so that it has exactly the message that person needs to hear to get off chemotherapy, for example, or to save their children from excessive mandatory vaccinations. The more people we can turn on to vitamin D and sunlight, nutritional healing and personal health responsibility, the more of a positive impact we can all make on the future of our world.
This is why I offer you my deepest gratitude for your ongoing support of NaturalNews and our articles, cartoons, videos, books and now even the NaturalNews Store. Please know that your support is mirrored here with our own efforts to keep reaching more people with a truthful, powerful message about self-healing and sustainable living.
And throughout this year, by the way, you will see powerful new features implemented on NaturalNews.com. Our website is expanding in both content and functionality with new initiatives that you'll see rolled out over the next few months. It is your support that has made this possible, and I thank you for enabling us to continue our pursuit of our important mission.
You already know this, but it's worth repeating: NaturalNews speaks with an honest voice that is un-contaminated by any corporate agenda. We are not owned, influenced or controlled by powerful corporations. We are merely operated by ordinary people with extraordinary passion for telling the truth about health and healing.
Our message is not approved by the FDA, the CDC or the WHO. We will likely never receive mainstream coverage on CNN. We will never be acknowledged by the mainstream media in any honest way that tells the whole story of our mission, our positive impact and the lives we've touched with these efforts.
We have no advertising budget. We have no public relations firm. Individuals find us one at a time, for their own reasons, and they often discover a refreshing truth with NaturalNews -- a unique perspective on the world that at first shocks them, and then later comforts them. People notice right away that it feels different from the pre-packaged, processed "junk" news presented to them by supermodels reading teleprompter scripts on cable news channels. NaturalNews is real. It's genuine. It's written by people, not corporations. It's written to benefit YOU, not the quarterly dividends of some corporate sponsor.
NaturalNews will continue to stay real. The network is not for sale. The editorial content cannot be bought off. And I will personally continue to exercise our First Amendment rights to their fullest in my condemnations of drug companies, the FDA and anyone I see engaged in acts of corruption or dishonesty that harm my fellow Americans.
We will continue to oppose the criminal conspiracy of the cancer industry; the incessant disease mongering of the drug companies and the FDA's attempts to censor truthful speech about nutritional supplements. With your support, we will help fight mass fluoridation, mandatory vaccinations and the mammography industry with the only weapon we really need: The TRUTH.
The truth is on our side, friends, and we will one day emerge victorious in this battle for the safety and dignity of our fellow human beings. It is my deepest desire to one day see the natural products industry set free from the tyranny of the FDA; to see moms and dads teaching their children how to improve their health with sunlight instead of sunscreens; to see mass fluoridation outlawed and to see the criminal CEOs of drug companies arrested and brought to trial for their crimes against humanity.
With your help, we will continue to work toward these ends -- towards health freedom for all. I foresee a healthier, happier and brighter world in our collective future, and with your help I believe we can get there!
Thank you for your continued readership and support.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Andrew Wakefield, Scientific Censorship, and Fourteen Monkeys; A statement by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey
Andrew Wakefield, Scientific Censorship, and Fourteen Monkeys; A statement by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey: "Saturday, February 06, 2010
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)"
NaturalNews) When it comes to vaccines, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey get it. They see how the pharma industry is engineering a campaign to silence Dr. Andrew Wakefield in order to suppress the publication of startling new evidence linking vaccines to severe neurological damage.
At great risk to their professional careers, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey have found the courage to dare to tell the truth about vaccines and autism. Despite the vicious attacks by the pro-vaccine zealots who will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who challenges conventional vaccine mythology, McCarthy and Carrey have issued a powerful, inspired statement that reveals the truth behind the Big Pharma smear campaign that is intent on destroying the reputation of Dr. Andrew Wakefield before he can publish the final results of this important new study.
NaturalNews reprints that statement here, unedited:
A statement from Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey
Dr. Andrew Wakefield is being discredited to prevent an historic study from being published that for the first time looks at vaccinated versus unvaccinated primates and compares health outcomes, with potentially devastating consequences for vaccine makers and public health officials.
It is our most sincere belief that Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers reporting on the retraction of a paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues.
The retraction from The Lancet was a response to a ruling from England's General Medical Council, a kangaroo court where public health officials in the pocket of vaccine makers served as judge and jury. Dr. Wakefield strenuously denies all the findings of the GMC and plans a vigorous appeal.
Despite rampant misreporting, Dr. Wakefield's original paper (http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf...) regarding 12 children with severe bowel disease and autism never rendered any judgment whatsoever on whether or not vaccines cause autism, and The Lancet's retraction gets us no closer to understanding this complex issue.
Dr. Wakefield is one of the world's most respected and well-published gastroenterologists. He has published dozens of papers (http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/publ...) since 1998 in well-regarded peer-reviewed journals all over the world. His work documenting the bowel disease of children with autism and his exploration of novel ways to treat bowel disease has helped relieve the pain and suffering of thousands of children with autism.
For the past decade, parents in our community have been clamoring for a relatively simple scientific study that could settle the debate over the possible role of vaccines in the autism epidemic once and for all: compare children who have been vaccinated with children who have never received any vaccines and see if the rate of autism is different or the same.
Few people are aware that this extremely important work has not only begun, but that a study using an animal model has already been completed exploring this topic in great detail.
Dr. Wakefield is the co-author, along with eight other distinguished scientists from institutions like the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Washington, of a set of studies that explore the topic of vaccinated versus unvaccinated neurological outcomes using monkeys.
The first phase of this monkey study was published three months ago in the prestigious medical journal Neurotoxicology, and focused on the first two weeks of life when the vaccinated monkeys received a single vaccine for Hepatitis B, mimicking the U.S. vaccine schedule. The results, which you can read for yourself here (http://fourteenstudies.org/pdf/prim...), were disturbing. Vaccinated monkeys, unlike their unvaccinated peers, suffered the loss of many reflexes that are critical for survival.
Dr. Wakefield and his scientific colleagues are on the brink of publishing their entire study, which followed the monkeys through the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule over a multi-year period. It is our understanding that the difference in outcome for the vaccinated monkeys versus the unvaccinated controls is both stark and devastating.
There is no question that the publication of the monkey study will lend substantial credibility to the theory that over-vaccination of young children is leading to neurological damage, including autism. The fallout from the study for vaccine makers and public health officials could be severe. Having denied the possibility of the vaccine-autism connection for so long while profiting immensely from a recent boom in vaccine sales around the world, it's no surprise that they would seek to repress this important work.
Behind the scenes, the pressure to keep the work of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues from being published is immense, and growing every day. Medical journals take extreme risk of backlash in publishing any studies that question the safety of the vaccination program, no matter how well-designed and thorough the research might be. Neurotoxicology, a highly-respected medical journal, deserves great credit for courageously publishing the first phase of this vaccinated monkey study.
The press has been deeply misled in the way The Lancet retraction, and Dr. Wakefield's mock trial, have been characterized. Led by the pharmaceutical companies and their well-compensated spokespeople, Dr. Wakefield is being vilified through a well-orchestrated smear campaign designed to prevent this important new work from seeing the light of day.
What medical journal would want to step in front of this freight train? Moreover, why now, after 12 years of inaction, did The Lancet and GMC suddenly act? Is it coincidence that the monkey study is currently being submitted to medical journals for review and publication?
We urge the media to take a close look at the first phase of the monkey study discussed above and to start asking a very simple question: What was the final outcome of the 14 primates that were vaccinated using the U.S. vaccine schedule and how did that compare to the unvaccinated controls?
The U.S. vaccine schedule has grown from 10 vaccines given to our children in the 1980s to 36 today, perfectly matching the dramatic rise in autism. The work of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues deserves to be shared with the world to further, rather than censor, scientific progress.
Original source for this statement:
http://www.generationrescue.org/wak...
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)"
NaturalNews) When it comes to vaccines, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey get it. They see how the pharma industry is engineering a campaign to silence Dr. Andrew Wakefield in order to suppress the publication of startling new evidence linking vaccines to severe neurological damage.
At great risk to their professional careers, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey have found the courage to dare to tell the truth about vaccines and autism. Despite the vicious attacks by the pro-vaccine zealots who will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who challenges conventional vaccine mythology, McCarthy and Carrey have issued a powerful, inspired statement that reveals the truth behind the Big Pharma smear campaign that is intent on destroying the reputation of Dr. Andrew Wakefield before he can publish the final results of this important new study.
NaturalNews reprints that statement here, unedited:
A statement from Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey
Dr. Andrew Wakefield is being discredited to prevent an historic study from being published that for the first time looks at vaccinated versus unvaccinated primates and compares health outcomes, with potentially devastating consequences for vaccine makers and public health officials.
It is our most sincere belief that Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers reporting on the retraction of a paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues.
The retraction from The Lancet was a response to a ruling from England's General Medical Council, a kangaroo court where public health officials in the pocket of vaccine makers served as judge and jury. Dr. Wakefield strenuously denies all the findings of the GMC and plans a vigorous appeal.
Despite rampant misreporting, Dr. Wakefield's original paper (http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf...) regarding 12 children with severe bowel disease and autism never rendered any judgment whatsoever on whether or not vaccines cause autism, and The Lancet's retraction gets us no closer to understanding this complex issue.
Dr. Wakefield is one of the world's most respected and well-published gastroenterologists. He has published dozens of papers (http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/publ...) since 1998 in well-regarded peer-reviewed journals all over the world. His work documenting the bowel disease of children with autism and his exploration of novel ways to treat bowel disease has helped relieve the pain and suffering of thousands of children with autism.
For the past decade, parents in our community have been clamoring for a relatively simple scientific study that could settle the debate over the possible role of vaccines in the autism epidemic once and for all: compare children who have been vaccinated with children who have never received any vaccines and see if the rate of autism is different or the same.
Few people are aware that this extremely important work has not only begun, but that a study using an animal model has already been completed exploring this topic in great detail.
Dr. Wakefield is the co-author, along with eight other distinguished scientists from institutions like the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Washington, of a set of studies that explore the topic of vaccinated versus unvaccinated neurological outcomes using monkeys.
The first phase of this monkey study was published three months ago in the prestigious medical journal Neurotoxicology, and focused on the first two weeks of life when the vaccinated monkeys received a single vaccine for Hepatitis B, mimicking the U.S. vaccine schedule. The results, which you can read for yourself here (http://fourteenstudies.org/pdf/prim...), were disturbing. Vaccinated monkeys, unlike their unvaccinated peers, suffered the loss of many reflexes that are critical for survival.
Dr. Wakefield and his scientific colleagues are on the brink of publishing their entire study, which followed the monkeys through the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule over a multi-year period. It is our understanding that the difference in outcome for the vaccinated monkeys versus the unvaccinated controls is both stark and devastating.
There is no question that the publication of the monkey study will lend substantial credibility to the theory that over-vaccination of young children is leading to neurological damage, including autism. The fallout from the study for vaccine makers and public health officials could be severe. Having denied the possibility of the vaccine-autism connection for so long while profiting immensely from a recent boom in vaccine sales around the world, it's no surprise that they would seek to repress this important work.
Behind the scenes, the pressure to keep the work of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues from being published is immense, and growing every day. Medical journals take extreme risk of backlash in publishing any studies that question the safety of the vaccination program, no matter how well-designed and thorough the research might be. Neurotoxicology, a highly-respected medical journal, deserves great credit for courageously publishing the first phase of this vaccinated monkey study.
The press has been deeply misled in the way The Lancet retraction, and Dr. Wakefield's mock trial, have been characterized. Led by the pharmaceutical companies and their well-compensated spokespeople, Dr. Wakefield is being vilified through a well-orchestrated smear campaign designed to prevent this important new work from seeing the light of day.
What medical journal would want to step in front of this freight train? Moreover, why now, after 12 years of inaction, did The Lancet and GMC suddenly act? Is it coincidence that the monkey study is currently being submitted to medical journals for review and publication?
We urge the media to take a close look at the first phase of the monkey study discussed above and to start asking a very simple question: What was the final outcome of the 14 primates that were vaccinated using the U.S. vaccine schedule and how did that compare to the unvaccinated controls?
The U.S. vaccine schedule has grown from 10 vaccines given to our children in the 1980s to 36 today, perfectly matching the dramatic rise in autism. The work of Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues deserves to be shared with the world to further, rather than censor, scientific progress.
Original source for this statement:
http://www.generationrescue.org/wak...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Healing Cancer Naturally - A Holistic Approach
Healing Cancer Naturally - A Holistic Approach
by Mary Laredo, Natural News
In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on cancer. In the ensuing decades, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on the cause yet a cure by orthodox means remains elusive. By any standards this campaign has been a failed endeavour; or worse, a shameful fraud. Progress is a myth, and sustaining hope for the development of a safe and effective cancer drug is pointless. It's up to each individual to empower themselves with knowledge of the myriad ways to eradicate cancer without harming the body. Although it's easier to prevent cancer than to reverse it once it has taken hold, it is nevertheless reversible with holistic therapies that address imbalances of the body, mind and spirit. This is not an opinion; it is a statement of fact that's based on this author's first-hand experience.
A comprehensive approach to healing cancer includes at least the following eight factors:
1. Proper nutrition and clean water
2. Detoxification
3. Immune building
4. Oxygen therapy
5. Natural chemotherapies
6. Lifestyle changes: adequate sleep, sunlight & exercise
7. A positive attitude
8. Spiritual cleansing
Regardless of the cancer's aggressiveness, the body will respond to this holistic approach - the speed and degree to which it does so is commensurate with the diligence and extent to which these eight factors are applied. No cancer treatment, conventional or otherwise, comes with an iron-clad guarantee; however, it's important to consider that orthodox treatments ravage the body and ignore the underlying causes while alternative treatments strengthen the body and address its healing requirements. Reason and logic side with alternative therapies.
These guidelines are merely an overview of what a comprehensive holistic protocol would include. The term "cancer survivor" refers to those who have been diagnosed with the disease and are still alive – whether they are in remission or not. The cancer survivor should adopt as many of these strategies as is feasible, slowly incorporating them into one's lifestyle and working with a naturopath if necessary. A holistic healer can be located through the help of a reputable chiropractor, acupuncturist or other practitioner of the healing arts. A health food store may also provide contacts.
It's useful to determine whether the body's chronic stressors include specific nutritional deficiencies, absorption problems and/or the burden of toxic heavy metals. This insight is possible through analysis of hair, urine or blood, and will help determine which supplements and therapies will enhance treatment. Without addressing these conditions, optimum healing may be delayed or prevented.
1. Nutrition
Proper nutrition and pure filtered water is critical to a successful anti-cancer strategy. Diet alone can make or break the effectiveness of any cancer treatment and is therefore the most important strategic point. Knowing which foods feed cancer cells, which interfere with the treatment, and which assist in healing is vital.
Refined sugar feeds and strengthens cancer cells and should be the first substance to be eliminated. Sugar substitutes, refined flour and trans fatty acids damage the body and numerous studies link them to cancer. Dairy and all mucus-forming foods should also be avoided. Processed foods, carbonated beverages, coffee, alcohol, chlorine and fluoride fall into the category of foods and substances that interfere with healing and may fuel the cancer's growth. Conversely, a diet of nutrient-rich foods will enhance all levels of the healing process.
All plant foods contain nutrients that aid healing. Herbs, fruits and vegetables have properties that protect against and inhibit the proliferation of cancer while strengthening, cleansing and repairing the body. These include green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.), sea vegetables, fruits (especially berries and dark grapes with seeds and skins), garlic, ginger, turmeric and green tea, among many others. A diet containing an abundance of organic plant foods provides layers of nutritional protection.
Concentrated fats from flax oil and olive oil may be used unheated while coconut oil can be used for cooking. Although these healthy oils as well as fats from whole foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds provide the essential fatty acids necessary for oxygenation of cells, they should nevertheless be kept to a minimum (approximately 15% of diet) since fat slows digestion and in large quantities may accelerate tumor growth. Once the cancer is stabilized this restriction may be relaxed.
Animal protein should be eliminated if possible; however, we are all of different constitutions, so for those who must consume flesh, it should be restricted to small amounts of organic, pasture-fed beef or poultry, and wild-caught fish. Beans and legumes are an excellent source of fiber and many important nutrients and may be consumed in moderation.
While whole grains also contain fiber and nutrients, there is disagreement among experts as to their place in a healing diet. Due in part to their sugar and gluten content, and the digestive load they place on the body already burdened by cancer, they should be eliminated or restricted to gluten-free varieties, at least until the condition is stable. Likewise, natural sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup should also be restricted while cancer remains active. The herb stevia is a safe sweetener.
The cancer survivor should aim for a diet that is at least 80% raw. This will ensure an alkaline environment as well as an ample supply of enzymes for healing processes. Oral supplementation of digestive enzymes with meals and systemic enzymes on an empty stomach will further aid healing.
2. Detoxification
Effective healing requires the removal of accumulated toxins and metabolic wastes. Being mindful to eliminate or minimize the ingestion of processed foods, substances, and environmental toxins that inhibit the healing process is of primary importance. It's also beneficial to begin a healing regimen with a cleanse of the kidneys, liver and colon to remove stored toxins. There are many effective cleansing formulas and procedures that can be found at health food stores, the internet, or through a holistic healer.
In addition to consciously avoiding toxic exposure and cleansing the organs of elimination, there are various therapies and practices that will help purify the body. Some include daily stretching to release acids from tissues; rebounding on a mini-trampoline to move lymph fluid, flush waste, and increase the number and activity of white blood cells; perspiring in a sauna to purge toxins through the skin; juicing to alkalize and cleanse tissues, and castor oil packs to enhance circulation, stimulate the immune system and aid in detoxification.
Toxic build-up can also be released through fasting, which helps to heal and rejuvenate the body. The practice of coffee enemas should also be considered since it prevents the reabsorption of toxins, cleanses the blood and liver, and counteracts the symptoms of a potential healing crisis. To be clear on how to proceed with a fast or enema it may be necessary to speak with a health care professional.
3. Immune Building
The immune system is our body's natural defense against harmful substances and abnormal cell development. Any cell within the body can mutate in response to negative stressors, but a healthy immune system will stop its growth and defend against an uncontrollable malignancy. There are various groups of white blood cells that possess an innate intelligence for healing. Their functions include identifying, attacking, destroying and finally removing abnormal cells through the body's lymph system and organs of elimination. Strategies to strengthen and build these natural defenses to prevent or treat cancer include a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods and supplementation. Chlorella, mushroom extracts, aloe vera, and milk thistle are just a few of the many supplements that strengthen the body's natural defenses.
4. Oxygen
The more toxic the body, the less oxygen is delivered to cells. Oxygen starvation at the cellular level leads to disease; in fact, it's an undisputed fact that cancer cells cease to grow when blood and tissues are sufficiently oxygenated. There are many ways to oxygenate the body, including a highly alkaline diet (80% raw). This raises the body's internal PH which enhances the transport of oxygen to cells. Regular exercise, deep breathing, and adequate consumption of pure water are other simple methods to increase oxygen uptake. Ozone, which is activated oxygen, may be used therapeutically in the home by drinking ozonated water and using ozone saunas. Hospitals in Mexico, Europe and Malaysia administer intravenous ozone infusions with great success. There are also clinics in the United States; however, they operate under threat of FDA reprisal and confiscation of ozone equipment. For more information about oxygen therapies and ozone visit (www.oxygenhealth.com) , (www.colecenter.com) , and (www.ozonehospital.com) .
5. Natural Chemotherapies
There are many natural, non-toxic chemotherapies that directly or indirectly kill malignancies. None of them are stand-alone treatments however, and should be considered as one component of a comprehensive protocol. Amygdalin, also known as laetrile or vitamin B17, selectively targets and destroys cancer cells while healthy cells remain unharmed. The substance is naturally occurring in many plant foods, including apple seeds, bitter almonds and apricot pits, and may also be obtained through oral supplements or administered intravenously. Four decades worth of clinical evidence and case studies attest to its efficacy. Supplements may be found online, and many hospitals in Mexico and Europe administer intravenous laetrile; however, the FDA has deemed this therapy illegal in the States. Other treatments that indirectly kill cancer cells include shark liver oil, shark cartilage and melatonin, all of which cut off the blood supply to tumors.
6. Lifestyle Changes
Deep, restful sleep is an important part of an effective healing strategy. During sleep our bodies undergo the processes of rebuilding, detoxifying and healing. The liver works during the deepest level of sleep, the delta level, to break down and eliminate carcinogens. Additionally, sleeping in complete darkness contributes to healthy levels of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that promotes restful sleep. Eating three hours before sleep, especially protein, should be avoided since it diverts the body's healing efforts to digestion. The value of adequate sleep should not be overlooked because without it our healing efforts will be compromised.
Other lifestyle changes include sunlight exposure and daily exercise. Research links lack of sunlight to certain cancers and vitamin D from sunlight has been shown to shrink tumors. Adequate exposure during the early morning or late afternoon hours is the safest way to obtain the restorative benefits of sunlight. The darker one's pigmentation, the more exposure is necessary. Avoid over-exposure during the hottest part of the day as sunburns can damage skin and promote cancer.
Regular exercise speeds up the elimination of toxins and is necessary to keep the body oxygenated and to improve lymphatic function while building immunity. These therapeutic benefits can be achieved through moderate exercise at least three times per week and gradually increasing duration and/or intensity as new thresholds are reached.
The body, through its resilience, will heal itself when given what it needs. Its sustenance however is not the end of the story. Addressing the mind and emotions is the second component of the holistic approach that should not be overlooked.
by Mary Laredo, Natural News
In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on cancer. In the ensuing decades, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on the cause yet a cure by orthodox means remains elusive. By any standards this campaign has been a failed endeavour; or worse, a shameful fraud. Progress is a myth, and sustaining hope for the development of a safe and effective cancer drug is pointless. It's up to each individual to empower themselves with knowledge of the myriad ways to eradicate cancer without harming the body. Although it's easier to prevent cancer than to reverse it once it has taken hold, it is nevertheless reversible with holistic therapies that address imbalances of the body, mind and spirit. This is not an opinion; it is a statement of fact that's based on this author's first-hand experience.
A comprehensive approach to healing cancer includes at least the following eight factors:
1. Proper nutrition and clean water
2. Detoxification
3. Immune building
4. Oxygen therapy
5. Natural chemotherapies
6. Lifestyle changes: adequate sleep, sunlight & exercise
7. A positive attitude
8. Spiritual cleansing
Regardless of the cancer's aggressiveness, the body will respond to this holistic approach - the speed and degree to which it does so is commensurate with the diligence and extent to which these eight factors are applied. No cancer treatment, conventional or otherwise, comes with an iron-clad guarantee; however, it's important to consider that orthodox treatments ravage the body and ignore the underlying causes while alternative treatments strengthen the body and address its healing requirements. Reason and logic side with alternative therapies.
These guidelines are merely an overview of what a comprehensive holistic protocol would include. The term "cancer survivor" refers to those who have been diagnosed with the disease and are still alive – whether they are in remission or not. The cancer survivor should adopt as many of these strategies as is feasible, slowly incorporating them into one's lifestyle and working with a naturopath if necessary. A holistic healer can be located through the help of a reputable chiropractor, acupuncturist or other practitioner of the healing arts. A health food store may also provide contacts.
It's useful to determine whether the body's chronic stressors include specific nutritional deficiencies, absorption problems and/or the burden of toxic heavy metals. This insight is possible through analysis of hair, urine or blood, and will help determine which supplements and therapies will enhance treatment. Without addressing these conditions, optimum healing may be delayed or prevented.
1. Nutrition
Proper nutrition and pure filtered water is critical to a successful anti-cancer strategy. Diet alone can make or break the effectiveness of any cancer treatment and is therefore the most important strategic point. Knowing which foods feed cancer cells, which interfere with the treatment, and which assist in healing is vital.
Refined sugar feeds and strengthens cancer cells and should be the first substance to be eliminated. Sugar substitutes, refined flour and trans fatty acids damage the body and numerous studies link them to cancer. Dairy and all mucus-forming foods should also be avoided. Processed foods, carbonated beverages, coffee, alcohol, chlorine and fluoride fall into the category of foods and substances that interfere with healing and may fuel the cancer's growth. Conversely, a diet of nutrient-rich foods will enhance all levels of the healing process.
All plant foods contain nutrients that aid healing. Herbs, fruits and vegetables have properties that protect against and inhibit the proliferation of cancer while strengthening, cleansing and repairing the body. These include green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.), sea vegetables, fruits (especially berries and dark grapes with seeds and skins), garlic, ginger, turmeric and green tea, among many others. A diet containing an abundance of organic plant foods provides layers of nutritional protection.
Concentrated fats from flax oil and olive oil may be used unheated while coconut oil can be used for cooking. Although these healthy oils as well as fats from whole foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds provide the essential fatty acids necessary for oxygenation of cells, they should nevertheless be kept to a minimum (approximately 15% of diet) since fat slows digestion and in large quantities may accelerate tumor growth. Once the cancer is stabilized this restriction may be relaxed.
Animal protein should be eliminated if possible; however, we are all of different constitutions, so for those who must consume flesh, it should be restricted to small amounts of organic, pasture-fed beef or poultry, and wild-caught fish. Beans and legumes are an excellent source of fiber and many important nutrients and may be consumed in moderation.
While whole grains also contain fiber and nutrients, there is disagreement among experts as to their place in a healing diet. Due in part to their sugar and gluten content, and the digestive load they place on the body already burdened by cancer, they should be eliminated or restricted to gluten-free varieties, at least until the condition is stable. Likewise, natural sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup should also be restricted while cancer remains active. The herb stevia is a safe sweetener.
The cancer survivor should aim for a diet that is at least 80% raw. This will ensure an alkaline environment as well as an ample supply of enzymes for healing processes. Oral supplementation of digestive enzymes with meals and systemic enzymes on an empty stomach will further aid healing.
2. Detoxification
Effective healing requires the removal of accumulated toxins and metabolic wastes. Being mindful to eliminate or minimize the ingestion of processed foods, substances, and environmental toxins that inhibit the healing process is of primary importance. It's also beneficial to begin a healing regimen with a cleanse of the kidneys, liver and colon to remove stored toxins. There are many effective cleansing formulas and procedures that can be found at health food stores, the internet, or through a holistic healer.
In addition to consciously avoiding toxic exposure and cleansing the organs of elimination, there are various therapies and practices that will help purify the body. Some include daily stretching to release acids from tissues; rebounding on a mini-trampoline to move lymph fluid, flush waste, and increase the number and activity of white blood cells; perspiring in a sauna to purge toxins through the skin; juicing to alkalize and cleanse tissues, and castor oil packs to enhance circulation, stimulate the immune system and aid in detoxification.
Toxic build-up can also be released through fasting, which helps to heal and rejuvenate the body. The practice of coffee enemas should also be considered since it prevents the reabsorption of toxins, cleanses the blood and liver, and counteracts the symptoms of a potential healing crisis. To be clear on how to proceed with a fast or enema it may be necessary to speak with a health care professional.
3. Immune Building
The immune system is our body's natural defense against harmful substances and abnormal cell development. Any cell within the body can mutate in response to negative stressors, but a healthy immune system will stop its growth and defend against an uncontrollable malignancy. There are various groups of white blood cells that possess an innate intelligence for healing. Their functions include identifying, attacking, destroying and finally removing abnormal cells through the body's lymph system and organs of elimination. Strategies to strengthen and build these natural defenses to prevent or treat cancer include a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods and supplementation. Chlorella, mushroom extracts, aloe vera, and milk thistle are just a few of the many supplements that strengthen the body's natural defenses.
4. Oxygen
The more toxic the body, the less oxygen is delivered to cells. Oxygen starvation at the cellular level leads to disease; in fact, it's an undisputed fact that cancer cells cease to grow when blood and tissues are sufficiently oxygenated. There are many ways to oxygenate the body, including a highly alkaline diet (80% raw). This raises the body's internal PH which enhances the transport of oxygen to cells. Regular exercise, deep breathing, and adequate consumption of pure water are other simple methods to increase oxygen uptake. Ozone, which is activated oxygen, may be used therapeutically in the home by drinking ozonated water and using ozone saunas. Hospitals in Mexico, Europe and Malaysia administer intravenous ozone infusions with great success. There are also clinics in the United States; however, they operate under threat of FDA reprisal and confiscation of ozone equipment. For more information about oxygen therapies and ozone visit (www.oxygenhealth.com) , (www.colecenter.com) , and (www.ozonehospital.com) .
5. Natural Chemotherapies
There are many natural, non-toxic chemotherapies that directly or indirectly kill malignancies. None of them are stand-alone treatments however, and should be considered as one component of a comprehensive protocol. Amygdalin, also known as laetrile or vitamin B17, selectively targets and destroys cancer cells while healthy cells remain unharmed. The substance is naturally occurring in many plant foods, including apple seeds, bitter almonds and apricot pits, and may also be obtained through oral supplements or administered intravenously. Four decades worth of clinical evidence and case studies attest to its efficacy. Supplements may be found online, and many hospitals in Mexico and Europe administer intravenous laetrile; however, the FDA has deemed this therapy illegal in the States. Other treatments that indirectly kill cancer cells include shark liver oil, shark cartilage and melatonin, all of which cut off the blood supply to tumors.
6. Lifestyle Changes
Deep, restful sleep is an important part of an effective healing strategy. During sleep our bodies undergo the processes of rebuilding, detoxifying and healing. The liver works during the deepest level of sleep, the delta level, to break down and eliminate carcinogens. Additionally, sleeping in complete darkness contributes to healthy levels of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that promotes restful sleep. Eating three hours before sleep, especially protein, should be avoided since it diverts the body's healing efforts to digestion. The value of adequate sleep should not be overlooked because without it our healing efforts will be compromised.
Other lifestyle changes include sunlight exposure and daily exercise. Research links lack of sunlight to certain cancers and vitamin D from sunlight has been shown to shrink tumors. Adequate exposure during the early morning or late afternoon hours is the safest way to obtain the restorative benefits of sunlight. The darker one's pigmentation, the more exposure is necessary. Avoid over-exposure during the hottest part of the day as sunburns can damage skin and promote cancer.
Regular exercise speeds up the elimination of toxins and is necessary to keep the body oxygenated and to improve lymphatic function while building immunity. These therapeutic benefits can be achieved through moderate exercise at least three times per week and gradually increasing duration and/or intensity as new thresholds are reached.
The body, through its resilience, will heal itself when given what it needs. Its sustenance however is not the end of the story. Addressing the mind and emotions is the second component of the holistic approach that should not be overlooked.
Ann Knox
I have been living this way for the past 2 years with a diagnosis of suspected cancer, I refused biopsy and all conventional treatments, I have now been struck off any medical help- scans due to my decision and have been a lone ranger for 2 years. Thank you for bringing this information together, it is truly needed and the word is needed to reach as much of the world as we can and so I embark on my journey by running my conference The Truth Matters, Your Unconventional Route to Health, it is time to reveal the truth as to how powerful we all are.
John M Coffey
NO question about it!!! The cancer 'research' Industry is the biggest FRAUD & SCAM in the history of mankind! Not that some good has come out of it, but that the truth is suppressed to the profitability & control of the 'powers that be'!
Jane Wakefield
I am living proof that the information provided in this article works. 9 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I decided to have a lumpectomy, there were 2 invasive cancers found, they did not get clear margins but that’s when I found a way that was better for me. I changed my lifestyle which wasn’t far off from what is outlined in the article but I got more serious about my diet and I quit my job. I started eating concentrated herbal foods, eliminated animal products altogether and was able to avoid radiation, chemotherapy and drugs. Today at age 54 I have more energy, than I did when I was working in the corporate world in my 30’s. We must share our stories with those who are willing to look past traditional therapies and who are willing to trust their bodies and nature
Karan Cormac Jones
What an inspiring article! In our toxic world, it is so important to control what we CAN. I look at magazines from the 1950s and see the ads for the American Cancer Society asking for money ("we are close to curing cancer")and wonder why the "treatment" for cancer today is little changed from 60 years ago.
Samuel Colland
You will need to get Vitamins, Herbs, and/or Supplements to help heal CANCER. Coenzyme Q10 PLUS Coenzyme-A Improve celluar oxygenation. Facilitates the repair of RNA and DNA. Supports the immune system's detoxification of many dangerous substances. Can streamline metabolism, ease depression and fatigue. Also, it will increase energy
Lori Lauber
I am a stage IV, metastatic breast cancer survivor (liver mets) now of ten years . . . I 100% agree with everything stated herein! I have now been 8.5 years "no evidence of disease"! We have to empower our bodies to fight like hell when we hear the dreaded words "you have cancer". I think FOOD MATTERS IS FANTASTIC and refer it to everyone! xoxo
Rosie Masini Paralli
Very good info. Have you heard of Johanna Budwig and her health regime? It is amazing! I was diagnosed with breast cancer over 2 years ago. Unfortunately I had a biopsy. I refused the operation, chemo and radiation and I am doing my own thing. The tumor is still there. I am told that I am in the healing phase. I changed my diet considerably, mostly raw and vegetarian. I have started the Budwig diet and I am feeling great with lots of energy. I will be ordering the ELDI oils for the body rub. I had a live blood analysis and my blood looks good. I am looking forward to going back to the surgeon to show him that I am still alive and doing well. He became quite abusive when I refused the surgery and his treatments.
Brett
Knowledge gives people choices, i would like to add 2 things Flor Essence herbal tea was nearly approved as a cancer cure in Canada but industry was against it. Thousands have benefited from Flor Essence. Good fats like Udo's Oil should be a larger percentage of diet than given in your summary.
Andrea Kropp
Knowledge and unbiased information are the best thing we can offer cancer sufferers. I've just begun an article series taking complex research papers and translating them for the average person. Here is one about the leukemia study done on acai berries.
Roger
HAD STAGE 3-4 SQUAUMOUS CELL 3 YEARS AGO THAT WAS OUT OF CONTROL, I USED ZEOLITE DROPS, OXY SUPPLEMENT, Q10 AND SOME MINERAL SUPPORT AND HAVE TUMOUR PICS TO SHOW TOTALLY CURED IN AROUND 16 WEEKS SO THIS APPROACH SURE WORKS. \
This article from Food Matters website - from an editor Mary Leredo with the Natural News
Vaccine expert Dr. Sherri Tenpenny 8pm ET LIVE Tonight Internet or by phone
Underground Wellness Radio
TONIGHT February 3, 2010
Time: 5pm PT/8pm ET
LIVE Internet: blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness
LIVE by Phone: (347) 237-5608
Ask The Vaccine Expert!
Vaccine expert Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, author of Fowl! and Say NO to Vaccines stops by UW Radio to answer YOUR questions!
It's No Holds Barred! Call in and ask your burning questions about:
* Infant Vaccinations
* Swine Flu Vaccine Safety
* Gardasil
* The Autism Link
* Anything!!
Dial (347) 237-5608 and I'll get you on the air!!
Be sure to check out the above titles and Sherri's DVDs in the UW Store!
sean croxton
Underground Wellness
TONIGHT February 3, 2010
Time: 5pm PT/8pm ET
LIVE Internet: blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness
LIVE by Phone: (347) 237-5608
Ask The Vaccine Expert!
Vaccine expert Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, author of Fowl! and Say NO to Vaccines stops by UW Radio to answer YOUR questions!
It's No Holds Barred! Call in and ask your burning questions about:
* Infant Vaccinations
* Swine Flu Vaccine Safety
* Gardasil
* The Autism Link
* Anything!!
Dial (347) 237-5608 and I'll get you on the air!!
Be sure to check out the above titles and Sherri's DVDs in the UW Store!
sean croxton
Underground Wellness
Thursday, January 28, 2010
omega-3 fatty acids appear to have an anti-aging effect on cells.
(NaturalNews)
Thursday, January 28, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
As NaturalNews has previously reported, omega-3s, the fatty acids found primarily in cold water fish like salmon, have a host of health benefits, including alleviating depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/027285_o...), preventing age-related blindness (http://www.naturalnews.com/026856_o...) and protecting against prostate cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/026752_c...). And now there's evidence omega-3s may have a profound anti-aging effect, too.
Telomeres, structures at the end of chromosomes that are involved in the stability and replication of chromosomes, are markers of biological aging. Genetic factors, exposure to certain chemicals and environmental stressors shorten the length of telomeres and are believed to contribute to the aging process. New research just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that omega-3s slow down the shortening of telomeres -- this means omega-3 fatty acids may protect against aging on a cellular level.
Previous studies have shown that people with established cardiovascular disease who have a high dietary intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids live longer than others with the same health problems who do not have adequate omega-3s in their diet. However, the exact way omega-3s exert this protective effect is not well understood, according to background information in the JAMA study.
So Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues decided to investigate whether omega-3 fatty acid blood levels were linked to changes in leukocyte (a type of blood cell) telomere length in a study of 608 people who had stable coronary artery disease. The scientists studied the patients for about five years, measuring leukocyte telomere length at the beginning of the study and at the end of 5 years of follow-up. Their goal? To see if there was any association between baseline levels of two types of omega-3 fatty acids -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) -- in the patients' bodies and any subsequent change in telomere length. There was.
The scientists found that the research subjects with the least amount of DHA and EPA experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening. However, those with the highest levels of the omega-3 fatty experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening.
"Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before and after sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-standard deviation increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the odds of telomere shortening," the authors wrote in their study. "These findings raise the possibility that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease."
This also raises the very real possibility that an abundance of omega-3s in the diet could offer protection from cellular aging for all people -- whether they have heart disease or not.
Try this really great Omega 3
For more information:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...
http://www.naturalnews.com/omega-3.html
Thursday, January 28, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
As NaturalNews has previously reported, omega-3s, the fatty acids found primarily in cold water fish like salmon, have a host of health benefits, including alleviating depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/027285_o...), preventing age-related blindness (http://www.naturalnews.com/026856_o...) and protecting against prostate cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/026752_c...). And now there's evidence omega-3s may have a profound anti-aging effect, too.
Telomeres, structures at the end of chromosomes that are involved in the stability and replication of chromosomes, are markers of biological aging. Genetic factors, exposure to certain chemicals and environmental stressors shorten the length of telomeres and are believed to contribute to the aging process. New research just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that omega-3s slow down the shortening of telomeres -- this means omega-3 fatty acids may protect against aging on a cellular level.
Previous studies have shown that people with established cardiovascular disease who have a high dietary intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids live longer than others with the same health problems who do not have adequate omega-3s in their diet. However, the exact way omega-3s exert this protective effect is not well understood, according to background information in the JAMA study.
So Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues decided to investigate whether omega-3 fatty acid blood levels were linked to changes in leukocyte (a type of blood cell) telomere length in a study of 608 people who had stable coronary artery disease. The scientists studied the patients for about five years, measuring leukocyte telomere length at the beginning of the study and at the end of 5 years of follow-up. Their goal? To see if there was any association between baseline levels of two types of omega-3 fatty acids -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) -- in the patients' bodies and any subsequent change in telomere length. There was.
The scientists found that the research subjects with the least amount of DHA and EPA experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening. However, those with the highest levels of the omega-3 fatty experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening.
"Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before and after sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-standard deviation increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the odds of telomere shortening," the authors wrote in their study. "These findings raise the possibility that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease."
This also raises the very real possibility that an abundance of omega-3s in the diet could offer protection from cellular aging for all people -- whether they have heart disease or not.
Try this really great Omega 3
For more information:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...
http://www.naturalnews.com/omega-3.html
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Calcium and vitamin D supplements reduce the risk of bone fractures in everyone, young and old
NaturalNews)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
In recent years, Big Pharma has produced a variety of widely hyped bisphosphonate drugs including alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), risedronate (Actonel) and zoledronic acid (Reclast) that are aimed at preserving bone mass and reducing the risk of fractures. Unfortunately, as NaturalNews has reported, the more these medications are pushed on patients, the more serious side effects are being reported, from dangerous heart arrhythmias (http://www.naturalnews.com/026027_d...) to dental problems, esophageal ulcers, abdominal pain and severe damage to the jaw bone. But a new study involving almost 70,000 people from throughout the U.S. and Europe shows that nutrients -- calcium and vitamin D taken together -- offer a natural, side effect-free way to prevent fractures.
Because broken bones are a major cause of disability and loss of independence for elders, these findings are of particular interest to older people. In fact, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), fall-related injuries are the leading cause of accidental death among Americans age 65 and older. However, fractures can be serious at any age, causing pain, sometimes necessitating surgery and almost always restricting activities.
Good news: the researchers found it isn't only the aged whose bones benefit from taking calcium and vitamin D. Remarkably, they found the supplements reduced fractures in everyone -- the young and old, women and men, and even people who had already sustained fractured bones in the past.
The study, published in the January issue of the British Medical Journal, involved an international team of scientists headed by researchers from Copenhagen University in Denmark. They assessed the results of seven large clinical trials from around the world to document whether vitamin D alone or with calcium was effective in reducing fractures.
One of the most important trials included in the new investigation was a long term study conducted at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) in Sacramento as part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). This 15 year long national program was designed to study the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplements in preventing hip, spine and other types of fractures.
"What is important about this very large study is that it goes a long way toward resolving conflicting evidence about the role of vitamin D, either alone or in combination with calcium, in reducing fractures," John Robbins, professor of internal medicine at UC Davis and a co-author of the journal article, said in a statement to the media. "Our WHI research in Sacramento included more than 1,000 healthy, postmenopausal women and concluded that taking calcium and vitamin D together helped them preserve bone health and prevent fractures. This latest analysis, because it incorporates so many more people, really confirms our earlier conclusions."
Bottom line: the researchers concluded that it is the combination of calcium and vitamin D, rather than vitamin D alone, that is most effective in reducing a variety of fractures. "Interestingly, this combination of supplements benefits both women and men of all ages, which is not something we fully expected to find," Dr. Robbins stated. "We now need to investigate the best dosage, duration and optimal way for people to take it."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer
In recent years, Big Pharma has produced a variety of widely hyped bisphosphonate drugs including alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), risedronate (Actonel) and zoledronic acid (Reclast) that are aimed at preserving bone mass and reducing the risk of fractures. Unfortunately, as NaturalNews has reported, the more these medications are pushed on patients, the more serious side effects are being reported, from dangerous heart arrhythmias (http://www.naturalnews.com/026027_d...) to dental problems, esophageal ulcers, abdominal pain and severe damage to the jaw bone. But a new study involving almost 70,000 people from throughout the U.S. and Europe shows that nutrients -- calcium and vitamin D taken together -- offer a natural, side effect-free way to prevent fractures.
Because broken bones are a major cause of disability and loss of independence for elders, these findings are of particular interest to older people. In fact, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), fall-related injuries are the leading cause of accidental death among Americans age 65 and older. However, fractures can be serious at any age, causing pain, sometimes necessitating surgery and almost always restricting activities.
Good news: the researchers found it isn't only the aged whose bones benefit from taking calcium and vitamin D. Remarkably, they found the supplements reduced fractures in everyone -- the young and old, women and men, and even people who had already sustained fractured bones in the past.
The study, published in the January issue of the British Medical Journal, involved an international team of scientists headed by researchers from Copenhagen University in Denmark. They assessed the results of seven large clinical trials from around the world to document whether vitamin D alone or with calcium was effective in reducing fractures.
One of the most important trials included in the new investigation was a long term study conducted at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) in Sacramento as part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). This 15 year long national program was designed to study the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplements in preventing hip, spine and other types of fractures.
"What is important about this very large study is that it goes a long way toward resolving conflicting evidence about the role of vitamin D, either alone or in combination with calcium, in reducing fractures," John Robbins, professor of internal medicine at UC Davis and a co-author of the journal article, said in a statement to the media. "Our WHI research in Sacramento included more than 1,000 healthy, postmenopausal women and concluded that taking calcium and vitamin D together helped them preserve bone health and prevent fractures. This latest analysis, because it incorporates so many more people, really confirms our earlier conclusions."
Bottom line: the researchers concluded that it is the combination of calcium and vitamin D, rather than vitamin D alone, that is most effective in reducing a variety of fractures. "Interestingly, this combination of supplements benefits both women and men of all ages, which is not something we fully expected to find," Dr. Robbins stated. "We now need to investigate the best dosage, duration and optimal way for people to take it."
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monsanto Hid PCB Pollution for Decades
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46648-2001Dec31.html
Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution
PCBs Drenched Ala. Town, But No One Was Ever Told
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 1, 2002; Page A01
The Model City
The Company Committee
The Reluctant Regulators
The Dredged-Up Past
ANNISTON, Ala. -- On the west side of Anniston, the poor side of Anniston,
the people ate dirt. They called it "Alabama clay" and cooked it for extra
flavor. They also grew berries in their gardens, raised hogs in their back
yards, caught bass in the murky streams where their children swam and
played and were baptized. They didn't know their dirt and yards and bass
and kids -- along with the acrid air they breathed -- were all contaminated
with chemicals. They didn't know they lived in one of the most polluted patches
of America.
Now they know. They also know that for nearly 40 years, while producing the
now-banned industrial coolants known as PCBs at a local factory, Monsanto
Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped
millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills. And thousands of
pages of Monsanto documents -- many emblazoned with warnings such as
"CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy" -- show that for decades, the corporate
giant concealed what it did and what it knew.
In 1966, Monsanto managers discovered that fish submerged in that creek
turned belly-up within 10 seconds, spurting blood and shedding skin as if
dunked into boiling water. They told no one. In 1969, they found fish in
another creek with 7,500 times the legal PCB levels. They decided "there is
little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges." In
1975, a company study found that PCBs caused tumors in rats. They ordered
its conclusion changed from "slightly tumorigenic" to "does not appear to
be carcinogenic."
Monsanto enjoyed a lucrative four-decade monopoly on PCB production in the
United States, and battled to protect that monopoly long after PCBs were
confirmed as a global pollutant. "We can't afford to lose one dollar of
business," one internal memo concluded.
Lastmonth, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered General Electric Co.
to spend $460 million to dredge PCBs it had dumped into the Hudson River in
the past, perhaps the Bush administration's boldest environmental action to
date. The decision was bitterly opposed by the company, but hailed by
national conservation groups and many prominent and prosperous residents of
the picturesque Hudson River Valley.
In Anniston, far from the national spotlight, the sins of the past are being
addressed in a very different way. Here, Monsanto and its corporate
successors have avoided a regulatory crackdown, spending just $40 million
on cleanup efforts so far. But they have spent $80 million more on legal
settlements, and another lawsuit by 3,600 plaintiffs -- one of every nine
city residents -- is scheduled for trial next Monday. David Carpenter, an
environmental health professor at the State University of New York at
Albany, has been a leading advocate of the EPA's plan to dredge the Hudson,
but he says the PCB problems in Anniston are much worse.
"I'm looking out my window at the Hudson right now, but the reality is that
the people who live around the Monsanto plant have higher PCB levels than
any residential population I've ever seen," said Carpenter, an expert
witness for the plaintiffs in Anniston. "They're 10 times higher than the
people around the Hudson."
The Anniston lawsuits have uncovered a voluminous paper trail, revealing an
unusually detailed story of secret corporate machinations in the era before
strict environmental regulations and right-to-know laws. The documents --
obtained by The Washington Post from plaintiffs' attorneys and the
Environmental Working Group, a chemical industry watchdog -- date as far
back as the 1930s, but they expose actions with consequences that are still
unfolding today.
Officials at Solutia Inc., the name given to Monsanto's chemical operations
after they were spun off into a separate company in 1997, acknowledge that
Monsanto made mistakes. But they also said that for years, PCBs were hailed
for preventing fires and explosions in electrical equipment. Monsanto did
stop making PCBs in 1977, two years before a nationwide ban took effect.
And the current scientific consensus that PCBs are harmful, especially to the
environment, masks serious disputes over just how harmful they are to
people.
Today, the old plant off Monsanto Road here makes a chemical used in
Tylenol. It has not reported a toxic release in four years. Robert Kaley,
the environmental affairs director for Solutia who also serves as the PCB
expert for the American Chemistry Council, said it is unfair to judge the
company's behavior from the 1930s through 1970s by modern standards.
"Did we do some things we wouldn't do today? Of course. But that's a little
piece of a big story," he said. "If you put it all in context, I think
we've got nothing to be ashamed of."
But Monsanto's uncertain legacy is as embedded in west Anniston's psyche as
it is in the town's dirt. The EPA and the World Health Organization classify
PCBs as "probable carcinogens," and while no one has determined whether the
people in Anniston are sicker than average, Solutia has opposed proposals
for comprehensive health studies as unnecessary. And it has not apologized
for any of its contamination or deception.
In the absence of data, local residents seem to believe the worst. The
stories linger: The cancer cluster up the hill. The guy who burned the
soles off his boots while walking on Monsanto's landfill. The dog that died after
a sip from Snow Creek, the long-abused drainage ditch that runs from the
Monsanto plant through the heart of west Anniston's cinder-block cottages
and shotgun houses. Sylvester Harris, 63, an undertaker who lived across
the street from the plant, said he always thought he was burying too many
young children.
"I knew something was wrong around here," he said.
Opal Scruggs, 65, has spent her entire life in west Anniston, the last few
decades in a cottage in back of a Waffle House behind the plant. But in
recent years, Monsanto has bought and demolished about 100 PCB-tainted
homes and mom-and-pop businesses nearby, turning her neighborhood into a
virtual ghost town. Now she has elevated PCB levels in her blood -- along with
Harris and many of their neighbors -- and she believes she's a "walking
time bomb."
"Monsanto did a job on this city," she said. "They thought we were stupid
and illiterate people, so nobody would notice what happens to us."
The Model City
Anniston was born at the height of the Industrial Revolution as a
mineral-rich company town controlled by the Woodstock Iron Works,
off-limits to all but company employees. It was named in 1879 for the foundry
owner's wife -- Annie's Town -- but it was nicknamed "The Model City of
the South" because it was supposed to be a kind of industrial utopia, a centrally
planned rebuke to the North's slums after the Civil War. The company would
provide the workers' cottages, the general store, the church, the schools.
It would take care of the community.
Anniston retains its Model City slogan to this day, but its paternalistic
social experiment was quickly abandoned. It soon developed into a
heavy-industry boomtown, dominated by foundries and factories with 24-hour
smokestacks. In 1929, one of those factories began manufacturing
polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Now that PCBs are considered "probable" human carcinogens by the EPA
and the World Health Organization, it is easy to forget that they were once
known as miracle chemicals. They are unusually nonflammable, and conduct
heat without conducting electricity. Many safety codes once mandated the use
of PCBs as insulation in transformers and other electrical equipment. They also
were used in paints, newsprint, carbon paper, deep-fat fryers, adhesives, even
bread wrappers. The American public had no idea of the downside of PCBs
until the late 1960s.
Monsanto did. Shortly after buying the 70-acre plant at the foot of
Coldwater Mountain in 1935, the company learned that PCBs, in the
doublenegative of one company memo, "cannot be considered non-toxic." A
1937 Harvard study was the first to find that prolonged exposure could cause
liver damage and a rash called chloracne. Monsanto then hired the scientist
who led the study as a consultant, and company memos began acknowledging
the "systemic toxic effects" of Aroclors, the brand name for PCBs. Monsanto
also began warning its industrial customers to protect their workers from
Aroclors by requiring showers after every shift, providing them with clean
work clothes every day and keeping fumes away from factory floors.
One Aroclor manual reveals that "in the early days of development," workers
at the Anniston plant had developed chloracne and liver problems. In
February 1950, when workers fell ill at a customer's Indiana factory,
Monsanto's medical director, Emmett Kelly, immediately "suspected the
possibility that the Aroclor fumes may have caused liver damage."
Two years later, Monsanto signed an agreement with the U.S. Public Health
Service to label Aroclors: "Avoid repeated contact with the skin and
inhalation of the fumes and dusts." The company also warned its industrial
customers about ecological risks: "If the material is discharged in large
concentrations it will adversely affect . . . aquatic life in the stream."
But it did not warn its neighbors. "It is our desire to comply with the
necessary regulations, but to comply with the minimum," an official wrote.
In 1998, a former Anniston plant manager, William Papageorge, was asked in
a deposition whether Monsanto officials ever shared their data about PCB
hazards with the community.
"Why would they?" he replied.
In the fall of 1966, Monsanto hired a Mississippi State University biologist
named Denzel Ferguson to conduct some studies around its Anniston plant.
Ferguson, who died in 1998, arrived with tanks full of bluegill fish, which
he caged in cloth containers and submerged at various points along nearby
creeks. This is what he reported to Monsanto about the results in Snow
Creek: "All 25 fish lost equilibrium and turned on their sides in 10
seconds and all were dead in 3 1/2 minutes."
"It was like dunking the fish in battery acid," recalled George Murphy, who
was one of Ferguson's graduate students at the time and is now chairman of
Middle Tennessee State University's biology department.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Mack Finley, another
former Ferguson grad student, now an aquatic biologist at Austin Peay State
University. "Their skin would literally slough off, like a blood blister on
the bottom of your foot."
The problem, Ferguson concluded, was the "extremely toxic" wastewater
flowing directly from the Monsanto plant into Snow Creek, and then into the
larger Choccolocco Creek, where he noted similar "die-offs." The outflow,
he calculated, "would probably kill fish when diluted 1,000 times or so." He
warned Monsanto: "Since this is a surface stream that passes through
residential areas, it may represent a potential source of danger to children."
He urged Monsanto to clean up Snow Creek, and to stop dumping
untreated waste there.
Monsanto did not do that -- even though the warnings continued.
In early 1967, a group of Swedish scientists demonstrated publicly that
PCBs were a threat to the global environment. The Swedes identified traces
of PCBs throughout the food chain: in fish, birds, pine needles, even their
children's hair. They proved that PCBs are persistent -- which, as one
lawyer drawled in court last spring, "is nothing but a fancy word for
action preparatory to actual cleanup."
"We should begin to protect ourselves," it said.
The Company Committee
In September 1969, Monsanto appointed an Aroclors Ad Hoc Committee to
address the controversies swirling around its PCB monopoly, which was worth
$22 million a year in sales. According to minutes of the first meeting, the
committee had only two formal objectives: "Permit continued sales and
profits" and "Protect image of . . . the Corporation."
But the members agreed that the situation looked bleak. PCBs had been found
across the nation in fish, oysters and even bald eagles. They had been
identified in milk in Georgia and Maryland. They were implicated in a major
shrimp kill in Florida. Their status as a serious pollutant, the committee
concluded, was "certain."
"Subject is snowballing," one member jotted in his notes. "Where do we go
from here?"
One option, as a member put it, was to "sell the hell out of them as long
as we can." Another option was to stop making them immediately. But the
committee instead recommended "The Responsible Approach" -- phasing out its
PCB products, but only once it could develop alternatives.The idea was to
maintain "one of Monsanto's most profitable franchises" as long as possible
while taking care to "reduce our exposure in terms of liability." The
committee even drew up graphs charting profits vs. liability over time, and
urged more studies to poke holes in the government's case against PCBs.
But the company's own tests on rats, chickens and even dogs proved
discouraging. "The PCBs are exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity than we
had anticipated," reported the committee chairman. Fish tests were worse:
"Doses which were believed to be OK produced 100% kill." The chairman
pressured the company's consultants for more Monsanto-friendly results, but
they replied: "We are very sorry that we can't paint a brighter picture at
the present time."
The picture was not bright in Anniston, either. Company studies were
finding "ominous" concentrations of PCBs in streams and sediments. In
Choccolocco Creek, Monsanto had discovered deformed and lethargic
fish with off-the-charts PCB levels, including a blacktail shiner with 37,800
parts per million. The legal maximum was only 5 parts per million. "It is
apparent to us that there is a cause-and-effect relationship," the consultants
wrote.
At first, the committee members proposed reducing PCB releases to an
"absolute minimum." But then they removed the word "absolute." They saw no
benefit in a unilateral crackdown on Monsanto's PCBs when Monsanto's
customers were still dumping, too: "It was agreed that until the problems
of gross environmental contamination by our customers have been alleviated,
there is little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges."
And before Monsanto even began to phase out its best-selling PCBs, its top
customer intervened: General Electric, according to a memo by Papageorge,
insisted that it needed to keep buying PCBs to prevent power outages and
that the environmental threat was still "questionable." Monsanto agreed to
slow down its plan, and kept making PCBs until 1977, although only for
closely monitored industrial uses.
And what, Kaley asks, is wrong with that? Corporations, after all, have
obligations to their shareholders, and the federal law banning the
manufacture of PCBs did not take effect until 1979. Monsanto's critics,
Kaley says, do not understand capitalism.
"Look, this was a good product," Kaley said. "Did we try to save it as long
as we could? Absolutely. Was the writing on the wall when we stopped
producing it? Sure. But we did stop."
The Reluctant Regulators
By May 1970, PCBs were a hot topic in the national media. Members of
Congress were calling for hearings. It seemed like only a matter of time
before regulators would notice the river of PCBs spewing out of the
Anniston plant. "This would shut us down depending on what plants or
animals they choose to find harmed," the committee had warned.
So Monsanto decided to inform the Alabama Water Improvement Commission
(AWIC) on its own that PCBs were entering Snow Creek. And AWIC helped the
company keep its toxic secrets.
According to a company memo, AWIC's technical director, Joe Crockett, had
been "totally unaware of published information concerning Aroclors." The
Monsanto executives assured him that everything was under control, and
Crockett, who is now deceased, said he appreciated their forthright
approach. "Give no statements or publications which would bring the
situation to the public's attention," he told them, according to the memo.
"In summary . . . the full cooperation of the AWIC on a confidential basis
can be anticipated," the memo concluded.
That summer, Crockett again came to Monsanto's rescue after the federal
Food and Drug Administration found PCB-tainted fish in Choccolocco Creek.
(There were no fish -- or any other aquatic life -- in Snow Creek.) Monsanto's
managers told him not to worry, saying they hoped to reduce PCB emissions
to 0.1 pounds per day by September.
"Crockett will try to handle the problem quietly without release of the
information to the public at this time," announced a memo marked
CONFIDENTIAL: F.Y.I. AND DESTROY. Crockett explained that if word leaked
out, the state would be forced to ban fishing in Choccolocco Creek and a
popular lake downstream to ensure public safety.
Instead, the public kept fishing. But Monsanto's daily PCB losses, after
dipping from a high of 250 pounds to a low of 16 pounds, ballooned to 88
pounds -- 880 times its goal.
"There is extreme reluctance to report even relatively low emission figures
because the information could be subpoenaed and used against us in legal
actions," wrote an executive at Monsanto headquarters in St. Louis.
"Obviously, having to report these gross losses multiplies, enormously, our
problems because the figures would appear to indicate lack of control. . .
.
Is there anything more that can be done to get the losses down?"
There was. The problem had festered for 36 years, but the Anniston managers
finally began to act that fall, installing a sump, a carbon bed and a new
limestone pit to trap PCBs. And in 1971, facing as much as $1 billion in
additional pollution control costs in Anniston, Monsanto shifted all PCB
production to its plant in Illinois.
Before the year was over, Crockett helped out once more. The Justice
Department was considering a lawsuit against Monsanto over PCBs, and the
EPA wanted it to dredge Snow Creek. So Crockett set up a meeting between
Monsanto and an EPA regulator and helped argue the company's case. The
company's problems disappeared. One executive noted with relief in a memo
that a federal prosecutor had tried but failed to obtain Monsanto's
customer list: "I shudder to think how easily it would have been for someone . . .
to start spilling the beans as to whom we have been selling PCB products."
Monsanto's luck with regulators held in 1983, when the federal Soil
Conservation Service found PCBs in Choccolocco Creek, but took no action.
In 1985, state authorities found PCB-tainted soils around Snow Creek, but a
dispute over cleanup details lingered until a new attorney general named
Donald Siegelman took office in 1988. In a letter that April, Monsanto's
Anniston superintendent thanked Siegelman -- who is now the state's
Democratic governor -- for addressing the Alabama Chemical Association, and
meeting Monsanto's lobbyists for dinner. Then he got to the point: Monsanto
wanted to go forward with its own cleanup plan, dredging just a few hundred
yards of Snow Creek and its tributaries.
The company soon received approval to do just that.
A spokesman for Gov. Siegelman noted that in April 2000, he wrote to
President Bill Clinton about Anniston's PCBs, pointing out "the severity of
the situation" and requesting federal funding. But several state officials
acknowledged that a dozen years earlier, Alabama should have tested a much
larger area for PCBs before approving Monsanto's limited plan.
"It's hard to know how that one slipped through the cracks," said Stephen
Cobb, the state's hazardous waste chief. "For some reason, no one
investigated the larger PCB problem."
The larger problem finally burst into public view in 1993, after a local
angler caught deformed largemouth bass in Choccolocco Creek. After studies
again detected PCBs, Alabama issued the first advisories against eating
fish from the area -- 27 years after Monsanto learned about those bluegills
sliding out of their skins.
By 1996, state officials and plaintiffs' attorneys were finding astronomical
PCB levels in the area: as high as 940 times the federal level of concern
in yard soils, 200 times that level in dust inside people's homes, 2,000 times
that level in Monsanto's drainage ditches. The PCB levels in the air were
also too high. And in blood tests, nearly one-third of the residents of the
working-class Sweet Valley and Cobbtown neighborhoods near the plant were
found to have elevated PCB levels. The communities were declared public
health hazards. Near Snow Creek, the state warned, "the increased risk of
cancer is estimated to be high."
That's when Monsanto launched a program to buy and raze contaminated
properties, offering early sign-up bonuses and moving expenses as
incentives. "Monsanto intends to be a good neighbor -- to those who wish to
leave, and to those who wish to stay," its brochures explained.
Sally Franklin, a 64-year-old retired mechanic with a girlish voice, decided
to stay; she couldn't afford to buy a new home with the money Monsanto was
offering. One spring afternoon, she looked down from her PCB-contaminated
home overlooking what used to be Sweet Valley, now just an overgrown field
around an incongruous stop sign. So much for good neighbors, she grumbled.
"They must not think we know a black cow can give white milk," she said.
The Dredged-Up Past
Anniston is not much of a model city anymore. The EPA officials who set up
an Anniston satellite office to deal with the PCB problem are now alarmed
about widespread lead poisoning as well. The Army is building an
incinerator here to burn 2,000 tons of deadly sarin and mustard gas. And
the Anniston Star has been questioning Monsanto's past mercury releases.
Duane Higgins runs the Chamber of Commerce here in Calhoun County --
motto: "Near Atlanta . . . Near Birmingham . . . Near Perfect" -- and like
many civic leaders here, he's sick of headlines about pollution. "I'm tired of
paying for the sins of our fathers and grandfathers," he said. "I don't see
the point of dredging this stuff up."
He meant that literally, too. Local activists want Monsanto to dredge all
its PCBs out of Anniston's creeks and move all its buried PCBs to
hazardous-waste landfills. That could cost billions of dollars. But state
and EPA officials do not agree that such drastic measures are necessary.
They have no evidence that PCBs have escaped from the dumps since Monsanto
was required to cap them after a spill in 1996; they believe most of
Anniston's PCBs spread from the creeks during floods. And dredging projects
such as the one approved for the Hudson River remain scientifically as well
as politically controversial.
"There's a very pervasive problem in Anniston, but so far we haven't seen a
need for those kinds of dramatic actions," said Wesley Hardegree, an EPA
corrective action specialist.
Part of the problem is that despite all the publicity, much remains unknown
about PCBs. Various animal studies have linked them to various cancers.
Other studies suggest possible ties to low IQs, birth defects, thyroid
problems, immune problems, diabetes. A federal research summary titled "Do
PCBs Affect Human Health?" concluded: "No smoking gun . . . but plenty of
bullets on the floor."
But no one has found a link between PCBs and any cancer as definitive as
the link between, say, cigarettes and lung cancer. A recent GE-funded study --
conducted by the same toxicologist who originally discovered that PCBs
cause cancer in rats -- found no link to cancer in humans. And some
independent scientists remain skeptical of any serious health effects from
real-world PCB exposure.
Today, Solutia is negotiating a final Anniston cleanup plan; EPA officials
say the company has been aggressive in pressing for lower standards but
generally cooperative. It employs 85 workers in Anniston, and donates
computers and science labs to area schools. Its brochures pledge to "insure
environmental safety and health for the community" and to hide nothing from
Anniston residents: "You have a right to know, and we have a responsibility
to keep you, our valued neighbor, informed."
"We don't have horns coming out of our head," said David Cain, the current
manager of the Solutia plant in Anniston. "We're not evil people."
Still, the company's credibility problems linger in Anniston. A recent
company e-mail revealed that even the gifts of computers and labs were part
of a new damage-control strategy, along with donations to Siegelman's
inaugural fund: "The strategy calls for significantly increasing . . .
community outreach, contributions and political involvement while
aggressively seeking . . . to contain media issues regionally." The
company's critics say little has changed. And they warn that Monsanto,
which no longer produces chemicals, is now promising the world that its
genetically engineered crops are safe for human consumption.
"For years, these guys said PCBs were safe, too," said Mike Casey of the
Environmental Working Group, which has been compiling chemical industry
documents on the Web. "But there's obviously a corporate culture of
deceiving the public."
On Jan. 7, the two sides will have their day in court. Kaley said his
company has nothing to hide.
"I'm really pretty proud of what we did," Kaley said. "Was it perfect? No.
Could we be second-guessed? Sure. But I think we mostly did what any
company would do, even today."
Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution
PCBs Drenched Ala. Town, But No One Was Ever Told
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 1, 2002; Page A01
The Model City
The Company Committee
The Reluctant Regulators
The Dredged-Up Past
ANNISTON, Ala. -- On the west side of Anniston, the poor side of Anniston,
the people ate dirt. They called it "Alabama clay" and cooked it for extra
flavor. They also grew berries in their gardens, raised hogs in their back
yards, caught bass in the murky streams where their children swam and
played and were baptized. They didn't know their dirt and yards and bass
and kids -- along with the acrid air they breathed -- were all contaminated
with chemicals. They didn't know they lived in one of the most polluted patches
of America.
Now they know. They also know that for nearly 40 years, while producing the
now-banned industrial coolants known as PCBs at a local factory, Monsanto
Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped
millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills. And thousands of
pages of Monsanto documents -- many emblazoned with warnings such as
"CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy" -- show that for decades, the corporate
giant concealed what it did and what it knew.
In 1966, Monsanto managers discovered that fish submerged in that creek
turned belly-up within 10 seconds, spurting blood and shedding skin as if
dunked into boiling water. They told no one. In 1969, they found fish in
another creek with 7,500 times the legal PCB levels. They decided "there is
little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges." In
1975, a company study found that PCBs caused tumors in rats. They ordered
its conclusion changed from "slightly tumorigenic" to "does not appear to
be carcinogenic."
Monsanto enjoyed a lucrative four-decade monopoly on PCB production in the
United States, and battled to protect that monopoly long after PCBs were
confirmed as a global pollutant. "We can't afford to lose one dollar of
business," one internal memo concluded.
Lastmonth, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered General Electric Co.
to spend $460 million to dredge PCBs it had dumped into the Hudson River in
the past, perhaps the Bush administration's boldest environmental action to
date. The decision was bitterly opposed by the company, but hailed by
national conservation groups and many prominent and prosperous residents of
the picturesque Hudson River Valley.
In Anniston, far from the national spotlight, the sins of the past are being
addressed in a very different way. Here, Monsanto and its corporate
successors have avoided a regulatory crackdown, spending just $40 million
on cleanup efforts so far. But they have spent $80 million more on legal
settlements, and another lawsuit by 3,600 plaintiffs -- one of every nine
city residents -- is scheduled for trial next Monday. David Carpenter, an
environmental health professor at the State University of New York at
Albany, has been a leading advocate of the EPA's plan to dredge the Hudson,
but he says the PCB problems in Anniston are much worse.
"I'm looking out my window at the Hudson right now, but the reality is that
the people who live around the Monsanto plant have higher PCB levels than
any residential population I've ever seen," said Carpenter, an expert
witness for the plaintiffs in Anniston. "They're 10 times higher than the
people around the Hudson."
The Anniston lawsuits have uncovered a voluminous paper trail, revealing an
unusually detailed story of secret corporate machinations in the era before
strict environmental regulations and right-to-know laws. The documents --
obtained by The Washington Post from plaintiffs' attorneys and the
Environmental Working Group, a chemical industry watchdog -- date as far
back as the 1930s, but they expose actions with consequences that are still
unfolding today.
Officials at Solutia Inc., the name given to Monsanto's chemical operations
after they were spun off into a separate company in 1997, acknowledge that
Monsanto made mistakes. But they also said that for years, PCBs were hailed
for preventing fires and explosions in electrical equipment. Monsanto did
stop making PCBs in 1977, two years before a nationwide ban took effect.
And the current scientific consensus that PCBs are harmful, especially to the
environment, masks serious disputes over just how harmful they are to
people.
Today, the old plant off Monsanto Road here makes a chemical used in
Tylenol. It has not reported a toxic release in four years. Robert Kaley,
the environmental affairs director for Solutia who also serves as the PCB
expert for the American Chemistry Council, said it is unfair to judge the
company's behavior from the 1930s through 1970s by modern standards.
"Did we do some things we wouldn't do today? Of course. But that's a little
piece of a big story," he said. "If you put it all in context, I think
we've got nothing to be ashamed of."
But Monsanto's uncertain legacy is as embedded in west Anniston's psyche as
it is in the town's dirt. The EPA and the World Health Organization classify
PCBs as "probable carcinogens," and while no one has determined whether the
people in Anniston are sicker than average, Solutia has opposed proposals
for comprehensive health studies as unnecessary. And it has not apologized
for any of its contamination or deception.
In the absence of data, local residents seem to believe the worst. The
stories linger: The cancer cluster up the hill. The guy who burned the
soles off his boots while walking on Monsanto's landfill. The dog that died after
a sip from Snow Creek, the long-abused drainage ditch that runs from the
Monsanto plant through the heart of west Anniston's cinder-block cottages
and shotgun houses. Sylvester Harris, 63, an undertaker who lived across
the street from the plant, said he always thought he was burying too many
young children.
"I knew something was wrong around here," he said.
Opal Scruggs, 65, has spent her entire life in west Anniston, the last few
decades in a cottage in back of a Waffle House behind the plant. But in
recent years, Monsanto has bought and demolished about 100 PCB-tainted
homes and mom-and-pop businesses nearby, turning her neighborhood into a
virtual ghost town. Now she has elevated PCB levels in her blood -- along with
Harris and many of their neighbors -- and she believes she's a "walking
time bomb."
"Monsanto did a job on this city," she said. "They thought we were stupid
and illiterate people, so nobody would notice what happens to us."
The Model City
Anniston was born at the height of the Industrial Revolution as a
mineral-rich company town controlled by the Woodstock Iron Works,
off-limits to all but company employees. It was named in 1879 for the foundry
owner's wife -- Annie's Town -- but it was nicknamed "The Model City of
the South" because it was supposed to be a kind of industrial utopia, a centrally
planned rebuke to the North's slums after the Civil War. The company would
provide the workers' cottages, the general store, the church, the schools.
It would take care of the community.
Anniston retains its Model City slogan to this day, but its paternalistic
social experiment was quickly abandoned. It soon developed into a
heavy-industry boomtown, dominated by foundries and factories with 24-hour
smokestacks. In 1929, one of those factories began manufacturing
polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Now that PCBs are considered "probable" human carcinogens by the EPA
and the World Health Organization, it is easy to forget that they were once
known as miracle chemicals. They are unusually nonflammable, and conduct
heat without conducting electricity. Many safety codes once mandated the use
of PCBs as insulation in transformers and other electrical equipment. They also
were used in paints, newsprint, carbon paper, deep-fat fryers, adhesives, even
bread wrappers. The American public had no idea of the downside of PCBs
until the late 1960s.
Monsanto did. Shortly after buying the 70-acre plant at the foot of
Coldwater Mountain in 1935, the company learned that PCBs, in the
doublenegative of one company memo, "cannot be considered non-toxic." A
1937 Harvard study was the first to find that prolonged exposure could cause
liver damage and a rash called chloracne. Monsanto then hired the scientist
who led the study as a consultant, and company memos began acknowledging
the "systemic toxic effects" of Aroclors, the brand name for PCBs. Monsanto
also began warning its industrial customers to protect their workers from
Aroclors by requiring showers after every shift, providing them with clean
work clothes every day and keeping fumes away from factory floors.
One Aroclor manual reveals that "in the early days of development," workers
at the Anniston plant had developed chloracne and liver problems. In
February 1950, when workers fell ill at a customer's Indiana factory,
Monsanto's medical director, Emmett Kelly, immediately "suspected the
possibility that the Aroclor fumes may have caused liver damage."
Two years later, Monsanto signed an agreement with the U.S. Public Health
Service to label Aroclors: "Avoid repeated contact with the skin and
inhalation of the fumes and dusts." The company also warned its industrial
customers about ecological risks: "If the material is discharged in large
concentrations it will adversely affect . . . aquatic life in the stream."
But it did not warn its neighbors. "It is our desire to comply with the
necessary regulations, but to comply with the minimum," an official wrote.
In 1998, a former Anniston plant manager, William Papageorge, was asked in
a deposition whether Monsanto officials ever shared their data about PCB
hazards with the community.
"Why would they?" he replied.
In the fall of 1966, Monsanto hired a Mississippi State University biologist
named Denzel Ferguson to conduct some studies around its Anniston plant.
Ferguson, who died in 1998, arrived with tanks full of bluegill fish, which
he caged in cloth containers and submerged at various points along nearby
creeks. This is what he reported to Monsanto about the results in Snow
Creek: "All 25 fish lost equilibrium and turned on their sides in 10
seconds and all were dead in 3 1/2 minutes."
"It was like dunking the fish in battery acid," recalled George Murphy, who
was one of Ferguson's graduate students at the time and is now chairman of
Middle Tennessee State University's biology department.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Mack Finley, another
former Ferguson grad student, now an aquatic biologist at Austin Peay State
University. "Their skin would literally slough off, like a blood blister on
the bottom of your foot."
The problem, Ferguson concluded, was the "extremely toxic" wastewater
flowing directly from the Monsanto plant into Snow Creek, and then into the
larger Choccolocco Creek, where he noted similar "die-offs." The outflow,
he calculated, "would probably kill fish when diluted 1,000 times or so." He
warned Monsanto: "Since this is a surface stream that passes through
residential areas, it may represent a potential source of danger to children."
He urged Monsanto to clean up Snow Creek, and to stop dumping
untreated waste there.
Monsanto did not do that -- even though the warnings continued.
In early 1967, a group of Swedish scientists demonstrated publicly that
PCBs were a threat to the global environment. The Swedes identified traces
of PCBs throughout the food chain: in fish, birds, pine needles, even their
children's hair. They proved that PCBs are persistent -- which, as one
lawyer drawled in court last spring, "is nothing but a fancy word for
action preparatory to actual cleanup."
"We should begin to protect ourselves," it said.
The Company Committee
In September 1969, Monsanto appointed an Aroclors Ad Hoc Committee to
address the controversies swirling around its PCB monopoly, which was worth
$22 million a year in sales. According to minutes of the first meeting, the
committee had only two formal objectives: "Permit continued sales and
profits" and "Protect image of . . . the Corporation."
But the members agreed that the situation looked bleak. PCBs had been found
across the nation in fish, oysters and even bald eagles. They had been
identified in milk in Georgia and Maryland. They were implicated in a major
shrimp kill in Florida. Their status as a serious pollutant, the committee
concluded, was "certain."
"Subject is snowballing," one member jotted in his notes. "Where do we go
from here?"
One option, as a member put it, was to "sell the hell out of them as long
as we can." Another option was to stop making them immediately. But the
committee instead recommended "The Responsible Approach" -- phasing out its
PCB products, but only once it could develop alternatives.The idea was to
maintain "one of Monsanto's most profitable franchises" as long as possible
while taking care to "reduce our exposure in terms of liability." The
committee even drew up graphs charting profits vs. liability over time, and
urged more studies to poke holes in the government's case against PCBs.
But the company's own tests on rats, chickens and even dogs proved
discouraging. "The PCBs are exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity than we
had anticipated," reported the committee chairman. Fish tests were worse:
"Doses which were believed to be OK produced 100% kill." The chairman
pressured the company's consultants for more Monsanto-friendly results, but
they replied: "We are very sorry that we can't paint a brighter picture at
the present time."
The picture was not bright in Anniston, either. Company studies were
finding "ominous" concentrations of PCBs in streams and sediments. In
Choccolocco Creek, Monsanto had discovered deformed and lethargic
fish with off-the-charts PCB levels, including a blacktail shiner with 37,800
parts per million. The legal maximum was only 5 parts per million. "It is
apparent to us that there is a cause-and-effect relationship," the consultants
wrote.
At first, the committee members proposed reducing PCB releases to an
"absolute minimum." But then they removed the word "absolute." They saw no
benefit in a unilateral crackdown on Monsanto's PCBs when Monsanto's
customers were still dumping, too: "It was agreed that until the problems
of gross environmental contamination by our customers have been alleviated,
there is little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges."
And before Monsanto even began to phase out its best-selling PCBs, its top
customer intervened: General Electric, according to a memo by Papageorge,
insisted that it needed to keep buying PCBs to prevent power outages and
that the environmental threat was still "questionable." Monsanto agreed to
slow down its plan, and kept making PCBs until 1977, although only for
closely monitored industrial uses.
And what, Kaley asks, is wrong with that? Corporations, after all, have
obligations to their shareholders, and the federal law banning the
manufacture of PCBs did not take effect until 1979. Monsanto's critics,
Kaley says, do not understand capitalism.
"Look, this was a good product," Kaley said. "Did we try to save it as long
as we could? Absolutely. Was the writing on the wall when we stopped
producing it? Sure. But we did stop."
The Reluctant Regulators
By May 1970, PCBs were a hot topic in the national media. Members of
Congress were calling for hearings. It seemed like only a matter of time
before regulators would notice the river of PCBs spewing out of the
Anniston plant. "This would shut us down depending on what plants or
animals they choose to find harmed," the committee had warned.
So Monsanto decided to inform the Alabama Water Improvement Commission
(AWIC) on its own that PCBs were entering Snow Creek. And AWIC helped the
company keep its toxic secrets.
According to a company memo, AWIC's technical director, Joe Crockett, had
been "totally unaware of published information concerning Aroclors." The
Monsanto executives assured him that everything was under control, and
Crockett, who is now deceased, said he appreciated their forthright
approach. "Give no statements or publications which would bring the
situation to the public's attention," he told them, according to the memo.
"In summary . . . the full cooperation of the AWIC on a confidential basis
can be anticipated," the memo concluded.
That summer, Crockett again came to Monsanto's rescue after the federal
Food and Drug Administration found PCB-tainted fish in Choccolocco Creek.
(There were no fish -- or any other aquatic life -- in Snow Creek.) Monsanto's
managers told him not to worry, saying they hoped to reduce PCB emissions
to 0.1 pounds per day by September.
"Crockett will try to handle the problem quietly without release of the
information to the public at this time," announced a memo marked
CONFIDENTIAL: F.Y.I. AND DESTROY. Crockett explained that if word leaked
out, the state would be forced to ban fishing in Choccolocco Creek and a
popular lake downstream to ensure public safety.
Instead, the public kept fishing. But Monsanto's daily PCB losses, after
dipping from a high of 250 pounds to a low of 16 pounds, ballooned to 88
pounds -- 880 times its goal.
"There is extreme reluctance to report even relatively low emission figures
because the information could be subpoenaed and used against us in legal
actions," wrote an executive at Monsanto headquarters in St. Louis.
"Obviously, having to report these gross losses multiplies, enormously, our
problems because the figures would appear to indicate lack of control. . .
.
Is there anything more that can be done to get the losses down?"
There was. The problem had festered for 36 years, but the Anniston managers
finally began to act that fall, installing a sump, a carbon bed and a new
limestone pit to trap PCBs. And in 1971, facing as much as $1 billion in
additional pollution control costs in Anniston, Monsanto shifted all PCB
production to its plant in Illinois.
Before the year was over, Crockett helped out once more. The Justice
Department was considering a lawsuit against Monsanto over PCBs, and the
EPA wanted it to dredge Snow Creek. So Crockett set up a meeting between
Monsanto and an EPA regulator and helped argue the company's case. The
company's problems disappeared. One executive noted with relief in a memo
that a federal prosecutor had tried but failed to obtain Monsanto's
customer list: "I shudder to think how easily it would have been for someone . . .
to start spilling the beans as to whom we have been selling PCB products."
Monsanto's luck with regulators held in 1983, when the federal Soil
Conservation Service found PCBs in Choccolocco Creek, but took no action.
In 1985, state authorities found PCB-tainted soils around Snow Creek, but a
dispute over cleanup details lingered until a new attorney general named
Donald Siegelman took office in 1988. In a letter that April, Monsanto's
Anniston superintendent thanked Siegelman -- who is now the state's
Democratic governor -- for addressing the Alabama Chemical Association, and
meeting Monsanto's lobbyists for dinner. Then he got to the point: Monsanto
wanted to go forward with its own cleanup plan, dredging just a few hundred
yards of Snow Creek and its tributaries.
The company soon received approval to do just that.
A spokesman for Gov. Siegelman noted that in April 2000, he wrote to
President Bill Clinton about Anniston's PCBs, pointing out "the severity of
the situation" and requesting federal funding. But several state officials
acknowledged that a dozen years earlier, Alabama should have tested a much
larger area for PCBs before approving Monsanto's limited plan.
"It's hard to know how that one slipped through the cracks," said Stephen
Cobb, the state's hazardous waste chief. "For some reason, no one
investigated the larger PCB problem."
The larger problem finally burst into public view in 1993, after a local
angler caught deformed largemouth bass in Choccolocco Creek. After studies
again detected PCBs, Alabama issued the first advisories against eating
fish from the area -- 27 years after Monsanto learned about those bluegills
sliding out of their skins.
By 1996, state officials and plaintiffs' attorneys were finding astronomical
PCB levels in the area: as high as 940 times the federal level of concern
in yard soils, 200 times that level in dust inside people's homes, 2,000 times
that level in Monsanto's drainage ditches. The PCB levels in the air were
also too high. And in blood tests, nearly one-third of the residents of the
working-class Sweet Valley and Cobbtown neighborhoods near the plant were
found to have elevated PCB levels. The communities were declared public
health hazards. Near Snow Creek, the state warned, "the increased risk of
cancer is estimated to be high."
That's when Monsanto launched a program to buy and raze contaminated
properties, offering early sign-up bonuses and moving expenses as
incentives. "Monsanto intends to be a good neighbor -- to those who wish to
leave, and to those who wish to stay," its brochures explained.
Sally Franklin, a 64-year-old retired mechanic with a girlish voice, decided
to stay; she couldn't afford to buy a new home with the money Monsanto was
offering. One spring afternoon, she looked down from her PCB-contaminated
home overlooking what used to be Sweet Valley, now just an overgrown field
around an incongruous stop sign. So much for good neighbors, she grumbled.
"They must not think we know a black cow can give white milk," she said.
The Dredged-Up Past
Anniston is not much of a model city anymore. The EPA officials who set up
an Anniston satellite office to deal with the PCB problem are now alarmed
about widespread lead poisoning as well. The Army is building an
incinerator here to burn 2,000 tons of deadly sarin and mustard gas. And
the Anniston Star has been questioning Monsanto's past mercury releases.
Duane Higgins runs the Chamber of Commerce here in Calhoun County --
motto: "Near Atlanta . . . Near Birmingham . . . Near Perfect" -- and like
many civic leaders here, he's sick of headlines about pollution. "I'm tired of
paying for the sins of our fathers and grandfathers," he said. "I don't see
the point of dredging this stuff up."
He meant that literally, too. Local activists want Monsanto to dredge all
its PCBs out of Anniston's creeks and move all its buried PCBs to
hazardous-waste landfills. That could cost billions of dollars. But state
and EPA officials do not agree that such drastic measures are necessary.
They have no evidence that PCBs have escaped from the dumps since Monsanto
was required to cap them after a spill in 1996; they believe most of
Anniston's PCBs spread from the creeks during floods. And dredging projects
such as the one approved for the Hudson River remain scientifically as well
as politically controversial.
"There's a very pervasive problem in Anniston, but so far we haven't seen a
need for those kinds of dramatic actions," said Wesley Hardegree, an EPA
corrective action specialist.
Part of the problem is that despite all the publicity, much remains unknown
about PCBs. Various animal studies have linked them to various cancers.
Other studies suggest possible ties to low IQs, birth defects, thyroid
problems, immune problems, diabetes. A federal research summary titled "Do
PCBs Affect Human Health?" concluded: "No smoking gun . . . but plenty of
bullets on the floor."
But no one has found a link between PCBs and any cancer as definitive as
the link between, say, cigarettes and lung cancer. A recent GE-funded study --
conducted by the same toxicologist who originally discovered that PCBs
cause cancer in rats -- found no link to cancer in humans. And some
independent scientists remain skeptical of any serious health effects from
real-world PCB exposure.
Today, Solutia is negotiating a final Anniston cleanup plan; EPA officials
say the company has been aggressive in pressing for lower standards but
generally cooperative. It employs 85 workers in Anniston, and donates
computers and science labs to area schools. Its brochures pledge to "insure
environmental safety and health for the community" and to hide nothing from
Anniston residents: "You have a right to know, and we have a responsibility
to keep you, our valued neighbor, informed."
"We don't have horns coming out of our head," said David Cain, the current
manager of the Solutia plant in Anniston. "We're not evil people."
Still, the company's credibility problems linger in Anniston. A recent
company e-mail revealed that even the gifts of computers and labs were part
of a new damage-control strategy, along with donations to Siegelman's
inaugural fund: "The strategy calls for significantly increasing . . .
community outreach, contributions and political involvement while
aggressively seeking . . . to contain media issues regionally." The
company's critics say little has changed. And they warn that Monsanto,
which no longer produces chemicals, is now promising the world that its
genetically engineered crops are safe for human consumption.
"For years, these guys said PCBs were safe, too," said Mike Casey of the
Environmental Working Group, which has been compiling chemical industry
documents on the Web. "But there's obviously a corporate culture of
deceiving the public."
On Jan. 7, the two sides will have their day in court. Kaley said his
company has nothing to hide.
"I'm really pretty proud of what we did," Kaley said. "Was it perfect? No.
Could we be second-guessed? Sure. But I think we mostly did what any
company would do, even today."
Taxpayers Forced to Fund Monsanto's Poisoning of Third World
Monsanto has also been implicated in the indiscriminate sale and use of RoundUp Ultra in the anti-drug fumigation efforts of Plan Colombia. Of the some $1.3 billion of taxpayers' money earmarked for Plan Colombia, Monsanto has received upwards of $25 million for providing RoundUp Ultra.
RoundUp Ultra is a highly concentrated version of Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide, with additional surfactants to increases its lethality. Local communities and human rights organizations charge that Ultra is destroying food crops, water sources and protected areas in the Andes, primarily Colombia.
Paradoxically, the use of RoundUp Ultra has actually increased coca cultivation in the Andes. As local farming communities are increasingly impacted by RoundUp Ultra fumigations, many turn to the drug trade as a means of economic survival. Regional NGOs have estimated that almost 200,000 hectares have been fumigated with Ultra under Plan Colombia.
RoundUp Ultra is a highly concentrated version of Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide, with additional surfactants to increases its lethality. Local communities and human rights organizations charge that Ultra is destroying food crops, water sources and protected areas in the Andes, primarily Colombia.
Paradoxically, the use of RoundUp Ultra has actually increased coca cultivation in the Andes. As local farming communities are increasingly impacted by RoundUp Ultra fumigations, many turn to the drug trade as a means of economic survival. Regional NGOs have estimated that almost 200,000 hectares have been fumigated with Ultra under Plan Colombia.
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