Hormone Therapy in Women Reduces Colon Cancer
by Terry Grossman M.D.

The Women's Health Initiative Study has shown that hormone therapy with conventional artificial hormones such as Premarin and Provera increases a woman's risk of breast cancer and heart disease, but osteoporosis is prevented and there is a lower risk of colon cancer.

According to some new data from researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in Denver, women who ever used hormonal therapies experienced a reduction in their risk of colon cancer of 28 percent. Colon cancer is diagnosed in 54,000 women in the United States each year, and with 25,000 deaths per year, it is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in women after lung and breast cancer.

Read more...

Folic Acid and the Top of the Food Pyramid
by Karen Kurtak L.Ac.

Human beings constantly strive to be more than what we think we are. We look outside of ourselves for the next thing to make us smarter or younger, stronger or live longer. This yearning has given birth to the multi-billion dollar industry of nutritional supplements. We are subject to a continuous stream of advertising and information on the next great discovery. If you drink this berry juice from the Amazon you will live longer! Take this new antioxidant discovered in these roots from some exotic part of China!

Let’s take the seemingly miniscule example of folic acid. Its name is derived from its source, foliage. One study after another has shown the incredible health-giving benefits of folic acid. To name a few: reducing the incidence of birth defects, reducing the incidence of lung cancer in smokers and several other types of cancer, reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease, and increasing fertility in both men and women. I can’t tell you how many women I have seen for infertility who became pregnant within a month of two of taking large doses of folic acid and B12. Folic acid has perhaps a couple hundred biochemical functions in the body. One of the more interesting is its ability to turn genes off by giving up (donating) part of its chemical makeup known as a methyl group (many other vitamins and substances do this as well).

On the flip side a few studies have come out recently showing that folic acid supplementation increases the incidence of some types of cancers especially in the prostate. We have to consider that everything in nature functions as part of the whole. When we eat green, leafy vegetables we receive not only folic acid but also an array of B vitamins and trace minerals which so often function with folic acid in the body. We also receive hundreds of plant chemicals that alter how our genes control our immune systems, detoxification pathways, etc. This is what we evolved with. The more we delve into the awesome intricacies of Mother Nature, we reach two realizations. (1)How little we know. (2) We already know everything because we evolved with it and are a part of it.

Read more... Agouti mouse study

How to Live to 100 - Take the Quiz

Our medical director, Doctor Terry Grossman, was in New York on May 5th and appeared on “The Morning Show" on Fox network television with hosts Mike and Juliet. Click on the link and join the audience in taking the quiz “How to Live To 100?” It only takes a few minutes and is a lot of fun. See if you can get all five questions correct.

Read more... Mike and Juliet show on the Grossman Wellness website

Preparing for the Worst, Hoping for the Best
by Lolita Hanks FNP-C

As our country goes through stressful times this is a good time to be reminded that we should be prepared for any emergency. In preparing for an emergency it is important to have at least 2-3 month supply of food and water on hand for your family in case of a flu pandemic or other national or local crisis that may interrupt the food supply or prevent us from leaving our homes.

Avoiding the flu or other community acquired diseases can occur by following simple guidelines. Wash your hands frequently using soap and warm water, hot water will cause cracking and breaking of the skin. Many commercial antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers have toxic chemicals, so make sure you read the label. Unwashed hands should be kept away from your head especially eyes, nose or mouth. Avoid contact with people who are sick.

Help support your immune system by taking supplemental vitamin D3 at least 2000 IU daily, vitamin A 5000 IU daily, vitamin C 2000mg daily and a good probiotic. Decrease your stress levels and get adequate rest. Avoid concentrated sugars as they prevent white blood cells from fighting foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses for 4-5 hours after ingesting the sugars.

If you suspect the flu, a homeopathic preparation that is quite effective for influenza is Oscillococcum, available at natural health stores. Coconut oil taken in liquid form 1 tsp 2-3 x a day can provide some anti-bacterial, viral and fungal defense. Other supplements with the same properties include grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, quercetin, honey (raw and unprocessed), mushroom extracts, vitamin C, garlic, cayenne pepper and probiotics.

A Tax on Sugary Soft Drinks - an Idea Whose Time Has Come
by Terry Grossman M.D.

Congress is considering legislation that would create a one penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. The amounts of money that would be raised are not insignificant as the price of one 12 ounce soda would increase 12 cents and a 12-pack would go up $1.44. Two goals would be accomplished if this tax goes through: billions of dollars would be raised to help state and local governments and consumption of these obesity-causing beverages would decrease.

Americans now consume on average more than 140 pounds of sugar per year, mostly in the form of high fructose corn syrup which is the main sweetener used in sugary drinks. It's estimated that children and adolescents consume nearly 15 percent of their entire daily calories in the form of these beverages. It is also believed that sugary beverages are the greatest cause of the current obesity epidemic in the United States. For every additional can of sugary beverages consumed each day, the probability of a child becoming obese increases by 60 percent.

We suggest you write your congressperson and let them know that you think that taxing sugary drinks is an idea whose time has come.

Read more...

Nine of Ten Conventional Cardiology Practice Guidelines Unsupported by Good Scientific Evidence
by Terry Grossman M.D.

The way in which conventional medicine is practiced and the information that is taught to medical students is determined to a significant extent by formulation of “clinical practice guidelines.” Researchers from Duke University recently examined practice guidelines for cardiovascular disease treatment developed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA). Guidelines are classified as either I, II or III level recommendations with level I being those for which there is general agreement that these treatments are useful and effective and level III is for procedures or treatments that are not useful or effective and might be harmful. Evidence supporting these recommendations is classified as either A, B or C. When the researchers looked closely, they saw that of 2711 class I recommendations, only 314 (11%) were supported by evidence in the A category, which consists of multiple randomized placebo-controlled trials or meta-analyses. Nearly half (48%) were supported only by C evidence, which consists mostly of expert opinion, but no good studies.

Read more...

Advanced Discussion: Considerations on Folic Acid Supplementation and Prostate Cancer
by Karen Kurtak L.Ac.

We know that like breast and uterine tissues, prostate cells also have estrogen receptors which, when activated , stimulate cell division and growth. If a cell in the prostate becomes cancerous, stimulation by estrogen or an estrogen-mimicking substance helps it to grow more quickly thereby making it more difficult for the immune system to combat. If men develop central adiposity, these adiposites aromatize testosterone into estrogen. As estrogen circulates to the prostate it will stimulate its cells to divide and grow. In order to be eliminated from the body, estrogen must go through two detoxification pathways. (1) Phase 1 methylation through the cytochrome P450 pathway of the liver then (2)glutathione conjugation in phase 2 liver detoxification. When estrogen goes through methylation it forms secondary intermediates which, if not eliminated immediately in phase 2 detoxification, re-circulate through the blood to target tissues. In this case, the prostate, breasts and uterus. Some of these secondary intermediates, like 16-hydroxyestrone, are significantly more potent than their predecessor, estradiol and can cause target cells to grow and divide very quickly. If the phase 2 enzymes that carry out glutathione conjugation are not operating at the same rate as methylation from phase 1, there will be an accumulation of these secondary intermediates. Since folic acid is a very effective methyl donor in the cP450 pathway and folic acid supplementation will help this pathway and lead to a magnified accumulation of secondary intermediates, ultimately giving any emerging prostate cancer cells an even better chance to thrive. Since many plant substances can assist in balancing phase 1 and phase 2 enzymes thereby reducing the circulation of secondary intermediates, receiving folic acid from its original source (plants) may help to correct this imbalance.