Asbestos and Mesothelioma Cancer

Asbestos is the biggest work place killer today. Those who have worked with asbestos or who are regularly in contact with someone who has are at risk from asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. All these are fatal respiratory diseases which are extremely difficult to cure. Research is being carried out in various research labs all over the USA and many pharmaceutical companies are also endeavouring to find new drugs and treatment methods.

One rare disease caused by asbestos which is becoming increasingly common is mesothelioma. Although unknown by many today, it is almost certain that awareness of this disease will be broadcasted worldwide because of its increasing occurrence in men aged between 55 and 70. Many of these men are now lodging multi million dollar lawsuits against the companies who subjected them to asbestos. Those most at risk from mesothelioma are those who have been in regular contact with asbestos dust and fibres without sufficient protection. Just a couple of months of exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma 30 years later. The latency period (amount of time the disease takes to start taking effect) of mesothelioma is 30 - 50 years which is one of the reasons it is so difficult to cure because it is very difficult to tackle in its early stages. Another reason it is so difficult to cure is that its early symptoms are characteristic of many other more common diseases such as pneumonia.

Mesothelioma symptoms include:

- Chest pains - Coughing that worsens over time - Weight loss - Shortness of breath - Coughing up blood - Nausea and vomiting - Fatigue - Wheezing - Lung infection - Swollen lymph nodes - Loss of appetite

A patient will feel symptoms depending on which type of mesothelioma he or she has got. For information on the different types of mesothelioma go to: http://www.1-mesothelioma.co.uk

In the next 35 years it is estimated that over 1 million people will die from asbestos related diseases in developed countries. Most of these people will die from lung cancer and mesothelioma as these two are the most prolific asbestos related diseases.

All the detailed information you need on the symptoms, treatment, risks, science and more about mesothelioma can be found at:

http://www.1-mesothelioma.co.uk

All the detailed information you need on the symptoms, treatment, risks, science and more about asbestos can be found at:

http://www.asbestos-resource.co.uk

The Different Root End Infections Root Canal Infections Affect The Body

The three main root end tooth infections are called granulomas,cysts and condensing osteitis. Granulomas and cysts, though they appear to be quite similar, have distinctly different characteristics.

Fistulas are channels that carry pus from the infection area to the outside of the face or mouth. They help the body drain away excessive amounts of pus.

Condensing osteitis is rarely mentioned as a root end infection process, but Dr. Price found its presense to be accompanied by some very specific infection related reactions.

Dr. Price made bacteriologic examinations of three different dental infection areas. To his surprise, he found, for the most part that no matter how large an involved area or how much pus was flowing, comparatively few bacteria were present. He interpreted this to mean the body's white blood cells and other defense mechanisms had good control of the infection process present.

Furthermore, in such cases he found patients to be in relatively good overall health and that they did not exhibit the expected signs and symptoms of systemic illness.

Dr. Price reasoned that the large areas of bone destruction and pus about these infected areas were not a measure of the severity of infection, so commonly believed, but were in actuality expressing the goodness of the nvolved patient's immune defense capability.

He (Dr. Price) further found that though the organisms spread locally, they did not spread to other parts of the body until the infection had persisted for a prolonged period of time.

Condensing osteitis cases proved to be quite different. This condition exhibits a very dense area of bone, sometimes with very little loss of bone at the tooth's root end.

Patient histories and in-depth studies revealed that people exhibiting condensing osteitis suffered more serious consequences from their infections. Price surmised that in such a case the patient's defense system was poor and the body was trying to wall off the infected area with dense bone in order to contain its effects.

However, the tissue as the root end was incapable of controlling the bacterial growth in these cases and consequently some bacteria escaped through the bloodstream and set up diseases in other areas.

Dr. Price also noted the teeth of such patients became more tender and painful than those cases that appeared to be more seriously involved.

These observations by Price are so diametrically opposite to the average dentist's view and comprehension of what is occurring that many will have difficulty accepting these findings, in spite of the fact they were derived from studies of 1400 patients.

Numbers of case history examples were mentioned in this chapter to lend insight into these different infections and their effects. Included was a picture of cancer of the lower jaw below the roots of three lower front teeth which appear to be a typical dental infection.

Such examples were shown to emphasize there are other dental disease conditions than those mentioned, but they represent a much smaller proportion of cases and are not indicative of the average person's experience.

About author: Dr. George Meinig,D.D.S.,F.A.C.D. is a Founder of the Association of Root Canal Specialists Discovers Evidence That Root Canals Damage Your Health Learn What to Do. Learn how Dr. George Meinig discovered that a meticulous 25 year research program, conducted by Weston A. Price, DDS, under the auspices of the American Dental Association's Research Institute, was buried by disbelievers of the focal infection theory. Along the way, Dr. Meinig has received many recognition citatons and awards, both Nationally and internationally. For further information: Visit:http://www.1stultimategumsolution.com Edited and prepared by Sung Lee, alternate author

This article can be reprinted freely online as long as the entire article with resource box are included. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

The Operation Was a SuccessThe Patient Died ? 250000+ Deaths Annually

The Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 284 July 26, 2000, published an article documenting the tragedy of Traditional Western Medicine (TWM) paradigm. The author, Dr. Barbara Starfield of Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health describes how the U.S. health care system may contribute to poor health. Doctors, she stated, are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., causing 250,000 deaths every year.

This information is a follow-up to the Institute of Medicine report December, 1999, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.

DEATHS PER YEAR:
1. 12,000 -----unnecessary surgery 8
2. 7,000 -----medication errors in hospitals 9
3. 20,000 ----other errors in hospitals 10
4. 80,000 ----infections in hospitals 10
5. 106,000 ---non-error, negative effects of drugs 2

250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic--death induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy, especially of a complication of treatment causes--is outrageous!! Yet, the majority of people continue to trust the medical profession to 'cure' them, inspite of all the evidence to the contrary.

Dr. Starfield cites these warnings in interpreting the numbers:

?most of the data are derived from studies of hospitalized patients.

?these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with subsequent disability, discomfort or no relief from the presenting issue.

?the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. 1

If the higher estimates are cited, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year, constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease).

Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with:

?116 million extra physician visits
?77 million extra prescriptions
?17 million emergency department visits
?8 million hospitalizations
?3 million long-term admissions
?199,000 additional deaths
?$77 billion in extra costs

The high cost of health care system is considered at a deficit, but is tolerated under the propagandized belief that better health results from more expensive care. However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as high as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate and/or inadequate care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them die each year as a result of medical errors. 2

The high cost of the health care might be tolerated if it resulted in better health, but does it? Of 13 countries in a recent comparison,3,4 the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. The ranking of the U.S. on several indicators was:

?13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
?13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 14
?11th for post neonatal mortality
?13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
?11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males
?10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males
?10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males
?7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males
?3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males
?10th for age-adjusted mortality

The poor performance of the U.S. was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study, which used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

There is a perception that the Americans behave badly by smoking, drinking, and perpetrating violence, therefore their ?bad behavior? is the cause of a poor health ranking. However, the data does not support this assertion.

The proportion of females who smoke ranges from 14% in Japan to 41% in Denmark; in the United States, it is 24% (fifth best). For males, the range is from 26% in Sweden to 61% in Japan; it is 28% in the United States (third best).

The U.S. ranks fifth best for alcoholic beverage consumption. The U.S. has relatively low consumption of animal fats (fifth lowest in men aged 55-64 years in 20 industrialized countries) and the third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among men aged 50 to 70 years among 13 industrialized countries.

These estimates of death due to error are lower than those in a recent Institutes of Medicine report, and if the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000.

Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of death in the U.S., following heart disease and cancer.

Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the U.S.'s low ranking.

?Among 29 countries, the United States is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population. 17

?Japan ranks highest on health, whereas the U.S. ranks among the lowest.

?It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the U.S., high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment.

?Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked, whereas they are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provide the amenities of hospital care.

The JAMA article is a momentous occasion, because the AMA seldom acknowledges any mistakes or failures in publications widely dispersed. It is noteworthy, however, the most widely used wire service in the world, Reuter's, did not pick up the article. The JAMA is the largest and one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world.

The JAMA article makes it clear that doctors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. killing nearly a quarter million people a year. The only more common causes are cancer and heart disease. This statistic is likely to be seriously underestimated as much of the coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not address iatrogenic causes at all. Japan has benefited from recognizing that technology is wonderful, but just because a diagnoses is made, one is not obligated to ?cut it out? or ?bomb it with chemicals.? Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy?the mental causes for physical illness and the metaphysical way to overcome the?as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home. 20

Emotional and spiritual sustenance and healing, not treatment, is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals are rarely the answer to chronic health problems. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity that all of us have is the key. Improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle are basic. Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic illness are clues to maximizing health and eliminating disease.

Related Articles:

Author Affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Corresponding Author and Reprints: Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Room 452, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996 (e-mail: bstarfie@jhsph.edu).

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2. Kohn L, ed, Corrigan J, ed, Donaldson M, ed. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.

3. Starfield B. Primary Care: Balancing Health Needs, Services, and Technology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1998

4. World Health Report 2000. Available at: http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/report.htm. Accessed June 28, 2000.

5. Kunst A. Cross-national Comparisons of Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Erasmus University; 1997.

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8. Leape L. Unnecessary surgery. Annu Rev Public Health. 1992;13:363-383.

9. Phillips D, Christenfeld N, Glynn L. Increase in US medication-error deaths between 1983 and 1993. Lancet. 1998;351:643-644.

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12. Wilkinson R. Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London, England: Routledge; 1996.

13. Evans R, Roos N. What is right about the Canadian health system? Milbank Q. 1999;77:393-399.

14. Guyer B, Hoyert D, Martin J, Ventura S, MacDorman M, Strobino D. Annual summary of vital statistics1998. Pediatrics. 1999;104:1229-1246.

15. Harrold LR, Field TS, Gurwitz JH. Knowledge, patterns of care, and outcomes of care for generalists and specialists. J Gen Intern Med. 1999;14:499-511.

16. Donahoe MT. Comparing generalist and specialty care: discrepancies, deficiencies, and excesses. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:1596-1607.

17. Anderson G, Poullier J-P. Health Spending, Access, and Outcomes: Trends in Industrialized Countries. New York, NY: The Commonwealth Fund; 1999.

18. Mold J, Stein H. The cascade effect in the clinical care of patients. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:512-514.

19. Shi L, Starfield B. Income inequality, primary care, and health indicators. J Fam Pract.1999;48:275-284.

20. Hay, Louise L. Heal Your Body. Hay House, Inc. 1988; 1-83.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit (metaphysical) healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net