We are turning to naturopathy more and more for common aches and pains. It seems to go hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle. But is it safe? And how do you make it work along with conventional medicine?

Naturopathy is a system that combines modern scientific knowledge with the healing powers of nature. The focus is on uncovering and treating the cause, rather than treating the symptoms. For example, your elbow hurts and you go to your physician to figure out why. A doctor practicing conventional medicine may give you something for the pain, where a naturopathic doctor would work to figure out the source of the pain and how to heal it.

Western culture has come to rely on quick fixes. Why dig deep when there is a prescription to get you feeling good in a matter of minutes? Because most often the symptoms will return, sometimes bringing disease with them.

Naturopathy uses diet, natural botanicals, healthful lifestyle changes, and sometimes Chinese medicine and acupuncture to prevent and treat disease, and support best health. The “prescription” is based on each patient as an individual. You wouldn’t eat Paleo if meat made you feel awful, right? We are all different and our medicine, especially, should reflect that.

Prevention continues to become more prevalent in medicine. We’ve seen that poor diet and lifestyle choices are linked to health issues like heart disease and cancer. For a better look on how lifestyle affects our genetic predisposition, check out the video “Are Your Genes Your Destiny?“, by Dr. Deepak Chopra.

Influencing better health doesn’t stop at diet and exercise. Things like reducing stress levels and lowering toxic exposure are also beneficial in warding off disease.

Of course, there are many times when conventional medicine is needed. You don’t have to choose between the two. Naturopathic doctors work with conventional doctors and you can benefit from both. Dr. Christiane Northrup is one M.D. who also encourages a healthy mind/body connection, educating women on the link between chakras and emotional and physical health.

Wondering how to get started with naturopathy? Right now, not all states recognize doctors of naturopathy. Currently, 18 U.S .states license naturopathic physicians.

For those without local access to a naturopathic doctor, arm yourself with knowledge and present your questions and findings to your doctor. If they are not willing to hear you out, it may be time to make a switch.

Women have an especially hard time dealing with the issue of combining naturopathic ideas with mainstream medicine. Hormonal imbalances are often dealt with by prescribing synthetics to cover negative side effects. We all know that dealing with hormones is not a one size fits all matter. Ask for hormone testing and don’t be afraid to voice concerns over practices you feel uncomfortable with.

Some great reads on getting started with a healthier lifestyle: “Forks Over Knives” by T. Colin Campbell, “The Hormone Cure” by Sara Gottfried M.D., and “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” by Christiane Northrup M.D.

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“Unacceptable Levels” is a no-nonsense documentary that will challenge everything you think you know about health, safety, and environmental protection.

Chemicals are everywhere. Not just in pesticides, or cigarettes, or household cleaners. They’re in our food, our clothing, even our water, and no one–not even the scientists who made them or the companies who sell them–know exactly what they’re doing to our bodies or the environment.

That’s the startling message of “Unacceptable Levels” an award-winning documentary by Ed Brown that’s opening people’s eyes to just how flippant we’ve been about bringing these potential poisons into our homes and lives.

The first thing I noticed when sitting down to screen “Unacceptable Levels” was what a regular guy Brown was. He’s not an eccentric, aggressive director like Michael Moore, or a distracting public figure like Al Gore. He’s just a guy. A dad who works in the service industry. His commentary and questions aren’t perfectly scripted. He’s like us: just trying to break down a massive issue to find out what it really means for his family. Brown sets an approachable tone that lingers through the entire movie and draws you into his quest.

‘Unacceptable Levels’ starts with Brown thinking about the chemicals used at his restaurant job. On dishes, counters, and floors. Things he–and the customers–touch every day. It then shifts to his young wife, who shares her mysterious problem with miscarriage while trying to start a family. He embarks on a personal investigation to find out if all of these chemicals really are as “safe” as everyone seems to think.

Throughout the movie, we see Brown interviewing some of the best and brightest minds in chemistry, environmental science, and health care. He also speaks with grassroots activists working to address problems of pollution and illness in their own communities. What they share will make your jaw drop.

After WWII, left with a glut of companies who only knew how to make one thing–chemical weapons–and an American populace flush with money, corporations and the government decided it was time to capitalize. They turned chemicals designed to do one thing–kill humans and animals–into the materials that make up the products that now sit in everyone of our homes and offices.

When problem arose about what to do with the toxic by-products of making these chemical-laden products, laws meant to protect us were manipulated to allow for dumping them in our water or on the agricultural fields that grow our food. Brown’s interviewees discuss how, after decades of this careless behavior, we’re now seeing astronomical increases in chronic disease, infertility, and hormone issues. Increases that the medical community can’t explain, except to say that it can’t possibly be genetic.

Although at points during “Unacceptable Levels” you might feel incredibly discouraged or even nauseous, but Brown retains his open, honest demeanor–and it’s calming. He doesn’t freak out and tell us we’re all doomed. He has hope, and he ends the film with a call to action that we can all respond to: Do something. Care about something. Investigate for yourself. Make a small change. Share what you’ve learned with a friend. Sign a petition or send a letter to a brand that you want to see change.

“Unacceptable Levels” opens the door to conversations about the chemical burden our bodies carry so that we can make informed decisions now and in the future.

Click here for information about screenings, or how you can bring “Unacceptable Levels” to a local theater near you.

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Image: Unacceptable Levels

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Added to the list of human accomplishments: DIY pandemics.

Next time someone suggests that human beings are masters of their ecological niches, tell them this: last year, two million people worldwide were killed by wild and domestic animal diseases. Nearly two-thirds of all emerging diseases originate in animals. Mention the victims of the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia which killed 100 people. Mention AIDS. Mention malaria. Mention the Justinian Plague and the Black Death. Mention SARS, Lyme disease and Ebola.

Tell them we’re only as healthy as our environment – and that this isn’t a figure of speech.

It’s becoming clear that the medical well-being of our species is deeply dependent on that of the creatures around us, but the United States Agency for International Development wants to understand exactly how that relationships works. It has a project called PREDICT, a coalition of experts searching the globe for hotspots for emerging infectious disease in order to understand the underlying mechanisms. The aim? Raising awareness of the dangers of disrupting ecosystems and eroding biodiversity, trying to develop an “early warning system” for the outbreak of pandemics, and creating a powerful argument for sustainable ecology.

“It’s not about keeping pristine forest pristine and free of people,” says Simon Anthony, a molecular virologist at EcoHealth. “It’s learning how to do things sustainably. If you can get a handle on what it is that drives the emergence of a disease, then you can learn to modify environments sustainably.”

Further reading: The Ecology Of Disease – Jim Robbins, New York Times (quoted above).

Image: James Cridland

The post Why The Environment Makes Us Sick appeared first on EcoSalon.

How in tune were our ancestors with being good stewards of the planet? Things were better in the old days. People were more in tune with the natural world, the air was cleaner, the land less harassed by our demands upon it. The world was, in short, greener. We’ve all heard it before – but is it true? Of course it is – except when you start looking at the details. Don’t go putting our ancestors up on a pedestal of eco-friendly excellence before you know a little more history.

In 540 AD, the Eastern Roman Empire (better known as Byzantium) was set to conquer the known world, led by its dynamic Emperor of 13 years, Justinian I. Within two years that Empire would be in retreat, sending the course of European history in a very different direction – and the reason was Black Death.

Bubonic plague is Europe’s most destructive disease. The 14th Century incarnation reduced its population by anything from 30-60% (we can’t be sure because of the sheer scale of mortality at this time) – but Europe still emerged with 350 million survivors. What would have happened if it had hit a thousand years earlier? The answer is…it did. It’s now known as the Plague of Justinian, perhaps with good reason, because while he didn’t create the variation of Yersinia pestis that would prove so devastating to human life, he may have created the pandemic.

How? Overambition. Justinian wanted his Empire to return to its former imperial glory, and to do that, he needed expansion and a massive consolidation of resources, most notably grain. The capital, Constantinople, expanded rapidly to a point where it’s believed it could barely feed itself, and this put pressure on the existing trade routes of grain and cloth from Africa. A colder, wetter climatic period mid 6th Century fostered crop failures and famine, adding more impetus to trade and the maintenance of huge granaries to buffer the population’s food supply. In short – perfect conditions for the spread of plague-carrying rodents, believed to have originated in Ethiopia.

Thanks to Justinian’s far-reaching trade network, the plague was a worldwide pandemic, killing anything from 25 to 100 million people when the world population was probably less than 300 million. Constantinople would ultimately lose 40% of its population to the plague (an alleged 5,000 lives a day at its height) and the Eastern Mediterranean would lose a quarter of its people. Justinian’s Empire went into a decline it would not recover from until the 9th Century – and the world reeled under its first taste of the Black Death.

Image: Jane Rahman.

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With a science-hostile Congress moving into Washington next month, now – before reactionary attempts to turn back the nascent clock – is a good time to revisit the benefits of stem cell research.

By way of a quick review, work here in the United States is still in a relatively embryonic stage, so to speak, as it was only in March 2009 that President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13505 – “Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells.” The EO revoked one signed by President George W. Bush in 2007, as well as Presidential statement in 2001 that limited federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells. Obama’s order instructed the Director of NIH to “develop guidelines for the support and conduct of responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law.”

It’s that last bit about the law where the new Congress has the ability to stop and reverse forward motion. Here’s a primer on the progress and opportunities we stand to lose if backward thinkers have their way:

1.  Cures for common diseases

Topping the list is the role that stem cell research and regenerative medicine might – most researchers, in fact, say will likely – play in developing cures for disease that might otherwise be incurable. (Note that: otherwise incurable.) Here’s a short list:

• Parkinson’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Heart Diseases
• Diabetes
• Cancer

Know anyone suffering from something on this list? Most people do. And how about this recent headline from the peer-reviewed journal Blood, a publication of the American Society of Hematology: “Evidence for the cure of HIV infection by CCR5 32/32 stem cell transplantation.” Know what that means? Yeah. The AFP reported this just yesterday: “A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV.” Stay tuned on this one.

2. Reversing birth defects

Studies are showing that by injecting stem cells directly into the brain, neural birth defects may be reversible. This research into treating birth defects is pretty new, but teams have been developing therapies for rodents with real or simulated birth defects in the brain, says MIT’s Technology Review. “Even though most of the transplanted cells did not survive, they induced the brain’s own cells to carry out extensive repairs.”

3. Repairing stroke damage

Science Daily reports that according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, neural cells from human embryonic stem cells “helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities after a stroke.” This is big news. “The great thing about these cells is that they are available in unlimited supply and are very versatile,” said a senior scientist on the project. “The neural cells the group generated grew indefinitely in the lab and could be an ongoing source of cells for treating stroke or other injuries.”

4. Dealing with spinal cord injuries

Just this fall, a patient suffering from a spinal cord injury was injected with two million human embryonic stem cells. “The hope,” says CBS News Healthwatch, is that “one day this treatment may help the paralyzed walk again.” The procedure took place at the Shepherd Center spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation facility in Atlanta. The idea is that the cells will become specialized nerve cells which can then be injected directly into the injured area of the spinal cord.  If the treatment works, the progenitor cells will produce new oligodendrocytes (cells that produce myelin, which allows impulses to move along nerves) in the injured area of the patient’s spine, allowing for new movement.

5. Organ repair and replacement

Growing whole organs and critical tissue is a seemingly sci-fi scenario that’s a lot closer than we think – with the help of stem cell research. This new technology could make possible “a virtually inexhaustible supply of organ replacements, thereby doing away with the need to wait for organ donors and removing the risk of rejection.” Entire hearts, lungs, etc., aside, tissue generation has an entire host of curative possibilities.

6. Burn victim relief

Here’s an area where there’s already been a significant payoff as cultivated stem cells are today being used to generate skin grafts. Also, patients whose eyes have been damaged in chemical accidents have had their sight restored using their own stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research plays a significant role helping scientists understand and put to use adult stem cells, as well.

7. Developing new drugs

New drugs can be tested on stem cells to test safety before testing on humans, or even animals, for that matter. In fact, as CNN reports, some researchers are saying embryonic stem cells could end animal testing altogether. Says one expert, “It could save a lot of time and effort of taking the wrong drugs through, or it may allow drugs through which are lost at an early stage, because they affect the animal cells but don’t have an effect on human cells.”

8. (If the science isn’t enough) It’s the economy, stupid

States that support stem cell research have seen significant corporate investment and job creation. Estimates in California, for example, are that $1 billion in investment in stem cell research is not unreasonable. The commercial potential is overwhelming, according those who are in the business.

9. It’s the economy, stupid II

Oh, and don’t we have a little problem with healthcare expenditures in this country? Don’t most experts believe that the amount of money we’re paying out as a society for the sick and dying is going to bankrupt us if action is not taken? How about more healthy people? Seems like something we should be looking into.

10. (If the economics isn’t enough) It’s just the right thing to do

Stem cell research is inherently innovative and efficient, and a practical and a conscious demonstration of caring for those who are sick. These people are not only taxing the system, but they are taxing themselves and their families with trauma and anguish. Scientific progress and human quality of life are inexorably linked in our times and acting to improve and care for the entire system, the whole connected fabric of our existence, is a moral imperative. Consider that more than 100 million Americans suffer from ailments and diseases that may be cured with embryonic stem cell therapy. Alleviating human suffering. It’s the right thing to do.

Image: kaibara87

The post 10 Reasons Not to Turn Our Backs on Stem Cell Research appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s not unusual in California to see from 1,500 to 2,000 sea lion deaths on our beaches each year. But this year is off – way off – and no one can figure out why.

Starting in May and continuing through September, an unexpected onslaught of emaciated, young sea lions has been beached along the coast, requiring a tremendously heightened response among the marine mammal rescue networks throughout the state.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which coordinates these networks, is just as concerned about what is happening offshore at sea lion breeding colonies in California’s Channel Islands: Unusually high levels of mortality among the 59,000 pups born in this past spring.

“In one study area, 6,000 pup mortalities were observed where the average had been 1,000 to 1,500,” said Jeff Lake of NOAA’S National Marine Mammal Lab (NMML).

Beach goers have seen – and smelled – the signs that something is amiss. I’ve spotted many carcasses myself throughout the summer months and was surprised to encounter so many visitors soaking up surf and sand and picnicking on rocks amid rotting, decomposing mammals.

The rank smell just about knocked me out while exploring Costanoa with my husband. And in recent days, I’ve passed several rotting sea lions on the beach at Fort Funston, where I run. Naughty dogs go wild, barking and sniffing those sad decaying bodies with empty, hallowed-out eyes.

“We refer to marine mammals as a sentinel species that is like us and can provide a barometer of what is happening to our own ecosystem,” Trevor Spradlin of NOAA’s Washington D.C. office  tells me. “The sea lions have tapped out with a record number of cases of the mammals starving and since it cannot be linked to an El Niño, folks are scratching their heads.”

Perhaps puzzling now, the deaths are typical during an El Niño, such as the one experienced in 1997-1998, due to changes in water surface temperatures and a lack of upwelling.

Ocean upwelling is the mixing of deep cold water at the bottom of the ocean with warm water at the surface so that the cold water and nutrients that fertilize aquatic plants that form the food web can rise to the surface layers while warm water travels to the mid to deep depths. Such areas are very rich along the coast and that is where you find the anchovies, squid and sardines pinnipeds feed on.

While this isn’t the time for such a cycle, scientists are still seeing the oceanographic changes caused by the dying of winds in late April and June. There was no way to pull the vital nutrient-filled waters to the surface. This has been a large contributor to the starvation.

“A huge number of pups were born this year in the Channel Islands and the breakdown in the upwelling may have resulted in the fish moving to other areas inaccessible to young sea lions looking for food for the first time,” observes Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist and marine mammal strandings coordinator at NOAA National Marines Fisheries Southwest Regional Office in Long Beach, CA.  “Unlike the older animals, the young pups cannot follow the fish wherever they go.”

Cordaro says scientists also are considering the theory that upwelling has been so great, it has acted like a conveyor belt transporting nutrients to other areas. Either way, he agrees, nature is acting just like it does in an El Niño.

“We do have one developing in the Tropics, and if it continues to develop, it will be nothing compared to what we are now seeing in strandings and deaths,” says Cordaro. “It will pretty much wipe out the reproductive year, slowing down the rate of increase in the population.”

He adds that there is no way it will make a huge dent in the population, itself, because the sea lions have been increasing since the last El Niño with the current population of California  sea lions at about 239,000.The big mystery is why the lack of upwelling has occurred in some areas while not in others.

An investigation into the mystery is being led by Dr. Frances Gulland, Director of Veterinary Science at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. No one knows yet if any of this can be attributed to climate change. They do know that nothing like this occurred last year.

Meantime, beach visitors are asked to continue reporting sea lion strandings to the Sausalito center (415)298-SEAL rather than trying to coax mammals back into the water. Also, always stay back from the dead mammals found on the beach and keep your dogs away, as well.

For animal removal, you should contact the beach maintenance service in your city. Some have policies of removing the carcasses, while others allow them to remain, despite the ghastly smell.

While the dead animals provide food for sea birds and fowl, the sea lions are usually contaminated from pesticides and other toxins dumped into our oceans over time. Cordaro says it isn’t in the best interest of scavengers to feed on the carcasses.

“They don’t die from eating contaminants but their eggs become thin and crack before hatching,” he says. “It effects the reproduction of the next generation.”

Main Image: Luanne Bradley

Image One: Vanilla Sheikh

Image Two: NOAA

Image Three: Quarterdome

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Swine flu is grabbing headlines, but this isn’t the only public health issue concerning authorities. Cholera cases are increasing in Africa and researchers studying the increase say climate change is to blame.

According to a recent press release from AlphaGalileo, a resource for European research news, a study lead by researchers from the Madrid Carlos III Institute of Health shows cholera cases in Zambia are increasing as temperatures rise.

Their study results confirm that an increase in environmental temperature six weeks before the rainy season also increases the number of people affected by cholera at a rate of 4.9%.

“This is the first time that it has become evident in the sub-Saharan region that the increase in environmental temperature is related to the increase in cholera cases,” says Miguel Ángel Luque, one of the study’s authors, in the press release.

The research project, which was done in Zambia between 2003 and 2006, analyzes data from three cholera epidemics. The results show that climatic variables, such as rain and environmental temperature, are related to the increase in cholera cases during the epidemic period.

Experts affirm that cholera has a seasonal component associated with the rain season. An increase in temperature six weeks before this period is related with a 4.9% increase in the number of cases of this sickness within the population.

The study also showed that  a 1º C increase in temperature six weeks before the beginning of the outbreak explains the 5.2% increase in cholera cases during an epidemic.

¨The climate change is affecting the dynamic and resurgence of infectious sicknesses in a key fashion, concretely malaria and cholera,” says Luque.

The goal is to have a predictive method to be able to release an early alert in the region and put out a warning to health authorities.

The World Health Organization’s data indicates a concerning increase in the number of cholera cases worldwide since the beginning of the twentieth century. Today the cholera epidemic’s main focus is found in Zimbabwe.

Since the beginning of the outbreak in August of 2008 until March 17th of 2009, 91,164 cases were reported in this country alone, 4,037 of them fatal.

Image: Let’s Go Everywhere

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There’s a lot of discussion about how climate change could increase the spread of disease. But most of it focuses on how this will have an impact on humans.

Humans, however, aren’t the only ones affected by climate change. New research across Europe is finding that increasing temperatures are exposing pets to new infectious diseases spread by ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. Ticks in particular are on the increase, with milder winters allowing for them to stay active all year long.

Just a few of the diseases cropping up thanks to global warming:

Canine babesiosis, a malaria-like disease transmitted by the European dog tick, is being found in Belgium, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands – countries where it was once very rare.

The Ixodes tick that can pass tick-borne encephalitis to horses and dogs is also more prevalent and colonizing in greater densities throughout Europe.

Roundworm dirofilaria, spread by mosquitoes, is increasing in dogs in Central Italy as hotter summer temperatures allow the parasite  to incubate easily in its fly host.

Cat flea typhus and canine leishmaniosis are also on the rise.

Almost makes you want to grab your pet and move to a colder climate.

Image: Big Tall Guy

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