Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Separated at Birth
by Mark Jenkins
Men’s Health, pages 130-135,163 - July/August 1998
For must see SHOCKING photographs go to the LINK:
http://www.noharmm.org/separated.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt:
“I had ample sexual experience, and I was quite happy as an intact male,”
says Rick Thomas, who was circumcised on advice of his doctor at age 26.
“After
my circumcision, that pleasure was utterly gone. On a scale of 10, the
uncircumcised penis experiences pleasure of at least 11 or 12; the
circumcised penis
is lucky to get to 3. If men who were circumcised at birth knew the loss of
pleasure they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not
permit
their sons to undergo this.”
Start:
EVERY 30 seconds a baby boy is circumcised. It is the most common surgery
performed in America. It is usually done without anesthesia, and often
without
the consent of the parents.
“I never questioned it,” says Kyle Joseph, the father of a circumcised boy.
“The doctor took him away, performed the operation and brought him back.
That’s just the way it was done. I was circumcised; he was circumcised. I
don’t
even remember signing a consent form.”
That’s typical, according to Craig Shoemaker, M.D., a North Dakota
pediatrici
an and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) task force on
circumcision. “Many doctors do not adequately counsel parents regarding
circumcision—what the risks are, what the potential benefits are, how much
it costs.
Performing a circumcision without such counseling is inappropriate. Some
people
would call it criminal assault.”
Most parents don’t know what circumcision really is, and yet 65 percent of
them still allow doctors to do the surgery.
America is the only country in the Western world that routinely circumcises
newborn boys. Eighty-five percent of the world’s men are uncircumcised.
“The practice violates all seven principles of the American Medical
Association’s code of ethics,” charges George Denniston, M.D., a Seattle
physician and
founder of Doctors Opposing Circumcision. “By definition it’s not even
surgery. Surgery is removal of diseased tissue, or a repair of some kind.”
“Nonsense,” says Edgar Schoen, M.D., director of perinatal screening at
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California, and an outspoken proponent
of
circumcision. “There are numerous medical reasons for it.” This pro and con
argument has been raging in the medical community for almost three decades.
Meanwhile, the circumcisions continue.
Each baby boy is sg clamps, and a scal
If you’re like most American men, you’re circumcised. But you probably
haven’t given it any thought since junior high school, when you first
noticed that
not every kid in the locker room looked the same. In fact, if you’re single
or
childless now, you may think that it’s purely a father/son issue of little
concern to you. Think again. “Circumcision removes one-third to one-half of
the
skin on the penile shaft,” says Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., executive director of
the Circumcision Resource Center in Boston and author of Circumcision: The
Hidden Trauma. “The average circumcision cuts off what would grow into about
12
square inches of sexuallysensitive skin.”
According to Canadian pathologist John Taylor, M.B., the foreskin is one of
the key erogenous zones of the male body. Its 240 feet of nerves and 1,000
nerve endings are similar to those on the fingers and lips.
“The fact is,” says Goldman, “when it comes to sex, circumcised men don’t
know what they’re missing.”
But a few do. Increasingly, men who were circumcised as adults (for various
medical reasons) are speaking out against circumcision, providing firsthand
accounts of sex before and after.
“I had ample sexual experience, and I was quite happy as an intact male,”
says Rick Thomas, who was circumcised on advice of his doctor at age 26.
“After
my circumcision, that pleasure was utterly gone. On a scale of 10, the
uncircumcised penis experiences pleasure of at least 11 or 12; the
circumcised penis
is lucky to get to 3. If men who were circumcised at birth knew the loss of
pleasure they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not
permit
their sons to undergo this.”
Douglas MacArthur, a 55-year-old locksmith from Pennsylvania who was also
circumcised as an adult, reports similar problems. “Sex before circumcision
was
like driving a luxury car with automatic transmission,” he explains. “I used
to just glide along. Sex now is like driving a tiny, powerless compact with
a
manual transmission. It takes a lot of work to get anywhere. My penis has
lost
90 percent of its sensitivity.
Only in the last decade have scientists devoted in-depth studies to the
structure and function of the foreskin. The foreskin is a complex, two-layer
organ
similar to the eyelid; it’s designed to protect the head of the penis from
abrasion and infection. Its surface represents 50 percent of all penile
skin, and
folds around the opening of the penis. Its inside surface is composed of a
soft mucosa that secretes antibacterial and antiviral lubricants called
smegma,
which further protect the glans from friction and infection. Because the
glans
is sheathed in this moist envelope, it retains its sensitivity. During sex,
the foreskin glides along the penile shaft, providing lubrication and
stimulation.
Says one spouse of her uncircumcised husband: “There’s a big industry in
this country selling lubricants and jellies to enhance sex, but they’re
unnecessary for those of us lucky enough to have married an uncircumcised
man. An
intact man’s glans is naturally moist and juicy.”
Outside of the Jewish community, where it’s a religious rite, circumcision
was practically unheard of in America until 1870, when Lewis Sayre, M.D.,
claimed to have cured a 5-year-old boy of paralysis by stretching out his
foreskin
and snipping it off. For the next two decades, Dr. Sayre and his associates
crusaded for circumcision, claiming it could cure hip-joint disease,
epilepsy,
hernia, convulsions, elephantiasis, poor eyesight, tuberculosis, and rectal
prolapse, among other things. This was all disproved, of course, and
circumcision
would probably have vanished from the American medical scene had its backers
not found a compelling new way to sell it: as a cure for masturbation.
To the publicly puritanical but privately lascivious Victorians,
masturbation
was the root of numerous social maladies and physical illnesses, including
blindness and even insanity. Naturally, they believed, if circumcision could
prevent masturbation, it would prevent other diseases as well.
Doctors of the time reported that “removal of the protective covering of the
glans tends to dull the sensibility” of the penis and “thereby diminishes
sexual appetite.” In 1888, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., of cereal fame, summed
up
the medical profession’s opinion and gave justification for the next 60
years
of foreskin removal. “A remedy for masturbation which is almost always
successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation should be performed
by a
surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the pain attending the
operation
will have a salutary effect upon the mind.”
By the end of World War II it was clear that circumcision was not stopping
men from masturbating; but, by then, the procedure was institutionalized. It
had
become the norm for white, middle-class American men. The uncircumcised were
often recent immigrants or African-Americans. Probably as a result of racial
prejudice, the uncircumcised penis was viewed as unhygienic and unclean.
But this, too, turns out to be false.
“The uncircumcised penis is self-cleaning,” explains Robert Van Howe, M.D.,
a pediatrician from Wisconsin who has been studying the causes of
circumcision
for 20 Years. “Every time you urinate, you flush out the preputial cavity.
The hygiene issue was just another excuse. Since its inception, circumcision
has
been a surgery looking for a rationale. First it was disease, then
masturbation, then hygiene; now it’s back to disease.” In 1971 the American
Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) stated that circumcision was medically unnecessary. At the
time more than 80 percent of American baby boys were circumcised. Then in
1989,
the AAP released a new position paper that equivocated: “Newborn
circumcision
has potential medical benefits, as well as disadvantages and risks.” Still,
by
the following year, the rate was down to 59 percent.
Dr. Schoen chaired the AAP task force that made that reversal. He still
stands by the position, claiming that the foreskin is the genital equivalent
of the
appendix, and that newborn circumcision is “a preventive health measure
analogous to immunization.”
“The most important health benefit of circumcision is the decreased risk of
urinary-tract infections,” explains Dr. Schoen, citing a well-known 1985
study,
which he says has since been “overwhelmingly confirmed” by other studies.
But Martin Altschul, M.D., a pediatrician and M.I.T.-trained mathematician,
has
reexamined theevidence and finds it fraught with problems.
“The whole body of research on this issue is a how-to-lie-with-statistics cl
assic,” argues Dr. Altschul. “Depending on how you collect the data, you can
get almost any result you want.” Dr. Altschul’s own research also found that
many of the urinary-tract infections in uncircumcised boys were
“attributable
to congenital anomalies.” Recently, several studies have suggested that
neonatal circumcision may actually increase the infection rate.
Dr. Schoen cites two other medical benefits of circumcision, namely
decreased
risks of developing penile cancer and contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, such as HIV and syphilis.
“You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to suffer from penile
cancer,” counters Dr. Van Howe. “Japan, Norway, Finland, and Denmark all
have
lower rates than the United States, and they don’t circumcise their boys.”
In fact, in 1996, representatives of the American Cancer Society wrote a
letter to the AAP in which they pointed out that “fatalities caused by
circumcision accidents may approximate the mortality rate from penile
cancer.” The letter
also stated that “perpetuating the mistaken belief that circumcision
prevents
cancer is inappropriate.”
“Penile cancer is extremely rare-less than one case for every 100,000 men,”
adds Dr. Altschul. “It’s preposterous to even suggest that because we have
some minuscule risk of disease, we should cut off the foreskin of every
little
boy.”
“Breast cancer in women is common,” says Dr. Denniston, “more common than
all the purported health risks of the foreskin combined. Does that justify
cutting off all breasts at puberty?”
What about circumcised men and STDs? A recent study published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association found that circumcised men did have a
lower incidence of syphilis and HIV. But they had a higher rate of infection
with
herpes, hepatitis, and chlamydia. Overall, the study authors wrote, “We
found
no evidence of a prophylactic role for circumcision, and a slight tendency
in
the opposite direction.”
“The bottom line,” says Dr. Denniston, “is that the alleged benefits of
circumcision don’t approach the risks.”
July 3,1991; Oakland, California: While circumcising a 12-hour-old baby, the
doctor cuts off one-third of the glans.· The severed head is “reattached,”
but the child is disfigured. A court awards the minor plaintiff $256,000.
September 12,1992; San Diego, California: During a circumcision, a doctor
cuts off a boy’s glans. The doctor claims that since there is “no apparent
loss
of function,” he met the standard of care. A jury awards the minor plaintiff
$36,400 in damages.
July 18, 1995; Houston, Texas: A 5-year-old boy goes into a coma while being
circumcised. He dies a week later.
“The complication rate for circumcision varies from 2 to 6 percent,” says
Dr. Van Howe. “The average male will have more health problems from being
circumcised than from being left alone.”
Some medical professionals believe that circumcision for other than
religious
purposes would disappear from America if it weren’t covered by insurance.
This is what happened in England, where the circumcision rate prior to World
War
II was roughly equivalent to that in the United States. After the war,
British
doctors could find no compelling evidence to continue the surgery, and it
was
dropped from the list of covered services. Within a decade, the circumcision
rate dropped from 50 percent among the working class and 85 percent among
the
upper class to less than half a percent in both.
“Why is this procedure still covered by HMOs and health-insurance companies?
The simple answer is, because parents want it,” says Patricia Wald, M.D.,
regio
nal coordinating chief of pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in
southern California. There, doctors counsel parents so they’re making an
informed decision, and don’t perform the operation unless asked. “We cover
it as a
courtesy. But to me it’s cosmetic surgery, like ear piercing.”
Circumcision is estimated to be a $400 million business in America. The
average cost of the procedure ranges from $50 to $350, with $115 being the
average.
The usual insurance reimbursement to doctors is around $95. Dr. Van Howe
claims that a busy doctor can generate $25,000 a year from circumcisions
alone.
But Dr. Shoemaker disputes the contention that money alone lies behind the
practice.
“After you counsel the parents appropriately and do the procedure,” Dr.
Shoemaker explains, “it’s not a profitable use of time.”
Circumcision is the only surgery in America routinely performed without
anesthesia. Sixty-four to 96 percent of circumcised infants endure the
procedure
with nothing to deaden the pain. Until recently, doctors often told parents
they
didn’t feel the same pain as adults.
“I didn’t know what circumcision really was when I consented to have my
three sons circumcised,” says Marilyn Milos, founder and executive director
of the
National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC).
“My doctor told me it was necessary, that it didn’t hurt, and that it took
only a moment to perform-like cutting the umbilical cord, I thought.”
Ten years after her last son was born, Milos went back to school to become a
registered nurse. As a student, she was asked to assist at a circumcision.
“To
see a part of a baby’s penis being cut off – without an anesthetic – was
devastating.” Later, while working as a nurse, she made a videotape of the
procedure and called it Informed Consent.
“Parents had no idea what was happening to their baby boys,” she explains.
“The point was to show them what circumcision really entailed.” The
hospital,
Marin General in California, refused to allow expectant parents to view the
tape. “They said it was too much for parents to see. I said, ‘Then perhaps
it’s
too much for babies to experience.’”
In 1985, Milos founded NOCIRC. “It’s all such an unspeakable cover-up. The
doctors are in denial, so the hospitals are in denial, so the parents are
intentionally, illegally uninformed. Circumcision is the worst fraud in
American
medical history.” Recent studies support Milos’ gut reaction to
unanesthetized
circumcision. A recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association
reported that “newborns...who did not receive an anesthetic suffered great
distress during and following the circumcision, and they were exposed to
unnecessary risk (from choking or apnea).” The report goes on to say that
the skill
of the surgeon did not reduce the pain, and that infantile amnesia (the
“he-won’ t-remember-it-anyway” argument) can’t justify it.
But even if doctors did use anesthesia, the reduction in pain would have to
be measured against other concerns, such as the danger of using potent
painkillers on day-old babies.
Then there is the question about how long the hurt lasts. “Circumcision
causes such traumatic pain in newborns that it may have damaging effects
upon the
developing brain,” says James Prescott, Ph.D., director of the Institute of
Humanistic Science in Long Beach, California. A psychologist who has written
extensively on childhood trauma and its long-term effects, Prescott says the
stress of circumcision damages the neural systems that mediate genital
pleasure. In
effect, he says, the baby’s brain is encoded to associate pain with
pleasure.
In fact, the pain is so severe that it’s not unusual for babies to go into a
kind of shock, suddenly becoming silent and ceasing to struggle.
Ten years after Milos founded her organization, 24 nurses at the St. Vincent
Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, declared themselves “conscientious
objectors
to infant circumcision.” Later, several of them formed Nurses for the Rights
of the Child. “Our goal is to protect unconsenting infants and children from
surgical alteration of their genitals,” says co-founder Mary Conant.
Two years ago attorney J. Steven Svoboda, a former Human Rights Fellow at
Harvard Law School, founded Attorneys for the Rights of the Child. “Our
position
is that circumcision is medical malpractice,” he explains. “The medical
profession, which has perpetuated this tragic disfigurement of baby boys’
genitals,
will now be challenged by an organization of legal professionals.”
The courts are already considering cases. On July 22, 1995, a jury in
Montgomery, Alabama, found Jackson Hospital and Clinic guilty of negligence
in a case
where a newborn was mistakenly circumcised against his mother’s wishes. The
minor plaintiff was awarded $65,000.
Most of the world’s leading medical establishments have come out against
this
surgery. “Circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed,” says
the Canadian Paediatric Society. “To circumcise...would be unethical and
inappropriate,” says the British Medical Association. The Australasian
[Australia
and New Zealand] Association of Paediatric Surgeons states: “Neonatal male
circumcision has no medical indication. It is a traumatic procedure
performed
without anesthesia to remove a normal, functional and protective prepuce.”
The AAP is expected to publish its new position on circumcision sometime
this
year. “This is just my opinion,” says task-force member Dr. Shoemaker, “but
I think the Academy is going to say there’s not enough medical evidence to
recommend routine circumcision – but that there’s also not enough evidence
to
say it shouldn’t be done at all.” If this happens, the position paper will
again be subject to interpretation, and it will be of little guidance.
Kent Kleppinger, M.D., a pediatrician who performs circumcisions, says, “I
tell parents circumcision is cosmetic surgery. It isn’t difficult to
dissuade
the mothers, but the fathers generally override their decisions. They want
their
boys to look like other boys in the locker room. They want their boys to
look
like them.”
Like father, like son. This may be one of the hidden reasons why infant boys
are still circumcised in America. But Shell Thompson, an editor for a
national
outdoor magazine and father of two boys, finds the “locker-room argument”
specious. “I was a fat kid, a tub boat. I was teased unmercifully when I was
a
teenager. But so were the skinny kids and the kids with acne and the kids
with
red hair. At that age, boys will find something to pick on, no matter what’s
between their legs.”
Thompson was circumcised as an infant but chose not to circumcise his boys,
a
decision that is becoming increasingly common. Rates for circumcision are
dropping all over the country. On the West Coast they’re already down to 34
percent. By the time a baby born today takes his first junior-high shower,
he may
be in the minority if he’s circumcised.
It may all come down to the basic human rights of the child. In 1996, the
Canadian Medical Association approved a code of ethics that instructs
doctors to
“refuse to participate in or support practices that violate basic human
rights.” This suggests that, in the case of circumcision, parental
preference should
not override thechild’s physical rights to his body.
Margaret Somerville, professor of law and medicine at McGill University in
Montreal and founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law,
recently raised the hair on the necks of all North American pediatricians by
declaring circumcision “technically criminal assault.”
“Once you decide that circumcision is not medically necessary, you take away
the therapeutic intent. Take away therapeutic intent, and circumcision
becomes
an unjustified wounding,” she says.
Leo Sorger, M.D., writing in ObGYN News, is even more explicit:
“Circumcision
causes pain, trauma, and a permanent loss of protective and erogenous
tissue.
Removing normal, healthy, functioning tissue [for no medical reason]...
violates the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article
5) and
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13).”
In September 1996, the United States Congress passed a law banning the
mutilation of female genitalia. “Americans are horrified by female genital
mutilation,” says attorney Svoboda, “but they somehow don’t recognize the
routine
torture going on in their own culture.” He acknowledges that a
clitoridectomy is a
more serious and detrimental surgery than circumcision, but he argues that
“human-rights law doesn’t say if you cut off four toes, it’s a human rights
violation, but if you cut off only three, it’s okay. That’s not how
human-rights
law works. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. Involuntary circumcision is wrong.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The foreskin is peeled away like the rind of an orange. The baby is still
crying. After several minutes, the doctor removes the clamp, pops off his
gloves,
and leaves. The nurse quickly applies an antiseptic ointment and returns the
trembling child to his parents.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N, C O N T A C T:
* NOCIRC (415) 488-9883 www.nocirc.org
* Circumcision Resource Center (617) 523-0088 www.circumcision.org
* American Academy of Pediatrics www.aap.org
===========
Chinese Axiom:
When things are investigated, knowledge is extended. When knowledge is
extended, the will becomes sincere. When the will is sincere, the mind is
correct.
When the mind is correct, the self is cultivated.
--Confucius
--
by Mark Jenkins
Men’s Health, pages 130-135,163 - July/August 1998
For must see SHOCKING photographs go to the LINK:
http://www.noharmm.org/separated.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt:
“I had ample sexual experience, and I was quite happy as an intact male,”
says Rick Thomas, who was circumcised on advice of his doctor at age 26.
“After
my circumcision, that pleasure was utterly gone. On a scale of 10, the
uncircumcised penis experiences pleasure of at least 11 or 12; the
circumcised penis
is lucky to get to 3. If men who were circumcised at birth knew the loss of
pleasure they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not
permit
their sons to undergo this.”
Start:
EVERY 30 seconds a baby boy is circumcised. It is the most common surgery
performed in America. It is usually done without anesthesia, and often
without
the consent of the parents.
“I never questioned it,” says Kyle Joseph, the father of a circumcised boy.
“The doctor took him away, performed the operation and brought him back.
That’s just the way it was done. I was circumcised; he was circumcised. I
don’t
even remember signing a consent form.”
That’s typical, according to Craig Shoemaker, M.D., a North Dakota
pediatrici
an and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) task force on
circumcision. “Many doctors do not adequately counsel parents regarding
circumcision—what the risks are, what the potential benefits are, how much
it costs.
Performing a circumcision without such counseling is inappropriate. Some
people
would call it criminal assault.”
Most parents don’t know what circumcision really is, and yet 65 percent of
them still allow doctors to do the surgery.
America is the only country in the Western world that routinely circumcises
newborn boys. Eighty-five percent of the world’s men are uncircumcised.
“The practice violates all seven principles of the American Medical
Association’s code of ethics,” charges George Denniston, M.D., a Seattle
physician and
founder of Doctors Opposing Circumcision. “By definition it’s not even
surgery. Surgery is removal of diseased tissue, or a repair of some kind.”
“Nonsense,” says Edgar Schoen, M.D., director of perinatal screening at
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California, and an outspoken proponent
of
circumcision. “There are numerous medical reasons for it.” This pro and con
argument has been raging in the medical community for almost three decades.
Meanwhile, the circumcisions continue.
Each baby boy is sg clamps, and a scal
If you’re like most American men, you’re circumcised. But you probably
haven’t given it any thought since junior high school, when you first
noticed that
not every kid in the locker room looked the same. In fact, if you’re single
or
childless now, you may think that it’s purely a father/son issue of little
concern to you. Think again. “Circumcision removes one-third to one-half of
the
skin on the penile shaft,” says Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., executive director of
the Circumcision Resource Center in Boston and author of Circumcision: The
Hidden Trauma. “The average circumcision cuts off what would grow into about
12
square inches of sexuallysensitive skin.”
According to Canadian pathologist John Taylor, M.B., the foreskin is one of
the key erogenous zones of the male body. Its 240 feet of nerves and 1,000
nerve endings are similar to those on the fingers and lips.
“The fact is,” says Goldman, “when it comes to sex, circumcised men don’t
know what they’re missing.”
But a few do. Increasingly, men who were circumcised as adults (for various
medical reasons) are speaking out against circumcision, providing firsthand
accounts of sex before and after.
“I had ample sexual experience, and I was quite happy as an intact male,”
says Rick Thomas, who was circumcised on advice of his doctor at age 26.
“After
my circumcision, that pleasure was utterly gone. On a scale of 10, the
uncircumcised penis experiences pleasure of at least 11 or 12; the
circumcised penis
is lucky to get to 3. If men who were circumcised at birth knew the loss of
pleasure they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not
permit
their sons to undergo this.”
Douglas MacArthur, a 55-year-old locksmith from Pennsylvania who was also
circumcised as an adult, reports similar problems. “Sex before circumcision
was
like driving a luxury car with automatic transmission,” he explains. “I used
to just glide along. Sex now is like driving a tiny, powerless compact with
a
manual transmission. It takes a lot of work to get anywhere. My penis has
lost
90 percent of its sensitivity.
Only in the last decade have scientists devoted in-depth studies to the
structure and function of the foreskin. The foreskin is a complex, two-layer
organ
similar to the eyelid; it’s designed to protect the head of the penis from
abrasion and infection. Its surface represents 50 percent of all penile
skin, and
folds around the opening of the penis. Its inside surface is composed of a
soft mucosa that secretes antibacterial and antiviral lubricants called
smegma,
which further protect the glans from friction and infection. Because the
glans
is sheathed in this moist envelope, it retains its sensitivity. During sex,
the foreskin glides along the penile shaft, providing lubrication and
stimulation.
Says one spouse of her uncircumcised husband: “There’s a big industry in
this country selling lubricants and jellies to enhance sex, but they’re
unnecessary for those of us lucky enough to have married an uncircumcised
man. An
intact man’s glans is naturally moist and juicy.”
Outside of the Jewish community, where it’s a religious rite, circumcision
was practically unheard of in America until 1870, when Lewis Sayre, M.D.,
claimed to have cured a 5-year-old boy of paralysis by stretching out his
foreskin
and snipping it off. For the next two decades, Dr. Sayre and his associates
crusaded for circumcision, claiming it could cure hip-joint disease,
epilepsy,
hernia, convulsions, elephantiasis, poor eyesight, tuberculosis, and rectal
prolapse, among other things. This was all disproved, of course, and
circumcision
would probably have vanished from the American medical scene had its backers
not found a compelling new way to sell it: as a cure for masturbation.
To the publicly puritanical but privately lascivious Victorians,
masturbation
was the root of numerous social maladies and physical illnesses, including
blindness and even insanity. Naturally, they believed, if circumcision could
prevent masturbation, it would prevent other diseases as well.
Doctors of the time reported that “removal of the protective covering of the
glans tends to dull the sensibility” of the penis and “thereby diminishes
sexual appetite.” In 1888, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., of cereal fame, summed
up
the medical profession’s opinion and gave justification for the next 60
years
of foreskin removal. “A remedy for masturbation which is almost always
successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation should be performed
by a
surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the pain attending the
operation
will have a salutary effect upon the mind.”
By the end of World War II it was clear that circumcision was not stopping
men from masturbating; but, by then, the procedure was institutionalized. It
had
become the norm for white, middle-class American men. The uncircumcised were
often recent immigrants or African-Americans. Probably as a result of racial
prejudice, the uncircumcised penis was viewed as unhygienic and unclean.
But this, too, turns out to be false.
“The uncircumcised penis is self-cleaning,” explains Robert Van Howe, M.D.,
a pediatrician from Wisconsin who has been studying the causes of
circumcision
for 20 Years. “Every time you urinate, you flush out the preputial cavity.
The hygiene issue was just another excuse. Since its inception, circumcision
has
been a surgery looking for a rationale. First it was disease, then
masturbation, then hygiene; now it’s back to disease.” In 1971 the American
Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) stated that circumcision was medically unnecessary. At the
time more than 80 percent of American baby boys were circumcised. Then in
1989,
the AAP released a new position paper that equivocated: “Newborn
circumcision
has potential medical benefits, as well as disadvantages and risks.” Still,
by
the following year, the rate was down to 59 percent.
Dr. Schoen chaired the AAP task force that made that reversal. He still
stands by the position, claiming that the foreskin is the genital equivalent
of the
appendix, and that newborn circumcision is “a preventive health measure
analogous to immunization.”
“The most important health benefit of circumcision is the decreased risk of
urinary-tract infections,” explains Dr. Schoen, citing a well-known 1985
study,
which he says has since been “overwhelmingly confirmed” by other studies.
But Martin Altschul, M.D., a pediatrician and M.I.T.-trained mathematician,
has
reexamined theevidence and finds it fraught with problems.
“The whole body of research on this issue is a how-to-lie-with-statistics cl
assic,” argues Dr. Altschul. “Depending on how you collect the data, you can
get almost any result you want.” Dr. Altschul’s own research also found that
many of the urinary-tract infections in uncircumcised boys were
“attributable
to congenital anomalies.” Recently, several studies have suggested that
neonatal circumcision may actually increase the infection rate.
Dr. Schoen cites two other medical benefits of circumcision, namely
decreased
risks of developing penile cancer and contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, such as HIV and syphilis.
“You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to suffer from penile
cancer,” counters Dr. Van Howe. “Japan, Norway, Finland, and Denmark all
have
lower rates than the United States, and they don’t circumcise their boys.”
In fact, in 1996, representatives of the American Cancer Society wrote a
letter to the AAP in which they pointed out that “fatalities caused by
circumcision accidents may approximate the mortality rate from penile
cancer.” The letter
also stated that “perpetuating the mistaken belief that circumcision
prevents
cancer is inappropriate.”
“Penile cancer is extremely rare-less than one case for every 100,000 men,”
adds Dr. Altschul. “It’s preposterous to even suggest that because we have
some minuscule risk of disease, we should cut off the foreskin of every
little
boy.”
“Breast cancer in women is common,” says Dr. Denniston, “more common than
all the purported health risks of the foreskin combined. Does that justify
cutting off all breasts at puberty?”
What about circumcised men and STDs? A recent study published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association found that circumcised men did have a
lower incidence of syphilis and HIV. But they had a higher rate of infection
with
herpes, hepatitis, and chlamydia. Overall, the study authors wrote, “We
found
no evidence of a prophylactic role for circumcision, and a slight tendency
in
the opposite direction.”
“The bottom line,” says Dr. Denniston, “is that the alleged benefits of
circumcision don’t approach the risks.”
July 3,1991; Oakland, California: While circumcising a 12-hour-old baby, the
doctor cuts off one-third of the glans.· The severed head is “reattached,”
but the child is disfigured. A court awards the minor plaintiff $256,000.
September 12,1992; San Diego, California: During a circumcision, a doctor
cuts off a boy’s glans. The doctor claims that since there is “no apparent
loss
of function,” he met the standard of care. A jury awards the minor plaintiff
$36,400 in damages.
July 18, 1995; Houston, Texas: A 5-year-old boy goes into a coma while being
circumcised. He dies a week later.
“The complication rate for circumcision varies from 2 to 6 percent,” says
Dr. Van Howe. “The average male will have more health problems from being
circumcised than from being left alone.”
Some medical professionals believe that circumcision for other than
religious
purposes would disappear from America if it weren’t covered by insurance.
This is what happened in England, where the circumcision rate prior to World
War
II was roughly equivalent to that in the United States. After the war,
British
doctors could find no compelling evidence to continue the surgery, and it
was
dropped from the list of covered services. Within a decade, the circumcision
rate dropped from 50 percent among the working class and 85 percent among
the
upper class to less than half a percent in both.
“Why is this procedure still covered by HMOs and health-insurance companies?
The simple answer is, because parents want it,” says Patricia Wald, M.D.,
regio
nal coordinating chief of pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in
southern California. There, doctors counsel parents so they’re making an
informed decision, and don’t perform the operation unless asked. “We cover
it as a
courtesy. But to me it’s cosmetic surgery, like ear piercing.”
Circumcision is estimated to be a $400 million business in America. The
average cost of the procedure ranges from $50 to $350, with $115 being the
average.
The usual insurance reimbursement to doctors is around $95. Dr. Van Howe
claims that a busy doctor can generate $25,000 a year from circumcisions
alone.
But Dr. Shoemaker disputes the contention that money alone lies behind the
practice.
“After you counsel the parents appropriately and do the procedure,” Dr.
Shoemaker explains, “it’s not a profitable use of time.”
Circumcision is the only surgery in America routinely performed without
anesthesia. Sixty-four to 96 percent of circumcised infants endure the
procedure
with nothing to deaden the pain. Until recently, doctors often told parents
they
didn’t feel the same pain as adults.
“I didn’t know what circumcision really was when I consented to have my
three sons circumcised,” says Marilyn Milos, founder and executive director
of the
National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC).
“My doctor told me it was necessary, that it didn’t hurt, and that it took
only a moment to perform-like cutting the umbilical cord, I thought.”
Ten years after her last son was born, Milos went back to school to become a
registered nurse. As a student, she was asked to assist at a circumcision.
“To
see a part of a baby’s penis being cut off – without an anesthetic – was
devastating.” Later, while working as a nurse, she made a videotape of the
procedure and called it Informed Consent.
“Parents had no idea what was happening to their baby boys,” she explains.
“The point was to show them what circumcision really entailed.” The
hospital,
Marin General in California, refused to allow expectant parents to view the
tape. “They said it was too much for parents to see. I said, ‘Then perhaps
it’s
too much for babies to experience.’”
In 1985, Milos founded NOCIRC. “It’s all such an unspeakable cover-up. The
doctors are in denial, so the hospitals are in denial, so the parents are
intentionally, illegally uninformed. Circumcision is the worst fraud in
American
medical history.” Recent studies support Milos’ gut reaction to
unanesthetized
circumcision. A recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association
reported that “newborns...who did not receive an anesthetic suffered great
distress during and following the circumcision, and they were exposed to
unnecessary risk (from choking or apnea).” The report goes on to say that
the skill
of the surgeon did not reduce the pain, and that infantile amnesia (the
“he-won’ t-remember-it-anyway” argument) can’t justify it.
But even if doctors did use anesthesia, the reduction in pain would have to
be measured against other concerns, such as the danger of using potent
painkillers on day-old babies.
Then there is the question about how long the hurt lasts. “Circumcision
causes such traumatic pain in newborns that it may have damaging effects
upon the
developing brain,” says James Prescott, Ph.D., director of the Institute of
Humanistic Science in Long Beach, California. A psychologist who has written
extensively on childhood trauma and its long-term effects, Prescott says the
stress of circumcision damages the neural systems that mediate genital
pleasure. In
effect, he says, the baby’s brain is encoded to associate pain with
pleasure.
In fact, the pain is so severe that it’s not unusual for babies to go into a
kind of shock, suddenly becoming silent and ceasing to struggle.
Ten years after Milos founded her organization, 24 nurses at the St. Vincent
Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, declared themselves “conscientious
objectors
to infant circumcision.” Later, several of them formed Nurses for the Rights
of the Child. “Our goal is to protect unconsenting infants and children from
surgical alteration of their genitals,” says co-founder Mary Conant.
Two years ago attorney J. Steven Svoboda, a former Human Rights Fellow at
Harvard Law School, founded Attorneys for the Rights of the Child. “Our
position
is that circumcision is medical malpractice,” he explains. “The medical
profession, which has perpetuated this tragic disfigurement of baby boys’
genitals,
will now be challenged by an organization of legal professionals.”
The courts are already considering cases. On July 22, 1995, a jury in
Montgomery, Alabama, found Jackson Hospital and Clinic guilty of negligence
in a case
where a newborn was mistakenly circumcised against his mother’s wishes. The
minor plaintiff was awarded $65,000.
Most of the world’s leading medical establishments have come out against
this
surgery. “Circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed,” says
the Canadian Paediatric Society. “To circumcise...would be unethical and
inappropriate,” says the British Medical Association. The Australasian
[Australia
and New Zealand] Association of Paediatric Surgeons states: “Neonatal male
circumcision has no medical indication. It is a traumatic procedure
performed
without anesthesia to remove a normal, functional and protective prepuce.”
The AAP is expected to publish its new position on circumcision sometime
this
year. “This is just my opinion,” says task-force member Dr. Shoemaker, “but
I think the Academy is going to say there’s not enough medical evidence to
recommend routine circumcision – but that there’s also not enough evidence
to
say it shouldn’t be done at all.” If this happens, the position paper will
again be subject to interpretation, and it will be of little guidance.
Kent Kleppinger, M.D., a pediatrician who performs circumcisions, says, “I
tell parents circumcision is cosmetic surgery. It isn’t difficult to
dissuade
the mothers, but the fathers generally override their decisions. They want
their
boys to look like other boys in the locker room. They want their boys to
look
like them.”
Like father, like son. This may be one of the hidden reasons why infant boys
are still circumcised in America. But Shell Thompson, an editor for a
national
outdoor magazine and father of two boys, finds the “locker-room argument”
specious. “I was a fat kid, a tub boat. I was teased unmercifully when I was
a
teenager. But so were the skinny kids and the kids with acne and the kids
with
red hair. At that age, boys will find something to pick on, no matter what’s
between their legs.”
Thompson was circumcised as an infant but chose not to circumcise his boys,
a
decision that is becoming increasingly common. Rates for circumcision are
dropping all over the country. On the West Coast they’re already down to 34
percent. By the time a baby born today takes his first junior-high shower,
he may
be in the minority if he’s circumcised.
It may all come down to the basic human rights of the child. In 1996, the
Canadian Medical Association approved a code of ethics that instructs
doctors to
“refuse to participate in or support practices that violate basic human
rights.” This suggests that, in the case of circumcision, parental
preference should
not override thechild’s physical rights to his body.
Margaret Somerville, professor of law and medicine at McGill University in
Montreal and founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law,
recently raised the hair on the necks of all North American pediatricians by
declaring circumcision “technically criminal assault.”
“Once you decide that circumcision is not medically necessary, you take away
the therapeutic intent. Take away therapeutic intent, and circumcision
becomes
an unjustified wounding,” she says.
Leo Sorger, M.D., writing in ObGYN News, is even more explicit:
“Circumcision
causes pain, trauma, and a permanent loss of protective and erogenous
tissue.
Removing normal, healthy, functioning tissue [for no medical reason]...
violates the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article
5) and
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13).”
In September 1996, the United States Congress passed a law banning the
mutilation of female genitalia. “Americans are horrified by female genital
mutilation,” says attorney Svoboda, “but they somehow don’t recognize the
routine
torture going on in their own culture.” He acknowledges that a
clitoridectomy is a
more serious and detrimental surgery than circumcision, but he argues that
“human-rights law doesn’t say if you cut off four toes, it’s a human rights
violation, but if you cut off only three, it’s okay. That’s not how
human-rights
law works. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. Involuntary circumcision is wrong.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The foreskin is peeled away like the rind of an orange. The baby is still
crying. After several minutes, the doctor removes the clamp, pops off his
gloves,
and leaves. The nurse quickly applies an antiseptic ointment and returns the
trembling child to his parents.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N, C O N T A C T:
* NOCIRC (415) 488-9883 www.nocirc.org
* Circumcision Resource Center (617) 523-0088 www.circumcision.org
* American Academy of Pediatrics www.aap.org
===========
Chinese Axiom:
When things are investigated, knowledge is extended. When knowledge is
extended, the will becomes sincere. When the will is sincere, the mind is
correct.
When the mind is correct, the self is cultivated.
--Confucius
--
// posted by Linda Weissinger Lupowitz @ 7:10 PM
Sunday, May 15, 2005
LYME DISEASE: an answer - "WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS"
FROM "PENICILLIN TO "MILD SILVER PROTEIN"
http://www.xpressnet.com/bhealthy/burgd.html
By:
Dr. William Burgdorfer, Ph.D.
Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of N.l.H.
In 1949, Dr. Sven Hellerstrom from the Dermatalogical Clinic
of Karolinska lnstitute in Stockholm, Sweden presented a paper
"Erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius with meningitis" at the 43rd
Annual Meeting of the Southern Medical Association in Cincinnati,
Ohio. In presenting his case, he provided convincing evidence that
both erythema and subsequent meningocerebrospinal symptoms may
develop following a tick bite. He also reported on the successful
treatment of his patient with penicillin, a drug shown previously
by his colleague Dr. Hollstrom to be effective in the treatment of
Erythema chronicum migrans (ECM).
In the United States, ECM was first reported in 1970 on a
physician bitten by a tick while grouse hunting in northeastern
Wisconsin. The attending physician, Dr. Rudolf Scrimenti,
recognized the similarity of the patient's skin reaction to the
lesions of European ECM and promptly and successfully treated the
patient with penicillin. The treatment of three additional
patients with penicillin and of one with erythromycin resulted in
complete resolution of symptoms within 48 to 72 hours.
Considered unrelated to ECM were skin lesions in 13 of 51
residents in the eastern Connecticut towns of Lyme, Old Lyme, and
East Haddam where, since 1972, clusters of inhabitants had been
suffering of an illness characterized by recurrent attacks of
asymmetric swelling and pain in large joints, especially the knee.
Since such arthritic conditions were not known to be associated
with ECM in Europe, the illness was thought to be a new clinical
entity and was named Lyme arthritis, later changed to Lyme disease
once it was realized that arthritis was only one of several
clinical manifestations of this disease.
The search for effective antibiotics in the treatment of Lyme
disease began in 1982 with my discovery of a spirochete now known
as Borrelia burgdorferi as the causative agent of Lyme disease and
of ECM and related disorders (acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans,
lymphadenosis benigna cutis) in Europe. The antibiotics found
effective include tetracyclines (doxycycline, minocycline),
penicillins (penicillin G, amoxycillin), cephalosporins (cefotaxime,
ceftriaxone), and erythromycin. Application of these drugs depends
on the time the disease is being diagnosed. Early Lyme disease is
treated orally whereas late Lyme disease requires parenteral or a
combination of parenteral and oral applications. Treatment
failures have been reported for each of these drugs particularly
for the tetracyclines that are only temporarily effective unless
they are applied over long periods of time, i.e. months even years.
Controversy exists over the length of treatment using
* Mild Silver Protein (MSP). Some investigators consider
21 to 30 days sufficient for the elimination of the spirochetes,
while others believe that patients must be kept on therapy until
they are completely free of symptoms.
The diagnosis of Lyme disease is a clinical one and is based
on the development and recognition of the skin lesion (erythema
migrans) a few days, weeks, or even months, after the bite of an
infected tick. Unfortunately in up to 40% of the patients, the
skin lesion does not develop, is not recognized, or is overlooked.
Thus, without treatment, the disease spreads throughout the body
and may affect the muscular, skeleton, cardiac and nervous systems.
Indeed, Dr. Farber's recent claim having used MSP to
successfully cure himself from late stage Lyme disease, comes at a
time when thousands of patients suffering of this disease are
refused extended antibiotic treatment because their physicians are
unable to associate their clinical manifestations with those of
Lyme disease.
Although never established scientifically, it appears that the
Mild Silver Protein silver colloid disables the enzyme(s) used by
bacterial, fungal and viral agents for their oxygen metabolism
causing them to suffocate upon contact. In vitro studies with
* Mild Silver Protein and the Lyme disease spirochete, B.
burgdorferi, revealed a lOO% killing effect within less than five
minutes after exposure to the silver preparation.
Subject: Treating Lyme Disease Naturally
http://cindeegardner.com/boom11.htm
HomeTreating Lyme Disease Naturally.
by Cindee Gardner, Ph.D., HD (RHom), D. Hom., C. Hom.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States with approximately 16,000 new cases reported each year. The disorder was first identified in 1975 when a group of children in Lyme, Connecticut experienced mysterious arthritis-like symptoms.
The deer tick carrying the bacterium B. burgdorferi is responsible for the spread of the disease in the United States. Cases have been reported in nearly all states and the disease is also on the rise in large areas of Asia and Europe.
In my opinion the conventional system of medicine has failed in the treatment of Lyme disease because the emphasis is, as with other illnesses, to kill the offender. Unfortunately this means suppressing and weakening the immune response as well. A holistic approach which focuses on the state of health of the whole person is a much more reasonable approach to this disorder. Using a combination of Homeopathy, Herbs, Vitamins and other health enhancing products can stimulate the immune response and strengthen the organs and systems affected by the disease. This results in a permanent and complete restoration of health.
Stages and symptoms of Lyme Disease:
1. In approximately 80% of the cases a small red spot appears between 3 and 30 days after a tick bite. The spot expands over time, forming a circle or oval sometimes resembling a bull's eye. The rash can range in size from that of a dime to the entire width of a person's back. As the infection spreads rashes can appear at different places on the body. 50% of the patients experience flu-like symptoms: fever, headache, stiff neck, body aches, muscular pains and fatigue.
2. Weeks to months later the disease continues to progress causing the development of any of a number of neurological signs such as Bells palsy, stiff neck and severe headache (which may be indicative of meningitis), temporary paralysis, pain or weakness in the limbs and poor motor coordination. 8% of the people affected can develop cardiac abnormalities such as palpitations, lightheadedness, fainting, chest pain and shortness of breath.
3. Months to years later as the condition continues to progress 60% of cases develop a condition characterized as chronic articular or rheumatoid arthritis.
Risk Factors:
According to statistics, the following factors increase the risk for developing Lyme disease... Environment: exposure to heavily wooded areas, and parks,
. Season: infection is most likely during the summer and fall.
. Age: most common in children and young adults.
. Location: 90 percent of cases occur in the coastal northeast, as well as in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Oregon.
Diagnosis:
Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms mimic those of other disorders. About one quarter of people with Lyme disease do not develop a rash. A blood test may confirm the presence of the bacterium.
I do not recommend the common practice of a spinal tap unless it is absolutely necessary. This practice is common in the modern medical system to detect brain and spinal cord inflammation and to examine antibodies or genetic material of B. burgdorferi in the spinal fluid.
The beauty of working with an experienced Homeopathic Consultant, is that after taking a full case analysis (which consists of examining the history, etiology, signs and individual symptoms of the person) he / she will come to the same grouping of remedies and herbs anyway. Whether you attach a name or pathology to the ailment or look up the symptomology, most of the Homeopathic remedies will be the same. Homeopathy, as an art and science, was developed many years before there were microscopes to see the actual bacteria and virii. The correctly chosen remedy and potency stimulated the system to heal itself. It is also vital to not put the weakened system under any more stress than necessary. Health destroying drugs and invasive therapies work against the vital or healing forces of the body.
Prevention:
The best defense against Lyme disease is to guard against tick bites. Avoid heavily wooded areas, wear protective clothing, and apply tick repellent. Wear light-colored clothing (which makes ticks easier to detect), do a careful inspection of your body after outdoor activities in wooded or grassy areas, and, if ticks are found, remove them with tweezers. Be prepared. If you plan to go into a wooded area, take a Homeopathic Emergency Kit with you or at least a few remedies and first aid supplies.
Add Borr. Nosode (see Homeopathics) to your emergency kit.
Homeopathics:
In every case of Lyme disease Homeopathic texts suggest starting with a nosode (a remedy made from the actual borrelia burgdorferi) in a 30c potency. One dose three times daily is given for three days. If this remedy is given in the early stages, you can actually stop the disease from developing.
After careful analysis, we give one of the following remedies based on the symptoms of the disease and the health of the person. Please refer to a Homeopathic Materia Medica for indications and potency selection. Due to the nature of this disease and the fact that you'll need to adjust the remedies and potencies in order to restore complete health, we suggest working with a Professional if you don't see good results within the first two weeks after having started on the chosen Homeopathic remedy.
. Use low potencies several times a day.
. These are the remedies that I have used successfully in my practice with the predominant symptoms.
. Sepia and Tellurium in the first stages of the disease.
. Then follow with indications:
. Arnica for muscle pain and soreness.
. Gelsemium for overall weakness.
. Rhus Tox for stiffness and pain worse cold or damp weather and better by continued movement.
. Arsenicum for extreme restlessness and burning pains.
. Mercury for sore throat, mouth ulcers, and excess salivation.
. Carcinocin, Lac Caninium, and Thuja have been used also in Europe and Asia with good success.
Herbs:
Herbs are concentrated foods for the organs, and immune response. I use a combination blend of medicinally processed whole plant herbs using all three Echinaceas called Super Echinacea. Then I add Cordyseps Tincture and make a tea of it. This well-known herb combination from Tibet has been shown in clinical studies to improve stamina, decrease fatigue, increase energy and to enhance lung and antioxidant function. It is the only compound known to raise Superoxide Dismutase activity. If other symptoms are present we add the appropriate herbal combinations to address those as well. If there are arthritis symptoms add Arthritis Combo. If there is weakness, add Adrenal Aid.
Nutrition/Diet Aids
Essential fatty acids: Studies show that when EFAs are taken regularly, statistically significant improvements in fatigue, aches, weakness, vertigo, dizziness, memory, concentration and depression are likely. There are two broad classes, GLA and EPA, which are derived respectively from plant and fish oils. I suggest a good cold pressed combination formula to reduce inflammation. Use more than the indicated amount if disease has progressed into the rheumatoid stage. Take for a minimum of four months. improvement continues to occur over time.
CO-Q 10 (ubiquinone): Deficiencies have been related to poor functioning of the heart, limitations of stamina, and poor resistance to infections. Tissue biopsy studies have resulted in the recommendation that a patient with chronic Lyme should take between 200 and 300 mg daily of standard brands, or 90 mg daily of the pharmaceutical quality product as directed. Improvements do not begin for several weeks. The body will manufacture its own CO-Q 10 when the original infection is controlled but only if stimulated by aggressive exercise.
Vitamin B: Clinical studies demonstrated the need for supplemental vitamin B in infections with other Borrelia to help clear neurological symptoms. I use B Right for daily use and Stress B formula if the person is under stress or has been in the past.
Magnesium: Magnesium supplementation is very helpful for muscle pain and spasms, headaches, tremors, twitches, cramps, muscle soreness, heart skips and weakness. It may also help in energy level and cognition. We also recommend a liquid herbal form of calcium made from plant sources (Herbal Calcium or Calcium Elixir). They work synergistically and both are easily assimilated when taken together. Calcium from inorganic sources such as calcium carbonate is not recommended.
Multi vitamin: I recommend using an herbal form of whole food vitamins, liquid preferred, or non-heated, capsulized one. Herbal Vitamins is one of the top brands available. Take between two and eight daily according to the diet.
Super aloe-vera juice 10,000 MPS aloe with the aloin (a harsh laxative) removed, cold pressed and processed, whole leaf, potency protects the intestinal tract. Take two ounces twice a day with probiotics, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus (refrigerated brands only) to restore normal levels of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines.
I believe that the body can heal itself of any disorder if given the proper stimulus. Lyme disease is no exception. It makes sense to try an approach that will work with your immune system instead of against it. Never settle for being told that something is incurable. Get empowered. Get well!
The office of Dr. Cindee Gardner Ph.D., D.Hom., C.Hom. is located at 2324 Marbury Road Pittsburgh, Pa. 15221.
FROM "PENICILLIN TO "MILD SILVER PROTEIN"
http://www.xpressnet.com/bhealthy/burgd.html
By:
Dr. William Burgdorfer, Ph.D.
Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of N.l.H.
In 1949, Dr. Sven Hellerstrom from the Dermatalogical Clinic
of Karolinska lnstitute in Stockholm, Sweden presented a paper
"Erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius with meningitis" at the 43rd
Annual Meeting of the Southern Medical Association in Cincinnati,
Ohio. In presenting his case, he provided convincing evidence that
both erythema and subsequent meningocerebrospinal symptoms may
develop following a tick bite. He also reported on the successful
treatment of his patient with penicillin, a drug shown previously
by his colleague Dr. Hollstrom to be effective in the treatment of
Erythema chronicum migrans (ECM).
In the United States, ECM was first reported in 1970 on a
physician bitten by a tick while grouse hunting in northeastern
Wisconsin. The attending physician, Dr. Rudolf Scrimenti,
recognized the similarity of the patient's skin reaction to the
lesions of European ECM and promptly and successfully treated the
patient with penicillin. The treatment of three additional
patients with penicillin and of one with erythromycin resulted in
complete resolution of symptoms within 48 to 72 hours.
Considered unrelated to ECM were skin lesions in 13 of 51
residents in the eastern Connecticut towns of Lyme, Old Lyme, and
East Haddam where, since 1972, clusters of inhabitants had been
suffering of an illness characterized by recurrent attacks of
asymmetric swelling and pain in large joints, especially the knee.
Since such arthritic conditions were not known to be associated
with ECM in Europe, the illness was thought to be a new clinical
entity and was named Lyme arthritis, later changed to Lyme disease
once it was realized that arthritis was only one of several
clinical manifestations of this disease.
The search for effective antibiotics in the treatment of Lyme
disease began in 1982 with my discovery of a spirochete now known
as Borrelia burgdorferi as the causative agent of Lyme disease and
of ECM and related disorders (acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans,
lymphadenosis benigna cutis) in Europe. The antibiotics found
effective include tetracyclines (doxycycline, minocycline),
penicillins (penicillin G, amoxycillin), cephalosporins (cefotaxime,
ceftriaxone), and erythromycin. Application of these drugs depends
on the time the disease is being diagnosed. Early Lyme disease is
treated orally whereas late Lyme disease requires parenteral or a
combination of parenteral and oral applications. Treatment
failures have been reported for each of these drugs particularly
for the tetracyclines that are only temporarily effective unless
they are applied over long periods of time, i.e. months even years.
Controversy exists over the length of treatment using
* Mild Silver Protein (MSP). Some investigators consider
21 to 30 days sufficient for the elimination of the spirochetes,
while others believe that patients must be kept on therapy until
they are completely free of symptoms.
The diagnosis of Lyme disease is a clinical one and is based
on the development and recognition of the skin lesion (erythema
migrans) a few days, weeks, or even months, after the bite of an
infected tick. Unfortunately in up to 40% of the patients, the
skin lesion does not develop, is not recognized, or is overlooked.
Thus, without treatment, the disease spreads throughout the body
and may affect the muscular, skeleton, cardiac and nervous systems.
Indeed, Dr. Farber's recent claim having used MSP to
successfully cure himself from late stage Lyme disease, comes at a
time when thousands of patients suffering of this disease are
refused extended antibiotic treatment because their physicians are
unable to associate their clinical manifestations with those of
Lyme disease.
Although never established scientifically, it appears that the
Mild Silver Protein silver colloid disables the enzyme(s) used by
bacterial, fungal and viral agents for their oxygen metabolism
causing them to suffocate upon contact. In vitro studies with
* Mild Silver Protein and the Lyme disease spirochete, B.
burgdorferi, revealed a lOO% killing effect within less than five
minutes after exposure to the silver preparation.
Subject: Treating Lyme Disease Naturally
http://cindeegardner.com/boom11.htm
HomeTreating Lyme Disease Naturally.
by Cindee Gardner, Ph.D., HD (RHom), D. Hom., C. Hom.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States with approximately 16,000 new cases reported each year. The disorder was first identified in 1975 when a group of children in Lyme, Connecticut experienced mysterious arthritis-like symptoms.
The deer tick carrying the bacterium B. burgdorferi is responsible for the spread of the disease in the United States. Cases have been reported in nearly all states and the disease is also on the rise in large areas of Asia and Europe.
In my opinion the conventional system of medicine has failed in the treatment of Lyme disease because the emphasis is, as with other illnesses, to kill the offender. Unfortunately this means suppressing and weakening the immune response as well. A holistic approach which focuses on the state of health of the whole person is a much more reasonable approach to this disorder. Using a combination of Homeopathy, Herbs, Vitamins and other health enhancing products can stimulate the immune response and strengthen the organs and systems affected by the disease. This results in a permanent and complete restoration of health.
Stages and symptoms of Lyme Disease:
1. In approximately 80% of the cases a small red spot appears between 3 and 30 days after a tick bite. The spot expands over time, forming a circle or oval sometimes resembling a bull's eye. The rash can range in size from that of a dime to the entire width of a person's back. As the infection spreads rashes can appear at different places on the body. 50% of the patients experience flu-like symptoms: fever, headache, stiff neck, body aches, muscular pains and fatigue.
2. Weeks to months later the disease continues to progress causing the development of any of a number of neurological signs such as Bells palsy, stiff neck and severe headache (which may be indicative of meningitis), temporary paralysis, pain or weakness in the limbs and poor motor coordination. 8% of the people affected can develop cardiac abnormalities such as palpitations, lightheadedness, fainting, chest pain and shortness of breath.
3. Months to years later as the condition continues to progress 60% of cases develop a condition characterized as chronic articular or rheumatoid arthritis.
Risk Factors:
According to statistics, the following factors increase the risk for developing Lyme disease... Environment: exposure to heavily wooded areas, and parks,
. Season: infection is most likely during the summer and fall.
. Age: most common in children and young adults.
. Location: 90 percent of cases occur in the coastal northeast, as well as in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Oregon.
Diagnosis:
Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms mimic those of other disorders. About one quarter of people with Lyme disease do not develop a rash. A blood test may confirm the presence of the bacterium.
I do not recommend the common practice of a spinal tap unless it is absolutely necessary. This practice is common in the modern medical system to detect brain and spinal cord inflammation and to examine antibodies or genetic material of B. burgdorferi in the spinal fluid.
The beauty of working with an experienced Homeopathic Consultant, is that after taking a full case analysis (which consists of examining the history, etiology, signs and individual symptoms of the person) he / she will come to the same grouping of remedies and herbs anyway. Whether you attach a name or pathology to the ailment or look up the symptomology, most of the Homeopathic remedies will be the same. Homeopathy, as an art and science, was developed many years before there were microscopes to see the actual bacteria and virii. The correctly chosen remedy and potency stimulated the system to heal itself. It is also vital to not put the weakened system under any more stress than necessary. Health destroying drugs and invasive therapies work against the vital or healing forces of the body.
Prevention:
The best defense against Lyme disease is to guard against tick bites. Avoid heavily wooded areas, wear protective clothing, and apply tick repellent. Wear light-colored clothing (which makes ticks easier to detect), do a careful inspection of your body after outdoor activities in wooded or grassy areas, and, if ticks are found, remove them with tweezers. Be prepared. If you plan to go into a wooded area, take a Homeopathic Emergency Kit with you or at least a few remedies and first aid supplies.
Add Borr. Nosode (see Homeopathics) to your emergency kit.
Homeopathics:
In every case of Lyme disease Homeopathic texts suggest starting with a nosode (a remedy made from the actual borrelia burgdorferi) in a 30c potency. One dose three times daily is given for three days. If this remedy is given in the early stages, you can actually stop the disease from developing.
After careful analysis, we give one of the following remedies based on the symptoms of the disease and the health of the person. Please refer to a Homeopathic Materia Medica for indications and potency selection. Due to the nature of this disease and the fact that you'll need to adjust the remedies and potencies in order to restore complete health, we suggest working with a Professional if you don't see good results within the first two weeks after having started on the chosen Homeopathic remedy.
. Use low potencies several times a day.
. These are the remedies that I have used successfully in my practice with the predominant symptoms.
. Sepia and Tellurium in the first stages of the disease.
. Then follow with indications:
. Arnica for muscle pain and soreness.
. Gelsemium for overall weakness.
. Rhus Tox for stiffness and pain worse cold or damp weather and better by continued movement.
. Arsenicum for extreme restlessness and burning pains.
. Mercury for sore throat, mouth ulcers, and excess salivation.
. Carcinocin, Lac Caninium, and Thuja have been used also in Europe and Asia with good success.
Herbs:
Herbs are concentrated foods for the organs, and immune response. I use a combination blend of medicinally processed whole plant herbs using all three Echinaceas called Super Echinacea. Then I add Cordyseps Tincture and make a tea of it. This well-known herb combination from Tibet has been shown in clinical studies to improve stamina, decrease fatigue, increase energy and to enhance lung and antioxidant function. It is the only compound known to raise Superoxide Dismutase activity. If other symptoms are present we add the appropriate herbal combinations to address those as well. If there are arthritis symptoms add Arthritis Combo. If there is weakness, add Adrenal Aid.
Nutrition/Diet Aids
Essential fatty acids: Studies show that when EFAs are taken regularly, statistically significant improvements in fatigue, aches, weakness, vertigo, dizziness, memory, concentration and depression are likely. There are two broad classes, GLA and EPA, which are derived respectively from plant and fish oils. I suggest a good cold pressed combination formula to reduce inflammation. Use more than the indicated amount if disease has progressed into the rheumatoid stage. Take for a minimum of four months. improvement continues to occur over time.
CO-Q 10 (ubiquinone): Deficiencies have been related to poor functioning of the heart, limitations of stamina, and poor resistance to infections. Tissue biopsy studies have resulted in the recommendation that a patient with chronic Lyme should take between 200 and 300 mg daily of standard brands, or 90 mg daily of the pharmaceutical quality product as directed. Improvements do not begin for several weeks. The body will manufacture its own CO-Q 10 when the original infection is controlled but only if stimulated by aggressive exercise.
Vitamin B: Clinical studies demonstrated the need for supplemental vitamin B in infections with other Borrelia to help clear neurological symptoms. I use B Right for daily use and Stress B formula if the person is under stress or has been in the past.
Magnesium: Magnesium supplementation is very helpful for muscle pain and spasms, headaches, tremors, twitches, cramps, muscle soreness, heart skips and weakness. It may also help in energy level and cognition. We also recommend a liquid herbal form of calcium made from plant sources (Herbal Calcium or Calcium Elixir). They work synergistically and both are easily assimilated when taken together. Calcium from inorganic sources such as calcium carbonate is not recommended.
Multi vitamin: I recommend using an herbal form of whole food vitamins, liquid preferred, or non-heated, capsulized one. Herbal Vitamins is one of the top brands available. Take between two and eight daily according to the diet.
Super aloe-vera juice 10,000 MPS aloe with the aloin (a harsh laxative) removed, cold pressed and processed, whole leaf, potency protects the intestinal tract. Take two ounces twice a day with probiotics, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus (refrigerated brands only) to restore normal levels of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines.
I believe that the body can heal itself of any disorder if given the proper stimulus. Lyme disease is no exception. It makes sense to try an approach that will work with your immune system instead of against it. Never settle for being told that something is incurable. Get empowered. Get well!
The office of Dr. Cindee Gardner Ph.D., D.Hom., C.Hom. is located at 2324 Marbury Road Pittsburgh, Pa. 15221.
// posted by Linda Weissinger Lupowitz @ 7:27 AM
