Health is Wealth

The key to health and longevity is finding the trigger to demolish the barrier to a healthier and better life.

IN sitcoms, there is often an episode that plays flashbacks to consolidate the storyline. For those who had joined our tour from the beginning, we have discussed the four pillars of true health. Knowing the benefits of exercise, appropriate lifestyle habits, healthy dietary choices, and a science-based approach to supplementation is still not good enough. It is the keying in of the right digits that opens the combination lock of the door to optimal health that makes the difference.

The secret behind health and disease, life and death, lies within the 100 trillion cells in the body, which are the miracles of life itself. When cells are subjected to toxic and free radical burden, the body fights back with its own artillery, nature’s own immune and antioxidant defence system.

The roots of many chronic diseases are man-made. Never in the history of mankind have we seen such an escalating incidence of heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, and a host of other degenerative diseases. What is worrying is that these conditions are afflicting a younger segment of the population today. Part of the blame is on highly processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and overindulgence of the “good life”.

Above article are extracted from the star online dated 26 Jan 2011

Malaysians afflicted by type 2 diabetes

THE Metabolic Syndrome Study of Malaysia (MSSM) that was conducted in 2008, had uncovered startling facts: 22% of those surveyed above the age of 18 are suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Even more alarming is the fact that half of these people were unaware that they even have the condition.
The rise in the occurrence of T2DM has been linked to the increase in obesity amongst the population. With the mean age of T2DM sufferers gradually lowering, a greater number of the Malaysian public are at risk from this condition, which can lead to diseases involving multiple organ systems, including coronary artery disease, stroke, blindness, and renal failure.

Nearly two million Malaysians suffer from diabetes. Obesity and weight management are linked to this rising trend. The escalation of diabetes over the last 20 years is fairly shocking, with over 50% of Malaysians currently grappling with a weight management problem.

Malaysians are also rather recalcitrant when it comes to managing diabetes, with over 80% of patients demonstrating poor glycemic (or blood glucose level) control and low treatment compliance.

Hyperglycaemia is caused by two main conditions: insulin deficiency and/or insulin resistance. Insulin deficiency is a condition where the body does not produce enough insulin.

 

Insulin resistance prevents the body from converting glucose into glycogen (a starch-like source of energy stored mostly in the liver), which in turn makes it difficult or impossible to remove excess glucose from the blood. To further compound the issue, a 2006 study found that 92% of type 2 diabetes patients are insulin resistant.

To learn more about Dr Ray Strand's Diabetes Risk and Prevention,  click here
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To learn more about Dr Ray Strand's Nutritional Recommendation, click here (to fill up your name and email address)

Above article are partly extracted from the star online dated 16 Jan 2011

Allergic Rhinitis

 

Having a stuffy nose all the time is one of the most common symptoms of allergic rhinitis.

IMAGINE not being able to breathe properly because of a stuffy, or congested, nose. Add on repeated bouts of sneezing, and snot constantly dripping from your nose.

Sounds quite miserable, doesn’t it?

You might think these are symptoms of the common cold. And it probably would not be so bad if it was, because although having the cold is definitely no fun, at least you know that you will recover from it in a matter of days.

Also commonly referred to as nasal allergies, hay fever and “sinus problems”, allergic rhinitis is on the increase around the world. Aside from nasal congestion, sneezing and a runny nose, patients might also experience headaches, itching in the nose, eyes or throat, watery eyes, coughing, a reduced sense of smell, and dripping from the nose into the back of the throat.

Above article is partly extracted from the star online dated January 16 2011

Specific recommendations :  Grade seeds extract

Grape seed extract is a powerful antioxidant that can be used to benefit the body in many ways. Grape seed has antioxidant, antiallergenic, antihistamine, anti-inflammatory and immune boosting properties and it can be instrumental in helping the body fight viruses, allergens, and carcinogens.

Because of its antioxidant properties, grape seed extract is considered an anti-aging wonder. Antioxidants are the most important nutrients for the skin. The bioflavonoids in grape seed extract help strengthen and protect cell membranes from oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

To learn more specific recommendations about Allergies and Hay fever, kindly click here to fill up Name and email address. OR order online 

Giving preventive Nutritional Medicine a hope

They studied the number of cancer patients who survived more than five years following diagnosis and treatment and found that overall, chemotherapy contributed just over 2% to improved survival in the cancer patients.

The authors strongly questioned the continued use of chemotherapy [Clinical Oncology (2004)16:549-560]. Since evidence-based medicine shows that the success rate with chemotherapy is so poor, any nutritional or non-conventional (ie. not yet generally accepted by mainstream medical practice) or complementary therapies that can give 2% or better success rates should be considered, especially if they are safer and less expensive.

However, no matter how poor chemotherapy results are, these are backed by adequate scientific studies, while the others are not. That is why chemotherapy is so widely prescribed despite the outcomes. It is the best among the “proven” therapies.

Patients opting for the other therapies should be clearly told about this. Proponents of nutritional, non-conventional, and complementary therapies should not be giving patients false hope. But it is not wrong to give them some hope, especially after conventional therapy has failed, and they have nothing to lose by trying other methods.

Moreover, many of these other methods do have recorded success cases. While such documented cases do not qualify as scientific studies, they give us hope to try on those patients who refuse conventional therapy (for whatever reason), and for those in whom conventional therapy had failed.

Above article is extracted from the star online dated 9-Jan-2011 

Cancer and prevention

More than 1,359,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year alone and approximately 550,000 patients will die this year from cancer. In spite of the near 25 billion dollars spent on cancer research in the past twenty years, cancer deaths have actually increased over that same time period. This has raised major concern among researchers and clinicians alike-it's time to rethink our approach to cancer prevention and treatment. If there has been any improvement in cancer risk, it seems to be with the ability to detect some cancers sooner, i.e. mammography for the detection of breast cancer and PSA tests for prostate cancer.

It seems that everything we do or eat these days allegedly causes cancer. Excessive exposure to sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer. Asbestos workers have an increased risk of developing an unusual form of lung cancer called a mesothelioma. Smoking and secondary smoke are the main reason that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths (over 158,000 deaths in 1996 alone). Radiation, charcoal grilled steaks, too much fat in our diet, saccharin, and numerous chemicals increase our risk of cancer. These are referred to in the medical literature and media as carcinogens (those things that increase our risk of developing cancer).

Since the first report that chimney sweeps had an increased risk of scrotal cancer because of their exposure to soot, we have become more and more afraid of our environment. Our bodies are being exposed to far more chemicals than any previous generation. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that there are well over 60,000 chemicals in commercial use today and they are increasing at a rate of 1,000 per year. What is the one common denominator? They all increase oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the key to understanding new strategies for preventing and fighting cancer. To learn more, click here 

Above article is extracted from Dr. Ray Strand's online medical practice. Dr. Strand is a specialist in nutritional and preventive medicine and is quickly becoming one of the world's leading authorities.