IV Vitamin C Treat's West Nile in Boulder

SUBJECT----- WEST NILE, BOULDER COUNTY

I appreciate the good service you are providing to the Boulder community by
again reporting in your 9/14/06 headline story how I was cured of West Nile in
2003. My case was confirmed by lab results on my blood which were reported to
the Boulder County Health Department. A nurse from that Department followed up
a few weeks later by calling me. She was amazed to hear that I was totally free
of all symptoms and wanted to know what I did as her job was to gather
information on all confirmed cases. I said the basic treatment was 75 grams of
vitamin C administered by intravenous drip and that my fever broke and all
symptoms disappeared about 36 hours later. I gave the nurse the name and phone
number of my doctor, Thomas Levy, M.D. in Denver and urged her to have the
appropriate medical personnel call him. I also volunteered to be interviewed by
Department medical personnel. Neither Dr Levy nor I received any communication
from the health department.

Mary Butler, your reporter on the original story (in 2003), called the State
Medical Director, Dr Calonge. He responded that vitamin C is an "unproven"
therapy (for West Nile) and yet to prove a "benefit." In fact he never called
Dr Levy or me. Further, there is a huge amount of readily accessible (via
Google) clinical trial proof that mega doses of vitamin C administered
intravenously has had consistent highly positive results on a broad range of
viral diseases--with no adverse side effects. That's how I very easily (thanks
Google) found out about Dr. Levy, a cardiologist, as he is well known as one of
the top research/practitioners in this field.

It is very sad and a great disservice to our community that those charged with
the responsibility to protect our health will not even look at the evidence
that West Nile (among other viruses) can be mitigated and even cured cheaply
and quickly with no risks. The orthodox medical professionals who I have spoken
to about this have a wide variety of excuses for not looking at the evidence.
The killer excuse is that, "Even if mega dose IV C cures West Nile, I might
lose my license for administering it. Even telling people about it would be
risky." I hear excuses like that often. The power of the drug and orthodox
medical industry is awesome and the stakes are huge. Can you imagine the blow
to the prestige and profits of the drug companies and their dependent down line
industries, regulatory agencies, and distributor/doctors if the public became
truly informed about how simply and cheaply most viral diseases can be cured?
Can you imagine the magnitude of relief from suffering and death that would
evolve?

A lot of people are suffering life long disabilities because those charged with
the responsibility to protect our health are too afraid to look or step out of
the protective (prison) walls of their orthodox box. Sadly, their fears are
well founded. We need to help break those walls down. We need to help one
another by starting a grass roots movement of doctors and patients. Curing West
Nile in Boulder County is a great place to start and this could launch a wave
of reforms in health care.

I invite anyone who wants to help or is interested to contact me. I have no
financial interest in medical practices or vitamins.

Jack Butler, Founder
www.jjjfoundation.org ( http://www.jjjfoundation.org/ )
jbutler@venturainc.com (mailto:jbutler@venturainc.com)
Cell-- 303 503 9000

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Another Day, Another Cold

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Vitamin C RDA Critique

My own experiments with Vitamin C are still going well. I seem to require a little less than when I was racing and riding a bit more than I am now. I have settled on 2 to 3 grams a day. I will probably pick this up a bit as I pick up the training in the next month.

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The Latest CTS Bash: Co Q10

...questions still remain as to 
whether it can really do all the things 
the supplement companies would have 
you believe.

I was particularly interested in the side effects mentioned. After a bit of searching, I found almost the exact same things in this article by the NCI. But strangely, I could not find any of the side effects discussed in the papers sited here. But there was no summery text in the 4th article listed so perhaps there's some mention there. I searched pub med for Coenzyme q10 and insomnia but found nothing but this which seems positive if I read it correctly. Now the NCI is not known to have a very favorable attitude towards vitamins and supplements either so it may not be surprising that there are misleading statements made here.

There was no mention of the positive effects on migraine headaches (for example).

For a good overview of Co q10, check out Professor John Ely's page on it.

So I think I have a template for CTS Essentials Nutrition Watch to use:

Vitamin or supplement name
Make up or exaggerate a claim
Look for a bogus or negative study or paper
Keep repeating over and over, "just eat a good diet..."

On the other hand, perhaps there is good reason for Carmichael to distance himself from recommending the use of any kind of supplement. There are a lot rumors and charges that Armstrong used some sort of drug or illegal enhancement to win the Tour so many times. Just a thought.

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Of Witch Hunts and Cabals

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Here Comes the Sun (vitamin)

The story of the sun vitamin is turning out to be nothing short of amazing. We are talking everything from cancer, heart disease and influenza as well as bone and muscle density are potentially effected by deficiencies of this vitamin. The problem is that us North Americans just don't get enough of it by a long shot (speaking from the knowledge gained from reading just a few of the newsletters mentioned above). Now for my cycling friends, it's less of a problem in the summer as we are out riding a fair amount (even if you are a wannabe like me) but for those cubicle trolls in the IT department, you might want to study this problem more closely.

But still, there is enough of a problem in the winter that I have decided to take some vitamin D (only cholecalciferol will due here) supplements myself during the winter months. I recently found that Carlson Labs makes a good 2000 IU pill that I have started to take daily. This is the amount suggested by the most recent news letter (pdf download). Toxicity? Not a problem. According to the council, you would have to sustain 40,000 IU over several days to get into trouble. And just spending 15 minutes in direct sunlight during the summer months will cause in the area of 10,000 IU or more of synthesis.

There's also another option which the Council mentions and that is using a sun lamp. This is a lamp which puts out UV-B rays which are the rays responsible for Vitamin D synthesis. Using a lamp like this would guarantee that you are not getting more than you need but there are drawbacks. It is the UV-B rays which also age our skin and effect our eyes (causing cataracts). So I am not convinced that a lamp is the way to go but it might be more cost effective over the long run.

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More on Net Acid Load

We were also discussing whether or not blood PH can actually change. Thanks to my blogging friend Michael for explaining this a little better to me. Our respiratory system and kidneys are in fact responsible for keeping our blood in it's narrow PH range. However, there are conditions when the PH can be outside of this range under disease conditions. Michael mentioned emphysema where a person would have problems exhaling carbon dioxide and this would result in chronic acidosis. Of course this is not a healthy state but the person does not immediately die due to this acidosis (if I understand this correctly).

Doing a google search on "net acid load" will show quite a few interesting documents (including some of Cordain's pages as well as some scientists who he references). But one new one that turned up is a Dr. Susan Brown who has a web site with many interesting documents and her line of thinking appears to be parallel to the paleo diet guys. For example, This PDF document explains the importance of balancing the PH load to the kidneys in a somewhat non-technical way. But there appears to be many other useful resources at Dr. Brown's site.

So what about the bone density issue with cyclists? Well, I'm still not taking calcium supplements. I really think that the whole idea of inadequate calcium intake is being promoted to a degree by the dairy industry. There are problems with excessive calcium supplementation. Things like calcification of arteries and heart valves which are not being discussed. I am focusing on eating lots of fruits and vegetables. A salad with every dinner. Spinach with lunch. Raisins as a mid morning snack (and raisins for other times). If you look at the table of PH loads at Cordons site, you see that raisins and spinach have the highest alkaline loads. But also, keep eating those fruits and veggies as much as you can. Potassium also appears to be related to alkaline loading so eating bananas and cantaloupe (for energy food while working out or after) which are high in potassium is a good idea as well.

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CTS the Vitamin Bashers

But on to the meat of this article. The article is all about the dangers of vitamin E. It's main source is the HOPE study. This study was one of several which have come out in the past year or so warning against dangers with vitamins. This one received wide coverage in the mainstream media. The article even mentions that it was reported in the NYT. Now that gives instant credibility doesn't it? That bastion of truth and objectivity with no political or controlling interests. Of course, the NYT is also the paper which reported that the Atkins diet is widely supported by scientists and nutrition experts (yeah right).

As I was looking for a link to the original study, I found lots of critical examinations of it instead. I encourage anyone to simply do a google search of "vitamin e" and HOPE. You will get a pretty good idea of the problems involved. But I also point out health journalist Bill Sardi's excellent article about this study. It is informative. Here's a short summery of what I get out of it:

• Many of the patients in the study were taking a variety of medications besides the vitamin e control group. These medications included: Beta Blockers, Diuretics, Statins, Aspirin, and Calcium blockers. All of these medications can interfere with heart function in some way.
• The study claims that heart ejection fractions were reduced by 1.66 percent. Is this statistically significant?
• This statement by the researchers involved was not generally reported by main stream media sources: "this finding could be due to chance, although several factors persuade us to believe that it may be real." Real hard science here isn't it?

I am seriously thinking of writing a letter to CTS. Now if you think this is coming strait from Lance, think again. Here are some recommendations from Michele Ferrari who, up until this year, has worked with Armstrong and Carmichael on Lance's training.

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Paleo Diet Web Site

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More on Nader's Group

Now the whole question of corruption in the drug and pharmaceutical business may be out of bounds for some of you. Many of us conservatives are fond of saying that we have the best health care system in the world. In many respects, I still believe this is true. But that doesn't mean that corruption is not possible. There are a couple things to consider here. First of all, the type of system doesn't necessarily prevent corruption. That is, a system can be corrupt if it's socialized or not socialized. Corruption occurs in government and the private sector. And corruption occurs regardless of the type of government. There is increasing evidence that the NIH (or perhaps individuals researchers within the NIH) are getting money from pharmaceutical companies. Now doesn't that seem odd that the agency responsible for making sure drugs are safe for the public is being paid by the very companies who stand to make large profits from putting those drugs on the market?

The connection to vitamins and other supplements is involved here as well. As I have mentioned before, there is no reason for a drug company to look into the benefits of (or conduct research into) vitamins since it is not possible to take out a patent on one. And there are many drugs which appear to imitate the action of vitamins and are also inhibited by vitamins. Statin drugs which are commonly prescribed for people with heart disease are an example. People taking these drugs are commonly told to stop taking vitamins. You can also see here that it would be to the advantage of a drug company to suppress the knowledge and use of vitamins if they indeed already do some of the things that the drugs they are developing attempt to do. I am not an expert in this field. I have only recently taken an interest in vitamins. But I am certainly not surprised to think that there could be corruption involved in this area. What do you think?

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Stage 1 in the Supplement War Completed

• Report on the results of the CODEX meeting in Rome Italy which occured this month.
• How CAFTA and CODEX are related.
• Description of documentary film which discusses the dangers of CODEX.

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Vitamin D Levels and Athletic Performance

Dear Dr. Cannell: I noticed that my basketball game is a lot better
after I started taking vitamin D.  Have you heard anything like that?
Jason, Richmond, Virginia.
 
Dear Jason:  I've heard it from many other people; remember that
activated vitamin D is a potent steroid hormone.  I've never been a
good athlete - and I'm still not - but my tennis game is clearly
better since I've been maintaining my level at 50 ng/ml.  The
literature is actually quite convincing that vitamin D improves the
athletic abilities of older people who are vitamin D deficient.  That
is, vitamin D makes them fall less, and improves their choice
reaction time, muscle strength, percentage and area of type II (fast)
muscle fibers, and balance.  However, to date, no one has directly
tested the theory by giving physiological amounts of vitamin D (5,000
units a day) to young vitamin D deficient athletes.  I predict
whomever does that study will be all over the news.  Furthermore,
idiopathic (which means the doctors are too idiotic to know why) low
back pain is rampant among athletes, especially indoor athletes.
There is good reason to think that many of them are vitamin D
deficient.  I'm not going to cite the references to any of this
because I'm writing a paper.  However, it looks as if levels of about
50 ng/ml will optimize athletic ability.

Although my little accident hindered me from starting some of the early season races, all indications are that my capabilities are just as good or better than last year even though I also got a late start to training this year. One factor which could be helping is vitamin D intake. I spent almost 3 weeks in the Philippines in January and this probably brought my vit D levels up. Then, I started taking 2k iu of cholecalciferol every day which hopefully has kept those levels optimized. Difficult to draw any solid conclusions here I guess. It would be much better to get a 25-hydroxy-vitamin D test done in the winter to see where I'm at. I'm going to look into this.

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De Vany on Strength Training

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Can We Ever Get Enough Vitamin Bashing?

So who's paying the bills at the WSJ? You wouldn't suppose that lots of advertising space is paid for by large pharmaceutical companies would you?

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The LEF Responds to Recent Media Attacks on Supplements

What you are about to read might at first seem
unbelievable. Please remember, however, that the studies we
describe were conducted by mainstream doctors who know
virtually nothing about natural ways to prevent and treat
disease.

As you will also find out, many of the doctors who designed
and authored these flawed studies received financial
compensation from the very pharmaceutical companies that
stood to gain the most by deriding low-cost natural
approaches to disease prevention.

The liberal media is generally very supportive of mainstream medicine and is highly influenced by the Pharmaceutical industry. If you don't believe the explanations offered by the LEF, what explanation can you give for these blatant manipulations?

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Two Amazing Molecules Found in Common Food Items

Allicin

Resveratrol

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The Good Health Pill

"If exercise could be made into a pill, it would be the most-prescribed pill we
have," said Cedric Bryant, an exercise physiologist and a vice president (for
educational services) with the American Council on Exercise in San Diego.

"It affects virtually every system in the body," chimed in Catherine Jackson,
who chairs the department of kinesiology at California State University in
Fresno.

The power of physical activity came home to her in an experiment she conducted
a few years ago. She listed the effects of inactivity and those of aging. They
were nearly identical.

"Some of the things that occur to you as you get older won't occur as soon if
you are active," she said. "A lot of people have said exercise is as close to a
fountain of youth as you're going to get."

Indeed, it would be hard to overstate the impact of exercise on human health.
But exactly what happens when you get up from your chair and shake it?

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Bashing all Supplements

But the authors caution that the results may not apply to 
the population at large because the high-dose trials were 
small and their participants tended to have chronic health 
problems such as heart disease. And because most of the 
studies did not note the cause of death, the authors say 
they cannot conclude anything about the underlying mechanism.

Beware the meta-study. They can be manipulated and very misleading. There should be other corroborative and specific studies in order to draw any conclusions. I like this quote from Dr. Cordain's recent news letter regarding epidemiological studies:

In New York City, there are always more fire
trucks at bigger fires.  Hence, more fire trucks
are associated with bigger fires, but more fire
trucks do not cause bigger fires.

Here are some links for your consideration:
Dr. Andrew Saul's testimony before Canadian Parliament on Vitamin safety.
I have published a couple of Dr. Saul's interviews with accomplished nutrition researches. These came from the Doctor Yourself newsletters. Here's some links in case you missed them in the past:

• Dr. Bruce Ames. He is specifically asked about vitamin E supplements in this interview and supplements in general.
• Dr. Michael Holick. Probably the most accomplished vitamin D researcher in the world. He is also asked about vitamin D safety and vitamin supplement safety in general.

Update

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Vitamin E and C Warnings

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Dr. Thomas Levy on Vit C

Levy argues that the medical profession has routinely
ignored research showing that high doses of Vitamin C can
combat bacteria, toxins and severe viral infections
including avian flu, SARS, hepatitis and herpes. And this
is not a case of doctors sniffing at anecdotal evidence
from a handful of enthusiasts. 'Vitamin C is possibly the
best-researched substance in the world. There are more
than 24,000 papers and articles on the authoritative
clinical website, Medline. Yet virtually all the
evidence has been dismissed.' Levy even claims that Aids
can be controlled if a high enough dosage of Vitamin C is
maintained.

This is not the first time doctors have had their cages
rattled over the benefits of Vitamin C. The controversy
has been simmering since 1753, when just a couple of
sucks of a lime were shown to prevent scurvy. In the
1950s the chemist Linus Pauling, a double Nobel
prize-winner, promoted the use of mega-doses of Vitamin
C, but his research was rubbished by clinicians.

Recently, the anti-Vitamin C sentiment has grown. It has
been blamed for causing the formation of kidney stones,
and a study published in the journal Science in 2001
found that even 200mg doses of Vitamin C 'facilitated the
production of DNA-damaging agents associated with a
variety of cancers'. This finding was widely interpreted
as proving that Vitamin C causes cancer.

Here's an excellent article about this DNA damage charge by Jack Challem. Of course, Levy and Challem are just out to make money off of books right?

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Another Vitamin E Rant

"For cardiovascular death, there was a 
significant 24% reduction (RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 
0.59-0.98; P = .03)."

That seems pretty clear. A 24% change would seem to be pretty obvious to any casual observer and very significant. But strangely, the conclusion to the study reads:

"The data from this large trial indicated
that 600 IU of natural-source vitamin E
taken every other day provided no overall
benefit for major cardiovascular events or
cancer, did not affect total mortality,
and decreased cardiovascular mortality in
healthy women. These data do not support
recommending vitamin E supplementation for
cardiovascular disease or cancer
prevention among healthy women."

Huh?? No overall benefit? How do you explain this conclusion?

Another point is the dosage and frequency of it. 600 iu is fine but every other day? Who takes vitamin E every other day? Now tell me, if I did a study with some popular cold medicine or pain reliever and I reduced the dosage or changed the frequency, then I reported mixed results, don't you think the company involved with manufacturing this product would be after me? Well, vitamin supplement manufacturers aren't in the same ball park as pharmaceuticals (they don't have nearly the same amount of money to feed to lawyers), that's why you don't see much response.

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Pray for Pastor Smith's Brother

Just a couple of months ago, Chris's younger brother Matt went in for a cat scan to investigate kidney stones. They noticed something odd in the scans which has turned out to be Colon cancer. That was back in the spring and now, Matt is now fighting for his life. Because I have gotten to know Chris pretty well as I mentioned, I really feel struck by these events. I have been very fortunate health wise as you can see if you read my blog. Here I am pushing 50 and doing a lot of physical activity (and enjoying it of course). But Matt is in his 30's and has a wife and kids. If you believe in prayer, I suggest you include Matt on your list.

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US News Issue on Heart Disease

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