Bugs Inside: What Happens When the Microbes That Keep Us Healthy Disappear?

The human body has more microbial than human cells, but this rich diversity of micro-helpers that has evolved along with us is undergoing a rapid shift–one that may have very macro health consequences

By Katherine Harmon

Bacteria, viruses and fungi have been primarily cast as the villains in the battle for better human health. But a growing community of researchers is sounding the warning that many of these microscopic guests are really ancient allies.

Having evolved along with the human species, most of the miniscule beasties that live in and on us are actually helping to keep us healthy, just as our well-being promotes theirs. In fact, some researchers think of our bodies as superorganisms, rather than one organism teeming with hordes of subordinate invertebrates.

Here’s the entire article.

Mayo Clinic Study Says Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk of Hospitalization For Flu

Inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children — especially if they have asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than those who skip the shot.

In order to determine whether the trivalent inactivated flu vaccine was effective in reducing the number of child hospitalizations, researchers conducted a cohort study of close to 300 children. The investigators determined who had and had not received the flu vaccine, their asthma status and who did and did not require hospitalization.

They found that children who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization. In asthmatic children, there was a significantly higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who received the vaccine.

Link to Dr. Mercola’s article.

Mexican Tortilla Soup Created by White Lotus Chef Beatrix Rohlsen

 Serves 4-6

Served with avocado, crispy tortilla strips and a dollop sour cream, this recipe can serve several, or you can sit down and feast with a friend and save left-overs (even better) for a serious second round of indulgence.( I had this on retreat @ White Lotus & loved it.. Dr C)
Ingredients:
1-3 dried Ancho or Pasilla chilies
1 onion (chopped medium)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 celery stalks (thinly chopped)
1 bunch scallions (thinly chopped)
1 can (15oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 can (15 oz) corn kernels
2-5 cloves garlic (minced)
4-5 cups soup stock
Water from the soaked chilies
1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped medium fine)
Salt (to taste)
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small to medium avocado (sliced into strips or small chunks)
6-8 teaspoons sour cream
2-4 corn tortillas
1/2 lime (optional)

Rinse chilies under cold water. Place them in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Soak ½ hr. When soft, drain and reserve the water for the soup. Take out the membrane and the seeds using gloves so that you do not get chili oil, which has a strong heat, on your hands. These chilies have a fairly high rad rating (chili heat index) so you don’t want to over do it by using too many in the soup. Cut the chilies into small pieces and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a medium sized soup pot. Sauté chopped onions, celery, scallions and garlic for 5-10 minutes. Add 3 cups soup stock and the can of crushed tomatoes. Let simmer; do not boil. Add 1 -2 cups water from the soaked chilies, less if you do not want your soup have a lot of heat.. Use additional soup stock if needed. Add chilies and corn. Season with salt. For a more spicy heat, add some red pepper flakes. Turn soup off and cover. If you like, squeeze some lime juice into the soup.
Cut corn tortillas in half and then cut thin strips starting along the shorter side. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Let the tortilla strips cool while on the baking sheet so that they get crunchy, and then transfer to a bowl and set aside. Cut avocado into small chunks or strips and set aside.
When ready to serve, if necessary, re-warm soup for a moment but do not boil. Just before serving add finely chopped cilantro.
Serve each portion with tortilla strips, avocado and sour cream on top. Ole!

Breathing Technique for Relaxation

This technique can be done in most positions but the easiest is lying on your back.

  1. Lie flat on your back in a quiet peaceful location. (Do the best you can to find a location like this).
  2. With your eyes closed, focus your attention on your heart. Imagine that you are taking the breath in through your heart. With your mouth closed, breathe in through your nose slowly. Take approximately
    4 sec. to inhale.
  3. As you are inhaling, use your diaphragm. You will know you’re doing it correctly if your stomach rises and your chest doesn’t move. NOTE: To help you re-integrate your brain and the diaphragm muscle, put one hand on your chest and a book (or the other hand) on your belly. As you breathe in, make sure the book on your belly raises. If you must, forcefully push your stomach out as you breathe in. Almost automatically you will create a vacuum in the lungs and they will fill with air. (that’s how the diaphragm works).
  4. Next, as you exhale, slightly open your mouth and let the air out slowly taking 6 to 7 sec. As you do this, your stomach should go down gradually pushing the air out of your lungs. Imagine that you are blowing on a candle flame without blowing it out.
  5. As you are exhaling, focus your attention, with your eyes closed, on your solar plexus area. That’s
    right above your stomach where your rib cage meets. Imagine that the air is going out through that area.

To get the positive effects of this activity, you’ll need to do this for a minimum of 5 min. At first you may experience some dizziness due to the increased O2 in your system so start at a short duration and work your way up in time. You will get even greater benefits if you continue to do this for longer periods of time. 10, 15, 20 mins.

Don’t be discouraged if you fall asleep, keep trying the breathing and eventually you won’t fall asleep. As you improve you will experience a wonderful relaxed state of stress free consciousness.

This activity will actually improve the frequency at which your brain functions which will have global positive effects for you and your health. Your hearth health will improve and your brain will have the opportunity to rest and recover. In order to get these changes, the activity needs to be repeated daily, even multiple times a day in order to change the habit pattern of your brain and reset the brains resting rate. A fairly permanent resting rate of brain function seems to be achieved around the 4th to 5th month of repeating this activity.

Caution: don’t make doing this activity another stressful thing in your life. It’s about learning to calm your entire system.

Blood pressure will lower if it’s too high, immune system function will improve, digestion will improve, life in general will not seem so stressful.

Spinal Column – January 2010

Lanjopoulos Family Chiropractic
309 E Saginaw Hwy, Grand Ledge. 627- 4547

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein

Well, here we are more than 2 weeks into the New Year already. Amazing isn’t it?….Already we are making appointments for February and I am still wondering where January is heading. Of course, most people are ready to call it a day on the cold and snow, but I think that, at least once in a while, we should take a moment and just appreciate the beauty of nature and her incredible wisdom in being able to create such marvelous vistas.. sparkling and bright in the winter sun.

This will be a winter for our “snowbirds” in Florida to remember….what’s up when Miami is colder than we are…where is this thing they call global warming?

Just remember as you are shoveling that white stuff to be careful!!!

This year we are again involved with the local Doctors with Heart program. We offer all in need a chance to be checked, x-rayed, if need be, and adjusted for FREE on Feb 5th. Please tell your friends who are thinking about getting under care that a simple phone call will start the process for them and perhaps help them move towards a healthier New Year ( and maybe give them a chance to be a 10 in 2010?).

AND this January 29th we will have been in this “new space” for 3 Years!!!!! WOW!!..It was a challenge to move in that frosty weather of 3 years ago….but, you know, the move was the best thing we have done. We love our space!!!!!!

January 2010 is
Work towards being a 10 in 2010
Family fitness month
Celebrating our “new” office
Nat’l compliment day 1/24
Fun at work day 30th

A message for the New Year
We’ve all made mistakes – may we learn and grow from them.
We’ve all been scarred and hurt in our lives – may we learn and grow from them.
We all have enemies – may we all learn and grow from them. May we be so strong that we can forgive and move on.
May we have compassion on those we made fun of, or belittled, or even hurt – we most likely did it because they reminded us of something we disliked or hated in ourselves.

May we fight the good fight, but not lose ourselves in battle.
May we be able to lose ourselves in deep satisfying sleep and awaken refreshed to a new world – every day

Words of Wisdom
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.” – Albert Einstein.

Stretch of the week for Jan 2010

Dog / ½ dog
Dog…on hands and knees with hands on floor under shoulders and knees under hips.
Tuck toes under and lift tail high up into air (think inverted V)…breath 3 breaths or more.
½ Dog…Hands on counter or pressing into wall. Walk tail and feet back until heels are under hips and press back out through tail

Bent knee lunge
On Hands and knees: Walk right foot between hands close to right hand. Bring upper body up, place hands on right knee (or keep them on the floor) and work left hip forward and down. Hold and breathe 3 to 5 breaths and switch. (blanket under knees is optional)

Modified shoulder stretch at the wall.
Sit well back in chair facing wall with knees apart and knees touching wall. Place hands on wall above shoulders. Keeping belly button pulled in, walk arms up wall. Hold and breathe 3-5 breaths

Legs up the wall/sideways stretch at the wall
Lie on side with knees to chest and butt against wall. Roll onto back and lift legs up wall. Hold and breathe 3-5 breaths. (If hamstrings are tight, move butt a little away from wall) Sideways stretch at the wall: with body against wall from back of head to heels, pull belly button into spine and slowly drop one arm down the side of the body without losing body contact. Hold and breathe 3-5 breaths and repeat to other side.

Muscle spasm, trigger points, fibromyalgia and chiropractic
Since over 60% of your body is nerve, muscle and bone, it should come as no surprise that chronic pain, strain, spasm, irritation, inflammation, trigger points and other neuromusculoskeletal (nerve-muscle-bone) conditions are so common. In fact, many of the millions of people who visit their doctors of chiropractic do so because of these problems.

Trigger Points
Trigger points are tender, sensitive areas that when pressed, stuck, heated or cooled can be exquisitely painful. You may first discover trigger points when you are surprised by someone pressing a seemingly pain-free area. Trigger point pain may also be referred to other areas of the body. Trigger points are common in chronic muscle spasm, myalgia, myositis, fibrositis, strain and sprain, and other muscle and joint problems.

The Cause
The cause of this mystery illness may, at least in part, be spinal trauma. It’s not unusual for adults who have had neck injuries to report back, neck, muscle and joint pain and fibromyalgia within one year of their injury.

The Chiropractic Approach
Those suffering from muscle spasm, trigger points, neuro-muscular pain and problems, fibromyalgia and similar symptoms are seeing chiropractors in record numbers. Why? Because they are getting results. For example, in one study 5 men and 18 women, aged 11 to 76 with chronic fatigue syndrome, trigger point pain and fibromyalgia, who had been suffering from 2 to 35 years, began chiropractic care. Every patient was able to resume normal activities including full time work and maintained their improvements one year later at follow up. The authors of the study write: “Improvement in symptoms of 92-100% was achieved in both these syndromes.”

What Do Doctors Of Chiropractic Do?
Chiropractors locate and correct subluxations, a condition that damages nerves, muscles, fascia, meninges and other tissues. Subluxations cause joints to “freeze” or lose normal movement, causing damage to the involved area.

Conclusion
Under chiropractic care your head is more balanced, your hips and shoulders are more level and stress is taken off the joints and muscles throughout your body. Because less of your energy goes into supporting an unbalanced spine and skeleton, you may immediately discover more energy, greater ease in movement and improved relaxation.

A healthy spine and structural system can make the difference between a life of pain, suffering and disability and one of ease, happiness and freedom.

Dee & Warren report: “Less pain, better outlook,more energy and no colds or flu since getting under care”

Humor
Excerpts from a Dog’s Daily Diary…
8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat’s Daily Diary…. Day 983 of my captivity… My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am. Bastards. There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies.’ I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow – but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now …

More giggles…giggles….giggles…oh stop!

The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-Nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

HELPING OTHERS LIVE BETTER LIVES IS WHAT WE DO

Asked what difference Chiropractic had made in her life… Pam W says:” No pain! After 5 years, 3 surgeries and a trip to Mayo Clinic, I have pain-free wrists due to Chiropractic Care. I was told I’d have to live with this pain and prescribed pain meds. But in 3 months I’m a “new person” Thank you!”

Pam originally consulted with us about her wrist and neck pain. I picked this up off Yahoo recently and I feel it is important for us all to do some serious thinking about what we are doing to our food and by extension to ourselves..Dr. C

FRANKENSTEIN, Mo. – The mystery started the day farmer Russ Kremer got between a jealous boar and a sow in heat. The boar gored Kremer in the knee with a razor-sharp tusk. The burly pig farmer shrugged it off, figuring: “You pour the blood out of your boot and go on.” But Kremer’s red-hot leg ballooned to double its size. A strep infection spread, threatening his life and baffling doctors. Two months of multiple antibiotics did virtually nothing. The answer was flowing in the veins of the boar. The animal had been fed low doses of penicillin, spawning a strain of strep that was resistant to other antibiotics. That drug-resistant germ passed to Kremer. Like Kremer, more and more Americans — many of them living far from barns and pastures — are at risk from the widespread practice of feeding livestock antibiotics. These animals grow faster, but they can also develop drug-resistant infections that are passed on to people. The issue is now gaining attention because of interest from a new White House administration and a flurry of new research tying antibiotic use in animals to drug resistance in people. Researchers say the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals has led to a plague of drug-resistant infections that killed more than 65,000 people in the U.S. last year — more than prostate and breast cancer combined. And in a nation that used about 35 million pounds of antibiotics last year, 70 percent of the drugs went to pigs, chickens and cows. Worldwide, it’s 50 percent. “This is a living breathing problem, it’s the big bad wolf and it’s knocking at our door,” said Dr. Vance Fowler, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University. “It’s here. It’s arrived.” The rise in the use of antibiotics is part of a growing problem of soaring drug resistance worldwide, The Associated Press found in a six-month look at the issue. As a result, killer diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and staph are resurging in new and more deadly forms. In response, the pressure against the use of antibiotics in agriculture is rising. The World Health Organization concluded this year that surging antibiotic resistance is one of the leading threats to human health, and the White House last month said the problem is “urgent.” “If we’re not careful with antibiotics and the programs to administer them, we’re going to be in a post antibiotic era,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, who was tapped to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this year. Also this year, the three federal agencies tasked with protecting public health — the Food and Drug Administration, CDC and U.S. Department of Agriculture — declared drug-resistant diseases stemming from antibiotic use in animals a “serious emerging concern.” And FDA deputy commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein told Congress this summer that farmers need to stop feeding antibiotics to healthy farm animals. Farm groups and pharmaceutical companies argue that drugs keep animals healthy and meat costs low, and have defeated a series of proposed limits on their use.

Recipes
Mexican Tortilla Soup Created by White Lotus Chef Beatrix Rohlsen

Cranberry-Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 8 slices
This cake is festive and luscious, but with a minimum of fat and a plethora of fresh fruit (and a vegetable!) in the batter, not the least bit guilt-inducing.

8 to 10 ounces fresh cranberries
1/3 cup natural granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds, optional
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons light oil
2 tablespoons rice milk or other nondairy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrot
Maple-Cream Cheese frosting (see following recipe)
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cranberries in a food processor fitted with the blade and pulse on and off until evenly and finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add the sugar, stir well, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, optional flaxseeds, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir to combine thoroughly.

Make a well in the center and add the applesauce, syrup, safflower oil and vanilla. Stir until the wet and dry ingredients are completely combined, but don’t over mix.

Stir the cranberries and carrots into the batter. Pour into a lightly oiled 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center tests clean.

If using the walnuts, toast them in a small dry skillet over medium heat until they brown lightly. Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, release from the pan if you’ve used a springform or other easy-to-release pan and spread the frosting over the top evenly, allowing it to drip fetchingly over the sides. Otherwise, leave the cake in the pan and simply frost the top. Sprinkle evenly with the optional walnuts, then cut into wedges to serve.

Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes about 3/4 cup, enough to frost one average-sized cake

1/2 cup vegan cream cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup, to taste
2 tablespoons rice milk or other plain nondairy milk

Combine the ingredients in a food processor. Process until creamy and smooth. Use a flexible cake spatula to remove from the work bowl. Spread on the cake once cooled to room temperature.

Roasted Cauliflower and Rice Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

4 or more servings
This salad is so delicious it can make a cauliflower-lover out of almost anyone. The secret is roasting the cauliflower—a technique that brings out the best in many vegetables, but perhaps most remarkably so in cauliflower.

3 cups small cauliflower florets
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 (15.5-ounce) can navy beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 fresh ripe tomato, chopped
1/2 cup minced red bell pepper
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons green onions
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spread the cauliflower on a lightly oiled baking pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast until tender and lightly browned, turning once, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
While the cauliflower is roasting, combine the remaining 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the rice, tomato, bell pepper, celery, green onions, and parsley. Pour on the reserved dressing, add the roasted cauliflower, and toss gently to combine.
Serve warm…. yum!!!!!!!!!!