Why Enzymes are Essential to a Healthy Immune System

Dr. Ellen Cutler says, in a recent Townsend Letter News article, that most people do not realize the central importance that enzymes play in maintaining healthy immune function. Nor do they know the vital role that enzyme therapy can play in reducing or alleviating the painful and debilitating symptoms of chronic immune disorders.

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Study: Skin Infections Caused By Drug-Resistant Staph On Rise

Skin infections can be life-threatening if bacteria get into the bloodstream. Drug-resistant strains can also cause a vicious type of pneumonia and even "flesh-eating" wounds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paid for a study, recently published in New England Journal of Medicine.

A once-rare drug-resistant germ now appears to cause more than half of all skin infections treated in U.S. emergency rooms, say researchers who documented the superbug's startling spread in the general population. Many victims mistakenly thought they just had spider bites that wouldn't heal, not drug-resistant staph bacteria. Only a decade ago, these germs were hardly ever seen outside of hospitals and nursing homes. "It is time for physicians to realize just how prevalent this is," said Dr. Gregory Moran of Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, who led the study.

Researchers analyzed all skin infections among adults who went to hospital emergency rooms in 11 U.S. cities in August 2004. Of the 422 cases, 249, or 59 percent, were caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA Such bacteria are impervious to the penicillin family of drugs long used for treatment.

The proportion of infections due to MRSA ranged from 15 percent to as high as 74 percent in some hospitals.

The germ typically thrives in health care settings where people have open wounds and tubes. But in recent years, outbreaks have occurred among prisoners, children and athletes, with the germ spreading through skin contact or shared items such as towels. Dozens of people in Ohio, Kentucky and Vermont recently got MRSA skin infections from tattoos.

The good news: MRSA infections contracted outside a hospital are easier to treat.

The study found that several antibiotics work against them, including some sulfa drugs that have been around for decades. A separate study in the journal reports the effectiveness of Cubicin, an antibiotic recently approved to treat bloodstream infections and heart inflammation caused by MRSA However, doctors need to test skin infections to see what germ is causing them, and ·to treat each one as if it were MRSA until test results prove otherwise, researchers said.

Good News! You Can Eat Eggs

Dr Isadore Rosenberg says that for more than 30 years, he has been telling his heart patients as well as anyone who was vulnerable to cardiac disease and hardening of the arterie, to avoid eating eggs. In so doing, he was following the advice of the medical establishment and nutritional scientists. Their logic was that, since the plaques that narrow arteries in the heart, brain and elsewhere contain cholesterol, it made sense to avoid cholesterol-rich foods. One egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol. That's a lot-especially considering that the daily upper limit of cholesterol consumption is just 300 mg a day.

Now, however, we've learned that the cholesterol we eat has very little effect on its level in the blood. What's more important is how much saturated fats and trans-fatty acids we consume. So doctors are rethinking their advice about not eating eggs.

Recent data obtained from long-term studies of dietary habits in more than 100,000 men and women have shown that one egg a day has no effect on the future development of cardiovascular disease in healthy men and women. Dr Rosenberg advice to his patients, "If you are healthy and your cholesterol level is normal, eat as many eggs as you like. However, reduce your intake of saturated fats like bacon, red meat, whole milk and other dairy products and avoid the trans-fatty acids in junk foods, fried foods and potato chips.

Eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat.

Did You Know?

• A University of Virginia study found that when someone holds your hand, it calms area of the brain that register alarm. The effect is even greater when the hand belongs to your spouse or a loved one.
• Frozen orange juice has about 25% more vitamin C than ready-to-drink juice. Carol Johnston, PhD, RD, professor of nutrition, Arizona State University, tells us the reason is that at refrigerator temperatures, oxygen slowly destroys vitamin C in ready-to-drink juice. This reaction is prevented by the colder temperatures needed to store frozen juice. Once a container of any type of citrus juice is opened and exposed to air, it may lose all the vitamin C within a month.
• Rice cakes can cause weight gain. Why?: Even though they are low in calories, they boost blood-sugar and insulin levels, causing the body to store extra sugar as fat. Other products to avoid for the same reason are mashed potatoes, instant rice, dried dates, fruit roll-ups and jelly beans.
• Exposing a wound to the air so it can breathe is a terrible mistake, experts say, because it creates a dry envirtonment that promotes cell death. A handful of studies have found that when wounds are kept moist and covered, blood vessels regenerate faster and the number of cells that cause inflammation drops more rapidly than it does in wounds allowed to air out. It is best to keep a wound moist and covered for at least five days.
• To stay healthy while traveling, Mark A. Stengler, ND. suggests taking the right supplements. In addition to a multivitamin, take a probiotic on an empty stomach, starting three days before leaving and during the trip, to prevent diarrhea and related problems. Garlic, preferably aged garlic, reduces risk of respiratory and digestive infections. Take two capsules a day for two days before you leave, during the trip and for two days after. Melatonin, prevents jet lag and makes sleep easier. Take it the evening you arrive, at 9 pm in the time zone you are in, and for two or three more nights.

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In Good Health.
Pamela Nathan

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