- Treatments for your skin: lycopene, vitamin A, and duct tape!
- Vitamin D lowers cancer risk
- Vitamin regimens for both heavy menstruation and nausea in pregnancy
- Nix dairy to prevent strep throat
- Sexual healing: hormones for men, and herbs, oils, and vitamins for women
More lycopene, less rough skin
As skin aging and roughness is more obvious in forty- to fifty-year-old individuals, fifteen women and five men in that age group volunteered for a study[1] of their skin roughness, defined as the “depth and density of the furrows and wrinkles of the skin.” All had their skin roughness and skin lycopene content measured. The volunteers with higher levels of lycopene in their skin had significantly lower levels of skin roughness (for the technically inclined, p<0.01).
Lycopene is the red pigment abundant in tomatoes (make sure they’re organic) and watermelons. It’s also available in tablet form from natural food stores, the Tahoma Clinic Dispensary, and compounding pharmacies.
More vitamin D, much less cancer risk (an “inverse association”)
“Multiple studies have found an inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and the risk of many types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, and prostate.” This sentence was taken from the abstract to a 2016 research publication, which analyzed 25-hyroxyvitamin D levels and “invasive cancer” (all cancers except skin cancer) occurrence among 2,304 women. The title of the article[2] tells us the findings: “Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Greater Than or Equal to 40 Nanograms Per Milliliter Are Associated with Greater than 65% Lower Cancer Risk.”
But chances are excellent we can do even better than a 65% cancer risk reduction! The “tropical optimal” vitamin D level is 60 to 100 nanograms per milliliter. There have been no deaths or adverse effects from this level of vitamin D, either in the tropics or elsewhere. Work with a physician skilled and knowledgeable in natural medicine to determine how much vitamin D will keep you in the “tropical optimal” range, with its accompanying 65% or greater reduction in the risk of all invasive cancers!
Duct tape can eliminate warts!
For some, this may be old news. For others—no, not kidding! Researchers reported[3] that 22 of 26 children (85%) treated with duct tape and 15 of 25 children (60%) treated with cryotherapy (freezing) had complete elimination of warts. The majority of warts that responded to either treatment did so within the first month of treatment.
The duct tape (no color specified) was cut to match the wart size as closely as possible and applied over each wart, with instructions to re-apply more tape whenever the tape fell off. After six days, the tape was removed, the area soaked in water, and then rubbed gently with a pumice stone or emery board. Duct tape was once again put over the wart the next morning. The treatment was continued for two months or until the wart was gone, whichever came first.
. . . And maybe vitamin A can eliminate warts, too!
A 30-year-old woman had a nine-year history of warts. She had twenty-three small warts (1 to 4 millimeters) on the back of her right hand, and one large (9 millimeter) wart on top of a knuckle on this same hand. The researchers described the treatment and its results[4]:
The source of vitamin A was natural fish liver oil, 25,000 IU softgels. A needle was used to puncture the softgels and the oil was applied topically to the warts every night prior to sleep. The oil was allowed to soak into the tissue before the excess oil was removed with a dry towel. Soap was not used to wash the hands until the morning. On three to four days of the week, the oil was applied a second time, usually around midday.
The daily topical application of vitamin A led to replacement of all the warts with normal skin. Most of the smaller warts had been replaced with normal skin by 70 days. The largest wart on the middle knuckle of the right hand, although replaced by mostly normal tissue after four months of treatment, required six months of vitamin A treatment to completely resolve.
Vitamins K and C eliminate nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in 92% of women
Sorry we can’t be told this by our Ob/Gyn doctors; most of them don’t know. One of the reasons why they don’t know is to be found in this letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, along with the reply from an editor there:
October 25, 2010
To the Editor, New England Journal of Medicine:
Thank you for the comprehensive review of treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NEJM 2010:363;1544-50).
From the 1970s to the present, I have found the treatment with vitamins K3 and C described by Merkel in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1952;64:416-418) to be safe and effective in the very large majority of nauseated, vomiting, pregnant women.
In 70 such women, Merkel used 5 milligrams of vitamin K3 (menadione) and 25 milligrams vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) given simultaneously orally, reporting that 64 of 70 had complete remission within 72 hours. Three were relieved of vomiting, but nausea persisted, and three did not respond to this treatment.
Merkel emphasized that simultaneous administration is necessary for this treatment to be successful.
As 25-milligram tablets or capsules of vitamin C have not been available for years, I have used 500 milligrams [of C] with 5 milligrams of vitamin K3 with the same degree of success. I have also observed that the occasional treatment failure can frequently be “reversed” with simultaneous injections (instead of continued oral administration) of the same vitamins.
—Jonathan V. Wright, MD
November 5, 2010
Dear Dr. Wright:
I am sorry that we will not be able to print your recent letter to the editor regarding the Niebyl article of 14-Oct-2010. The space available for correspondence is very limited, and we must use our judgment to present a representative selection of the material received. Many worthwhile communications must be declined for lack of space.
Thank you for your interest in the Journal.
Sincerely,
Caren G. Solomon, MD
Deputy Editor
New England Journal of Medicine
Can you imagine such a response if this treatment was patented and sold by a patent medicine company? Let’s hope that Dr. Caren Solomon never suffers from nausea and vomiting of pregnancy herself. In the meantime, this is information you can safely use yourself!
No more strep throat, ever!
Once again, no kidding! The following quote is from a book[5] by Frank Oski, MD, professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the State University of New York (1972–1985), Director of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Physician-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (sorry about all the credentials, they’re necessary to calm the inevitable opposition to this idea, which persists even into 2016):
Perhaps the most significant thing I have learned is that Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus germ will not, under ordinary circumstances, establish an infection in a child kept on absolutely no-milk-protein dietary regimen. I have been aware of this for the past two and a half years and, so far, there have been no exceptions. Any time a patient of mine is found to have a streptococcal pharyngitis or pyoderma, we can establish by history that he has ingested milk protein within five days prior to onset of symptoms or signs bringing him to the office.
The observation relating streptococcal disease to milk protein in the diet can be verified by most any pediatrician with time and patience to test it. It is often helpful to ask the child first whether he has had milk, ice cream, or cheese in his diet within the week prior to the office visit where strep is suspected. This cuts down on the embarrassment of having the child volunteer information contrary to the parent’s story.
—J. Dan Bagwett, MD, Alabama pediatrician
Dr. Oski’s book came to my attention in 1979. Since then, in my practice, strict avoidance of cow’s milk and anything derived from cow’s milk has resulted in no more strep throats in all who strictly comply. No cow’s milk, no dairy at all—no strep throat! Although there are no controlled clinical trials (because there’s no money to be made by eliminating cow’s milk and dairy), moms and dads can test this theory on their own. Remember: cow’s milk is for little cows, and not for little people!
Heavy menstrual bleeding (“menorrhagia”) eliminated or greatly improved in 92% of women
Even though this research[6] was published in 1977 and works in a very large majority of women with this problem, in 2016 three women so far have told me they were advised to take birth control pills to control their exceptionally heavy menstrual bleeding. Yes, birth control pills work for many women with this problem, but it doesn’t treat the cause! From the abstract to the research article:
Serum vitamin A was measured in 71 women with menorrhagia. Vitamin A levels were significantly lower than in controls (healthy women attending the gynecology clinic). Patients with menorrhagia were given vitamin A (25,000 IU twice daily) for 15 days. Of 40 patients so treated, menstruation returned to normal in 57.5%, and there was a substantially diminished menstrual period or a reduction in the duration of menses, or both, in an additional 35%. Thus, 92.5% of vitamin A-treated women had either complete relief or “material improvement.” . . . There was a significant increase in 17-beta-estradiol levels after vitamin A treatment.
Seems obvious from the research, but let’s summarize. Women with menorrhagia had low serum vitamin A. With vitamin A supplementation, 92.5% of these women reverted to normal menstrual bleeding or substantial improvement, and their estrogen levels improved. So why don’t all MD physicians tell women about this? It’s not taught in medical school as there was never a PATENT and “approval” by los federales!
And just in case any woman is worried: this amount of vitamin A is safe unless you are a fetus! So don’t take this amount of vitamin A for at least a month before becoming pregnant!
HCG can improve ED and low libido for men
Most of us have heard of human growth hormone (HCG), a hormone made in large quantities made by the placenta. HCG injections combined with restrictive diet has been a very popular weight loss program—because it works. But as it’s an injectable prescription item, what’s it doing in this article?
First and most importantly, HCG is quite harmless. Remember, we all “took a bath” in HCG for the first nine months at the very beginning of our lives (unless we were born prematurely, of course) and emerged unharmed by it. Even for adults, HCG by itself is harmless too. In one bit of published research,[7] eight men were given 100,000 or 150,000 IU HCG intravenously. No adverse effects were observed.
Secondly, as it’s quite safe, we can inject it ourselves, just as we can vitamin B12. (Which of course leads to wondering why either of these are forced to be “on prescription,” but that’s a matter for another time.) On to erectile dysfunction (ED) and low libido in men. . . .
In 1987, a double-blind study on this topic was reported.[8] Forty-five men with ED and six men with lack of sexual desire were treated with intramuscular injections of HCG, 5,000 units twice weekly, or placebo. HCG gave better results than placebo (47% improved vs. 12% improved—for the technically inclined, p < 0.05). The HCG also improved a significantly greater number of sexual parameters (six of seven, 86%) than placebo (two of seven, 29%). In this research, the effect on sexual behavior was not correlated with any increase in plasma testosterone.
Much more recent research has proven that HCG stimulates testosterone even in men with a genetic absence of luteinizing hormone (LH).[9] HCG and LH even share a common “receptor,” termed by researchers[10] the LH/CG-R. Why HCG wasn’t found to stimulate testosterone in the 1987 study will never be known, but application of findings about HCG helping ED and lack of sexual desire have been corroborated by many (although not all) of the men with whom I’ve worked. And even though you’ll need a prescription for HCG, you can learn to safely give your own injections.
Zestra can improve sexual experience for women
From the abstract to a research report[11] about Zestra:
Zestra for Women is a botanical feminine massage oil formulated to enhance female sexual pleasure and arousal when applied to the vulva. We conducted this randomized, double-blinded, crossover study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Zestra for Women compared to placebo oil in 10 women with and 10 women without female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) in conditions of home use in conjunction with sexual activities. . . . All 20 . . . completed the study.
Three . . .reported single incidences of mild genital burning sensations lasting 5–30 min. after use of Zestra for Women. . . . Both normal and FSAD women showed statistically significant improvements, relative to placebo, in level of arousal, level of desire, satisfaction with arousal, genital sensation, ability to have orgasms, and sexual pleasure. . . . Zestra for Women improved sexual function in normal and FSAD women under conditions of home use.
What’s in Zestra for Women? According to the label of the product and the researchers quoted above: borage seed oil, evening primose oil, angelica extract, Coleus forskohlii extract, theobromine, ascorbylpalmitate (an oil-soluble form of vitamin C), tocopherol, and natural flavor. All quite natural, even the flavor, the purpose of which we’ll leave to imagination.
Zestra for Women is not allowed (by its manufacturer and distributor) to be available at natural food stores, compounding pharmacies, or the Tahoma Clinic Dispensary, but it is available without prescription through major chain patent medicine stores (“chain drug stores”) such as Walgreen’s, Rite Aid, CVS, and others. It’s also available online.
[1]Darvin M et al. Cutaneous concentration of lycopene correlates significantly with the roughness of the skin. European J Pharmaceutics Biopharmaceutics 2008;69:943-947
[2] McDonnell S, Baggerly C, et al. Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Greater Than or Equal to 40 ng/ml Are Associated with >65% Lower Cancer Risk: Pooled Analysis of Randomized Trial and Prospective Cohort Study. PLOS One 2016;April 6:11(4):e0152441
[3]Focht D R, Spicer C, Fairchok A.The Efficacy of Duct Tape vsCryotherapy in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris (the Common Wart) Arch PediatrAdolec Med 2002
[4] Gaston A. Virolm J 2012;9:21;1-6
[5]Oski, Frank A.Don’t Drink Your Milk! Teach Services, Brushton New York, 1977, 1992. Quote on page 24
[6] Lithgow DM,Politzer WM.Vitamin A in the Treatment of Menorrhagia. S Afr Med J 1977: Feb 12;51(7):191-3.
[7]Sowers JR et al. Effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin on thyroid function in euthyroid men.J ClinEndocrinolMetab 1978 Oct;47(4):898-901.
[8]Buvat J. Human chorionic gonadotrophin treatment of nonorganic erectile failure and lack of sexual desire.Urology 1987;XXX,3:216-219
[9]Valdes-Socin H et al. Hypogonadism in a patient with a mutation in the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene. NEJM 2004;351:2619-25
[10]Meng X-L, Rennert OM, Chan WY. Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin induces neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells through activation of stably expressed lutrophin/choriogonadotropin receptor. Endocrinology 2007;148:5865-5873
[11]Ferguson DM, Steidle CP, Singh GS, Alexander JS, Weihmiller MK, Crosby MG. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, crossover design trial of the efficacy and safety of Zestra for Women in women with and without female sexual arousal disorder. J Sex Marital Ther. 2003;29Suppl 1:33-44.
