August 2005 Healthy Homes e-newsletter

I don’t know about you, but this has been one crazy summer for me! We’ve bought a house, worked on the house for a month, then just moved in at the end of July. Needless to say, this house has pretty much consumed our lives this summer. Now, we have lots of boxes to unpack, including many that have been in storage for a year and a half. On one hand, it’ll be like Christmas. On the other hand, I’ve lived without it for over a year, do I really need to unpack it? We’ll be slowly unpacking for several months yet, I’m sure.

Needless to say, I’ve not had much time to gather information for this month’s newsletter. Here’s an abbreviated one, and I’ll send out a “supplemental” newsletter after the annual convention next week. I’m sure I’ll have lots of exciting information to share!

In this month’s e-News:

1. Companies Rely on Doctors to Increase Sales

2. Time to Prepare for Fall Allergy Season

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1. Companies Rely on Doctors to Increase Sales.

This article from the Wall Street Journal came across my e-mail recently, and I found it interesting. I don’t necessarily think the practice is wrong, but it does help to be informed of what’s happening in the medical world. Information is power.

NEW YORK (July 15) - On a recent Wednesday evening, neurologist Lawrence Newman spoke to a dozen doctors in a private alcove off the soaring dining room of Guastavino's and made the case that migraine headaches are seriously underdiagnosed.

Migraine treatment "should be bread and butter for primary-care doctors," he told attendees at the midtown Manhattan restaurant. While patients might say they're having a sinus headache, there's a good chance it's actually a migraine and can be treated with a migraine drug, Dr. Newman said.

It was a message friendly to migraine-drug makers, and no wonder: The sponsor of the talk was GlaxoSmithKline PLC, maker of the \ best-selling migraine pill Imitrex. Glaxo picked up the tab for dinner, paid Dr. Newman a fee, supplied some of his slides, and scattered Imitrex notepads on the table.

Across the U.S., thousands of doctors such as Dr. Newman, an associate professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, have signed up as part-time lecturers for drug companies. At small meetings, often over lunch or dinner, these physician-pitchmen tell their peers about diseases and the drugs to treat them, often pocketing $750 or more from the sponsor. Dr. Newman declined to discuss his fee.

Read the rest of the article here.

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2. Start now preparing for fall allergies!

It’s hard to think about the fall with summer still upon us, however a little work now could save you hours of agony later, especially if you or your loved one suffers from fall allergies like I do.

What’s my strategy?

First, an awesome and effective air purifier. It’s the best in the bunch – and one will do your whole house (up to 3,000 square feet). It doesn’t have a filter to clean, just a photoionization light that needs replacing once a year. Instead, this unit sends out electrons (remember your science class?) to bond with particles floating in your air. Once they bind, they become heavy, and drop to the floor, where you can vacuum or sweep them up. For the first several weeks, you’ll find you’ll have to dust and vacuum frequently, but then it will subside.

Second, build up my immune system. My favorite supplements to do that are:

"a box and a can" – everything you need to get your body in balance.

this immune builder - start taking about six weeks before allergy season to get your immune system in top condition.

alfalfa – for those days when I’m just miserable, I take 10 with breakfast. Depending on the day, if I need it, I’ll take another 10 at lunch, and another 10 at dinner. Believe it or not, it works. I’ll admit, it is a lot to take, but I’d rather take a food (alfalfa) than a drug with it’s possible side effects.

betacarotne and flavanoids are also helpful for building your immune system, as they are powerful antioxidants.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

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Thanks for reading. As always, please call me or e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.