Home Archives for HEALTH TOPICS NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS ADHD
August 29, 2013

Pollution in Newborns

Pollution in NewbornsI’m sorry to say that most people just don’t know this.  I didn’t either, despite the fact that it was published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005, the year my older son was born.

In their landmark report, Body Burden:  The Pollution in Newborns, the EWG pointed out that an AVERAGE of 200 toxic chemicals were in the cordblood of newborns, meaning that there is only one place these could have come from:  the mother.

They found a total of over 280 carcinogens, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, plastics, neurologically damaging pesticides and other nasties in these babies.

I remember telling our former pediatrician about the shocking levels of heavy metals that I had discovered in myself and my sons.  She said, “But you don’t live in a toxic waste dump!”

The point is, I don’t think you have to anymore to be this toxic because we’re all being exposed to these toxicants on a daily basis, then unknowingly passing them onto our children, whose toxin load will accumulate over time, and they’ll pass it on to their children.

It’s one of the main reasons we’re seeing such an epidemic of chronic illnesses like cancer and autoimmune diseases as well as developmental delays and disorders such as autism, ADHD, PDD-NOS and sensory processing disorder in children these days.

The good news is that people can be recovered from these conditions.  I’ve recovered my own sons from sensory processing disorder, asthma, eczema and acid reflux.

Here’s the trailer from the well-thought-out documentary, “Unacceptable Levels“.  It’s 2 minutes long and worth it for you to get a glimpse of what’s going on.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CARCINOGENS, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, ECZEMA, ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, FLUORIDE, FLUORIDE, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY BABY, HEAVY METALS, HIDDEN TOXINS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NEUROTOXINS, PESTICIDES, PHTHALATES, PHTHALATES, PLASTICS, PRENATAL HEALTH, TOXINS
August 16, 2013

Announcing the Documenting Hope Project Website

14 children, 18 months, 1 goal:  RECOVERY

I am the Media Director for the Documenting Hope Project, a documentary brought to you by my non-profit, Epidemic Answers.  In this film, we will be documenting the potential recovery of 14 children from autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, juvenile RA, mood disorders and type 2 diabetes as they work with integrative health practitioners for 18 months.  These children will be receiving free medical services, healthy food and supplements during the duration of the project.

I am extremely excited about this film and am also excited to announce that we have officially launched the website for the film project.  We are currently raising funds for the project and have not started taking applications for children to be featured in the film.  If you’d like to help us get this film made, click here.

Filed Under: ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS Tagged: , , , , ,
July 17, 2013

Top 10 Reasons Why Fresh Food Is Best

Top 10 Reasons Why Fresh Is Best

Eat like your grandma did, and your health will improve!

  1. Fresh food tastes best: I think we’ve gotten away from knowing what real, fresh food tastes like. Chef Jamie Oliver is famous for going into schools and asking children to name the vegetables he holds up. Very few can correctly identify them because they never eat them!
  2. “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” (quote by Ann Wigmore): If we have to detoxify from the processed food that we eat, then our bodies are not able to properly detoxify. Eating whole, fresh foods made from scratch ensures high nutrient levels.
  3. Our “food” isn’t food if it’s packed with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and long chemical names: “The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children” is a book that shows us how food additives contribute to declining mental health. Your brain and your child’s brain are starved for nutrition, and they’re not getting it if your “food” comes with a long list of chemicals in the ingredients.
  4. Artificial colors, flavors and preservatives can cause ADHD symptoms: The Feingold diet for ADHD shows how all of those pretty blues, yellows, reds and other colors in our kids’ fun foods can cause spaciness or hyperactivity, especially in children. Artificial flavors and preservatives, especially BHA and BHT, do the same. Food isn’t fresh if it’s got these ingredients in it.
  5. Canned foods have high levels of endocrine-disrupting BPA, BPS and phthalates: That plastic lining on the inside of your canned food is doing more harm to your health than you think, as it can lead to hypothyroidism and gunk up your cells’ mitochondrial dysfunction. Plus, the food is definitely not fresh!
  6. Even frozen food isn’t fresh: The late Dr. Annemarie Colbin, author and founder of The Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, said that freezing fruits and vegetables ruptures the cell walls of the plants, thereby reducing the nutritional value of the food.
  7. You can add love to your food when you cook it: Have you ever noticed how much better food tastes when it’s homemade or made by your mom? Some people think it’s love that makes the food taste better.
  8. Processed food contains more sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup: Robert Lustig teaches how harmful sugar is to our health. I know you’ve read that statement before, but did you know that sugar is the most inflammatory food there is AND it feeds cancer?
  9. Processed food typically contains unhealthy canola, soy and other harmful vegetable oils: I know you’re scratching your head at this one. It took me a while to wrap my head around it, especially because many “healthy food” magazines tout the benefits of canola and other vegetable oils. The Weston A. Price Foundation shows us how the extreme processing of these oils leads to rancid oils containing high amounts of inflammatory free radicals. Grandma didn’t eat these oils, and neither does my family!
  10. Fresh food has more nutrients: Compared to “healthy” fast food alternatives, fresh, homemade food has more nutrients plus the love you put into it!

Filed Under: ADHD, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CANCER, ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OTHER DISEASES, PESTICIDES, PHTHALATES, PLASTICS, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), SUGAR, THYROID DISEASE, TOXINS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
July 1, 2013

I’M NOW OFFERING KLAIRE LABS PROBIOTICS AND PROTHERA SUPPLEMENTS

Klaire Labs probiotic_groupI’d like to let everyone know that I am now offering my clients world-class probiotics from Klaire Labs and supplements from their parent company, ProThera.

Klaire Labs’ probiotics are a known and trusted entity, especially in the autism-recovery world, and the application of their probiotics extends far beyond autism to those with allergies, asthma, ADHD, OCD, SPD and other autoimmune, digestive and neurological disorders.

The ProThera line includes minerals, vitamins, fatty acids and supplements designed to improve the function of the immune system, liver and adrenals, as well as antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes.  They even carry non-denatured whey protein!

To learn more about how I can help improve your symptoms of these conditions, you can read more about me here.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ALZHEIMER'S, ANEMIA, ANXIETY, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIPOLAR DISORDER, CELIAC DISEASE, COLIC, COLITIS, CROHN'S, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, FIBROMYALGIA, GLUTEN SENSITIVITY, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, HYPOTONIA, IBS, LEAKY GUT, LEARNING DISABILITIES, LYME DISEASE, LYME DISEASE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OCD, PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY, PANDAS, PARKINSON'S, POOP, PROBIOTICS, RETAINED REFLEXES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SCHIZOPHRENIA, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, TYPE 1 DIABETES Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
June 25, 2013

Epidemic Answers Announces Collaboration with Developmental Delay Resources to Raise Awareness about Recovery of Children from Autism, ADHD, Developmental Delays, Allergies, Asthma and More

EA_logoWEST SIMSBURY, Conn., June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Epidemic Answers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization at www.epidemicanswers.org dedicated to educating the public about the epidemics of chronic illness and helping parents find healing solutions, is joining forces with Developmental Delay Resources (www.devdelay.org), the only educational resource for families dealing with developmental delays that integrates the full spectrum of treatments and therapeutic modalities from diet interventions to biomedical protocols, physical therapies and everything in between.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130625/CG37989)

Epidemic Answers (EA) and Developmental Delay Resources (DDR) are combining efforts to raise awareness about the record number of children being diagnosed with chronic health conditions and developmental delays.  The rates of autism are now 1 in 50 children and 1 in 31 boys.  The rate of asthma is 1 in 8 children, and the rate of ADHD is 1 in 10 children.

Both EA and DDR are dedicated to educating parents about the environmental factors that contribute to these conditions.  Beyond that, both organizations subscribe to the belief children can recover from these conditions.

“The fundamental belief that ties our two organizations together is the belief that children can get better,” said Beth Lambert, Executive Director of Epidemic Answers.  “Both EA and DDR want the public to know that there are answers for their children and that personalized application of therapeutic, healing and recovery solutions can bring children closer to reaching their full potential.”

DDR’s Executive Director, Patricia Lemer, will be joining the EA Board of Directors, bringing forty years of experience to advise and help guide the future of Epidemic Answers.

DDR will be supporting Epidemic Answers’ latest project aimed at raising awareness:  The Canary Kids Film Project.  For this project, Epidemic Answers will be supporting seven children with a diagnosis (such as autism, ADHD, allergies, or asthma) and providing them with free healing and recovery services for eighteen months.  These children’s recovery journeys will then be documented and made into a feature length film to be directed and produced by award-winning film maker Mary Mazzio.

The children in the program will be involved in a clinical study being run by Dr. Martha Herbert, MD, PhD, pediatric neurologist and professor of neurology from Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Herbert will be tracking the children’s progress over the course of the program by collecting biomedical data.  The program and film are being entirely funded through donations and grants.  To learn more about and view the trailer of The Canary Kids Film Project, or to make a donation, please visit:  www.epidemicanswers.org/canary-kids.

Epidemic Answers will manage the collaboration between DDR and EA.  DDR members are welcomed to join the EA community by visiting www.EpidemicAnswers.org and signing up for the newsletter.

Epidemic Answers was founded in 2009 by two moms, Beth Lambert (author of “A Compromised Generation:  The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children”) and Michelle Tortora.  Through a variety of healing modalities (including diet, supplements, energy medicine, homeopathy, and others), both Beth and Michelle have recovered their children from chronic illnesses including autism, sensory processing disorder, Lyme disease, allergies and more.  Epidemic Answers is dedicated to educating the public about the epidemic of chronic illness affecting the current generation of children and providing prevention and healing solutions for parents, caregivers and future parents.

To view this video on YouTube, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjXFDDELLRI

Media Contact: Maria Rickert Hong, Media Director, Epidemic Answers, (860) 217-0111, [email protected]

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Epidemic Answers

View the press release here on PR Newswire.
RELATED LINKS
http://www.EpidemicAnswers.org

Filed Under: ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, HEALTH TOPICS, MEDIA, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
June 10, 2013

pH Testing

pH TestingpH testing is an easy way to determine your level of health.  I’ve got some pHion diagnostic pH test strips that I got on Amazon, and they measure pH between 4.5 (very acidic) and 9.0 (too alkaline).

An optimal pH of urine and saliva (says the lablel) is in the range of 6.75 to 7.25, which is right around a neutral pH of 7.0.

I just measured my own pH, and I’m at 7.5, which is optimal.  Given what I know about nutrition, I’d guess it’s easier to correct a too-alkaline pH rather than a too-acidic condition.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is very acidic because it’s full of sugar, processed grains, starches, meats and dairy, all of which are acidic (sugar being the most acidic).  SAD foods are typically low in alkaline foods such as sea vegetables, vegetables and sea salt.

Dr. Mark Sircus, author of “Sodium Bicarbonate – Full Medical Review“, says that the “first step in maintaining health is to alkalize the body”.  He also writes that “The closer the pH is to 7.35 – 7.45, the higher our level of health and well being”.

I have to say I feel pretty great right now, and my pH is 7.5.  I’m curious to see how it measures when I’m not feeling well.  I’d guess it’d be on the more acidic side.

Interestingly, Dr. Sircus writes that “cancer cells have a lower pH than surrounding tissue” because “excessive acidic pH leads to cellular deterioration, which eventually brings on serious health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and heartburn.”

A low pH can also be associated with colds, the flu, viral infections, allergies, asthma, cancer and neurological disorders.

If you want to get vain about it, Dr. Sircus points out that there is “a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acids”, so there’s another reason to eat your veggies – so you won’t age so fast!

Now that I’ve read this book, I’ll be more diligent about tracking the pH of my family and tracking it versus how we feel.  How about you – have you ever checked your pH?

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ALZHEIMER'S, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, GREENS, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OSTEOPOROSIS, OTHER DISEASES, PARKINSON'S, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), STRESS, SUGAR, TYPE 2 DIABETES, VEGETABLES Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 31, 2013

THE “R” WORD

road to recovery signYou may or may not know my personal recovery story. I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 5 and 7, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, acid reflux and eczema with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypothyroidism and persistent eczema in my older son. In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.

My older son had immune dysregulation, too, when he was younger: he would go to preschool, get sick and be out for at least a week at a time, then go to school the next week, get sick, and the cycle repeated ad nauseum (pun intended).

I also had severe adrenal fatigue, which was caused by dealing with my older son’s severe SPD.

Adrenal fatigue caused middle-of-the-night insomnia, in which I would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night and be so dead tired the next day that 3 hour naps wouldn’t help.

I later learned that adrenal fatigue was the cause of the onslaught of my “female problems”, which I’d never had before: a suddenly irregular menstrual cycle, a uterine fibroid and ovarian cysts.

I also found out I have two types of anemia: iron-deficiency (the more commonly known about kind) and folate-deficiency. I learned how these and most of out other problems can be tied back to gut dysbiosis and its chronic infections, especially Candidiasis.

I also discovered that I am hypothyroid and that this may have played a large part in my sons’ problems when I was pregnant with them.

I found out that I was loaded with heavy metals, especially mercury and lead, which are the most neurologically damaging. I immediately had my sons tested and found out they were full of them, too.

It’s been very hard going through this, as most people, even most doctors, don’t know about the causes of all these problems. They don’t understand that all of these problems are related, and they certainly don’t know that recovery is possible.

We got a lot of help from changing our diets and seeing a naturopath, a functional-medicine doctor and a holistic nutritionist, as well as from me doing never-ending research about how all of these problems are connected.

We’ve recovered from so much, although there is still more work to be done. In any case, we are so much better off now than we were 4 years ago, when all of these problems hit a crescendo.

I want people to know that recovery is possible, which is why I joined the non-profit Epidemic Answers. We seek to educate parents about the causes of these problems as well as let them know that recovery is possible.

In fact, we’re making a documentary film to show the world that recovery is possible because most people just don’t know that.

Most people don’t know that a child can recover from autism or asthma or that an adult can recover from an autoimmune disease, even multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

If you want to learn more about our film, you can find out more by watching this video or by visiting our website. Please help us get this film made!

 

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ADRENAL FATIGUE, ALLERGIES, ANEMIA, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, CANDIDA, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, ENDOCRINE ISSUES, GENERAL, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, HEAVY METALS, HYPOTONIA, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OVARIAN CYSTS, RECOVERY STORIES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, SINUS INFECTIONS, STRESS, TOXINS, UTERINE FIBROIDS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 30, 2013

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

Find out how to reduce healthcare costs by investing in a healthy lifestyle here. True, it costs more money up front, but as Benjamin Franklin is famously quoted as saying “A stitch in time saves nine.”

One of the best ways to create health is to eat organic foods.  Pesticides used in non-organic foods have been linked time and again to diseases and disorders ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s to autism and ADHD.

Yes, organic foods cost more, but consider that the typical American family pays less than half of what other cultures do because so many of our unhealthy crops are subsidized (sugar, corn, wheat, soy, canola, etc.).

Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farms and author of “Folks, This Ain’t Normal:  A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World“, says “If you think the price of organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?”

Another way to create health is to eat fresh-as-possible foods.  Americans typically eat far more processed foods loaded with these subsidized crops than other cultures do.

Take a look at this Time photo-essay to see that most other cultures eat far more fresh food and less processed food than Americans do.  Many times, processed foods contain preservatives, trans fats, sugar, artificial colors, antibiotics, growth hormones and, sometimes, even carcinogens.  No wonder Americans have such high healthcare expenses!

Do you think what you eat can have an impact on your health?  I know it does from both my personal and professional experience.

 

Filed Under: ADHD, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CANCER, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OTHER DISEASES, PARKINSON'S, PESTICIDES, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), TOXINS Tagged: , , , , , , ,
May 3, 2013

REMOVAL OF ALLERGENIC FOODS HELPS ASTHMA AND ACID REFLUX

toddler with inhalerMy older son got sick a lot, especially after he started preschool when he was 3.

He would go to preschool for a week then be out the whole next week because he was sick; the preschool didn’t want kids coming in who were sneezing and coughing.

Constant Sickness Turned to Asthma

When he was 4 years old, he had a severe asthmatic episode after we went to Los Angeles to visit my husband’s family.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, HEALTH TOPICS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
April 25, 2013

WHAT IS GUT DYSBIOSIS?

fungal myceliaGut dysbiosis — this topic is the motherlode.  It’s one of the two core (in my opinion) reasons for the explosion of chronic childhood illnesses we see today.

Gut Dysbiosis:  A Common Link Among the Epidemic of Children’s Chronic Illnesses

First, let’s discuss the numbers behind this epidemic:  How many kids did you know when you were growing up that had autism, ADHD, acid reflux, allergies, asthma, developmental delays and/or mental health issues?  [Read more…]

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ADRENAL FATIGUE, ALLERGIES, ANXIETY, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIPOLAR DISORDER, CANDIDA, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, EAR INFECTIONS, ECZEMA, GENERAL, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, HYPOTONIA, INFLAMMATION, LEAKY GUT, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OCD, RASHES, SCHIZOPHRENIA, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, SINUS INFECTIONS, TOXINS, YEAST INFECTIONS Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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