Ezine Archive

We at Safe Harbor are getting very excited about our upcoming conference on June 15-16 in Los Angeles: “Non-Pharmaceutical Approaches to Mental Disorders: Physiological Causes and Resolutions .” Our purpose is to get this information into the hands of healthcarepractitioners and the public to make better mental health care a reality.
We have arrayed a wonderful lineup of speakers representing decades of experience in this field. And we have added a special bonus on Saturday, June 15th – a free book signing. This is a rare chance to have four widely respected authors of natural mental health treatments answer your questions and autograph copies of their books (more info below). Hope to see you there!

 

Letter to The Editor

Last month we ran an editorial by Dan Stradford about the failure to do full medical screenings on psychiatric patients. The following is a response we received. – Ed.
Physical state neglected: this is not a new observation. This goes back to the days when I was a nursing student in the 1960’s. This is a time when a unique study was done at Norristown PA Sate Hospital geriatric ward. Patients were found to be suffering from beri-beri, not with a mental illness. Today it is not beri-beri but Alzheimers, and these folks are found to be thyroid deficient in about 70% of cases.

Thyroid malfunction in BPD (bipolar disorder)/MDI (medically determinable impairment) – this is not a new one either. Any person that is suspected of BPD should without question be referred to the nearest endocrinologist for a thorough workup. Thyroid is often at the base of this, and they prescribe lithium and other drugs that destroy the thyroid. Vitamin deficiencies also are related.

Reasons to learn how to do a thorough search of the literature.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Gayle Eversole, CRNP, PhD, AHG, DHom, www.leaflady.org

Announcement: Book Signing in Hollywood

Meet and Talk with Four Nationally-Recognized Authors on Natural Mental Health Treatments!

Hyla Cass, M.D., Author of Natural Highs: Supplements, Nutrition & Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All the Time
Charles Gant, M.D., Ph.D., Author of End Your Addiction Now
Mel Werbach, M.D., Author of Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness
Eva Edelman, Author of Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Mental Disorders
When: 6:00 PM, Sat., June 15, 2002
Where: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles
Admission: Free!

Don’t forget!! Safe Harbor’s conference in Los Angeles, June 15-16, 2002 – “Non-Pharmaceutical Approaches to Mental Disorders: Physiological Causes and Resolutions.” Spaces still available but seating is limited so sign up now before the last-minute rush! More info is at http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/approaches.htm

St. John’s Wort Vs. Zoloft: Placebo Wins in Study

The April 10, 2002 issue of JAMA, Vol. 287 No. 14, reported on a study conducted to determine the efficacy of St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) in major depressive disorder. The study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 12 academic and community psychiatric research clinics in the United States. Patients were randomly assigned to receive H perforatum, placebo, or sertraline (Zoloft – as an active comparator) for 8 weeks. Based on clinical response, the daily dose of H perforatum could range from 900 to 1500 mg and that of sertraline from 50 to 100 mg. Responders at week 8 could continue blinded treatment for another 18 weeks.

The findings of the study reported that “Full response occurred in 31.9% of the placebo-treated patients vs 23.9% of the (St. John’s Wort) H perforatum-treated patients and 24.8% of (Zoloft) sertraline-treated patients.”

However, the conclusion of the study failed to mention that Zoloft was used in the study, and simply stated that St. John’s Wort was ineffective. “This study fails to support the efficacy of H perforatum in moderately severe major depression. The result may be due to low assay sensitivity of the trial, but the complete absence of trends suggestive of efficacy for H perforatum is noteworthy.”

In a communication to several FDA officials, the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) questioned the motives behind the researchers’ their failure to mention in the conclusion that not only was Zoloft part of the trial, but was also found to be less effective than the placebo – and only slightly more effective than St. John’s Wort.

According to the AHRP, this omission in the conclusion is especially suspect since the authors of the study also acknowledged that “An increasing number of studies have failed to show a difference between active antidepressants and placebo. Many of the presumed factors underlying this phenomenon were carefully attended to in this study, eg, adherence to quality control by rater training, treatment adherence monitoring, inclusion of experienced investigators, and carefully defined entry criteria. Despite all of this, sertraline failed to separate from placebo on the 2 primary outcome measures”

Seattle psychiatrist Arif Khan, who has studied the placebo effect in trials submitted to the FDA, conducted an analysis of 96 antidepressant trials between 1979 and 1996. He analyzed trials that were made public in the medical literature, which tend to show positive results, and those that were not. The results showed that in 52 percent of the studies, the effect of the antidepressant could not be distinguished from that of the placebo. Khan said the makers of Prozac had to run five trials to obtain two that were positive, and the makers of Paxil and Zoloft had to run even more.

Additionally, it has been found that the placebos affect parts of the brain in a manner similar to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Andrew Leuchter, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA. published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry (January 2002), in which he tracked some of the brain changes associated with drugs such as Prozac and Effexor. When Leuchter compared the brain changes on placebos, he found that many of the patients had changes in the same parts of the brain that are thought to control important facets of mood.

Thomas Laughren, who heads the group of scientists at the FDA that evaluates these drugs, recently commented on these issues in the article entitled Against Depression, a Sugar Pill Is Hard to Beat, published in the Washington Post on May 7, 2002. “It speaks to the difficulty we have in classifying and identifying the disorders we deal with,” said Mr. Laughren. “Psychiatric diagnosis is descriptive. We don’t really understand psychiatric disorders at a biological level.”

Has Your Gifted Child Been Misdiagnosed with ADHD?

According to James T. Webb, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Professional Psychology, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, almost all of the behaviors associated with ADHD symptoms “might be found in bright, talented, creative, gifted children. Until now little attention has been given to the similarities and differences between the two groups, thus raising the potential for misidentification in both areas — giftedness and ADHD.”

In an article in ERIC EC Digest #E522 (www.ericec.org), Dr. Webb has compared these symptoms:

Behaviors Associated with ADHD:

Poorly sustained attention in almost all situations
Diminished persistence on tasks not having immediate consequences
Impulsivity, poor delay of gratification
Impaired adherence to commands to regulate or inhibit behavior in social contexts
More active, restless than normal children
Difficulty adhering to rules and regulations
Behaviors Associated with Giftedness:

Poor attention, boredom, daydreaming in specific situations
Low tolerance for persistence on tasks that seem irrelevant
Judgment lags behind development of intellect
Intensity may lead to power struggles with authorities
High activity level; may need less sleep
Questions rules, customs and traditions
According to Dr. Webb, “Sometimes, professionals have diagnosed ADHD by simply listening to parent or teacher descriptions of the child’s behaviors along with a brief observation of the child. Other times, brief screening questionnaires are used, although these questionnaires only quantify the parents’ or teachers’ descriptions of the behaviors.”

In addition to a thorough physical evaluation, including screening for allergies and other metabolic disorders, Dr. Webb also makes the following recommendation:

“It is important to examine the situations in which a child’s behaviors are problematic. Gifted children typically do not exhibit problems in all situations. For example, they may be seen as ADHD-like by one classroom teacher, but not by another; or they may be seen as ADHD at school, but not by the scout leader or music teacher. Close examination of the troublesome situation generally reveals other factors which are prompting the problem behaviors.”

Announcement: Drug-Free Crisis Centre to Sponsor Ground-Breaking Conference in Adelaide

On August 1-2, 2002, the Schizophrenia Drug-free Crisis Centre will host a groundbreaking mental health conference in Adelaide, Australia.
“One outcome of this event will be our implementation of pioneering training programs for persons wishing to work in the new field of non-coercive ‘drug-free crisis care,’ Dr. Maureen Roberts told The Alternative Mental Health News.

“This will be the first Australian forum to look at reputable, cost-effective alternatives to drugs and hospitals for psychosis, depression and trauma and as such, it could provide the basis for genuine and urgently needed ‘mental health’ reform. Properly implemented, these alternatives could also save billions of dollars in health care and take pressure off of overworked hospitals.”

The main conference speaker will be US psychiatrist Dr Loren Mosher, founder of a successful residential care program, which provided the kind of safe, friendly, homelike environment that is necessary for working through schizophrenia as an “acute personal crisis.” This approach challenges the orthodox psychiatric view that schizophrenia is a biological “mental illness” requiring (often forced) administration of heavy drugs.

Dr Richard Gosden, Australian author of the new book Punishing the Patient: How Psychiatrists Misunderstand & Mistreat Schizophrenia, will be a second guest speaker.

The forum will discuss the ethics, credibility and workability of existing government mental health policies. It will also challenge forced drug treatment of non-violent persons labeled “schizophrenic.”

The South Australia Public Advocate’s Office have already funded one of their delegates to attend and a Guardianship Board solicitor will address the forum on “human rights and coercive psychiatry.”

To find out more and/or to register to attend, visit the Conference website:

http://www.jungcircle.com/temenos.html

Non-Drug “Adhd” Treatments Get Results

According to the May, 2002 issue of Pediatrics, prescriptions for antidepressant medications for children and teenagers rose substantially during the 1990s. From 1988, the year Prozac was introduced, to 1994, prescriptions for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increased 19-fold. Tricyclic antidepressants came into frequent use for treating “ADHD” in youngsters, sometimes in combination with Ritalin or other stimulants without the combinations themselves being subjected to rigorous testing.

In his commentary on the above-paraphrased article, Dr. Joseph Mercola (mercola.com) summarizes the gentler and more positive remedies that are available. His advice:

“Clearly drugs are not the answer for children with ADHD. There are so many better options.

“If they only did the following three steps, the great majority would notice amazing improvement in their ADHD:

“Omega-3 oils, specifically fish oil, is probably the single most important nutrient for a child with ADHD to take.

“Next they should only drink water as their beverage, taking care to avoid fruit juices, soda and milk.

“Restrict sugars and grains, which cause insulin levels to be elevated.”

Glenn Brooks of Leeds is a health realization coach who has been working with clients diagnosed with ADD/ADHD for seven years.

“The quality of your life is the quality of your attention,” Brooks says. His coaching style involves approaching a person who has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as a learner with unlimited potential. Brooks examines the individual’s lifestyle and habits because, according to him, “movement is medicine.”

“If you want to torture someone with ADD, make them sit in a chair and focus on one thing for an hour,” Brooks says. He advocates allowing children classified as ADD/ADHD to run around before being asked to sit still in a classroom.

Bruce Coulombe of Everest Chiropractic in Northampton explains that when sensory and motor deficits are addressed, patients show improvement. He uses a technique called blind-spot mapping that involves identifying blind spots in the retina by asking patients to focus on a black dot marked on a piece of paper and then follow the movement of a pencil with their eyes. When the top of the pencil is not visible to them, Coulombe marks the blind spot on the piece of paper. If the left eye has the largest blind spot, he says, then it means that activity in the right hemisphere of the brain is compromised.

Coulombe then manipulates vertebrae in the cervical spine and reassesses the patient’s blind spot. If it has decreased, then there will be an increase in their brain activity.

Often, Coulombe discusses his young patients’ progress with their parents and teachers. “The feedback I get is that their ability to focus is often improved,” he says, adding that the positive effects are based on neurological fine-tuning.

“I look at the patient’s environment, past traumas, pollutants and diet. For instance, if their intake of fatty acids [found in flax-seed oil, fish oil, almonds and avocados] is too low, the normal synchronicity of the brain is affected,” Coulombe says. He also recommends limiting television time and increasing physical exercise.

American BlueGreen recently introduced a new product that gives additional impetus to the natural “ADHD” treatment movement. Kids Plus+(tm), an original European formula, is a natural, allergy-free nutritional supplement specifically developed to target “ADHD” symptoms. Introduced in Austria and Germany early in 2001, Kids Plus+ garnered high marks with active kids, their parents and teachers.

Marked improvement in children’s grades, decreased aggression with others, paying attention during class, and ability to concentrate on work have been reported by moms, dads and educators. Ritalin has been supplemented or supplanted with good results in many cases.

“With so many families facing the reality of an ADHD-diagnosed child, our aim is to help eliminate the anguish associated with a medication-only based solution,” said Ed Leach, Manager of American BlueGreen.

Kids Plus+ contains micronutrient-rich AFA-Algae, Kamut grass juice, Alfalfa grass juice, Barley juice, probiotics and a proprietary blend of enzymes.

http://www.americanbluegreen.com

Book Review: Natural Highs: Supplements, Nutrition, & Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All The Time by Hyla Cass, M.D. And Patrick Holford

Internationally-recognized holistic psychiatrist Dr. Hyla Cass and renowned British nutritionist Patrick Holford of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition have joined talents to produce a book that lays out the basics on natural approaches to feeling good. Their book, “Natural Highs: Supplements, Nutrition, & Mind/Body Techniques to Help You Feel Good All the Time” has just hit the bookstores.

What is the proper diet needed? What herbs are useful? What nutritional supplements are good for depression and anxiety? What about exercise, massage, music? A host of solutions are available to those who want to avoid the toxic offerings of psychotropic medications and street drugs.

These days when you tell your doctor that you have lost your spark, he’s liable to reach for his prescription pad. But drugs are no substitute for healthy living. Natural Highs gives considerable guidance on revving up your natural engines to put vitality back into your life.

Fatty Acid Therapy Shows Promise in Treating Learning Disorders
Article Sub-heading Comes Here
Could behavior which is often labeled as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood actually be rooted in deficits of key fatty acid nutrients in the brain? A recent pilot study by researchers from Oxford University in England provides support for this intriguing hypothesis.

The study evaluated the effects of fatty acid supplementation in a group of 41 children between the ages of 8 to 12. All the children had significant reading and writing disabilities which lagged nearly three years behind normal. Although of average intelligence, the children also had difficulty with working memory and phonological (speech sounds) skills.

To ensure accuracy, the study was randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled, says Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory on its website. One group of children received a daily placebo capsule containing olive oil. The other group received a daily supplement of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs)which have been linked to proper brain development and the signaling process between brain neurons.

After twelve weeks, researchers reevaluated the children using objective ratings scales designed to assess ADHD-related symptoms. As expected, the children treated with the placebo showed no improvement from baseline. But the children treated with HUFAs received significantly improved scores on a wide range of ADHD-symptoms, including inattention, restlessness, and cognitive problems.

Results from this small intervention trial seem to bolster previous evidence linking fatty acid imbalances with learning problems in children. “Blood biochemical evidence has suggested that a relative deficiency of certain HUFAs may contribute to some of the behavioral and learning problems central to ADHD,” the researchers commented.

Study conditions prevented the researchers from measuring fatty acids in the children’s blood before the supplementation trial.

Thus far, clinical trials suggest that a combination of HUFAs, particularly those that contain EPA, may be more effective in these children than any single HUFA given alone. No negative side effects have been reported. Twelve weeks is the minimum intervention period needed to see clinical results, the researchers estimated, because it takes at least 10 weeks for supplementation to adequately raise fatty acid levels in brain cells.

NOTE: Essential and Metabolic Fatty Acids Analysis (packed erythrocytes [red blood cells]) provides clinicians with an accurate clinical baseline for designing precise, customized fatty acid therapy in patients. Assessment ensures that supplementation will address all the clinically significant deficiencies, while avoiding the time and expense of unnecessary supplementation.

Information provided by Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory (gsdl.com). Details at http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/fattyacids/

Russian Physicist Seeks M.D’s for Collaboration with Safe Energy Mental Health Treatments
“Early in my career I worked with other Russian scientists investigating physical energy forms that emanate from the human body,” said Yuri Kronn, Ph.D., a Russian physicist with an impressive resume (including over 75 papers published on the interaction of light and matter). “It was astonishing work. We even investigated psychic energy. I remember one woman in particular who could move objects with her mind.

“But those were labors I did for the State. Privately, I began to look into the possibility of mimicking certain subtle energy fields of the body that produce calm or contentment or alertness. These are energy phenomena that are accessed by acupuncture and other methods. I remember the KGB coming in to ask me questions about what I was researching. It was not safe to do private research in the Soviet Union. I told them nothing.”

A year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dr. Kronn emigrated to the United States where he continued investigating “subtle energy,” as he calls it.

After considerable trial and error, he reports that he created a generator that could instill subtle energy fields into ordinary minerals. The minerals, when taken internally, would then act like acupuncture without needles, influencing energy flows and states to create, for example, a sense of relaxation and stability, without the chemical side effects.

According to Dr. Kronn, he was able to infuse the energy field of lithium into ordinary minerals, thus gaining much of the therapeutic benefits found in lithium treatment of “bipolar disorder,” without the toxic effects.

“The minerals have been used successfully on humans, animals, and plants,” said Dr. Kronn. “Injured cats calm down in 15 minutes. A wound stops hurting rapidly when treated with energized cream. One study showed aged seeds germinating over 70% more often when exposed to charged minerals. We find that mental symptoms such as anxiety and depression respond even faster than physical ailments.”

The products, carried under the brand name of Vital Force Technology, are currently available to health practitioners.

Needless to say, any non-toxic products that can supplant the need for harsh psychotropic or other drugs would be welcomed by many.

Dr. Kronn is seeking M.D.s interested in carrying out studies with his products. His number is 800-345-7458. Web address: http://www.energytoolsint.com.

Infants of Paxil Mothers Can Experience Withdrawal
Using the antidepressant Paxil late in pregnancy seems to be associated with a higher rate of complications in the newborn. Paxil creates a withdrawal syndrome in adults and newborns of mothers on Paxil can undergo similar withdrawal, research shows.

In a study reported at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in Baltimore in May 2002, Paxil did not increase the risk of birth defects when taken during any trimester. However, 12 infants born to 55 women who took the drug late in pregnancy had complications that required prolonged hospitalization. Nine of the babies had respiratory distress, two had hypoglycemia (abnormally low blood sugar) and one had jaundice — a yellowing of the skin due to reduced liver function.

Researchers compared outcomes for infants exposed to Paxil during the third trimester of pregnancy, to 27 babies exposed only during the first or second trimester, and to 27 infants whose mothers took other types of medication during pregnancy. Only three babies of the women who used Paxil during the first or second trimester or who used other medications ended up having complications.

Paxil is a type of antidepressant known as a selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and is known to cause a “discontinuation” syndrome in adults — a type of withdrawal. There had been case reports of a similar syndrome in infants born to mothers who have taken the drug during pregnancy.

The higher rate of complications in infants exposed to Paxil late in gestation suggests they may have been experiencing discontinuation syndrome.