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What causes coronary heart disease or coronary atherosclerotic plaque, this thing that we track with heart scans? Well, here are a few little-publicized facts about heart disease that you are unlikely to hear from your When's-the-next-stent? cardiologist or the What is there besides statins? primary care doctor. (Since everybody knows that smoking is a modifiable risk for heart disease that can be readily identified, let's focus on the blood tests that reveal heart disease causes.)

A complete health reference and symptom checker that includes a virtual doctor that conducts an interview, analyzes symptoms, provides recommendations, and creates a personal health record.

Dr. Kowalsky specializes in science-based natural medicine. She offers expert solutions integrating the best of alternative and complementary medical care. As a naturopathic doctor she is trained in both conventional medicine and natural therapies, providing her patients with the most holistic, integrative and effective medical care available.

Blind Girl Can See Thanks to Umbilical Cord-Based Adult Stem Cell Treatment London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Born two years ago with severe eye problems, Dakota Clarke could not even see well enough to recognize her own mother and father. But now the parents of the little girl, who is registered blind, say she can make out their faces for the first time after pioneering stem cell treatment. The couple gave up work to raise well over $40,000 to fly their daughter to China for the treatment, which remains at the experimental level in Britain -- because the nation has been too preoccupied with embryonic stem cells and human cloning. They returned home this week convinced that Dakota can now see colors, lights and objects around her as a result. They hope further therapy will give her a lifetime of sight. "It's nothing short of a miracle for us," said Mr Clarke, a former engineer. "She can see the world for the first time." In Dakota's case, cells were administered intravenously through her hairline and reportedly traveled towards her optic nerve, repairing the damaged area. The stem cells came from umbilical cords donated by Chinese mothers. Despite the obvious success, some doctors are talking down the results simply because the treatments aren't approved in England. Pro-life advocates say the results are yet another showing of how adult stem cells outpace their embryonic cousins both ethically and when used in treatments.

Now a new and controversial book by an American doctor suggests that taking even higher levels of the vitamin - 10 to 15 times the recommended amounts - can work wonders. Dr James Dowd, who works at the Arthritis Institute of Michigan, has been prescribing vitamin D to people suffering from chronic disorders such as arthritis, back pain and headaches and the result, he claims, is a huge improvement in their symptoms. In his book, The Vitamin D Cure, Dr Dowd describes a number of success stories using this approach. One of his patients, Barbara, for instance, was obese, and suffered from arthritis in one leg as well as high blood pressure. As Dowd explains: "In the past I would have given her anti-inflammatory drugs, pain medication, a pill to lose weight and drug treatment for hypertension."

To the surprise of doctors around the world, melatonin is demonstrating life-saving benefits that far exceed its common use as a sleep aid.1 Increasingly, researchers have shown that melatonin's impressive ability to control oxidative damage in systems throughout the body can reduce the trauma of brain injury, prevent heart muscle damage, offer neuroprotection, increase cognitive functioning, and reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy while enhancing its benefits.2-7 Cumulatively, these findings add up to important new roles for melatonin not only in disease prevention but in almost every field of medicine.

My "argument" against this guy's lazy, reactionary blog post is at the very bottom of the page, dated April 12, 2009. I think it's the longest comment he's received so far, too. Just look for a verbose passage. That's my rant against his reactionary, unsupported claims against NDs.

doctors aren't helping patients through remote means, instead insisting on seeing patients in the office for all medical issues, even the most routine of issues out of habit, out of fear, out of how to get paid.

Benfotiamine (rINN, or S-benzoylthiamine O-monophoshate) is a synthetic S-acyl derivative of thiamine (vitamine B1). After absorption, benfotiamine can be dephosphorylated by cells bearing an ecto-alkaline phosphatase to the lipid-soluble S-benzoylthiamine. The primary use of this antioxidant is as an "anti-AGE" supplement.[3] In a trial, benfotiamine lowered AGE by 40%.[4] However, in Germany doctors have been known to combine benfotiamine with pyridoxine hydrochloride and use it to treat patients with nerve damage and nerve pain such as sciatica. At high doses, benfotiamine was shown to be effective for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. I

Dark times: Natalie Adler has a medical condition that prevents her eyes opening. Picture: Darren Tindale