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Norman Allan
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Dr. Norman Allan's
Newsletter

Vol 5, No. 4,
August 2008

  
 

*   newspaper clippings things of interest
*    videos: Bill and I have been making some vidoes, none I would rave about yet, but wait! take a look at the video on tai chi walk, perhaps, or look at my video page, musings there on meditation, and sundry.
*   archives lots of things of interest
*
   phil sarezen's hands is a work in progress
*   herbs: coming soon, plantain
*   working on the Danforth Tuedays

 
 
http://halefamilyassociation.com/photos/Plantain.jpg
 
 
I've started working on Tuesdays
at "Healing on the Danforth".

That's 1397 Danforth just east of the Greenwood Subway station
 
 
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and, I've been posting videos on youtube

They are one take, so they are full of mistakes
and so far the production values are not amazing,
but they are getting better.

see, for instance, Tai Chi Walk, One

 
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Newspaper clippings
 
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"Adults with low levels on Vitamin D face a 26% higher risk of death... The study, published yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the latest to show the health benefits of vitamin D. Earlier research found it can guard against osteoporosis and may offer protection from breast and colon cancer, heart disease and dementia."

Toronto Star, 12th August 2008

Some of the "earlier studies" include...

 
 
"... vitamin D slashes risk of colorectal and breast malignancies"
Globe and Mail: 7 Feb 2007

"...increasing daily intake of vitamin D could prevent the development of breast cancer by as much as half and that of colorectal cancer by nearly two-thirds. ...They found a two-third reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer in those who took 2000 IU of vitamin D... 'There's really no downside to taking 2000 IU of vitamin D...' "

Vitamin D is this years panacea. Good for all sorts of stuff. ("A growing body of work (and "meta-analysis) has shown that vitamin D in important in the prevention of heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, and of course, osteoporosis.") And fibromyalgia.

 
 

Vitamin D, a new panacea!
The Independent, 28 DEC 2005

"A daily dose of vitamin D could cut the risk of cancers of the breast, colon and ovary by up to a half." A growing body of work (and "meta-analysis) has shown that vitamin D in important in the prevention of heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, and of course, osteoporosis. Researcher, published in the American Journal of Public Health", suggests that a dose of 1000 IU (two and a half times the current level recommended in the US) would be beneficial. Remember, however, that very high doses can be toxic (40,000IU /day produces toxicity within 1 to 4 months - so don't worry. That's 40 times that suggested dose)
and, we do manufacture our own vitamin D when our skin is bathed in sunshine.

 
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Also: the article on filaggrin in  Dr. Allan'sNewsletter: May 2008 is worth looking at: Filaggrin pulls together the keratin protein filaments in the skin’s outermost layer. The molecule also holds water in, Without filaggrin, the usually impervious barrier formed by the skin is compromised. It turns out that a large proportion of people with rashes have a filaggrin gene problem.
 
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Packages

:- and consultations on-line
and on the phone
 
 


Office Hours:

Mondays, Thursdays

8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

 
 


visit Dr. Allan's home page at
www.normanallan.com
 
   
  
 

 


H
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Archives:

 

Dr. Allan'sNewsletter: June 2008: snippets from newspapers which I hope are of interest.

Dr. Allan'sNewsletter: May 2008: as above

Dr. Allan'sNewsletter: Apr 2008:

Dr. Allan'sNewsletter: Oct 2007:

Dr. Allan's Newsletter: Sept 2007:

Dr. Allan's Newsletter: July 2007:

Dr. Allan's Newsletter, Spring 2007:

Dr. Allan's Newsletter, Winter 2007:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, May 2006:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, April 2006:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, March 2006:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, February 2006:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, January 2006:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, December 2005:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, November: 2005

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, October: 2005

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, August/September: 2005

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, June/July 2005:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, May 2005:

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, March/April 2005: an essay on immune tonics published in "Healthy Directions" - and snippets from newspapers, various, which I hope are of interest.

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, February 2005: snippets from newspapers, various, which I hope are of interest - and a discussion of "C Reactive Protein" as an indicator of risk for heart disease.

Dr. Norman Allan's Newsletter, January 2005: snippets from newspapers, various.

 
From vol 3 no 1: An interesting clipping that I've stumbled on since the last letter concerns vibration:(Globe and Mail, 13 June 2006) "SCIENTIST GETS VIBES TO BUILD BONES. Device to help space travelers approved to treat sufferers of osteoporosis." The device is a machine that generates vibrations - vibration implies acceleration/deceleration, and is therefore somewhat like gravity - therefore in theory, and it seems in practice, good for maintenance of bone mass in zero gravity (it was designed for use in space). On earth, the article says, "a person who stands on [the platform of the vibration device] for 20 minutes a day can build bone density an average of 2 percent a year. ... By sending small vibrations through the body - moving about 50 micrometers (or the thickness of a few human hairs) up and down and repeating at a rate of 34 cycles per second - the platform triggers musculoskeletal stimulations that naturally occur... the vibrations from the platform are set to a frequency that [generates acceleration that] is one-third that of gravity... and is therefore safe. Other devices (exercise machines) which generate 4 to 15 gravities are dangerous, we are told.

The thing that I find interesting here is that a relatively subtle vibration is having an appreciable (positive) effect on body metabolism and function. I am therefore wondering what the vibrational effects of chanting, OM, for instance, are? We'd need an engineer to tell us about the difference in order of magnitude between that devise and the vibrations that are set up in your body by, a) a rock band in a bar, b) by chanting, OM for instance. However, orders of magnitude might or might not be of relevance here. Subtle vibrations may be having physiological effects. One would have to look and see.

Meanwhile, the safe course would be to do the chanting. It's bound to have salubrious effects at many levels (if not bone mass and muscle mass - muscles, that too was in the article). ("Salubrious" = health promoting - forgive the use of a relatively obscure word.) "Over all the bone density of the controlled group (the reporter has got this wrong - he means "experimental group" as compared to the control group) increased by 3 percent during a year, and muscle mass improved by 4 percent."

So get chanting, OM (or what you fancy).