The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has just issued new guidelines reassuring ‘doctors that they won’t be prosecuted for prescribing high doses of painkillers for patients who truly need them. In recent years, you may have been under-treated for pain because doctors feared landing on a DEA “watch list.” Some experts say up to 40% of seriously ill patients may have been under-treated.

Doctors still have to ensure that their pain patients are not abusing prescriptions, by maintaining records showing they performed a thorough medical history and by conducting physical exams to document the need for the painkiller. But if you’ve ever been in severe pain and had to practically beg for proper medication, this new program is good news. If the need arises, make sure your M.D. is aware of it. [ via http://www.earlytorise.com ]

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000384.php

Cheaper than doctor visits and a lot simpler.

[via HSI E-Alert] Some years ago, on England’s remote Isle of Man, an engineer named Mike James set out to devise a way to help his son who suffered from chronic sneezing attacks. After trial and error, Mike formulated a completely organic powdered plant extract, which created a gel when it came into contact with moisture. Observing that the gel was very similar to mucus, he had his son sniff the powder into his nose. His sneezing stopped immediately.

In the e-Alert “Next!” (7/31/02) I told you about Nasaleze, the product that was developed from Mike James’ formula. At that time, Nasaleze had plenty of enthusiastic users (including HSI Members), who had found great relief from both hay fever and eczema. But Nasaleze had not yet undergone any clinical trials.

One year later, not only do we have a hay fever trial to report on, but there’s also a new trial in the works to test Nasaleze on subjects with eczema. And if you’re wondering, “Hay Fever? Eczema? How to they relate?” The answer demonstrates just how unique this product is.

The hay fever study (appearing in the September 2003 issue of Alternatives in Natural Therapy) enlisted 102 adult volunteers (66 women and 36 men), who had suffered from hay fever for several years. Each subject completed a questionnaire at the outset of the study to rate their experiences with the most effective allergy drugs they had previously used.

Over a period of 42 days in the spring of 2003, all the volunteers kept daily diaries detailing the severity of allergy problems. Instructed to sniff one puff of Nasaleze into each nostril when allergies arose, the subjects then rated their response, with 1 being the most severe, and 5 being symptom free. Researchers also monitored pollen counts throughout the study, recording several periods when the counts were particularly high.

When the study was completed, researchers examined the data and found that overall, 77 percent of the subjects reported a significant reduction in allergy problems, and many said they had experienced their first symptom-free allergy season in years. Nasaleze’s final score on the 1-5 scale was 3.85, putting it very close to a rating of 4 which is described as “Quite well with occasional sneeze.”

This rating compared exceptionally well against the scores subjects gave in their initial questionnaires to brand name drugs. For instance, subjects had given an overall rating of 2.1 to Claritin, and 1.45 to Zyrtec. In addition, Nasaleze caused virtually no side effects, and was reported to be completely non-drowsy. And needless to say, since its natural ingredients don’t cause drowsiness, it doesn’t contain any synthetic agents to combat drowsiness.

So how does a simple vegetable powder – completely inert, with no pharmacologic action – manage to be more effective than high profile drugs that took millions of dollars to develop?

Last summer I traded e-mails with Mike James who explained that when people are allergic to pollen and other airborne pollutants, their bodies aren’t supplying enough mucus to properly filter air as it goes through the nasal passages. As a result, allergens make contact with the sinuses and lungs, triggering wheezing, sneezing, and other unpleasant reactions. Nasaleze naturally generates a substitute for the missing mucous, which protects sensitive areas.

One day a man was walking along a road, and he got a pebble in his shoe. Boy, did it hurt! But the man was in a hurry and did not have time to remove his shoe and take out the rock. He found that if he limped, his foot stopped hurting. He worked hard that day, and soon he forgot about the pebble in his show. A few friends commented on his new limp. The man said it was “Nothing.”

After work he was tired, and all he could think about was getting home, eating dinner, and going to bed.

The next morning, he had forgotten about the pebble. His foot was red and swollen, and his knee and hip ached from the limping. He took some aspirin and headed off to work.

A week later he visited the doctor. He had a terrible headache! Aspirin, Tylenol, and Advil… combined! …were offering him no relief. He wanted something that would “Take the pain away!” The doctor prescribed a potent painkiller, and recommended that the man stay off his feet for a week. “Yeah, sure,” he thought.

The new pills helped. Although they made him groggy and sick to his stomach, at least his head didn’t hurt so much. He took a whole 3 hours off work, including the doctor’s visit. He made up for the “lost hours” that night. The next morning, he was limping his way back to work.

This cycle continued for months—until his body finally gave up. The headaches, backaches, and overall pain could no longer be masked by even the most powerful drugs.

The pebble, of course, was still in his shoe, long forgotten. And who could blame him for not realizing it. After all, it’s impossible to think with such a terrible headache!