By Dr. Mercola

Have you noticed that practically every day a new story comes out in the media about the toxic side effects of living in the modern world?

Chemical and heavy metal dangers seem to be lurking everywhere you turn in the 21^st century!

Pesticides coat much of our fresh food supply, chemical by-products from manufacturing are routinely dumped into our air and water, and mercury amalgam fillings in your teeth may be releasing mercury into your body with every bite of food you take!

The seafood in our oceans are laden with heavy metals and mercury and pass these poisons up the food chain until potentially massive doses of both wind up on your dinner plate disguised as a healthy meal.

Underground water supplies have been tainted by chemical and pesticide run off from farms, factories and high technology industries.

In fact, acceptable levels of many poisons are allowed to come into your home through your drinking and bathing water, including fluoride, chlorine and low levels of many heavy metals.

It doesn't take much imagination to see that your body too is under attack from environmental pollution every single day.

You can seek to protect yourself and combat this hazard by eating foods that are free of pesticides and chemicals, but you simply cannot entirely remove all sources of toxins from your environment. The damage to our world is just too widespread and pervasive. You have to take it upon yourself to take measures to protect yourself and your family from this toxic world, and one of the best natural sources for moving these toxic materials out of your body is a whole-food based, green algae called chlorella.

How Can You Fight Systemic Pollution?

To address the harmful and unwanted chemicals your body picks up through the food you eat, the air you breathe, and the water you drink, it is wise to develop a proactive plan. One of the most powerful parts of this plan is detoxification of the toxins you may have already built up inside your body.

Your body is naturally able to remove many of the harmful pathogens, chemicals and poisons you may come into contact with in the environment. That's how we are all designed.

But in the 21^st century, we're seeing an explosion of accumulated toxin-related diseases like cancer, auto-immune dysfunction, brain disorders like autism, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, nerve disorders and more common ailments like depression, learning disabilities and fatigue. It can become relatively easy to overwhelm your body's ability to remove many of these toxins. Symptoms of toxic build-up due to chronic metal exposure include:

• Fatigue
• Digestive distress, and reduced ability to properly assimilate and utilize fats
• Aching joints
• Depression
• Impaired blood sugar regulation
• Female reproductive problems

Mercury is also a potent toxin in its own right that can damage your brain, central nervous system and kidneys, and is especially dangerous for children, fetuses, pregnant and nursing women and people who have high levels of mercury bioburden. So it clearly pays dividends to detoxify your body of the accumulated toxins built up, to get yourself to a healthier state where your body can more effectively remove the toxins you're exposed to every day.

Infrared Sauna

There are ten to 100 times more toxins in your fat than in your blood, so one of the best ways to remove toxins is to decrease your body fat. That really is your first defense. Choosing the right foods and exercise are key here. After that, one of the most effective detoxification strategies I know of is the use of an infrared sauna. This can be done for about one hour daily for a month. Remember, it's important to hydrate well before and during the sauna treatment to avoid dehydration.

Additionally, you can exercise for 30-60 minutes immediately prior to help liberate some of the toxins from your fat.

Some clinicians have also found the use of NON timed release niacin useful, as it helps liberate toxins from the fat. However, relatively high doses of 5,000 mg are needed. These high doses need to be slowly worked up to as niacin will cause flushing. However, about one fourth of people are simply unable to tolerate the niacin flush. Please avoid timed release niacin as it can potentially lead to chemical hepatitis.

Chlorella as a Powerful Detoxification Tool

One of the most exciting nutritional resources available today to help your body naturally fight environmental pollution is a whole-food based supplement called chlorella. Chlorella is actually one of the most widely used supplements in Japan, where over 10 million people use it regularly. The Japanese use of chlorella is more widespread than the North American use of vitamin C, our most popular supplement.

Do the Japanese know something we don't?

One of the reasons the Japanese value chlorella so highly is its natural detoxification abilities. Chlorella is a "green food," a single-celled, micro-algae that is about two to ten microns in size. It's very small. It is this small size combined with its unique properties that make it such a useful detoxification tool. Its molecular structure, allows it to bond to metals, chemicals and some pesticides.

When chlorella is taken into your body, its natural action will bind it to lingering heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides found in your digestive tract, which is your body's pathway to your bloodstream where these harmful toxins are delivered and deposited into your body's cells.

So chlorella first and foremost will help your body eliminate unwanted metals and toxins. But it does more than that.

Chlorella is uniquely designed to not bind to the minerals your body naturally needs to function optimally. It does not bind to beneficial minerals like calcium, magnesium, or zinc. It's almost as if chlorella knows which metals belong in your body and which chemicals need to be removed. Supplementing with chlorella is like unleashing a tiny army inside your body to fight the battle of removing toxins from your tissues and ushering them back outside your body where they belong.

The History of Chlorella

Chlorella is one of the most widely studied food supplements in the world. Aside from being the subject of medical research in the USA, USSR, Germany, Japan, France, England and Israel, chlorella has been extensively studied as a food source since it is made up of a whopping 50 percent protein and is considered a complete amino acid-based food.

Even NASA has studied using chlorella as the one of first whole foods in space on the international space station!

Studies in Japan have shown chlorella may help reduce body fat percentage and may be useful in fighting obesity and weight related diabetes. It may also help reduce both cholesterol and hypertension. Chlorella's cleansing action on your bowel and other elimination channels, as well as its protection of your liver, also helps promote clean blood. And clean blood helps assure metabolic waste get efficiently carried away from your tissues.

Chlorella is such a powerful detoxifier because it is rich in chlorophyll, which is known to:

• Aid you in processing more oxygen
• Cleanse key elimination systems like your bowel, liver, and blood
• Help purify your blood and clean away toxins
• Aid you in promoting optimal blood pressure
• Support elimination of molds in your body
• Help neutralize bad air you might breathe in
• Promote growth and repair of your tissues

Chlorella is actually very useful even beyond detoxification, and its range of health benefits includes:

• Boosting your immune system
• Improving your digestion, especially if constipation is a problem
• Providing B vitamins from an animal source
• Enhancing your ability to focus and concentrate
• Increasing your energy levels
• Balancing your body's pH
• Normalizing your blood sugar and blood pressure
• Reducing your cancer risk
• Freshening your breath

A three-year double-blind metal detoxification study with over 350 people participating was undertaken at a Russian metal foundry, where more than 20 natural compounds were used in trials to remove heavy metals from people who had been exposed at very high levels to four main metals -- antimony, lead, dadmium and arsenic.

What were the results of testing chlorella as a heavy metal detoxification agent? The Russian trial using Broken Cell Wall chlorella combined with cilantro eliminated ALL heavy metals, including mercury! With no reported side-effects! In fact, the heavy metal binding power of chlorella was first discovered in the mining industry. Mixed with water, they pumped chlorella into mine shafts to collect the residual metals after bulk mining was completed.

Not All Chlorella is Created Equal

Unlike many food supplements, chlorella has one unique feature that makes the manufacturing process one of the primary concerns when considering a source of supplementation. Chlorella is completely indigestible by humans. We simply do not have the enzymes to break down its cell wall.

Unlike other green foods, chewing and digesting chlorella will not release the powerful health benefits contained within this green algae. This is because chlorella's tough outer cell wall, which is also chemically responsible for binding with the toxins inside your body, cannot be broken down by your biology,

Therefore, it is imperative that the manufacturing process break down the tough outer cell wall for you, as this is the only way to make the chlorella biologically available to remove toxins from your body.

This is why I only recommend supplementing with Broken Cell Wall chlorella, because this is the only form that allows your body to use this powerful detoxification agent. Another concern when choosing your chlorella is to be sure that the source waters where it is grown and harvested are free of any contamination. Since chlorella is a natural green food, it will be affected by polluted water and will retain environmental toxins if it's grown in contaminated waters. So be certain any chlorella you supplement with comes from a naturally clean water source.

One other aspect of chlorella you need to be aware of is some people tolerate it better than others.

You should always start any detox with chlorella gradually, taking just a small amount at first to see how your body tolerates this powerful detoxification tool. Some people also report benefits from beginning a detoxification by first eating small amounts of cilantro for a few days. Cilantro also promotes a detoxification response in your body, but at a less intense level -- which may help your body ease into a smoother detoxification response from chlorella.

The best results of using broken cell wall chlorella for detoxification have also been documented as coming from mixing chlorella with the green plant cilantro, so this might be another consideration for you when undertaking your detoxification program. I recommend finding an organic source of cilantro, to insure you are not putting more unwanted chemicals into your body as you try to detoxify your body's already existing heavy metal burden.

Too Much Iron?

One other thing to be aware of when using chlorella is that this green algae does contain large concentrations of iron. Iron levels in women should not be a problem due to the loss of iron related to the menstrual cycle, but for men, or postmenopausal women, excessive iron can become a problem.

So for men using chlorella, you want to have your blood iron levels checked regularly to ensure the iron in your blood is staying within healthy levels. The simple best screen is ferritin. Ideally it should be between 20 and 80 ng/ml. Levels over 150 or higher become problematic and should be treated by blood donations or therapeutic phlebotomies.

Chlorella for Vegetarians and Vegans

Chlorella is also a great source of complete amino acid protein, and is made up of 50 percent protein. So vegans and vegetarians can benefit not only from the detoxification properties of chlorella, but can also enhance their B vitamin and protein intake as well through chlorella supplementation.

Many claim that it can also be a useful source of vitamin B12. While chlorella does contain this vitamin, most people develop deficiencies because they lose the ability to absorb it. So swallowing it will not provide the same benefit as injecting it or using it in a sublingual drop or spray.

To the best of my knowledge, chlorella is not an effective alternative to animal sources of vitamin B12 which can be an issue for vegans.

Final Thoughts on Chlorella

Sometimes living in the modern world can feel like you're at war with the environment around you, and sources of pollution are often silent and unavoidable. You can do your best to avoid pollution and toxins, eat only the healthiest organic foods, drink only filtered water, avoid exposure to harsh man-made chemicals, and yet still find yourself exposed daily to massive amounts of harmful pollutants that are totally outside of your control.

Maintaining optimum wellness includes creating defensive mechanisms to fight back against these pervasive and unavoidable environmental assaults on your good health.

By implementing a detoxification program now you can help your body naturally remove the unwanted and harmful heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides you may unknowingly taken into your body. And lessening your toxic burden has been shown to improve many common health ailments, from lack of energy and insomnia, to sluggish digestion, lack of immune response and mental fatigue.

In fact, almost everything inside your body, including all of your organs, function better with reduced loads of systemic toxins.

And by removing the toxins now and not letting them accumulate to dangerous levels, you may be helping your body ward of such killers as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, along with all of the now too common neurological disorders that may not manifest for decades to come.

Just remember to start slowly, perhaps using cilantro first, and gradually increase your intake of chlorella at a pace your body can tolerate.

It took a long time for your body to accumulate these toxins and it will probably take you many weeks and even months to effectively remove them from your system. So if you experience any indigestion or discomfort from chlorella supplements, you're probably taking too much too fast.

It will be crucial to lower your body fat as low as possible as this will remove large amounts of toxins from your body that are stored there. You can also use the infrared sauna in conjunction with exercise and niacin as described above.

Be patient, stick with chlorella supplementation, and in a few weeks you'll most likely begin to notice an overall improvement in your health as you naturally start to remove these heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides from your body.

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$29 Billion Introduction from 29billion on Vimeo.

By Dr. Mercola

Millions of people around the world take medications known as statins to lower their cholesterol.

The current value of the cholesterol-lowering drug industry is estimated at around $29 billion -- and this is clearly a conservative estimate considering spending on cholesterol drugs in the United States alone reached nearly $19 billion in 2010.

But have the facts about cholesterol and heart disease been distorted by drug companies eager to increase their profits? 

A new documentary film project is underway to look for answers, and get the truth out about cholesterol once and for all…

Why Haven't You Heard the Truth About Cholesterol?

There may be $29 billion very good reasons why … and this is the premise behind the new documentary film $29 Billion Reasons to Lie About Cholesterol (based on a book by the same name, authored by Justin Smith). As the film's synopsis explains:

"So many resources are currently directed at cholesterol-lowering, however, a huge body of evidence suggests that this cholesterol-lowering is having little or no effect on people's health. In fact, it may even be doing more harm than good.

We want to present the facts about cholesterol to the general public. These facts are fully supported by published studies within the medical literature, but unfortunately they are hardly ever discussed.

The pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year promoting the idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease. The other side of the story receives very little attention. As a result, even doctors may have been misled; since they have only been exposed to the pharmaceutical industry's viewpoint."

Could it be possible that nearly everything your doctor and the media is telling you about high cholesterol and how it relates to saturated fats, heart disease and strokes is wrong?

Absolutely!

Could it also be possible that the makers of statin drugs are generating massive ill-gotten profits of this completely misguided and patently incorrect medical dogma -- while patients, maybe even you or someone you love, are risking poor health or even death as a result? Yes!  And it's time the word got out.

Does Lower Cholesterol Really Lead to Better Health?

A major clue that something is very off with the notion that high cholesterol causes heart disease can be found in this: even as cholesterol levels have become lower, rates of heart disease deaths have not followed suit!

In a report by Smith, it's noted:

" … between 1994 and 2006 the percentage of men aged 65 to 74 with 'high' cholesterol decreased from 87% to 54% … Despite this, the rate of coronary heart disease for this age group stayed about the same … Other age groups have experienced an increase in the rate of heart disease as the number of people with 'high' cholesterol has decreased."

Now here's something you might find surprising: it turns out evidence linking high cholesterol to heart disease is actually weak, including the results of the Framingham Heart Study, which is often cited as proof of the lipid hypothesis (the notion that dietary fat leads to high cholesterol and causes heart disease).

The Framingham Heart Study began in 1948 and involved some 6,000 people from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts who filled out detailed questionnaires about their lifestyle habits and diets. The study is credited with identifying heart disease risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise and, yes, high cholesterol.

Despite being widely publicized, the cholesterol link was weak, as researchers noted those who weighed more and had abnormally high blood cholesterol levels were slightly more at risk for future heart disease. What you don't hear about is the fact that the more cholesterol and saturated fat people ate, the lower their cholesterol levels. In a 1992 editorial published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. William Castelli, a former director of the Framingham Heart study, stated:

"In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol … We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active."

Cholesterol is simply not the main perpetrator causing heart disease. Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a board certified cardiologist and a prominent expert in the field of natural cardiology, explained in a recent interview: 

"Let's face it, cholesterol is something your body needs. If you look at the MRFIT study [Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial] where they looked at 180,000 men over a period of… 13 years (1973-80); men with cholesterol of 330 had less hemorrhagic stroke than men with cholesterol less than 180. If you look at cholesterol numbers, the higher cholesterol number would give you protection from hemorrhagic stroke. (I'm not talking about ischemic stroke now but hemorrhagic stroke.)

… [W]e need cholesterol in our skin to activate vitamin D3 from sunlight.  We need cholesterol to make our sex hormones… to make our adrenal hormones.  We need it for lubrication.  We need it for neurotransmitter function in the brain. 

When LDL is driven too low, it's no wonder that a lot of patients develop memory problems or pre-Alzheimer's, or even total global amnesia, which is really losing one's memory.  It's very frightful and I have seen several cases.… There are so many other aspects that in my mind play a much bigger role that I put cholesterol down at the low end of the spectrum."

Most of Your Body's Cholesterol is Made by Your Liver, Not "Ingested" Via Your Diet

If high cholesterol and high-fat diets are really NOT the cause of heart disease, then how did this massive misinformation campaign start? It actually started more than 100 years ago when the lipid hypothesis was developed by a German pathologist named Rudolph Virchow. After studying arterial plaques from corpses, he theorized that cholesterol in your blood led to the development of plaques in your arteries.

Meanwhile, in 1913 in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nikolaj Nikolajewitsch Anitschkow fed rabbits cholesterol and determined that it led to atherosclerotic changes (apparently no one questioned the fact that rabbits are herbivores and do not naturally consume cholesterol!).

This started the notion that eating cholesterol leads to plaque deposits in your arteries, and at that time it was believed that all cholesterol in your blood was due to dietary sources. This, however, is not true, as it's now known that your liver makes about 75 percent of your body's cholesterol. That's right! Even if you didn't eat any cholesterol, you would still have cholesterol in your body, which is a good thing considering it's needed by every one of your cells to produce cell membranes.

Your diet is actually an afterthought when it comes to what your cholesterol levels will be, but this simple truth is largely ignored or unrealized even by many physicians. In fact, statins are actually HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that is, they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase).

How Low Should Your Cholesterol Go? Official Guidelines Unsupported by Research, Influenced by Drug Company Dollars

The other interesting point to the cholesterol myth has to do with how low your levels should actually go; this, too, is a product of misinformation. In 2004, the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program panel advised those at risk for heart disease to attempt to reduce their LDL cholesterol to new specific, very low, levels.

Before 2004, a 130-milligram LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy.

The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk -- levels that often require multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs to achieve. In 2006, a review in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that there is insufficient evidence to support the target numbers outlined by the panel. The authors of the review were unable to find research providing evidence that achieving a specific LDL target level was important in and of itself, and found that the studies attempting to do so suffered from major flaws.

Several of the scientists who helped develop the guidelines even admitted that the scientific evidence supporting the less-than-70 recommendation was not very strong!

So how did these excessively low cholesterol guidelines come about?  Eight of the nine doctors on the panel that developed the new cholesterol guidelines had been making money from the drug companies that manufacture statin cholesterol-lowering drugs -- wouldn't you know it, the same drugs the new guidelines suddenly created a dramatically larger market for in the United States.

The Washington Post reported:

"The extent of the connections was stunning: Of the nine members of the panel that wrote the guidelines, six had each received research grants, speaking honoraria or consulting fees from at least three and in some cases all five of the manufacturers of statins; only one had no financial links at all. If all the members with conflicts had recused themselves, in fact, only two would have been left."

Did You Know Statins Can Actually Harm Your Heart?

While statin drugs do lower cholesterol very effectively, if cholesterol is not the culprit in heart disease, what purpose does this serve?  A new look at statin cholesterol-lowering drugs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims that no study has ever proven that statins improve all-cause mortality -- in other words, they don't prolong your life any longer than if you'd not taken them at all. And rather than improving your life, they actually contribute to a deterioration in the quality of your life, destroying muscles and endangering liver, kidney and even heart function.

According to Stephanie Seneff, author of this stunning revelation:

"Statin drugs inhibit the action of an enzyme, HMG coenzyme A reductase, that catalyses an early step in the 25-step process that produces cholesterol. This step is also an early step in the synthesis of a number of other powerful biological substances that are involved in cellular regulation processes and antioxidant effects.

One of these is coenzyme Q10, present in the greatest concentration in the heart, which plays an important role in mitochondrial energy production and acts as a potent antioxidant …

Statins also interfere with cell-signaling mechanisms mediated by so-called G-proteins, which orchestrate complex metabolic responses to stressed conditions. Another crucial substance whose synthesis is blocked is dolichol, which plays a crucial role in the endoplasmic reticulum. We can't begin to imagine what diverse effects all of this disruption, due to interference with HMG coenzyme A reductase, might have on the cell's ability to function … There can be no doubt that statins will make your remaining days on earth a lot less pleasant than they would otherwise be … "

Take one study in Clinical Cardiology, which found heart muscle function was "significantly better" in the control group than in those taking statin drugs! The researchers concluded:

"Statin therapy is associated with decreased myocardial [heart muscle] function."

What's often the end result when your heart muscle function is weakened or decreased? Heart failure! The study did not address causes, but it's widely known that statins lower your CoQ10 levels by blocking the pathway involved in cholesterol production -- the same pathway by which Q10 is produced. Statins also reduce the blood cholesterol that transports CoQ10 and other fat-soluble antioxidants.

The loss of CoQ10 leads to loss of cell energy and increased free radicals which, in turn, can further damage your mitochondrial DNA, effectively setting into motion an evil circle of increasing free radicals and mitochondrial damage. As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart failure, so it is imperative if you take statin drugs that you take CoQ10 or, if you are over the age of 40, the reduced version called ubiquinol.

Statins Increase Your Risk of Chronic Disease

Statins appear to provoke serious risks of chronic disease, including diabetes, through a few different mechanisms. One primary mechanism is by increasing your insulin levels, which can be extremely harmful to your health. Chronically elevated insulin levels cause inflammation in your body, which is the hallmark of most chronic disease. In fact, elevated insulin levels lead to heart disease, which, ironically, is the primary reason for taking a statin drug in the first place!

It can also promote belly fat, high blood pressure, heart attacks, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, and diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer. These drugs have also been directly linked to over 300 side effects, which include:

Are You Ready to Stop Buying Into the Cholesterol Lie?

The bottom line is this: your body NEEDS cholesterol -- it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. Further, there's no doubt that statin drugs can wreak havoc with your health, and there's compelling evidence that most people who currently take them simply do not need them.

If your physician is urging you to check your total cholesterol, then you should also know that this test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of heart disease, unless it is 330 or higher. HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

1. HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
2. Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

The fact is that 75 percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol! By modifying your diet and lifestyle in the following ways, you can safely optimize your cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease at the same time:

• Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet, replacing them with mostly whole, fresh vegetable carbs. Also try to consume a good portion of your food raw. 
• Make sure you are getting enough high quality, animal-based omega 3 fats, such as krill oil.
• Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats.
• Exercise daily.
• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
• Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

One final point to chew on, Dr. Seneff actually believes it's difficult to get "too much" cholesterol in your diet, particularly in the standard American diet. But you may very well be getting too little, and that can cause problems.

Foods that are very high in cholesterol, like caviar, liver, and the adrenal glands of bears, were highly valued in some cultures that also had very low rates of heart disease and other modern diseases. Likewise, many foods that are today shunned because they are high in saturated fat, such as grass-fed beef, egg yolks, coconut oil and butter, and therefore "bad" for your cholesterol are actually among the healthiest fats you can eat!

• 29billion.com

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A recent study has found that children who often head a soccer ball are at risk for developing a brain injury. For kids on a team who practice and play several times a week, heading the ball is part of their training, and they may do quite a bit of it.

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A new study suggests that vitamins A and D can work together to combat autoimmune disorders.  The activated forms of both vitamins were found to suppress the development of Th17 cells, which produce a number of inflammatory chemicals, including interleukin-17.  When the two vitamins were combined, they produced an even stronger synergistic effect.

Th17 cells, when working properly, help protect against infection, but they also appear to play a role in multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease. 

The Weston A. Price Foundation reports:

“The next question was whether the activated vitamins would protect against an autoimmune condition in live mice. The investigators addressed this question with a model of contact hypersensitivity ... [A]ctivated vitamins A and D cooperated together to reduce ear swelling in these mice.”

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A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that when it comes to neck pain, the best medicine is no medicine.  The study tracked patients with recent-onset neck pain who were treated using either medication, exercise, or a chiropractor.  After 12 weeks, the patients who used a chiropractor or exercised were more than twice as likely to be pain free.

The patients treated by a chiropractor experienced a 32 percent success rate, while exercise resulted in a 30 percent success rate.  Patients treated with medication exhibited only a 13 percent success rate.

According to ABC News:

“The exercises prescribed to patients in the study were simple and designed to be performed at home with the help of instructional photos.”

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