Saturday, December 5, 2009

Quien Dijo Que No Se Puede or Environmental Illness

Quien Dijo Que No Se Puede?

Author: Maria Antonieta Collins

Although her struggle and final victory over obesity along with the recipes that helped her conquer it dominated Dietas y Recetas de Maria Antonieta, this new blend of anecdotes, tips, and more recipes focuses on those who, inspired by Collins, are waging their own battle against obesity. As was her own daughter Adriana.

Patricia Arancibia, "Criticas" Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information. - Criticas

After the success of her first title, Dietas y recetas de Maria Antonieta (Maria Antonieta's Diets and Recipes, Criticas, Jan./Feb. 2002), Mexico's Univision anchor Collins has published a follow-up. Although her struggle and final victory over obesity along with the recipes that helped her conquer it dominated Dietas, this new blend of anecdotes, tips, and more recipes focuses on those who, inspired by Collins, are waging their own battle against obesity. A year after appearing on Cristina Salaregui's popular TV show where she vowed to overcome her weight problems, Collins's obese daughter, Adrianna, has become an even more striking success story than her mother. Adrianna accompanies Collins on tours to promote Dietas, and has written a couple of chapters for the new book. The testimonials, along with frank confessions of setbacks, are the book's greatest strengths. Encouraging as this is, though, the rest of the book repeats information from Dietas. Once again, such Univision stars as Saralegui, who wrote the prolog, Jorge Santos, and Lily Estefan reveal their dieting secrets, and Collins recycles Dietas's tips and advice. Moreover, the book seems to have been written and released too quickly, before it could be revised and reorganized. But despite these drawbacks, Collins's kindness, directness, and sympathy make this a worthwhile read. The new book, at least, gives measurement units in pounds and feet, with their metric equivalents in parentheses-a big improvement over Dietas. Bookstores and public libraries will find many of Collins's fans among their patrons.



Go to: Press On or System Analysis Design and Development

Environmental Illness: Myth and Reality

Author: Herman Staudenmayer

Environmental illness: certain health professionals and clinical ecologists claim it impacts and inhibits 15 percent of the population. Its afflicted are led to believe environmental illness (EI) originates with food, chemicals, and other stimuli in their surroundings -as advocates call for drastic measures to remedy the situation. What if relief proves elusive-and the patient is sent on a course of ongoing, costly and ineffective "treatment"? Several hundred individuals who believed they were suffering from EI have been evaluated or treated by Herman Staudenmayer since the 1970s. Staudenmayer believed the symptoms harming his patients actually had psychophysiological origins-based more in fear of a hostile world than any suspected toxins contained in the environment. Staudenmayer's years of research, clinical work-and successful care-are now summarized in Environmental Illness: Myth & Reality. Dismissing much of the information that has attempted to defend EI and its culture of victimization, Staudenmayer details the alternative diagnoses and treatments that have helped patients recognize their true conditions-and finally overcome them, often after years of prolonged suffering.

New England Journal of Medicine

When all is said and done, Staudenmayer concludes that environmental illness is iatrogenic, induced in vulnerable patients by unscrupulous physicians and advocates. For him, the phenomenon represents nothing short of medical cultism, with the expected moral superiority, rigidity of thought, and contempt for scientific laws, in which much time is spent on rituals, confessions, and group testimonials. His is a courageous hypothesis and one whose testing merits our support.



Friday, December 4, 2009

Soma or The Cox 2 Connection

Soma: The Divine Hallucinogen

Author: David L Spess

The definitive work on the ancient Hindu soma rituals mentioned in the Vedas and debated by scholars for decades.

• The first book to identify the mysterious soma plant.

• A breakthrough book that reenvisions the role of psychoactive plants in religion.

Soma has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. It is simultaneously a sacred hallucinogenic plant used in secret rituals, a personified God, and an important cosmological principle. Summarizing all previous research on the subject, David Spess goes far beyond his predecessors and shows that soma provides an important key to the understanding of the earliest systemized methods of medicine, psychology, magic, rejuvenation, longevity, and alchemy. Most significant is that his intensive research provides the most compelling case yet for actual identification of the plants that served as the basis for the divine hallucinogen Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus of India, as well as some members of the Nymphaea genus. 

With the renewed interest in the ritual use of psychoactive substances, shamanism, psychic phenomena, and alternative modalities of healing, Soma provides a much needed bridge between Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Contained within the enigmatic verses about soma in the Rig Veda is a secret about ourselves and the nature of our relationship to the world and cosmos. Soma makes this knowledge available to us once again.

American Herb Association

This book comes highly recommended by Dr. Willard Johnson-my college professor of religious studies-and I second the vote for anyone interested in history, plant drugs, and the origins of Eastern Religion.

What People Are Saying

Joan Halifax
A noteworthy addition to the research on hallucinogens. (Joan Halifax, author of The Fruitful Darkness and Shamanic Voices)


Wendy Doniger
By far the most thorough survey of both the botanical and the psycho-spiritual aspects of the soma plant that I've ever seen. All I can do is congratulate the author. (Wendy Doniger, coauthor of Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality)


Oscar Ichazo
Soma brilliantly completes the enquiry on the scientific and botanical aspects, as well as the anthropological and cultural development, of this very important subject. A magnificent book destined to become a classic. (Oscar Ichazo, author of Psychocalisthenics and Between Metaphysica and Protoanalysis)




See also: Synchronization Algorithms and Concurrent Programming or Mining the Web

The Cox-2 Connection: Natural Breakthrough Treatment for Arthritis, Alzheimer's and Cancer

Author: James B LaVall

All of us have experienced, at one time or another, the temporary inflammation and pain of a minor injury. But those who suffer from chronic inflammation—whether the result of an injury or a biological disorder--and its coincidental pain are all too aware of the frequently crippling and debilitating effects of these conditions.

In The Cox-2 Connection, pharmacist and naturalist James B. LaValle shares a thorough overview of treatment options for a variety of disorders for which inflammation is a primary symptom—from osteoarthritis, bursitis, and fibromyalgia to rheumatoid arthritis, gout and dysbiosis. He clearly explains the physiological mechanism that leads to inflammation and pain and includes an in-depth section on pain-management strategies useful for anyone who is experiencing this discomfort, whether temporary or chronic.

Cox-2—or cyclooxygenase-2—is the key enzyme responsible for the body's inflammation and pain response in conditions such as arthritis and bursitis, and it is also linked to the inflammation that may play a significant role in the progression of Alzheimer's and cancer. The Cox-2 Connection, however, goes further than other pain management books by dealing with not only the synthetic, anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex and Vioxx, but also with their natural counterparts that have been used for thousands of years by people all over the world. The author thoughtfully evaluates the effectiveness of these inhibitors as well as their side effects and presents exciting new studies that indicate their possible role in preventing Alzheimer's and cancer.

The Cox-2 Connection is an essential and timely reference for anyone trying to understand and manage inflammation and pain and make sense of the exploding availability and potential of ways to deal with them.



Table of Contents:

The Cox-2 Connection
Natural Breakthrough Treatment for Arthritis, Alzheimer's, & Cancer 

Preface 
Part 1: The Problem and Treatment
1. An Overview of Inflammation 
2. Understanding Your Anatomy: Muscles, Joints, and Bones 
3. Common Inflammatory Disorders and Causes 
4. Cox-2 Inhibitors: A Revolution in the Treatment of Inflammation 
5. The Cox-2 Connection in Alzheimer's and Cancer 
Part 2: What You Can Do
6. Natural Cox-2 Inhibitors and Other Natural Remedies 
7. Current Treatment Options 
8. A Smorgasbord of Ways to Manage Your Pain 
Resources 
Notes 
Index