Q: …Clot formation is a fact of life following heart bypass surgery. The mortality statistics are grim, the choice of maintenance medications prescribed for bypass patients are dangerous, and in many cases, ineffective as well. The current mainstream medical treatment status following heart surgery can be summarized as unsatisfactory…

I began writing this issue in late May, just as TV news anchors all over the country were staring into cameras and gravely saying that “the latest research shows that hormone replacement therapy [HRT] for women raises the risk of dementia.” My local newspaper (Seattle Times) showed no more signs of real reporting than any of the other journalists around the U.S. They just repeated, without any real investigating, what all of the other sources were saying: “Older women who take a combination of hormones are increasing their risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.”

Now that several high-profile celebrities–like Katie Couric and Sharon Osbourne–have been personally affected by colon cancer, the media seems to be paying much more attention to what has always been a very serious disease. All of the reports say that if you’re past 50 you should have a periodic colonoscopy to see if you have colon polyps or possibly colon cancer. But what they don’t tell you is that there’s a simple, inexpensive test you can do on your own (or with your doctor’s help) that can help you estimate your risk of colon cancer, just as your EQ and 2/16 ratio measurements can help you estimate your risk of breast and prostate cancer, like we discussed in the last two issues.

It’s so frustrating to know that it’s 2003 and mainstream physicians are still ignoring basic textbook physiology. I know you’re probably thinking “What else is new?” But the latest example to come across my desk prompted me to respond so that I could (hopefully) alleviate at least some of the confusion once and for all. Recently, a woman came to the Tahoma Clinic looking for some help with natural hormone replacement therapy after her physician made a few recommendations that concerned her. Here’s an excerpt straight from her physician’s notes:

For most politicians and bureaucrats, diversity is a sacred concept. Strange, though, how diversity vanishes when it interferes with a more important political and bureaucratic goal: regulation-especially regulation that serves very powerful financial interests.

The biggest problem with lithium treatment is people’s perception of it. Since its most well known use is for bi-polar disorder, lithium sometimes encounters the same stigma as mental illness itself.

IN THIS ISSUE: The misunderstood mineral, Part 1: Think young into your 90s with this anti-aging secret for your brain; Stop the “harmonization” of your vitamins!; Your whole body needs progesterone; Check (and change) your own risk of colon cancer; The half-truth behind the latest HRT/Alzheimer’s horror stories; The bypass benefit of this natural clotbuster;