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Living with MS is difficult for most. Once you are told you have it, your whole world changes, never to be the same again. What when it comes to your job, your income, your family…..and what regarding your sanity? What will you do now, how will lead a normal life? Lots of questions, and very little answers. You may well feel depressed, angry, hurt. It’s not fair, why me you say? Almost surely you will have heard of, or recognise someone, who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis if you live in NZ, specially down the South Island. I’ll tell you what you do – you just go and pick yourself up…..and like Winston Churchill said: never give in, never give in, and never give in. I’d like to show you a lot of ways of decelerating the MS progression, and I’d like to show you that there are ways for you to take control, to slow the harm and to perchance even stop the harm occurring. I may tell you that various MS people who are in need of medical care I know are doing finelooking well ok, and a good deal of of their mysteries I’d like to part with you. No pharmaceutical drug or other medical treatments to date in truth subsist that offer prolonged remission on MS. What I believe makes a persuasive case for integrative management of MS, is the relationships amid toxic, infectious, digestive, dietary and assorted other factors. There are time proven diets and a specialised supplementation regime for the MS patient, which we will talk about in dandier deal in Part 2. I’ll likewise talk regarding digestive mal-absorption and dysbiosis, which may be corrected. Chronic viruses and other infectious load may be treated and rectify exercise will have to maintain muscle tone and balance. There is no doubt; early intervention with integrative modalities has the potential to make MS a genuinely manageable disease, not a condition where one has lost all hope and feels that a wheelchair is the only likely future. I have added numerous of my clinical experiences of treating MS patients, as well as having researched treatment regimes commended by respective MS experts such as Dr. Fred Klenner, Dr. George Jelinek, Dr. Alan Gaby and Dr. Roy Swank. I have learned much more from MS persons who requires medical care over the past various years, than from any other source. I have in general found that numerous persons who requires medical care with conditions such as MS end up doing their own research, and a heap of actually go in depth and astound me! I lever stop learning from such patients, each one instructing me something new. Thank you; you have all been a true inspiration. It is time to share galore of this priceless info with the readers of Healthy Options. Before I came to live in New Zealand in 1998 with my family to live and exercise naturopathy, I hardly ever heard of MS. I was in antecedently exercise in Brisbane for 6 years, and only very seldom heard with regards to a condition called multiple sclerosis. This condition was a bit of a rarity I thought, until I came to New Zealand. According to the MS New Zealand website, there are approximately 4000 humans diagnosed with MS. I believe that there are a heap of more persons out there in NZ with MS; it’s just that they haven’t been diagnosed as yet. Because MS manifests in a potpourri of ways, it is this variability that may cause difficultness and accuracy in making a diagnosis. MS involves the progressive de-myelination (breakdown of the insulation coating) of nerve fibres in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. De-myelinated nerve fibres display a assortment of conduction (how the nerve signal is transmitted) abnormalities, ranging from poor speed to actual blocks, resulting in a assortment of sensations or changes that depend on the emplacement and the duration of the lesion. Initial sensations or changes may be so mild that they are many times overlooked and forgotten, with no further sensations or changes surfacing for a amount of time of up to ten years. Many times, sensations or changes are put down to stress, or some other reasons. It is exceedingly hard to diagnose MS accurately in a heap of cases, in particular in the beginning, and then not in general until lesions are picked up by way of sophisticated imaging such as MRI. This may take a heap of years to happen. Is it any wonder the patient, doctor and neurologist get confused? I may vouch for some female people who are in need of medical care I have seen in my room over the years, marveling if they have MS after looking it up on the internet, or marveling of they are just ‘going out of their mind’, as one lady put it. Her GP said that she was just suffering from PMS and in all likelihood ”depression”, which turned out to be MS two years down the track. You can’t blame the doc; he is only doing his occupation as a gate-keeper, sifting the severe from not so severe cases through his clinic in the five minutes allotted. Unanswered MS questions Being a curious & enquiring naturopath, I have many times wondered with regards to these facts relating to MS: The cause of MS is unknown. Could it be a virus, an auto-immune reaction, a toxin, a genetic predisposition, or a combination? MS in general strikes women, when they are aged among 20-40 years. MS very seldom strikes sure racial groups e.g., Maori, Polynesians, Native Americans, and black South Africans. Why? The occurrence of MS is most eminent in temperate zones (New Zealand and northern Europe). Why? Scotland: probably the most eminent MS rates in the world The occurrence of MS is most eminent in temperate zones (New Zealand and northern Europe). This is why I did not listen much when it comes to this condition living in sub-tropical Brisbane previously. I found an interesting exploration paper, from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry:” Multiple sclerosis is commoner in southern elements of New Zealand than in the north. Identical methods were applied to determine the prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis in two regions: Waikato and Otago. No cases were found in Maori at the time. The prevalence rate of multiple sclerosis was 24 per 100,000 in the northern region and 69 per 100,000 in the south”. In the northern hemisphere, Orkney and Shetland were antecedently thought to have by far the most eminent prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the world: when it comes to double that found in England and Wales. However, the prevalence of MS in south east Scotland is 203 per 100 000 population, making Scotland one of the hottest MS spots on earth. Suspected MS causes Food Allergies According to Dr Parris Kidd, diets high in gluten and milk are in general much more mutual in areas with high MS prevalence and a connection among MS and feed allergies has been suspected since the 1930s. In one study of 15 patients, the avoidance of allergenic foods, tobacco, or house dust led to closely finish control of symptoms. According to Dr.Gaby, cow’s milk and sulfite feed additives may trigger MS exacerbations, and in occasional MS cases the degree of betterment from an allergy elimination diet may be highly impressive. Clinical tryouts in auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease have shown that avoidance of milk, grains, and legumes results in major symptom improvements. The same has been found with MS. White blood cells reactive with milk proteins are very mutual in humans with MS. A 1952 study found 31 percent of 49 MS persons who requires medical care bettered significantly when they warded off foods to which they were found allergic, reintroduction of such foods caused their sensations or changes to recur. Remember, the temperate zones are where MS is predominant – and this is where the cow lives. Scots love the cow like we do, could there be a link? I think so. Digestive malfunctions and poor bugs in the gut Aside from feed allergy, poor digestive function seems endemic in MS. According to Dr. Jonathon Wright, a majority of the people who are in need of medical care he has seen with MS have poor digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Almost all have poor stomach function, with highly inadequate enzyme production. After examining 52 MS patients, it was found that 42% had fat mal-absorption, 41% demonstrated undigested meat fibers, 27% had unnatural absorption, and 12% experienced mal-absorption of vitamin B12. Dysbiosis has been implicated in MS. Dr.Perlmutter reported finding anti-candida antibodies or candida immune complexes in 7 out of 10 MS people who are in need of medical care he evaluated. Eight of these persons who requires medical care likewise demonstrated poor levels of Lactobacillus species. Aggressive anti-Candida treatment together with re-colonisation of beneficial bacteria has been claimed to once in a while resolve MS symptoms. I have personally not seen an MS case where the digestion was not affected, and the gut is always my priority in any MS case initially. Root canal fillings It has long been speculated that root canal fillings may be implicated to galore extent in the development of MS. Why? Inorganic mercury in the amalgam root canal filling may be converted to an organic form of mercury that functions as a potential neurotoxin. It is interesting to note that assorted persons who requires medical care I have seen with MS have multiple root canals. One MS patient I saw some years ago had 4 root canal fillings, and also had severe facial neuralgia and sinusitis. I spurred and encouraged her to have the root-canal teeth pulled out, for the sake of her flagging immunity. Do you have a root canal, and suffer with a disease “of no known origin”? Then for goodness sakes get the dead thing pulled out. Actually, it’s not the root canal that causes the problem, but rather, the germs trapped inside the dead tooth. I met Dr Virender Sodhi, one of America’s foremost Ayurvedic physicians a few years ago. Dr Sodhi wrote the chapter on Ayurvedic medicine for the world widely known and esteemed Textbook of Natural Medicine and was adjunct Professor of Ayurvedic medicine. This is what Virender said: “I in general refuse to treat people who are in need of medical care with root canals if they have a wide assortment of health complaints, unless they have them pulled first”. In 1996, the Journal of Periodontology committed a whole issue to the subject of root canals relating periodontal disease to an unbelievable potpourri of systemic diseases, ranging from heart disease to low birth weight in infants of mothers with root canals. And, one of the most highly valued dental journals in the world, Quintessence International, stated in 1997: “The damaging effect of focal infection on usual health has been known for decades. Chronic dental contagions may well worsen the condition of any medically compromised patient.” Dairy products It has long been traditionalisti that early exposure to bovine proteins is a trigger for Type 1 diabetes, the insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Researchers have now made that same milk consumption connection to MS. Many experts have cited a dairy link to MS. Norway has the most eminent rates of milk and dairy consumption in the world. A exploration scientist, Dr. Embry, analysed geographical regions & MS and writes: “…In Norway MS is up to five times more mutual in the inland farming areas than in the comparatively nearby coastal fishing areas.” Dr. John McDougall cites in the major British medical diary (Lancet), pointing out that a diet filled with dairy productions has been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974; 2:1061) A Texan pathologist, Dr. Lindner, involved in clinical MS experiments at Texas University College of Medicine, writes on his website: “For MS prevention, it might be prudent to limit the intake of milk and milk products…” A international study published in the diary Neuro-epidemiology revealed an association among eating dairy foods (cow’s milk, butter, and cream) and an increased prevalence of MS. (Neuro-epidemiology 1992) Do you still want your child to have three glasses a day or their bones….will crumble? You could be potentially breeding all sorts of immune difficulties if you still believe that cow’s milk is in truth “good for your health”. Viruses I found an interesting study in the Epidemiology journal. In this study, women who had glandular fever were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with MS equated with women who did not have the infectious disease. The study proposes that amid women with a history of glandular fever, 6 to 8 per 1000 will go on to formulate MS. In addition, the Epstein-Barr along with infection with measles or mumps after age 15 was related with an increased risk of MS. Dr. Kidd states that viruses are evident nominees for the infectious villains in MS because assorted cause demyelination in people as well as animals. The demyelination of MS may result from direct viral harm to brain cells, or from viral infection leading to formation of antibodies, which then attack the myelin sheath. Virtually any acute or chronic stressor that weakens the immune system – a toxic attack, heightened stress, disease from a mutual “garden variety” virus or bacteria, a continually low-grade feed allergy, malnutrition, even continual aroused stress ¬ could conceivably give rise to a time window for one of these organisms to enter the brain and establish itself. After that, fundamental interaction with person’s immunity might set the stage for eventual progress to full-blown MS. Several microorganisms have been affiliated with the disease for the duration of the last 30 years of research. Recent studies have implicated both humane herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and the sexually transmitted impairment of normal physiological function bacteria chlamydia in the causation of MS. Sorry, more bad news: New Zealander’s are catching chlamydia at rates up to five times higher than persons in Australia, Britain and Canada — and doctors don’t know why. This sickness is a “hidden epidemic,” according to a report lately freed by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research. What is even worse is that it is implicated in MS. Chemical Toxicity: Organic Solvents A number of studies have purposed occupational exposures, including exposures to organic solvents peculiarly formaldehyde. Two researchers did a sophisticated analysis that covered all studies from the amount of time 1966-1994 and found 13 published studies on MS and toxins. Their results are uniformly consistent with organic solvent exposures increasing the danger of MS. These findings, derived using solid methodology, point to organic solvents as the major toxic challenger for MS causation. Other environmental components linked to MS include pesticides, and exposure to X-rays (diagnostic or occupational). Aspartame Aspartame, an artificial sugar marketed as ‘NutraSweet’, ‘Equal’, and ‘Spoonful, has likewise been implicated in the development of MS. When the temperature of Aspartame surpasses 30 centigrade, the wood alcohol in aspartame coverts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Ouch, formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.) The methanol toxicity mimics multiple sclerosis; therefore people were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error, when what they in truth had was methanol toxicity. I have a patient who served in the Gulf war, this man is only 34 years old. He has been diagnosed with MS, but what I couldn’t get over was when he told me that with regards to 30% of the troops in his battalion – were later diagnosed with MS or other chronic neurological disease! Was it the diet cola drink (containing aspartame, left to cook in plastic bottles in the hot Arabian desert sun) which all the American soldiers were drinking, or was it toxic gas? Perhaps we will never know. Are you still drinking…the drink I call black death? Not a great deal of humans know that a ludicrous cola company in the USA years ago ran an promotion venture (billboards) telling buyers to drink cola, because it was made by people for humans. And that milk was made by cows for cows. The truth is they are in all likelihood both toxic. Welcome back to our focus on Multiple Sclerosis. In the former article, I wrote principally with regards to the suspected causes of MS. In Part 2, the focus will be primarily on what to eat, what not to eat and what to nutritional supplementation to take. As I noted in Part 1, I have added my clinical experiences of treating MS patients, as well as having researched the latest MS treatment regimes commended by respective experts in the field such as Drs. Klenner, Jelinek, Gaby and Dr. Roy Swank. Generally speaking, those who have not got MS, have in a literal sense no idea what the MS patient goes through mentally, in an emotional manner or physically. Even altho I don’t have MS personally, I have had the clinical experience of witnessing original hand just how aggressive MS may be to a person with regard to emotions and physically. One 49yr MS patient who came into our clinic for help a few months ago, was accused of “being drunk” at work, months before her diagnosis. Another said that her mother had MS, and was in a wheelchair within 3 years, she has just been diagnosed herself. Dr Krissansen, Associate Professor of the Auckland University says that when harm to the nerve fibres has already occurred, there is very little in current medicine that may be done to help. Damage is in general permanent. What I learned from reading Dr. Jelinek’s book entitled “Taking Control of MS” is that the initial step you will have to do is to try to stop the harm from occurring. Unfortunately, a heap of MS people who are in need of medical care weaken at the probability and find it all a bit too hard -undoing habits produced over a lifetime – such as altering their diet for the better, starting to exercise and meditate daily, or perhaps having regular nutritional supplements – imagine if you were not proactive in attempting to stop the harm occurring to your nervous system. Some humans receive the diagnosis, and genuinely believe that the rest of their life is a downhill slide. How wrong! Imagine just how difficult it could be, if you were one of the MS people who are in need of medical care who may decline rapidly, you couldn’t walk properly, had rely on a wheelchair, or you couldn’t pass urine or even eat properly. Just imagine that for one moment, then undertake to take heed of a heap of of the following counsel – it just may help your body in delaying the onset or reducing the damage, giving you more quality of life. I do not want to build untrue hope in MS persons who requires medical care out there, and I never said we may “cure” MS. It is possible however, if rectify management is started out early, that rectify diet and lifestyle changes will in a great deal of cases achieve near-complete relief of symptoms, according to Dr. Parris Kidd, a exploration scientist who has expended a lot of years exhaustively researching chronic complex neurological disorders such as MS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Western medicine does offer galore hope in terms of preventing relapses. Some of the newer drugs such as interferon will have to reduce the number of relapses peculiarly with the very aggressive forms of MS. The problem with drug therapy always has been the side-effects, and MS people who are in need of medical care are on the lookout for treatments which do work and have few side effects. Now, let’s have a look at my specific MS recommendations, based on the work of various experts. You may find galore of these dietary or modus vivendi views extreme, but pardon me, isn’t MS an uttermost disease? 1. Drop the completely filled fat Both Dr. Swank and Dr. Jelinek both insist that you cut out completely filled fats from your diet. While Dr. Swank recommends a restriction, he mentions that MS persons who requires medical care who fare the best are those who consume among 5 – 10 gr. of completely filled fats per day, and recommends at aiming for less than 20g/day. Jelinek believes that for the best results possible, the most necessary thing you may do in your diet, is to exclude ALL completely filled fats entirely. Dr. Swank got confused with his recommendations of completely filled fats, and commended that sure oils were ok, but forgot to understand that most all oils are a blend of mono unsaturated, polyunsaturated and completely filled fats. Likewise, Swank said to eat as much bread as you want, forgetting that a lot of mercantile breads in truth integrate completely filled fats, and then probably the for less completely filled palm oil. Look for breads like the pitta breads, or those containing olive oil. Jelinek says that the crux of the matter is to cut out all animal fats, dairy merchandise and the ‘hidden’ completely filled fats in apparently vegetarian merchandise like cakes, pastries, potato chips, etc. It is important to remember, that ‘foods’ like potato chips are up to 1/3 by weight of completely filled fat (look at your greasy hands when you eat them) equated to say a piece of chicken breast with a little bit of the skin on it. To arrest the progression of nerve damage, you have to make a drastic alter with fats here. What does this mean to you? Well, for starters, no more ‘full-English fry-ups’ on a Sunday morning for one! If you have MS, you plainly have to learn to live without completely filled fats as much as possible. Be very careful of trans fatty acids, feed makers try to pass these off as healthful vegetable oils, but in fact they are altered and heated oils which have been made to preserve foods like biscuits, muesli bars, etc, permitting them to sit longer on supermarket shelves. Avoid them like the plague, they are bad for you in too a good deal of ways to mention. These modified fats compete with necessary fatty acids like Omega 3 and 6, and affect the way your cell membranes (cell walls) function. Trans fatty acids and completely filled fats makes cell walls more rigid and less pliable, preventing your cells from communicating effectively. 2. Stop these foods! It has been said that with MS patients, it is not a matter of what you will have to eat, more a matter of pointing out the things that you shouldn’t. o Meat – Avoid all red meats and pork – Particularly for the duration of your primary year on the diet. This includes all processed meats (essentially anything from the “deli” section of your supermarket) like salami, sausages, canned meats, corned beef, silverside, ALL red meats (even the ‘premium’ beef mince holds fat). o Eggs – egg whites are acceptable. Avoid yolks, an egg yolk holds up to 5 grams of completely filled fats. o Dairy productions – completely stay clear from milk, cream, butter, all cheeses, cottage cheese, yoghurt, etc. MS nutrition experts believe that all dairy productions are best averted altogether, because the proteins in dairy productions challenge the immune system, and the fats affect cell membranes. o Commercially baked foods – biscuits, pastries, cakes, muffins, doughnuts, baked goods containing any fats (most supermarket baked goods). o Prepared or packet mixes – It is best that you don’t rely on sauces in packets, or boxed, packaged, canned, preserved foods. Fresh in truth is the best, cook, bake and make ALL your own foods. o Snack foods – muesli bars, corn or potato chips, party foods. o Chocolate – While it is a fact the chocolate does integrate appreciable levels of antioxidants, most chocolate bars are loaded with completely filled fats and are best avoided. Cocoa, however, is a natural product containing only tiny traces of completely filled fats, and the occasional teaspoon in a glass of rice or soy milk must be fine. o Margarine, palm oil, coconut oil. – these are all forms of completely filled fats – stay away! o Fried or deep fried foods – Keep away from the fish and chip shop. It is primary to undertake to keep away from any heated oils or fats as much as you can. When you cook at home, heat the olive oil as little as possible. Heating oils like sunflower or canola (toxic!) oil have a tendancy to break down the unsaturated bonds, making these oils saturated. o Take away foods – refrain from burgers, nuggets, thick shakes and fast foods in general. Eat at home! 3. Well, what may I eat then? Please don’t feel that your diet has to be boring, just because we have excluded completely filled fats, dairy merchandise and red meats necessarily. Your diet may be most appealing, and you still have a great deal of selections left. o Fish and chicken – are adequate for the purpose in any amounts. But, watch out for the skin of the chicken, the stuff we all tend to like. Animal skins comprise a high amount of completely filled fat. And don’t the chicken take-away places know all in regards to this! – they recognise that people fundamentally like three things – fat, sugar, and salt. o Oils – sunflower, olive, safflower, sesame seed, linseed (flaxseed), peanut. Use little amounts of oil, never reuse oil when cooking. Always refrigerate oil after opening to refrain from rancidity (except olive oil). Keep olive oil in a cool, dark place (but do not refrigerate). Never heat any oil to the smoking point. o Fresh fruit – Recommended amount is two pieces of fruit daily. All fruits are permissible in any amount. Probably best to refrain from avocado – high fat content. Kiwifruit and apples or pears are good choices. o Vegetables – Recommended amount is 2 – 3 cups daily. 1 cup = 1 serving. Fresh vegetables provide your body with vitamins and solid homogeneous inorgani substances and comprise necessary fatty acids. You are encouraged to include a wide assortment of vegetables in your each and everyday diet. Eat yellow, orange, red and green vegetables daily. o Nuts and seeds – Nuts and seeds are good origins of natural oils as well as necessary fatty acids. Commercial nut butters that are not hydrogenated or that you grind yourself at home or at the health feed store, also comprise good origins of oil. Daily snacks of these foods help to maintain a good energy level. o Pasta and rice – Refined pastas and rice are permissible, but whole grain pasta and brown rice are preferred. o Alcohol. – Most MS persons who requires medical care tend to be sensible to alcoholic beverages. A glass of wine from time to time is permissible, but caution! In my experience, one glass ordinarily leads to two, and also don’t drink alcohol daily, your liver will not like this too much. Keep it to a few times per week. o Condiments – With the exception of mayonnaise, condiments such as mustard, ketchup, relish, barbeque sauces, taco sauces, sweet & sour sauces, herbs and spices are permissible in very little amounts. Probably best to take pleasure in foods without these sauces, I only have Tamari (organic soy-sauce) or Tabasco sauce personally. Celtic or Himalayan sea salt, used sparingly are ok. o Grains and cereals. – You are encouraged to use high quality whole-grain merchandise as much as possible. Refined, un-enriched merchandise provide very little, if any, vitamin source. The best breads are whole wheat bread, pitta and sourdough bread – check for completely filled fat content. Natural grains provide bulk in the diet and aid in elimination. Although these productions may integrate a tiny amount of completely filled fat, it has been accounted for in the body of the diet. Avoid commercially baked items such as muffins, which comprise unsuitable oils. Eric’s 12-phase MS management program. 1. Establish firm diagnosis using MRI and neural function disability testing. You may not have MS! 2. Identify your toxic load through testing: mercury and other heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, etc. Detoxification as required. Support liver function with nutrients such as glutathione, antioxidants, particular detoxification nutrients. (Seek expert help here!) 3. Get onto the right diet, refrain from completely filled fats, eat the right fats. (Start on this right away). Implement a no sugar, no fat anti-inflammatory diet. Don’t muck around here, just do it! 4. Get checked for feed allergies. I would commend an IgE and IgG feed allergy blood test. 5. Assess digestive enzyme production, you may well need digestive enzyme support. Get this assessed by your naturopath. Many MS people who are in need of medical care require upper or lower digestive support. See you naturopath again. 6. Dietary supplements, See above. Apart from your diet, take the right oils and supplements daily. Have a Hair Analysis to check out if you have deficiencies or toxicities. Again, seek professional help. 7. Get checked for viruses, and a candidia and parasites overgrowth. Treat acutely as required, re-colonise your digestive scheme with the right bacteria. 8. Get started with the right rehabilitation and exercise program. To rest is to rust, use it or…lose it! I have found that aqua-aerobics suits a great deal of MS patients. Find the right mobility program for you and stick with it. Tai Chi seems to be another great one, it helps you to maintain your balance. 9. Stay concentered and maintain a positive attitude You may get on top of things, in spite of things getting on top of you! You may improve your health no matter what condition you are in. In my experience, MS persons who requires medical care who stick with a similar MS management program to this one, are the ones who detect the best results long term. 10. Meditation for 30 minutes each and everyday may make the world of difference. Dr. Ian Gawler believes that meditation is THE most important percentage of your MS healing package. 11. Allow at least 6 months for your condition to become more stabilised. Get re-assessed steadily for lesion stabilisation or lesion progression as well as your measures of disability. This will give you a heap of understanding of which way you are progressing, or declining. If you are stable, stay on this program. If not, then consider hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Clinics are available in NZ that specialise in this. 12. Pharmaceutical choices Only if the impairment of normal physiological function progress is apparent and if you find that HBOT therapy fails to halt progression, consider drugs, but carry on with the choices as listed above, according to Dr Kidd. References: Taking Control of Multiple Sclerosis: Natural and Medical Therapies to Prevent Its Progression (Paperback) by Dr. George Jelinek. Fleetfoot Books (March 2005) The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book: A Low-fat Diet for the Treatment of MS. by Dr. Roy Laver Swank, Barbara Brewer Dugan. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (April 1987) Coping with Multiple Sclerosis by Richard Reynolds and Cynthia Benz. Publisher: Vermilion (May 2005) Multiple Sclerosis, An Autoimmune Inflammatory Disease: Prospects for it is Integrative Management, By Dr. Parris Kidd PhD. Alternative Medicine Review 2001; 6 (6): pages 540 – 566. Dr Klenner’s MS protocol: From the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients May 2003
71 of 73 people found the following review helpful. The benefits: Second, it is easier to read the NEJM off the kindle screen than a computer screen. Third, reading the NEJM off the kindle screen is almost as good as reading articles printed from the online journal…except, you eliminate the ink/tonor cost. Fourth, the kindle saves the old editions on the device for you (creating a virtual library) Fifth, the kindle will read the NEJM to you…by connecting into the speakers of your car stereo via a Coby cassette adapter. The kindle therefore allows doctors to transform commuting (driving) time into more CME time. Sixth, doctors tend to be mobile and hard pressed for time–walking (running) throughout the hospital or from office to office. It would be a god send to have all the major journals available at one’s fingertips on an easy to read platform. The kindle version of the NEJM is the first step toward this vision. To expand on this thought–having “Up to Date” or other medical info. review sites available on the kindle would greatly add to its appeal. Disadvantage: Charts and graphs in the articles are difficult to read on the Kindle 2. When you zoom in on the charts and graphs by placing the cursor over them, they are much easier to read. If charts and graphs are very important to you, consider getting the Kindle DX, which reportedly makes charts and graphs much more readable. 36 of 37 people found the following review helpful. Overall, the articles are easy to read, and suffer very little from being converted to Kindle format, with one notable exception: the graphics and tables come across horribly on the Kindle screen. Figures which show baseline demographics of comparator groups are unreadable, even when zoomed. Black and white photos may or may not come across well, depending on the size and quality of the photo. These may be solved with the Kindle DX, but for those of us who have already invested in Kindle hardware, I’m certain you will experience the same frustrations. Amazon, if you hope to continue to gain additional readership from the medical community, and gain additional medical journal offerings, I highly suggest that something be done to correct this flaw. With a normal magazine article, pictures are often a nice addition, but not absolutely necessary. With medical literature, the figures and photos often give a vast quantity of data that are not contained elsewhere in an article. In other words, if I can’t see the figure clearly, I can’t interpret whether the article I’m reading is a quality article, and what impact it should have on the way I practice. I plan to give my NEJM subscription a couple more weeks to see if graphic quality is consistently poor. If so, I will discontinue my Kindle subscription, as the NEJM is widely available electronically via other means. Additionally, I mentioned that I was excited to have the Kindle read articles out loud while I was commuting to work. Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of medical terminology, the Kindle often butchers pronunciations, and stumbles over genetic information, abbreviations, etc. that are common in the medical literature. This makes articles read aloud via the Kindle almost incomprehensible. I much prefer to read articles the old fashioned way rather than have them read to me. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars for ease of use, portability, originality of concept, and wireless delivery. Fix the graphic issues, and I’d give it a 5/5 without hesitation. 16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. One solution would be to have higher resolution versions of all Kindle purchases/subscriptions available on line to be accessed from a PC/MAC. I cancelled my trial for the same reason I cancelled my print subscription a few years ago. I only did the trial to answer one of the earlier reviews questions regarding appearance on the DX. I am a pediatric endocrinologist, and most NEJM articles are too irrelevant to my field for me to regularly read the entire journal. For me, the NEJM free table of contents delivery to my e-mail that includes abstracts is sufficient for my purposes. Being in academic medicine, it is not difficult for me to obtain any full article on line when I need it. However, if I was in a more general specialty, or almost any internal medicine specialty, I would not have hesitated to subscribe to the Kindle version of the NEJM. I hope Amazon makes JCEM available. One final comment. I do not understand why the Kindle versions of most newspapers, magazines and journals are as, or almost as expensive as the print versions. The baseline cost for the producers should be much less for electronic versions. |
NEJM is a medical pioneer
Great, but not perfect