I'm way overdue posting some of our adventures!
We went on vacation to Canada last month to visit family. The day after arriving, Dana (4yo) complained that her stomach hurt and her head hurt. She didn't want lunch and just wanted to lay in bed (VERY unusual for her). I had had a mild headache for the last day or so, but this same day, my headache intensified and was quite uncomfortable. I tried taking aspirin which my aunt had available, but the headache persisted.
Later that night, poor Dana had a temperature of 102. We both had a troubled night with frequent wakings and a steady headache. My neck was also very sore, to the point that I had difficulty lifting my head while lying in bed. We had no idea what the problem was.
Thankfully, the next day, Dana seemed to snap out of it in the afternoon. The following day, I got some ibuprofen in hopes of alleviating the headache. I was not going to let a headache, no matter how bad, ruin our vacation. We had places to go and people to see!
Anyway, the headache eventually went away, after bothering me for two days, and we finished our vacation.
After returning home, I spoke to a friend, whom we had last seen about a week before we left on vacation. Her daughter is good friends with Dana. She told me how her husband had ended up in the ER after developing a terrible headache that he couldn't shake. The description she gave sounded amazingly like the symptoms Dana and I had experienced! He was eventually diagnosed with Viral Meningitis.
After looking it up on the internet, I learned that Viral Meningitis is fairly common, sometimes coming from mosquitoes, and, although uncomfortable, is not a serious condition. It typically clears in about a week. The lining of the brain and spinal cord becomes inflamed, which causes the headache and stiff neck. (Bacterial Meningitis is the serious form of meningitis which needs to be medically addressed immediately. The bacterial variety can kill in a matter of days.) My friend mentioned that the only thing that can help with viral meningitis is an anti-viral drug.
All the symptoms matched except the one-week thing. Dana's was over in a day and mine took about two days to clear. We both take Juice Plus+ and NCD. I believe the JP+ give our immune systems a head start to fight off any kind of infection. Since NCD also has anti-viral properties, the virus didn't get very far. Far enough to give us each a nasty headache, but not far enough to put us out of commission for a week and ruin our long-awaited vacation!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Truth Gleaned from "Cancer Update from John Hopkins" E-mail Hoax
You've probably already received an e-mail claiming to be from "John Hopkins" which explains how dioxins and other harmful materials leach out of plastic when heated or frozen.
You may have also discovered, perhaps through Snopes, that the e-mail is a hoax. It was not disseminated by Johns Hopkins and plastics don't even contain dioxins.
But, this analysis, from an official Johns Hopkins source, reveals that, although the e-mail was a hoax, we still have reason for concern about plastics and foods.
Dr. Halden explains how dioxins are horrendous environmental pollutants, from both natural and man-made sources, which cause reproductive and developmental defects, liver damage, and cancer. However, plastics do not contain dioxins.
He goes on to explain why people should be more worried about the quality of the water they're drinking rather than the container they're drinking from.
He continues explaining that, although plastics do not contain dioxins, they do contain phthalates, which are added to plastics to make them flexible and less brittle. Phthalates interfere with the endocrine system, which can lead to numerous health issues. Heating plastics increases leaching of phthalates from containers and allows contamination of food and liquids. He gives an example of a simple drinking straw with a warning about not for use with hot liquids. If such a labeled straw is used in a hot liquid, those phthalates or other chemicals leach from the straw into your hot beverage and eventually into your body where they cause havoc.
Although we can avoid pollutants and contaminants by learning about the dangers, we can't possibly know about every single toxin we put into our body. The only way to avoid toxins is to stop eating, stop drinking, and stop breathing. I'd rather not, thank you.
Luckily, we have the benefit of the master detoxifier, NCD liquid zeolites, to rid our bodies of dioxins, phthalates, heavy metals, and any other toxins that sneak into us. Learn more...
You may have also discovered, perhaps through Snopes, that the e-mail is a hoax. It was not disseminated by Johns Hopkins and plastics don't even contain dioxins.
But, this analysis, from an official Johns Hopkins source, reveals that, although the e-mail was a hoax, we still have reason for concern about plastics and foods.
Dr. Halden explains how dioxins are horrendous environmental pollutants, from both natural and man-made sources, which cause reproductive and developmental defects, liver damage, and cancer. However, plastics do not contain dioxins.
He goes on to explain why people should be more worried about the quality of the water they're drinking rather than the container they're drinking from.
He continues explaining that, although plastics do not contain dioxins, they do contain phthalates, which are added to plastics to make them flexible and less brittle. Phthalates interfere with the endocrine system, which can lead to numerous health issues. Heating plastics increases leaching of phthalates from containers and allows contamination of food and liquids. He gives an example of a simple drinking straw with a warning about not for use with hot liquids. If such a labeled straw is used in a hot liquid, those phthalates or other chemicals leach from the straw into your hot beverage and eventually into your body where they cause havoc.
Although we can avoid pollutants and contaminants by learning about the dangers, we can't possibly know about every single toxin we put into our body. The only way to avoid toxins is to stop eating, stop drinking, and stop breathing. I'd rather not, thank you.
Luckily, we have the benefit of the master detoxifier, NCD liquid zeolites, to rid our bodies of dioxins, phthalates, heavy metals, and any other toxins that sneak into us. Learn more...
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