EMFs

My iPhone was zapping me with EMFs even when on airplane mode – affecting my sleep, and making me agitated and fatigued

September 7, 2018 By Trudy Scott 8 Comments

I recently got a new iPhone 6 and after having it for a good few weeks I discovered it had been zapping me with EMFs (electromagnetic fields) even when it was on airplane mode.

It was affecting my sleep, making me twitchy and agitated, leaving me feeling exhausted and more jet-lagged than usual (I had just travelled to the USA and then back to Australia) and making my right arm/mouse arm “thick” and slow when working on my PC. I have a feeling it played a role in my worsening lower back pain too!

I was NOT happy! I was actually fuming!

I have my phone on airplane mode most of time because in the last 6 months I’ve discovered I have some degree of EHS or electromagnetic hypersensitivity. This is a very real condition and many people are not even aware that EMFs may be playing a role in their symptoms.

This abstract summarizes EHS well: Characteristics of perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the general population

Health problems evoked in the presence of electrical equipment is a concern, calling for better understanding for characteristics of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in the general population.

The present study investigated demographics, lifestyle factors, frequency and duration, coping strategies, proportion meeting clinical criteria for intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and comorbidity. Using data from a large-scale population-based questionnaire study, we investigated persons with self-reported (n = 91) EHS in comparison to referents (n = 3,250).

Middle age, female sex and poor perceived health was found to be associated with EHS. More than 50% in the EHS group reported having EMF-related symptoms more often than once a week, and the mean number of years experiencing EHS was 10.5. More than half of the EHS group reported that their symptoms started after a high-dose or long-term EMF exposure, that they actively tried to avoid EMF sources and that they mostly could affect the EMF environment. A minority of the EHS group had sought medical attention, been diagnosed by a physician or received treatment.

Exhaustion syndrome, anxiety disorder, back/joint/muscle disorder, depression, functional somatic syndrome and migraine were comorbid with EHS.

The results provide ground for future study of these characteristic features being risk factors for development of EHS and or consequences of EHS.

Fortunately, I used my Cornet meter and figured out something was up. Unfortunately, it took me some time to connect the dots. I figured I wasn’t feeling that great because of my recent trip and spending time sitting in planes and being exposed to so much WiFi in airports, planes, hotels, and conference rooms. I also drive a keyless car for 4 hours! Also, when you’re in the midst of this type of thing you’re kind of slow in figuring things out!

I’m going to share the lessons I learned so they can help you prevent something similar.

Lesson #1: When you toggle airplane mode off it via the swipe up feature it also activates Bluetooth and WiFi. BUT when you turn on airplane mode when using the swipe up feature, both Bluetooth and Wifi stay on unless you turn them off first in settings! This must be the default for new iPhones (and may even reset back to this with a software upgrade).

A: Airplane mode off (blue color plane) and Wifi is on and Bluetooth is on

B: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and yet Bluetooth and WiFi is still on – this is not good if you’re using your phone next to your bed or in a car or close to your body

C: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and Bluetooth and WiFi is off (they have a line through them) – make sure it’s like this when it’s next to your bed or in a car or close to your body

Lesson #2: Watch to see if 3G goes back to 4G when you toggle airplane mode on and off. I have changed my phone from 4G to 3G in settings in order to reduce EMF exposure when my phone is on. If you don’t know how to do this: settings/cellular/cellular data options – enable 4G toggle. Some folks are saying the airplane mode toggle reactivates 4G. I’m guessing it’s specific to the phone version as it’s not an issue on my phone.

Lesson #3: When you get a new phone or any new device, check everything and even if it’s not new, upgrades to software may change things.

Lesson #4: Distance is your friend when it comes to EMFs. I believe this impacted me more because I thought the iPhone was safely in airplane mode and not emitting EMFs. I had it close to me: in my handbag during the day when out and about, on my side-table next to my head at night, on my desk near me during the day, and in my money-belt right over my belly on the plane for 15 hours flying back!

Lesson #5: Trust your gut if you feel something is off and keep searching for a solution. I knew something was off and was prowling around trying to find what WiFi had been turned on in our home and looking for new hotspots in the area (I recently blogged about how a WiFi modem with a public hotspot caused seizures, vertigo, headaches, insomnia and heart palpitations in a woman with a history of West Nile virus)

Lesson #6: Get a meter so you can be proactive and actually measure this stuff. My Cornet meter is awesome! I’m still a newbie at this but when I see red flashing lights I know I’m onto something.

I owe much appreciation to Nick Pineault, author of The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs (my Amazon link) for his amazing ElectrosmogRx practitioner training. I’ve learned so much about how EMFs are impacting our health and want to share this with you because I truly believe it’s a big player when you have ongoing anxiety, insomnia, pain, brain fog and with more serious health concerns too.

I even got to see Nick at the event I attended in the USA and got a signed copy of his excellent book!

When I shared this story on Facebook it was received with much interest and two people shared similar issues. One person said this:

Since I’ve moved I’ve been using my iPhone 6 as an alarm and getting disrupted sleep every night! Time for change!

And then shared this a few days later:

I want to report that I definitely slept better without my iPhone in the room last night!.

Someone else shared this:

Since getting the iPhone 6 I have been experiencing an overactive brain when trying to sleep plus heart palpitations. I usually sleep so well and turn off my thoughts and relax with no problems. I just thought it was a culmination of work, stress deadlines and hormones.

Too often I hear comments like this: “it’s all around us – what are we supposed to do?!” There is so much we can do!

Once I made the simple change of making sure the Bluetooth and WiFi stayed off when I toggled airplane mode on, my sleep improved, the twitchiness and agitation abated, my exhaustion ramped down and my slow mouse arm started to work normally again. My back pain is slowly but surely easing too.

As a nutritionist I always use everything at my disposal and so I’ve also used GABA for my back pain and tryptophan for the agitation and sleep issues and plenty of rosemary essential oil, together with grounding/earthing on a daily basis.

Thank goodness for my Qlink too! I’d probably have been feeling much worse had I not been wearing it 24 hours a day.

My wish now is for more folks to take this seriously!

Do you use your iPhone (or other smart phone) as an alarm without switching to airplane mode? Have you checked if Bluetooth and WiFi is off when you do switch to airplane mode?

And has disrupted sleep or other issues like anxiety, agitation, heart palpitations, pain issues, brain fog or fatigue resolved when making these very simple changes?

I’d love some feedback if you have a smart phone other than an iPhone – to share what happens on your phone and how you addressed it.

Candida: anxiety and low serotonin, testing and parasites, sugar cravings, EMFs and your genes

July 8, 2018 By Trudy Scott 9 Comments

My interview on anxiety on The Candida Summit with host Evan Brand, addresses anxiety, the tie in to low serotonin and the sugar cravings aspect. I was so excited to find a connection between serotonin and candida and share this in our interview.

with low serotonin you’ve got the mental anxiety – the worry, the ruminating thoughts, the obsessive thinking, the reprocessing, insomnia, lying awake in bed, trying to shut down the busy mind. And the two amino acids I use for this is tryptophan; that’s my first choice. And my second choice is 5-HTP. That being said, some people do better on one versus the other.

The reason I like tryptophan is 5-HTP can raise cortisol and make people who are wired/tired feel a little bit more wired/tired. So until I’ve seen cortisol results in saliva, I like to use tryptophan first.

But let me share some of this interesting research that I’ve found. And why I’m so excited about it is because as I said earlier, I will use the amino acids first before I’m specifically addressing the candida. But it seems like using tryptophan first, as well as helping with the low serotonin, it’s starting to have an impact on the candida, which I didn’t know about, until I did the research for this. So thank you for inviting me to speak. It just reinforces what I know about the amino acids – that they are pretty powerful.

There was a study done in 2003, and the title is Antifungal Properties of Serotonin Against Candida species. And they looked at various different candida strains: albicans, glabrata, tropicalis, and a few others. And they exposed these candida strains to serotonin. The study concludes: “Serotonin showed antifungal activity towards all isolates of candida.”

What they didn’t know is what the mechanism of action was. They stated: “Identifying the mode of action would be of great help in developing and research new antifungal drugs.” I don’t agree with that. I’m just excited to see that there is this connection with serotonin, which reinforces how beneficial tryptophan is.

Of course, my solution is to provide serotonin support via diet, exercise and the use of the targeted individual amino acid tryptophan or 5-HTP.

You can read more about this serotonin-candida connection in my blog post: Symptoms, nutrient malabsorption, worsening psychiatric symptoms and the serotonin connection

In our interview I also discuss how I use the amino acids and how tryptophan/5-HTP as well as GABA, DPA, tyrosine and glutamine, can actually help with so much of the sugar craving we see in candida, PLUS how I use this approach to gauge when candida is really serious.

EMFs and the dangers of 5G – and candida

Dr. Schaffner talks about EMFs and the dangers of 5G and shares how they are protecting the Sophia Institute Clinic (which she shares with Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt):

What we have done at the clinic—and again, this is an evolving art—the two things that I think are going to make the most difference in what we can do right now is, first, of course we always say avoid exposure, try to distance yourself. Distance is your friend with any technology, when we’re looking at EMF.

But we actually shielded the clinic. We have a cell phone tower within a mile of the clinic. And so, we wanted to be mindful of that exposure. We ask everybody to turn off their cell phones when they come in to the clinic. And we don’t have Wi-Fi. So everything is ethernet corded. And then, we don’t have cell phone exposure while we’re practicing.

But we do two things that I think people should be aware of. And one is we use a type of graphite paint. It’s called YSHIELD. And that actually comes from Germany. And it has properties to, essentially, try to create a Faraday cage environment and block the incoming microwave radiation. And so, that has to be grounded, of course. And you want to always work with somebody who knows what they’re doing with this technology. Because if you don’t do it right, you can actually increase your exposures or create an unhealthy environment.

And then, Dr. Klinghardt works with the woman who creates these silver-lined curtains that actually help to block the microwave radiation coming in through the windows.

There’s a really great website—LessEMF has a lot of this technology. And then, YSHIELD, you can Google, I think it’s yshield.com. And then, the silver-lined curtains, I believe, is a fabric called, Swiss Shield. And so, you can either make them yourself or hire somebody to do that.

Learn more about candida, low serotonin, low melatonin, and your glymphatic system in the second half of Dr. Schaffner’s interview.

Candida, sugar cravings and COMT and MAOA genes

Evan Brand brings up the topic of sugar and carbs in the diet with Dr. Ben Lynch in the Candida, sugar cravings and COMT and MAOA genes interview: No one is discussing the influence of the whole epigenetic piece, and how people and their decision making with foods could be influenced by their genes?

Dr. Ben Lynch shares how he has a unique angle on this fascinating topic of our genes and sugar/carb cravings:

It’s one that always ties back to what came first—the chicken or the egg, right? So what came first, the genetic propensity towards carbohydrate binging or addictive personalities for high-caloric dense foods like ice cream and cakes, doughnuts, pastries, which then leads us to candida?

And then, they go on all these candida treatments. And they beat it. And they’re all happy again. But then their genetic propensity drives them yet again for the yeast overgrowth and the food binging.

He gives an example of how some people, when they’re down and out, may be drawn to sugar and carbs to self-medicate (this is something I see with my anxious clients all the time):

They’ll hit the chocolate. They’ll hit the doughnuts, the ice cream to make them feel good. And what these do is they spike your dopamine.

You’re not really aware of it, but you just do it. And you know you shouldn’t do it. But what happens here is, is some individuals, they have genes, which eliminate their dopamine out of their body pretty quickly. This gene is called COMT. And one of its jobs is to move dopamine out. You don’t want to always have neurotransmitters in your brain. That’s not good.

So some of these folks are born with a COMT gene that actually works faster, which is really good because they can calm down really quick in stressful environments. They can perform at a high level in stressful situations like surgeons, or EMT, or firefighters, or policemen, policewomen. They strive in these high-risk, highly-attentive situations.

But when they come home, everything’s a low normal. And they need that hit of dopamine. So they might come home and binge on sugars and carbs to drive their dopamine back up. And that’s a significant one.

Dr Lynch also shares about another gene, MAOA, which deals with our serotonin:

If you have a faster MAOA gene, which moves through your serotonin, then you are craving carbohydrates, and you’re craving pastas, and breads, and all the things that candida love, and beer. These things which increase your tryptophan levels, support your MAOA, and thus your serotonin. These are two major foods that our candida love. And these are two very, very common genes in the population which predispose us to having these issues

Candida testing, parasites and intractable yeast overgrowth

Evan Brand asks this question about candida testing in the Candida, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Meditation interview with Dr. Dan Kalish: I’m guessing your statistics are similar to mine, 9 out of every 10 organic acids I find Candida overgrowth. Stool test, the GI map is missing a lot of Candida. Maybe you could help me understand why that’s happening.

Dr. Dan Kalish shares why candida testing can be challenging:

Because Candida can be commensal where it’s growing within the digestive tract itself, or it can be invasive where it penetrates into the tissue of the gut. And then it’s not going to be found in any of the stool tests. So stool tests can miss it easily. And in fact, the more severe it gets, the harder it is to find on a test.

That’s what happens with the yeast when it gets bad. It gets invasive. It goes up into the actual lining of the gut. So if it penetrates there, it causes leaky gut. But then it’s invasive, so it’s penetrating into the tissues. And you’re not going to see it in the stool. And that’s when it gets worse. In fact, it’s going to cause more symptoms. But then it’s almost impossible to find on the stool test.

He also shares this gem about intractable yeast overgrowth that just won’t go away:

You can have a Candida overgrowth, treat it and feel better, but have there be another underlying cause for the Candida. So there’s a lot of patients that will come to me and be like, “I had this Candida overgrowth. As long as I eat this radical and extreme and ridiculous diet, and take all these herbs, I’m fine. But every time I stop, it just comes back.”

Then, that leads the person to assume that it’s this horrific Candida overgrowth that’s never going to go away. And in those patients, there’s almost always Giardia, or Crypto [Cryptosporidium], or E. histo [Entamoeba histolytica], or some other bug that’s screwing up the ecology of the gut that’s allowing the Candida to keep coming back. So that’s just something to be on the lookout for.

If you feel like you have this intractable yeast overgrowth that just won’t go away, you should find a functional medicine doctor and do all the stool testing. Because you’re almost guaranteed there will be some other infection.

Click here to register for The Candida Summit which runs online from July 9-15, 2018!

Do share if you’ve successfully addressed candida overgrowth and how your symptoms improved and how bad your sugar cravings were.

Let us know if you’re EMF-aware and how addressing low serotonin has helped you.

If you have questions post them below in the blog comments.

EMFs: a factor in neuropsychiatric symptoms and cancer

May 26, 2018 By Trudy Scott 10 Comments

Earlier this month I let you know that the EMF practitioner training for the Electrosmog RX evergreen version now available. Nicolas Pineault is an investigative health journalist and the course creator.

As a quick reminder it covers: EMF Basics, EMF Science, EMF Symptomology, EMF Mitigation and EMF Resilience.

Today I’m sharing a few slides from the presentation material so you have a feel of what’s being covered (and to get you on board with the seriousness of EMF issues if you’re not yet ready to do the course or are not a practitioner since it is a practitioner-level course)

This training focuses on the clinical side of EMFs as an environmental factor contributing to ill health (including widespread neuropsychiatric effects) and includes critical information on what to ask your patients/clients to assess if they’re being over-exposed. And as you can see it’s heavily researched-based, which I love!

Here are a few relevant slides from the EMF Science webinar (and some of the references), where he covers how EMFs affect every cell in the body.

Cancer is one of the more recognized dangers of EMFs but “EMFs are still listed as a Class 2B ‘possible’ carcinogen and countless researchers who contributed to the 2011 decision say that EMFs should be re-classified to Class 2A or Class 1.” Hardell’s research

“shows an increase of 500% in brain tumors in teenagers using cell phones before age 20.” This article on The Environmental Health Trust site goes into this in more detail. This site is an excellent resource for all things EMF.

“EMFs also act as a co-carcinogen, confirmed by Tillmann in 2010, and replicated by Lerchl 2015.”

EMFs are also a factor in neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms, as reported in this 2016 paper: Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression

Among the more commonly reported changes are sleep disturbance/insomnia, headache, depression/depressive symptoms, fatigue/tiredness, dysesthesia, concentration/attention dysfunction, memory changes, dizziness, irritability, loss of appetite/body weight, restlessness/anxiety, nausea, skin burning/tingling/dermographism and EEG changes.

There are limits of the current science because “most studies mimic exposure to 2G or 3G technology but we’re already moving towards 5G. In 2015, Schmid and Kuster reported that all current published studies have underestimated the EMF exposure at the cellular level by 20-fold.”

The very disturbing fact is that “studies funded by the Telecoms are 10X more likely to find no biological effect, which represents a bias 2.5 times worse than Big Pharma.”

I was amazed to learn that “most studies are done with signal generators instead of real cell phones and wireless devices, and probably vastly underestimate the biological effects.”

More importantly, he shares that “most studies don’t consider that the frequency, modulation, pulse rate and many other characteristics of an EMF signal have different effects on different cells and tissues.

While experimental studies employing simulated EMF-emissions present a strong inconsistency among their results with less than 50% of them reporting effects, studies employing real mobile phone exposures demonstrate an almost 100% consistency in showing adverse effects. This consistency is in agreement with studies showing association with brain tumors, symptoms of unwellness, and declines in animal populations.

Nick shares these smart tips in the EMF Mitigation webinar:

He also shares how to use EMF-blocking clothes and how to use grounding as a wonderful EMF mitigation and healing approach. I’m blown away by the power of grounding and will be sharing more in future blogs.

The webinar on EMF Resilience is also excellent, with so much that we can do from a nutritional point of view to make us stronger and help us heal when we are sensitive to the effects of EMFs.

If you missed the earlier announcement about this upcoming practitioner training you can read about the course and watch a short video presentation on EMFs by investigative health journalist and course creator Nicolas Pineault. It’s all on this blog: EMFs and how to help your electrosensitive clients/patients. As I’ve mentioned before I watched him present this live and was so impressed that I decided to take the course and I’m now urging other practitioners to take EMFs seriously!

And based on what I learned in the course, I’m speculating (and extrapolating from some of the research) that EMF overload may play a role in chronic anxiety, insomnia, benzodiazepine issues, SIBO, high cortisol and dietary oxalate issues in some susceptible individuals.

If you want to learn latest evidence-based, cutting-edge, credible information on how Electrosmog exposure affects your patients/clients, how to prevent EMF-related symptoms and illness, and how to support those clients/patients who have symptoms, then I highly recommend this course.

You will likely find you will benefit personally too. I am seeing huge improvements in my own health since making changes I’ve learned about. I discovered I have electromagnetic hypersensitivity!

Details and registration here for the practitioner Electrosmog RX evergreen training

Hope to see you in the private facebook group! This aspect was a big incentive for me to do the training rather than simply only reading his book (I did that too) – and it was invaluable and continues to be a place for excellent discussions and plenty of sharing!

For non-practitioners I highly recommend his new book – “The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs: How to Fix Our Stupid Use of Technology” (my Amazon link) and please feel free to share this EMF practitioner training, ElectrosmogRX, with your own health practitioner

If you have comments or questions please share them below on the blog.

Electrosmog and autoimmune disease: silver-threaded caps result in improved symptoms for 90% of study participants

April 27, 2018 By Trudy Scott 37 Comments

One of the most compelling studies I learned about in the recent Electrosmog Rx course (hosted by Nick Pineault) is the study by Trevor Marshall, MD and Trudy Heil, RN: Electrosmog and autoimmune disease. In this study, 90% of the participants – all with an autoimmune diagnosis of either arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, sjogrens or celiac disease – reported improved symptoms as a result of wearing silver-threaded EMF protective caps.

The paper provides a good overview from NASA on what electrosmog is i.e. all the electromagnetic waves we’re exposed to on a daily basis:

As you sit watching TV, not only are there visible light waves from the TV striking your eyes, but also radio waves, transmitting from a nearby station, and microwaves carrying cellphone calls and text messages, and waves from your neighbor’s WiFi, and GPS units in the cars driving by. There is a chaos of waves from all across the spectrum passing through your room right now.

Patients who were participating in Dr. Marshall’s autoimmune/VDR/electrosmog research were purchasing commercially available shielded clothing and tenting on their own from retailers and reporting symptom improvements:

This clothing typically has silver-coated polyester threads interwoven with the supporting fabric so that the garment is capable of partially blocking microwave Electrosmog.

Fig. 5: A X20 micrograph of a microwave-blocking fabric woven with a mesh of silver-coated polyester strands among the supporting bamboo fibers (Electrosmog and autoimmune disease)

Because there were frequent anecdotal reports of symptom improvement, especially when their brain and brain stem were “shielded” during sleep, Dr. Marshall and his team decided to create a standardized sleeping cap so the EMF shielding effect could be easily analyzed and optimized.

Fig. 6: A photograph of a sleeping cap sewn from the microwave-shielding fabric (Electrosmog and autoimmune disease)

Study participants wore the cap once for 4 hours during sleeping and once for 4 hours during normal activity. The results were impressive, with 90 % of the 64 patients reporting a “Definite” or “Strong” change in their symptoms.

The authors share that those with an autoimmune condition seem to be predisposed to Electrosmog hypersensitivity (now being called EHS) at levels currently existing in typical home and work environments. They suggest the following:

effective control of environmental Electrosmog immunomodulation may soon become necessary for successful therapy of autoimmune disease.

Caution does need to be exercised as some people can feel worse when going from being bombarded by EMFs on a daily basis to much less exposure. This could almost be considered a Herxheimer reaction and is described in the paper as follows:

When the Electrosmog in a patient’s environment is reduced, the immune system tends to become more active. This may result in immunopathology. Indeed, some patients have reported a surge in disease symptoms, occasionally an intolerable surge, after WiFi routers and cell phones have been switched off in their homes. Others have reported that travel to a very quiet area, such as a remote canyon, caused a surge in their immune symptoms.

This is something that Dr. Klinghardt finds when working with his patients and the authors agree that we need a plan on how best to address this. I can attest to this personally – I have discovered that I have Electrosmog hypersensitivity – and as I have started to mitigate my own EMF exposure I’ve had to be careful.

This proposed go-slow EMF mitigation plan includes:

the basic foundational work based on my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” and the material on my blog
additional nutritional support specific to the EMF detox: mitochondria support, added antioxidants and melatonin, rosemary, propolis, kombucha, vitamin D and more
and only then removal of EMF sources, EMF-protective clothing, grounding and devices such as pendants, and supporting specific symptoms such as increased insomnia/anxiety
working with a knowledgeable functional medicine practitioner if heavy metals are being stirred up and are causing worse symptoms (Dr. Klinghardt reports this to be a common issue).
reducing some of the support nutrients once EMF mitigation is in place and the ‘herxheimer’ reaction is over, adding them back when you know you’ll be exposed to WiFi i.e. during travel and when ill or during times of stress

I’ll be sharing more about my journey and my detailed proposed go-slow EMF mitigation plan with links to research in a future blog.

Going back to the study – we are still learning more about what this may all mean for someone with an autoimmune disease. The results are clearly very powerful and the benefits wonderful. But for me this study is so promising on many other levels because it shows that:

EMFs can and do have an adverse impact on health and this adds to the growing body of evidence (despite this research and many more studies, the dangers of EMFs are not common knowledge)
we have control and can do something about the adverse effects of EMFs
those of us with less severe symptoms but still sensitive to EMFs, can also hopefully expect to see some improvements when mitigation approaches like this are implemented

I write about how Wi-Fi is an important threat to human health and may contribute to unresolved anxiety, SIBO, oxalate issues and high cortisol. This is just the tip of the iceberg and it’s something we all need to be taking seriously.

I’d love to hear from you. How concerned are you about EMFs and what changes have you made? Did you experience a Herxheimer reaction when reducing EMF exposure and what helped you?

If you’re a practitioner – are you talking to your clients/patients about this and seeing improvements in their symptoms when they make changes? Are you interested in learning more about this topic so you can further help them? If yes, the evergreen digital version of the Electrosmog Rx program created by investigative health journalist Nicolas Pineault is now available. You can learn more about the program here. I highly recommend it!

His book, “The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs” (my Amazon link), is also recommended reading for all of us.

Smart pills: sensors, copper, silicon and EMFs in medications?

January 19, 2018 By Trudy Scott 1 Comment

Can you discuss the new copper and silicon microchip they are starting to use in Abilify and other bipolar and schizophrenia medications? This subject has been in the news.

The above question was posted on a recent blog – Copper toxicity: anxiety, phobias, ADHD on the Heavy Metals Summit

This was new to me and at first glance I didn’t like the sound of copper and a microchip in a medication, so I went looking for information.

Before I share my findings, here is a quick overview of Abilify/Aripiprazole and the FDA-Approved and Off-Label Uses: originally approved for schizophrenia and then approved for bipolar disorder, approved ‘as adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder’ and also approved for irritability in autism spectrum disorders.

The above article also lists off-label use of Abilify which includes the following: generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, ADHD, dementia, insomnia, OCD, PTSD, substance abuse and Tourette’s syndrome.

Dr. Mark Hyman actually mentions off-label use of antipsychotics like Abilify in the Broken Brain docuseries. He discusses their use in children:

there’s pushing of medications for off-label use, which means that they’re not approved for those indications. They’re doing this for kids with antipsychotics, and they’re actually being sued. The pharma companies have been held liable for promoting these drugs for off-label uses for kids, which they’re not allowed to do. They get fined billions of dollars, but they don’t care because they’ve made umpteen more billions, and they just see it as a marketing expense.

What are these ‘smart pills’?

This article, ‘smart pill’ can help patients remember their meds explains more about these new smart pills:

Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center has become one of the few health care providers in the United States to use a grain-of-sand-sized sensor that, after being swallowed, can alert patients when they’ve forgotten to take medication.

Developed by Proteus Digital Health, the FDA-approved sensor is made from microscopic quantities of copper and magnesium. Powered by the human body (no batteries or antennas required), the tiny sensor turns on after reaching patients’ stomachs, where it begins sending signals to a Band-Aid-like, Bluetooth-enabled patch worn on the torso. The patch then decodes those signals into meaningful health information and sends it to users and physicians in an app.

Here is the press release about these ‘smart pills’- Otsuka and Proteus® Announce the First U.S. FDA Approval of a Digital Medicine System: Abilify MyCite® (aripiprazole tablets with sensor)

This was approved by the FDA for use in U.S. in 2012. The microchip is actually made of copper, magnesium and silicon, and reacts with stomach juices when swallowed along with the medication. According to the above article:

Once the microchip has done its job, it dissolves and passes out of the body along with other digested food.

However, another article on the introduction of these smart pills into the UK doesn’t seem to reach the same conclusion:

What’s not clear is how long the microchip operates inside the body, and what happens to it once it dies. Is it digested, or is it flushed out into the sewer system wholly intact? And if it’s flushed, what happens to all those millions of chips that wind up in sewage treatment facilities?

Some of my concerns

I have no idea what the long-term implications of this ‘smart pill’ technology will be and would hope patients are being informed now, will be informed in the future, and will have a choice as to whether or not they want to use ‘smart’ medications like this.

Here are some of my initial concerns I’d like to share:

the adverse effects of added copper in the body (implications for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and anxiety and autism)
the adverse health effects of Bluetooth/EMFs for the person ingesting a ‘smart pill’ and for those around them (the new book The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs by Nicolas Pineault is the most current resource for all things related to EMFs)
the adverse effects of silicon in the body
the harmful environmental impacts once these get into the sewer system
the added costs of these medications
how quickly we’ll start to see this technology used in more and more medications
lack of awareness for the consumer in terms of adverse health impacts and privacy concerns

Without going into the myriad of issues with off-label use of atypical antipsychotics and all the functional medicine and nutritional approaches that can be used to address anxiety (such as tryptophan), social phobia (such as low zinc and low vitamin B6), ADHD (such as gardening or low iron), OCD (such as a gluten-free diet or inositol), insomnia (such as GABA and 5-HTP) and PTSD, we now have the added concerns of what problems these ‘smart pills’ may contribute to.

I say let’s be smart about this and rethink these ‘smart pills’ and ideally look for functional medicine and nutritional solutions instead of using antipsychotics off-label.

And even if we look at some of the approved uses of antipsychotic medications, case studies report a nutritional psychiatry approach for this. Dr. Georgia Ede, MD, shares two schizoaffective cases in her article: Low-Carbohydrate Diet Superior to Antipsychotic Medications. These were patients of Dr. Chris Palmer, a psychiatrist from Harvard’s McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. They both tried a ketogenic diet for weight loss. Here are the results the woman patient experienced:

After four weeks on the diet, her delusions had resolved and she’d lost ten pounds. At four months’ time, she’d lost 30 pounds and her score on a clinical questionnaire called the PANSS (Positive and Negative Symptom Scale), which ranks symptoms on a scale from 30 (best) to 210 (worst), had come down from 107 to 70.

The male patient experienced similar results with “dramatic” reductions in auditory hallucinations and delusions, as well as better mood and energy. He also lost weight, losing 104 pounds over the course of a year. As Dr. Ede writes:

These outcomes are truly remarkable: improvement by dozens of points on the PANSS, significant weight loss, and better quality of life. There simply is no psychiatric medication available with the power to accomplish those results.

And in this instance and others like them we won’t have the ‘smart pill’ issues.

Have you ever been prescribed Abilify or one of the other antipsychotics? And for what symptoms?

Has your doctor ever offered you the ‘smart pill’ option?

Have you worked with clients or patients who have been prescribed these medications?

Trudy’s favorites: new books and golden oldies for your reading pleasure and as gift ideas

December 15, 2017 By Trudy Scott 6 Comments

With the holiday’s almost upon us and an opportunity to curl up with a cup of herbal tea and a good book, and also as gifts ideas, here are some of my favorite new books and a few older ones too – mostly related to anxiety, mood and emotional eating/cravings and functional medicine and biochemical imbalances.

The Craving Cure: Identify Your Craving Type to Activate Your Natural Appetite Control by Julia Ross (Author)

Julia Ross, best-selling author and expert in nutrition and overeating, exposes the real reason so many of us can’t stick to a healthy diet: our favorite foods are engineered to be addictive. At her clinic in California, Julia Ross and her colleagues treat food addiction where it starts – in the brain – by triggering our natural appetite-regulating neurotransmitters with nutrients called amino acids. It turns out that these protein concentrates boost our neurotransmitters, which broadcast sensations of satisfaction that no food, including chocolate, can override. Thousands of Julia Ross’ clients have abolished their cravings for high-calorie confections using this simple nutritional strategy.

With The Craving Cure, Julia Ross grants all of us access to this revolutionary approach. The process begins with a five-part questionnaire that helps you identify your unique craving profile and specifies the amino acid supplements you need to curb your specific cravings. Julia Ross’ clear explanations of why and how to use the aminos empower you to reclaim your natural appetite control, and her anti-craving eating guidelines will permanently strengthen your dietary defenses. A well-researched and clinically-tested rejection of low-calorie, low-saturated fat, and low-protein diets, The Craving Cure reveals how we can effortlessly and permanently eradicate our cravings to lose weight, rediscover our nutritional heritage, and regain optimal mood, energy, and health.

Drop Addictive Sweets and Starches – and Stop Weight Gain – in 24 Hours

Julia is a pioneer in the use of amino acids for cravings and mood and I had the wonderful opportunity of learning from her while working in her clinic for 2 years. It’s thanks to her that I developed my foundational knowledge of amino acids – which I have now expanded on for their powerful effects for anxiety. With this new book, Julia takes a deep dive into using amino acids for the cravings aspect that goes hand-in-hand with anxiety and depression i.e. the emotional eating component.

Get your copy of The Craving Cure on Amazon here (this one just released this week)

The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs: How to Fix Our Stupid Use of Technology by Nicolas Pineault

Can you really feel years younger & make unexplained symptoms vanish with the click of a button — the “Airplane Mode” on your cell phone?

Investigative Health Journalist Nicolas Pineault used to think this all sounded like something only crazy people wearing tinfoil hats would say.

But the overwhelming amount of independent scientific evidence linking electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from wireless technologies with increased risks of cancer, infertility, insomnia, and depression sure has the uncanny ability to change a man’s mind.

The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs is a simple and unconventional book that will teach you exactly how to reduce your exposure to this brand new 21st-century pollution without going back to the Stone Age.

You will learn:

What your smartphone, your wifi router and your microwave oven have in common (page 9)

Why policy makers and scientists all worldwide don’t agree about whether EMFs are dangerous or not (page 21)

Is Electro-Hypersensitivity as popularized in the TV show “Better Call Saul” real? Or is it all psychological? (page 62)

Why carrying a cell phone in your pocket can harm your fertility (201 studies prove it) (page 72)

The 1-click fix to reduce cellphone EMFs by 84% (page 142)

What is safer? Speakerphone, earbuds or a Bluetooth ear piece? (page 155)

The #1 worst source of EMF radiation at home (page 160)

Why baby monitors are worse than smartphones, and better alternatives (page 208)

It’s true. The jury is still out about whether cellphone radiation is the new smoking or just a temporary scare. But why take chances?

Instead, read The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs — the technological seat belt you might just need to use your new gadgets safely.

This is the most comprehensive and balanced book I have read on the topic of EMFs. It covers the risks (supported by research) and also offers a myriad of practical solutions. I had the wonderful opportunity to see Nicolas present on this topic earlier this year and he is clearly passionate about getting this message out. I am thrilled he’s now published a book on the subject because I believe EMFs are one of the most under-reported factors when it comes to anxiety and many other chronic health conditions.

Get your copy of The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs on Amazon here (this is a new book that published in November).

The End of Alzheimer’s – The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline by Dale Bredesen, MD

A groundbreaking plan to prevent and reverse Alzheimer’s Disease that fundamentally changes how we understand cognitive decline.

Everyone knows someone who has survived cancer, but until now no one knows anyone who has survived Alzheimer’s Disease.

In this paradigm shifting book, Dale Bredesen, MD, offers real hope to anyone looking to prevent and even reverse Alzheimer’s Disease and cognitive decline. Revealing that AD is not one condition, as it is currently treated, but three, The End of Alzheimer’s outlines 36 metabolic factors (micronutrients, hormone levels, sleep) that can trigger “downsizing” in the brain. The protocol shows us how to rebalance these factors using lifestyle modifications like taking B12, eliminating gluten, or improving oral hygiene.

The results are impressive. Of the first ten patients on the protocol, nine displayed significant improvement with 3-6 months; since then the protocol has yielded similar results with hundreds more. Now, The End of Alzheimer’s brings new hope to a broad audience of patients, caregivers, physicians, and treatment centers with a fascinating look inside the science and a complete step-by-step plan that fundamentally changes how we treat and even think about AD.

I am familiar with the powerful results of his research and had been waiting in anticipation for the launch of this groundbreaking book.

Here is the Amazon link to the book: The End of Alzheimer’s (this book released in August)

Unconventional Medicine: Join the Revolution to Reinvent Healthcare, Reverse Chronic Disease, and Create a Practice You Love by Chris Kresser

The world is facing the greatest healthcare crisis it has ever seen. Chronic disease is shortening our lifespan, destroying our quality of life, bankrupting governments, and threatening the health of future generations. Sadly, conventional medicine, with its focus on managing symptoms, has failed to address this challenge. The result is burned-out physicians, a sicker population, and a broken healthcare system.

In Unconventional Medicine, Chris Kresser presents a plan to reverse this dangerous trend. He shows how the combination of a genetically aligned diet and lifestyle, functional medicine, and a lean, collaborative practice model can create a system that better serves the needs of both patients and practitioners.

The epidemic of chronic illness can be stopped, if patients and practitioners can adapt.

This is a book that has been written primarily for practitioners but if you are a health enthusiast/health advocate who want to understand functional medicine you will enjoy it too.

I really enjoy the discussion about a collaborative practice model where there is a place for doctors, nutritionists, health coaches, and other allied health practitioners.

The only section in book I don’t agree with is where Chris states that: “Research suggests that depression is not actually caused by low serotonin.” Based on my experience, depression/anxiety is not always caused by low serotonin – it can be one of many causes. I am so vocal about this that I know you would will call me out on it if I don’t mention it!

Get your copy of Unconventional Medicine here on Amazon (newly published last month)

Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry by Carl C. Pfeiffer Ph.D. M.D.

This book is a quick read and is one of my favorite older books on the subject of mental health and biochemical imbalances.

Believing that drugs and psychoanalysis were not always the best course of treatment for a variety of mental illnesses, Dr. Carl Pfeiffer began an extensive program of research into the causes and treatment of mental illness, and in 1973 opened the Brain Bio Center in Princeton, New Jersey. Here, with a team of scientists, he found that many psychological problems can be traced to biochemical imbalances in the body. With these patients, he achieved unprecedented success in treating a wide range of mental problems by adjusting diet and providing specific nutritional supplements for those conditions where deficiences exist. This book documents his approach.

Each year, thousands of people are diagnosed as schizophrenic; many more suffer from depression, anxiety, and phobias.

Dr. Pfeiffer’s methods of treatment presented in Nutrition and Mental Illness are a valuable adjunct to traditional therapies, and can bring hope of real wellness to many of those who suffer.

Get your copy of Nutrition and Mental Illness on Amazon here (this book was published in 1988)

The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings by Trudy Scott

I’m sharing my book in case you don’t yet have a copy or as a reminder to share it with a loved one or friend if it helped you!

It’s remarkable how much the foods we eat can impact our brain chemistry and emotions. What and when we eat can make the difference between feeling anxious and staying calm and in control. But most of us don’t realize how much our diets influence our moods, thoughts, and feelings until we make a change.

In The Antianxiety Food Solution, you’ll find four unique antianxiety diets designed to help you address nutritional deficiencies that may be at the root of your anxiety and enjoy the many foods that foster increased emotional balance. This helpful guide allows you to choose the best plan for you and incorporates effective anxiety-busting foods and nutrients. You’ll soon be on the path to freeing yourself from anxiety—and enjoying an improved overall mood, better sleep, fewer cravings, and optimal health—the natural way! The book also includes an easy-to-use index.

In The Antianxiety Food Solution, you’ll discover:

How to assess your diet for anxiety-causing and anxiety-calming foods and nutrients

Foods and nutrients that balance your brain chemistry

Which anxiety-triggering foods and drinks you may need to avoid

Easy lifestyle changes that reduce anxiety and increase happiness

There are also complete chapters on the amino acids (with questionnaires and protocols for low serotonin/tryptophan, low GABA/GABA, low endorphins/DPA, low blood sugar/glutamine and low catecholamines/tyrosine) and the social anxiety condition called pyroluria (with the questionnaire and protocols for zinc, vitamin B6, GLA and other factors to consider).

Grab your copy of The Antianxiety Food Solution from Amazon here (published in 2011 but still very relevant)

Feel free to share some of the favorite nutritional books you are reading now or are planning to read….