Day: 05/12/2017

European study finds raw milk boosts immunity, prevents colds and infections. 

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that it’s basically a death sentence for you and your children. But raw milk consumption, according to a new study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, can actually help prevent colds, viruses and respiratory tract infections (RTIs) from forming in kids, as opposed to commercially processed milk which provides little or no health benefits.

Raw milk

A cohort of researchers, doctors and other medical professionals from across Europe investigated the effects of raw milk versus boiled farm-fresh milk and commercial processed milk as part of a larger investigatory project known as “PASTURE.” A group of women, roughly half of whom lived and worked on livestock farms in rural areas of mostly central Europe, were recruited to participate in the research.

All of the women were in their third trimesters of pregnancy at the time of the study, and detailed consumption and lifestyle patterns, including milk-drinking habits, were carefully evaluated and compared. In total, 983 children were included in the final data set, which revealed that milk in its pure, raw, unobstructed form is superior in terms of immune-boosting nutrition.

According to the research, raw milk works a lot like breast milk in providing protective, anti-infective health benefits to children. Compared to highly processed commercial milk, raw milk was found to help lower C-reactive protein levels, which are directly associated with inflammation. Raw milk, in other words, works against inflammation, while processed milk may help promote it due to its altered proteins.

“The main finding of this analysis was an inverse association between consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk and rhinitis [cold or runny nose], RTI [respiratory tract infections], and otitis [ear infection],” wrote the authors. “The effect was strongest when cow’s milk was consumed raw; boiled farm milk exhibited an attenuated effect.”

Does ultra-heat-treated commercial milk promote respiratory and other health problems?

Conversely, consumption of ultra-heat-treated commercial milk, the most widely available milk product on the market, was not found to decrease levels of C-reactive protein, which appear to be a leading cause of disease. With fevers specifically, commercial milk was found to actually increase their prevalence compared to raw milk.

Raw milk, on the other hand, is associated with a roughly 30 percent decrease in respiratory infections and fever, and could help babies and young children overcome these common ailments. Even minimally processed milk boiled directly on the farms was found to be beneficial, though much less so than true raw milk.

“[W]e are now not talking about asthma and allergies, but fever and infections in young children,” stated Dr. Ton Baars, a professor and senior scientist for milk quality and animal welfare at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Germany, and one of the lead authors of the study. “It means there is additional new evidence that raw milk is a protective agent in infectious diseases in young children.”

Unlike in the U.S. where irrational superstition and paranoia have landed raw milk in the “dangerous” category, Europe is already widely accepting of raw milk, and increasingly so. In many countries, raw milk vending machines are prevalent on busy city streets, providing quick and easy access to fresh milk from local farms.

“In Europe, the consumption of unpasteurized milk has repeatedly correlated with protection against allergic disease,” wrote Moises Velasquez-Manoff in a piece for The New York Times late last year.

“In America, 80 percent of the Amish studied by Dr. [Mark] Holbreich consume raw milk. In a study published earlier this year, Dr. [Bianca] Schaub’s group showed that European children who consumed farm milk had more of those regulatory T-cells, irrespective of whether they lived on farms. The higher the quantity of those cells, the less likely these children were to be given diagnoses of asthma.”

Sources:

http://www.jacionline.org

http://www.en.uni

http://www.realmilk.com*
*[A Google web cache of this page is available here]

http://thebovine.wordpress.com

http://www.nytimes.com

http://www.drfranklipman.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

 

Doctors look after the mental condition of others. Who would look after the doctors?

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A number of health and professionals from other industries have been studied in recent years and many, not unsurprisingly, also show high levels of stress

A new study from Cardiff University has revealed nearly 60% of doctorshave experienced mental illness and psychological problems at various stages in their career. That is bad enough in itself, but what is much worse is that very few of the 2,000 surveyed said that they had sought help.

A number of health and professionals from other industries have been studied in recent years and many, not unsurprisingly, also show high levels of stress. Sadly, however, it seems that this failure to seek help is not a phenomenon that is confined purely to the medical profession.

Findings from the British Psychological Society and New Savoy, for example – reporting on their 2015 staff well-being survey – showed that nearly half of psychological professionals report being depressed, along with admitting feelings of being a failure.

Work again was a culprit, with 70% of those who responded saying that they were finding their jobs stressful. For both medical doctors and psychological doctors, therefore, the current climate in the NHS is not, sadly, a healthy one. Workers on the front line of care are becoming governed more and more by contracts and targets rather than by the imperative of caring for people. The threat of cuts, often presented as efficiency savings and the imposition of contracts on junior doctors are just two of many current examples.

Risk and resolution

Across the caring professions – medical, psychological, nursing, professions allied to medicine, and caring – there is, overall, a picture of worrying levels of depression and stress leading to low morale and burnout.

Burnout is something experienced by people who have been working on the front line of human services in a context where they are caring for, and committed to providing services to, others. Its features are a combination of high levels of depersonalisation – where a person no longer sees themselves or others as valuable – and emotional exhaustion together with low levels of feelings of personal accomplishment. This is exactly what we are seeing reported here in the Cardiff study.

The Cardiff study found that the likelihood of doctors reporting mental health problems differed between different stages of their careers: young doctors and trainees were least likely to disclose any problems. Female doctors were found to be particularly at risk of burnout, as were GPs and trainee and junior doctors.

Almost certainly, the reason why is stigma. People throughout society – particularly frontline professionals – are afraid of disclosing that they are having problems because they fear the repercussions and possible effects that disclosure may have on their careers.

This was also recently demonstrated in a wider paper by Sarah Clements of Kings College London who, with colleague Graham Thornicroft, carried out a meta analysis of 144 studies involving more than 90,000 people. Their resulting global report showed that although one in four people – both inside and outside the healthcare profession – in Europe and the USA have a mental health problem, as many as 75% of people do not receive treatment.

How can we care for our carers? 

What – if anything – can be done about this situation? Do we really want to consult with professionals who are less able to confront their own difficulties than we are? How can we help them confront their own issues to help others in society overcome the stigma?

There have been moves towards a more open mental health culture within the health professions, with some senior members of staff sharing their experiences. Retired GP Chris Manning, for example, has been greatly involved in the promotion of doctors’ psychological health and self-care after experiencing depression and burnout.

Clare Gerarda, former chair of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners, has also been a long-time advocate for doctors’ health and is the medical director of the practitioner health programme– a free and confidential NHS service for doctors and dentists who are experiencing psychological or physical health concerns. Additionally, Dr Gerarda established the Founders Group and Founders Network, a coalition working together to promote psychologically healthy environments within the NHS.

A new Charter on Psychological Staff Wellbeing and Resilience was also launched recently by the British Psychological Society and New Savoy. Building on this, a collaborative learning network of employers in health and social care has been established and will have its first meeting on June 21 in order to begin working together to establish and maintain psychologically healthy working environments.

Fundamentally, though, there has to be a change in culture. People need to be able to speak freely about their feelings of stress and psychological needs – and be supported to seek help. I have tried, personally, to model this as the president of the British Psychological Society over this past year and have talked openly about my own experiences of burnout, stress, depression and bipolar disorder while working as a clinical psychologist.

It is my belief that this culture change could begin to be enabled for doctors, both medical and psychological, nurses, allied health professionals and all in the caring professions too, if senior additions and managers begin to talk openly about their own psychological health.

To do so is a sign of strength and humility.