The Organic Elite Surrender to Monsanto

"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must." - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011

In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.

In exchange for allowing Monsanto's premeditated pollution of the alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants "compensation." In exchange for a new assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers' and rural residents' risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil's crucial ability to provide nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of St. Louis to agree to pay "compensation" (i.e. hush money) to farmers "for any losses related to the contamination of his crop."

In its email of Jan. 21, 2011 WFM calls for "public oversight by the USDA rather than reliance on the biotechnology industry," even though WFM knows full well that federal regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) do not require pre-market safety testing, nor labeling; and that even federal judges have repeatedly ruled that so-called government "oversight" of Frankencrops such as Monsanto's sugar beets and alfalfa is basically a farce. At the end of its email, WFM admits that its surrender to Monsanto is permanent: "The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well True coexistence is a must."

Why Is Organic Inc. Surrendering?

According to informed sources, the CEOs of WFM and Stonyfield are personal friends of former Iowa governor, now USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and in fact made financial contributions to Vilsack's previous electoral campaigns. Vilsack was hailed as "Governor of the Year" in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and traveled in a Monsanto corporate jet on the campaign trail. Perhaps even more fundamental to Organic Inc.'s abject surrender is the fact that the organic elite has become more and more isolated from the concerns and passions of organic consumers and locavores. The Organic Inc. CEOs are tired of activist pressure, boycotts, and petitions. Several of them have told me this to my face. They apparently believe that the battle against GMOs has been lost, and that it's time to reach for the consolation prize. The consolation prize they seek is a so-called "coexistence" between the biotech Behemoth and the organic community that will lull the public to sleep and greenwash the unpleasant fact that Monsanto's unlabeled and unregulated genetically engineered crops are now spreading their toxic genes on 1/3 of U.S. (and 1/10 of global) crop land.

WFM and most of the largest organic companies have deliberately separated themselves from anti-GMO efforts and cut off all funding to campaigns working to label or ban GMOs. The so-called Non-GMO Project, funded by Whole Foods and giant wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI) is basically a greenwashing effort (although the 100% organic companies involved in this project seem to be operating in good faith) to show that certified organic foods are basically free from GMOs (we already know this since GMOs are banned in organic production), while failing to focus on so-called "natural" foods, which constitute most of WFM and UNFI's sales and are routinely contaminated with GMOs.

From their "business as usual" perspective, successful lawsuits against GMOs filed by public interest groups such as the Center for Food Safety; or noisy attacks on Monsanto by groups like the Organic Consumers Association, create bad publicity, rattle their big customers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Costco, Supervalu, Publix and Safeway; and remind consumers that organic crops and foods such as corn, soybeans, and canola are slowly but surely becoming contaminated by Monsanto's GMOs.

Whole Food's Dirty Little Secret: Most of the So-Called "Natural" Processed Foods and Animal Products They Sell Are Contaminated with GMOs

The main reason, however, why Whole Foods is pleading for coexistence with Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF and the rest of the biotech bullies, is that they desperately want the controversy surrounding genetically engineered foods and crops to go away. Why? Because they know, just as we do, that 2/3 of WFM's $9 billion annual sales is derived from so-called "natural" processed foods and animal products that are contaminated with GMOs. We and our allies have tested their so-called "natural" products (no doubt WFM's lab has too) containing non-organic corn and soy, and guess what: they're all contaminated with GMOs, in contrast to their certified organic products, which are basically free of GMOs, or else contain barely detectable trace amounts.

Approximately 2/3 of the products sold by Whole Foods Market and their main distributor, United Natural Foods (UNFI) are not certified organic, but rather are conventional (chemical-intensive and GMO-tainted) foods and products disguised as "natural."

Unprecedented wholesale and retail control of the organic marketplace by UNFI and Whole Foods, employing a business model of selling twice as much so-called "natural" food as certified organic food, coupled with the takeover of many organic companies by multinational food corporations such as Dean Foods, threatens the growth of the organic movement.

Covering Up GMO Contamination: Perpetrating "Natural" Fraud

Many well-meaning consumers are confused about the difference between conventional products marketed as "natural," and those nutritionally/environmentally superior and climate-friendly products that are "certified organic."

Retail stores like WFM and wholesale distributors like UNFI have failed to educate their customers about the qualitative difference between natural and certified organic, conveniently glossing over the fact that nearly all of the processed "natural" foods and products they sell contain GMOs, or else come from a "natural" supply chain where animals are force-fed GMO grains in factory farms or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

A troubling trend in organics today is the calculated shift on the part of certain large formerly organic brands from certified organic ingredients and products to so-called "natural" ingredients. With the exception of the "grass-fed and grass-finished" meat sector, most "natural" meat, dairy, and eggs are coming from animals reared on GMO grains and drugs, and confined, entirely, or for a good portion of their lives, in CAFOs.

Learn more: LINK`http`www.naturalnews.com/031168_organics_Monsanto.html#ixzz1QdBNoZbM`

Internet counseling service - meeting needs nationwide.

Local pair launches Internet counseling service

http://bestselfusa.com/

By KARIE PARTINGTON,

A local husband-and-wife mental health therapy team has gone high tech, launching an Internet counseling service.

The Revs. Sam and Bunny Sewell, pastoral counselors and co-directors of the Best Self Clinic on Vanderbilt Drive in Naples, have long used the Internet as a way to stay in touch with their seasonal clients over the summer.

Best Self USA is well known for finding nutritional solutions to emotional problems. They use the highest quality nutrients from the largest natural nutrition company in the world. Nutritional counseling is offered without fees.

The pair has a Web site where they counsel people from around the globe.

Internet counseling is a fairly new concept. The Sewells say it offers clients convenience and anonymity. Actual counseling sessions are done over the telephone, and usually run for one hour.

Between sessions, the Sewells are in touch with their clients via e-mail, and clients have access to Internet-based interactive workshop exercises. "If people want to e-mail us at 2 a.m. in their pajamas, they can," Bunny Sewell said. "It's just really convenient." 

The Sewells say they charge a rate that is about average for counseling services, around $150 per hour. The couple acknowledges that Internet counseling has limitations. The therapist and client can't see each other, and the therapist doesn't have access to visual cues like body language.  "The difference is that we don't get the facial expressions, the physical nuances that you get when you are talking face-to-face," Sam Sewell said. "We tend to rely much more on the voice. It is actually amazing how much (insight) you can get from listening to a voice carefully." 

Of course now more and more folks have access to Internet video, for those clients who want a virtual face to face session.

The Sewells acknowledge that not all problems are suited to treatment over the Internet. They believe the Internet is most effective when cognitive and/or behavioral therapy is the method of treatment. Behavioral therapy helps clients learn to change behaviors. Cognitive therapy helps clients gain control over their thoughts. The two forms of therapy are often used together with the best results for most situations.

"This isn't the type of connection that you'd want to have for Freudian treatment, for example," Sam Sewell said. Jon Brunner, director of counseling services at Florida Gulf Coast University, said that Internet counseling is a sign of the times. "People relate differently to the world today," he said. "People are very accustomed to the e-mail format, even though when you are using e-mail you may be losing some of the spontaneity that you have in a conversation with a person."

Like the Sewells, Brunner believes counseling over the Internet isn't the solution for all mental health issues. "I believe something like this is best suited to situations that are not clinically difficult to address," he said. The Sewells' Web site is www.bestselfusa.com.

Lower Cholesterol Naturally-Shaklee Cholesterol Reduction Complex - Health Claim FDA Approved

To our knowledge the only Cardiologist in SW Florida who is making this natural solution available is:

Walther R Evenhuis, MD - (239) 262-5770

1351 Pine St

Naples, FL

Lower Cholesterol Naturally-Shaklee Cholesterol Reduction Complex

The National Institute of Health (NIH) recommends ingesting 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols daily. What are they and why are they important? Sterols and stanols are found naturally in plants and are structurally similar to cholesterol. Because of these similarities they compete with cholesterol for absorption in the intestines where they bind to receptors in the intestine leaving the cholesterol behind. The result being less cholesterol absorbed by the body and less in the blood stream. Clinically proven in over 80 clinical studies to lower LDL, bad cholesterol, a 10% reduction of which equates to a 10%-20% decrease in the risk for heart disease. This is how it works:

Why is this important and who should take Cholesterol Reduction Complex? First of all high cholesterol is one of the major controllable factors for coronary heart disease. Cholesterol plays an important role in our bodies as a type of fat that helps maintain cell membrane structure and hormone production. When there is too much cholesterol and it gets into the blood stream, the risk of developing heart disease increases. If you are male, older in age, a woman experiencing menopause, have a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol or have a family history of high cholesterol your chances of developing a problem with high cholesterol are greater.

One in three adults in the U.S. has high cholesterol. This can affect anyone at any age and reduce heart health and cardiovascular function over time in turn increasing the risk of developing heart disease. Some people are predisposed to high cholesterol as the liver produces more than necessary. Others ingest too much cholesterol in the foods they eat on a regular basis like bacon, hot dogs, sausage, pizza (with pepperoni), hamburgers, and steak. I am definitely not opposed to any of these delicious foods. None of us should be as long as we understand limited portions and incorporating a well rounded meal plan. What you put into your body directly effects how it performs. Too much of anything is never good.

You can fight this absorption of cholesterol naturally by decreasing your intake of saturated fat to less than 7% of your total daily calories, decreasing your dietary cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg per day, add at least 20-30 minutes of exercise to your daily routine, add 5-10 g of soluble fiber to your diet each day, lose 10 pounds if you are overweight and add 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols to your diet each day. To get this amount of plant sterols and stanols in your diet you would have to eat 6.5 cups of soybeans, 59 oranges, 47.5 cucumbers or take Shaklee’s Cholesterol Reduction Complex.

At Shaklee we stand behind every one of our products. They are 100% guaranteed for purity, safety and performance for all ingredients. Cholesterol Reduction Complex lowers cholesterol naturally, has no artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors, or preservatives added, is gluten free and there have been no side effects observed with intakes of 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols which the National Institute of Health recommends.

SHAKLEE CHOLESTEROL REDUCTION COMPLEX IS A PROPRIETARY FORMULATION WITH CLINICALLY PROVEN INGREDIENTS THAT HELP PREVENT THE ABSORPTION OF CHOLESTEROL AND LOWER THE LDL (BAD) CHOLESTEROL.THIS IS A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH FOR THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO ARE CHALLENGED WITH HIGH CHOLESTEROL. YOU TAKE 2 TWICE DAILY JUST BEFORE A MEAL.

Click Picture for Pricing – Discount for members – bunnysam@bestselfusa.com  or 239-591-4565

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http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.pdf). http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/ http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/5/517).

Doctors, here is a letter for you.

Here is a letter from Dr McManus, Chair, Medical Affairs & Health Sciences, concerning the new Cholesterol Reduction Complex. Can you imagine? She even included her personal email & phone number, in case you had questions!  
　
4747 Willow Road . Pleasanton , CA 94588-2740 . 925.924.2000
　
Dear Doctors,
　
Please allow me to introduce a new dietary supplement from Shaklee Corporation that provides a natural
approach to lowering LDL cholesterol. Shaklee Cholesterol Reduction Complex delivers 2,000 mg of a
combination of sterols and stanols, an efficacious intake level recommended by the National Institutes of
Health Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC), Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC
(
　
　
The TLC recommendations are a comprehensive approach to reducing elevated LDL cholesterol levels for
the purpose of reducing the risk of heart disease. The essential components
include:
　
　
. Reducing the dietary intake of LDL-raising dietary factors (saturated fats, trans fats, and dietary
cholesterol)
. Increasing the intake of LDL-lowering dietary factors (consuming 10-25 g of soluble fiber and
adding 2,000 mg per day of sterols/stanols)
. Losing weight and increasing exercise
　
　
Plant sterols and stanols are found in the cell walls of plants and occur in very small amounts in plants,
fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grains. Supplementing the diet with sterols and stanols was shown to
significantly lower LDL cholesterol in a recent meta-analysis of 84 studies (
content/full/139/2/271). This effect has been shown in as little as three to four weeks. Furthermore,
another meta-analysis of eight studies shows that intake of sterols and stanols can further reduce
cholesterol levels even in those already using statins (
When used as directed, Cholesterol Reduction Complex provides 2,000 mg of sterols and stanols daily,
which qualifies for the FDA-approved health claim for lowering cholesterol levels for the purpose of helping
to reduce the risk of heart disease.*
　
　
Shaklee has a long history in the nutritional supplement industry, beginning when our founder, Dr. Shaklee,
first sold a multivitamin in 1915. Shaklee Corporation was founded in 1956 and today is the number one
natural nutrition company in the U.S. We are committed to creating products that are relevant to people's
health needs-and there continue to be major issues in our country due to people's diets, obesity, and
elevated lipid levels leading to the spiraling health costs associated with cardiovascular disease.
　
　
Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
　
　
Jamie McManus, M.D., FAAFP
Chair, Medical Affairs & Health Sciences
Shaklee Corporation
E-mail: drjmcmanus@shaklee.com
Phone: 925.924.3093

Psychiatrists as psychopharmacologists - There is a better way to create mental health - Non-drug therapy.

Best Self USA is well known for finding nutritional and cognitive solutions to emotional problems.  http://bestselfusa.com/ Best Self USA is a full spectrum counseling and life skills training facility in Naples, FL which was founded in 1975. 
Best Self USA serves local clients in Naples from their Vanderbilt Beach office.
Best Self USA also offers long distance counseling services in the privacy of your own home by use of phone, fax, email, on-line services and video and audio discs.
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The Illusions of Psychiatry

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jul/14/illusions-of-psychiatry/

Marcia Angell

The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
by Irving Kirsch
Basic Books, 226 pp., $15.99 (paper)                                                  

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
by Robert Whitaker
Crown, 404 pp., $26.00                                                  

Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry—A Doctor’s Revelations About a Profession in Crisis
by Daniel Carlat
Free Press, 256 pp., $25.00                                                  

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
by American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Publishing, 992 pp., $135.00; $115.00 (paper)                                                  

In my article in the last issue, I focused mainly on the recent books by psychologist Irving Kirsch and journalist Robert Whitaker, and what they tell us about the epidemic of mental illness and the drugs used to treat it.¹ Here I discuss the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—often referred to as the bible of psychiatry, and now heading for its fifth edition—and its extraordinary influence within American society. I also examine Unhinged, the recent book by Daniel Carlat, a psychiatrist, who provides a disillusioned insider’s view of the psychiatric profession. And I discuss the widespread use of psychoactive drugs in children, and the baleful influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the practice of psychiatry.

One of the leaders of modern psychiatry, Leon Eisenberg, a professor at Johns Hopkins and then Harvard Medical School, who was among the first to study the effects of stimulants on attention deficit disorder in children, wrote that American psychiatry in the late twentieth century moved from a state of “brainlessness” to one of “mindlessness.”² By that he meant that before psychoactive drugs (drugs that affect the mental state) were introduced, the profession had little interest in neurotransmitters or any other aspect of the physical brain. Instead, it subscribed to the Freudian view that mental illness had its roots in unconscious conflicts, usually originating in childhood, that affected the mind as though it were separate from the brain.

But with the introduction of psychoactive drugs in the 1950s, and sharply accelerating in the 1980s, the focus shifted to the brain. Psychiatrists began to refer to themselves as psychopharmacologists, and they had less and less interest in exploring the life stories of their patients. Their main concern was to eliminate or reduce symptoms by treating sufferers with drugs that would alter brain function. An early advocate of this biological model of mental illness, Eisenberg in his later years became an outspoken critic of what he saw as the indiscriminate use of psychoactive drugs, driven largely by the machinations of the pharmaceutical industry.

When psychoactive drugs were first introduced, there was a brief period of optimism in the psychiatric profession, but by the 1970s, optimism gave way to a sense of threat. Serious side effects of the drugs were becoming apparent, and an antipsychiatry movement had taken root, as exemplified by the writings of Thomas Szasz and the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. There was also growing competition for patients from psychologists and social workers. In addition, psychiatrists were plagued by internal divisions: some embraced the new biological model, some still clung to the Freudian model, and a few saw mental illness as an essentially sane response to an insane world. Moreover, within the larger medical profession, psychiatrists were regarded as something like poor relations; even with their new drugs, they were seen as less scientific than other specialists, and their income was generally lower.

In the late 1970s, the psychiatric profession struck back—hard. As Robert Whitaker tells it in Anatomy of an Epidemic, the medical director of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Melvin Sabshin, declared in 1977 that “a vigorous effort to remedicalize psychiatry should be strongly supported,” and he launched an all-out media and public relations campaign to do exactly that. Psychiatry had a powerful weapon that its competitors lacked. Since psychiatrists must qualify as MDs, they have the legal authority to write prescriptions. By fully embracing the biological model of mental illness and the use of psychoactive drugs to treat it, psychiatry was able to relegate other mental health care providers to ancillary positions and also to identify itself as a scientific discipline along with the rest of the medical profession. Most important, by emphasizing drug treatment, psychiatry became the darling of the pharmaceutical industry, which soon made its gratitude tangible.

These efforts to enhance the status of psychiatry were undertaken deliberately. The APA was then working on the third edition of the DSM, which provides diagnostic criteria for all mental disorders. The president of the APA had appointed Robert Spitzer, a much-admired professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, to head the task force overseeing the project. The first two editions, published in 1952 and 1968, reflected the Freudian view of mental illness and were little known outside the profession. Spitzer set out to make the DSM-III something quite different. He promised that it would be “a defense of the medical model as applied to psychiatric problems,” and the president of the APA in 1977, Jack Weinberg, said it would “clarify to anyone who may be in doubt that we regard psychiatry as a specialty of medicine.”

When Spitzer’s DSM-III was published in 1980, it contained 265 diagnoses (up from 182 in the previous edition), and it came into nearly universal use, not only by psychiatrists, but by insurance companies, hospitals, courts, prisons, schools, researchers, government agencies, and the rest of the medical profession. Its main goal was to bring consistency (usually referred to as “reliability”) to psychiatric diagnosis, that is, to ensure that psychiatrists who saw the same patient would agree on the diagnosis. To do that, each diagnosis was defined by a list of symptoms, with numerical thresholds. For example, having at least five of nine particular symptoms got you a full-fledged diagnosis of a major depressive episode within the broad category of “mood disorders.” But there was another goal—to justify the use of psychoactive drugs. The president of the APA last year, Carol Bernstein, in effect acknowledged that. “It became necessary in the 1970s,” she wrote, “to facilitate diagnostic agreement among clinicians, scientists, and regulatory authorities given the need to match patients with newly emerging pharmacologic treatments.”³

The DSM-III was almost certainly more “reliable” than the earlier versions, but reliability is not the same thing as validity. Reliability, as I have noted, is used to mean consistency; validity refers to correctness or soundness. If nearly all physicians agreed that freckles were a sign of cancer, the diagnosis would be “reliable,” but not valid. The problem with the DSM is that in all of its editions, it has simply reflected the opinions of its writers, and in the case of the DSM-III mainly of Spitzer himself, who has been justly called one of the most influential psychiatrists of the twentieth century.⁴ In his words, he “picked everybody that [he] was comfortable with” to serve with him on the fifteen-member task force, and there were complaints that he called too few meetings and generally ran the process in a haphazard but high-handed manner. Spitzer said in a 1989 interview, “I could just get my way by sweet talking and whatnot.” In a 1984 article entitled “The Disadvantages of DSM-III Outweigh Its Advantages,” George Vaillant, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, wrote that the DSM-III represented “a bold series of choices based on guess, taste, prejudice, and hope,” which seems to be a fair description.

Not only did the DSM become the bible of psychiatry, but like the real Bible, it depended a lot on something akin to revelation. There are no citations of scientific studies to support its decisions. That is an astonishing omission, because in all medical publications, whether journal articles or textbooks, statements of fact are supposed to be supported by citations of published scientific studies. (There are four separate “sourcebooks” for the current edition of the DSM that present the rationale for some decisions, along with references, but that is not the same thing as specific references.) It may be of much interest for a group of experts to get together and offer their opinions, but unless these opinions can be buttressed by evidence, they do not warrant the extraordinary deference shown to the DSM. The DSM-III was supplanted by the DSM-III-R in 1987, the DSM-IV in 1994, and the current version, the DSM-IV-TR (text revised) in 2000, which contains 365 diagnoses. “With each subsequent edition,” writes Daniel Carlat in his absorbing book, “the number of diagnostic categories multiplied, and the books became larger and more expensive. Each became a best seller for the APA, and DSM is now one of the major sources of income for the organization.” The DSM-IV sold over a million copies.

As psychiatry became a drug-intensive specialty, the pharmaceutical industry was quick to see the advantages of forming an alliance with the psychiatric profession. Drug companies began to lavish attention and largesse on psychiatrists, both individually and collectively, directly and indirectly. They showered gifts and free samples on practicing psychiatrists, hired them as consultants and speakers, bought them meals, helped pay for them to attend conferences, and supplied them with “educational” materials. When Minnesota and Vermont implemented “sunshine laws” that require drug companies to report all payments to doctors, psychiatrists were found to receive more money than physicians in any other specialty. The pharmaceutical industry also subsidizes meetings of the APA and other psychiatric conferences. About a fifth of APA funding now comes from drug companies.

Drug companies are particularly eager to win over faculty psychiatrists at prestigious academic medical centers. Called “key opinion leaders” (KOLs) by the industry, these are the people who through their writing and teaching influence how mental illness will be diagnosed and treated. They also publish much of the clinical research on drugs and, most importantly, largely determine the content of the DSM. In a sense, they are the best sales force the industry could have, and are worth every cent spent on them. Of the 170 contributors to the current version of the DSM (the DSM-IV-TR), almost all of whom would be described as KOLs, ninety-five had financial ties to drug companies, including all of the contributors to the sections on mood disorders and schizophrenia.⁵

The drug industry, of course, supports other specialists and professional societies, too, but Carlat asks, “Why do psychiatrists consistently lead the pack of specialties when it comes to taking money from drug companies?” His answer: “Our diagnoses are subjective and expandable, and we have few rational reasons for choosing one treatment over another.” Unlike the conditions treated in most other branches of medicine, there are no objective signs or tests for mental illness—no lab data or MRI findings—and the boundaries between normal and abnormal are often unclear. That makes it possible to expand diagnostic boundaries or even create new diagnoses, in ways that would be impossible, say, in a field like cardiology. And drug companies have every interest in inducing psychiatrists to do just that.

In addition to the money spent on the psychiatric profession directly, drug companies heavily support many related patient advocacy groups and educational organizations. Whitaker writes that in the first quarter of 2009 alone, Eli Lilly gave $551,000 to NAMI [National Alliance on Mental Illness] and its local chapters, $465,000 to the National Mental Health Association, $130,000 to CHADD (an ADHD [attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder] patient-advocacy group), and $69,250 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

And that’s just one company in three months; one can imagine what the yearly total would be from all companies that make psychoactive drugs. These groups ostensibly exist to raise public awareness of psychiatric disorders, but they also have the effect of promoting the use of psychoactive drugs and influencing insurers to cover them. Whitaker summarizes the growth of industry influence after the publication of the DSM-III as follows:

In short, a powerful quartet of voices came together during the 1980’s eager to inform the public that mental disorders were brain diseases. Pharmaceutical companies provided the financial muscle. The APA and psychiatrists at top medical schools conferred intellectual legitimacy upon the enterprise. The NIMH [National Institute of Mental Health] put the government’s stamp of approval on the story. NAMI provided a moral authority.

1.                               1

See Marcia Angell, " The Epidemic of Mental Illness: Why? ," The New York Review , June 23, 2011. ↩

2.                               2

Eisenberg wrote about this transition in "Mindlessness and Brainlessness," British Journal of Psychiatry , No. 148 (1986). His last paper, completed by his stepson, was published after his death in 2009. See Eisenberg and L.B. Guttmacher, "Were We All Asleep at the Switch? A Personal Reminiscence of Psychiatry from 1940 to 2010," Acta Psychiatrica Scand. , No. 122 (2010). ↩

3.                               3

Carol A. Bernstein, "Meta-Structure in DSM-5 Process," Psychiatric News , March 4, 2011, p. 7. ↩

4.                               4

The history of the DSM is recounted in December 6, 2007 , and by me, January 15, 2009 . ↩

Christopher Lane

's informative book Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness " (Yale University Press, 2007). Lane was given access to the American Psychiatric Association's archive of unpublished letters, transcripts, and memoranda, and he also interviewed Robert Spitzer. His book was reviewed by Frederick Crews in The New York Review ,

5.                               5

See L. Cosgrove et al., "Financial Ties Between DSM-IV Panel Members and the Pharmaceutical Industry," Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Vol. 75 (2006). ↩

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Sports Nutrition

See this video about U.S. Olympic Team: http://content.shaklee.com/shaklee/flash/show.php?video=Flannagan

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AFTER:

• Shaklee Physique® - Pure Recovery Shake - Shaklee Physique is a pure, natural, high-octane fuel for rapic muscle recovery, endurance, and strength. Helps build lean, firm muscles; helps restore muscle energy; supports muscle repair.

Call us today to find out more. 239-591-4565

Offer ends July 31, 2011.

You might try one of our best sellers,

Shaklee Vitalizer™ ($79.25 MN),your foundation for health

A blend of 80 bio-optimized nutrients clinically proven to give your body the best overall nutritional support available.

For more information, contact:

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239-591-4565  infos@bestselfusa.com

Get the Most out of our Workout!

Get a FREE $75 (Retail Value) Sports Nutrition Pack when You Join Shaklee with a Gold Pack or a $70 Order.*

Watch this two minute video, Double Dipping Danger, produced by Alex Bogusky, and then read about new evidence below showing even more harm from genetically modified foods.

Hat tip to Roberta;



DOUBLE DIPPING DANGER from NO GMO on Vimeo.

I hope you use EWG's 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce in your shopping!

I hope you use EWG's 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce in your shopping!

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/?utm_source=2011foodnewstestb&utm_medium=email&utm_content=second-link&utm_campaign=food

Dirty Dozen

Buy these organic

1

Apples

2

Celery

3

Strawberries

4

Peaches

5

Spinach

6

Nectarines
– imported

7

Grapes – imported

8

Sweet bell peppers

9

Potatoes

10

Blueberries
– domestic

11

Lettuce

12

Kale/collard greens

Clean 15

Lowest in Pesticide

1

Onions

2

Sweet Corn

3

Pineapples

4

Avocado

5

Asparagus

6

Sweet peas

7

Mangoes

8

Eggplant

9

Cantaloupe
- domestic

10

Kiwi

11

Cabbage

12

Watermelon

13

Sweet potatoes

14

Grapefruit

15

Mushrooms

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I Made it to Seventy Without Wearing Glasses

I Made it to Seventy Without Wearing Glasses

By Sam Sewell

When I was young, bold, and full of myself I would brag that “I can tell the sex of a flea on the leg of a hawk, five hundred feet in the air.” I liked that phrase; it had a poetic ring to it. I was blessed from birth with good vision. I am a former Naval Aviator and even among my fellow pilots I seemed to notice details and pick out objects in the sky or on the ocean with more alacrity than my peers.

I turned seventy years old recently and I had begun to notice problems with my vision. I spend lots of time writing and reading on my computer. Reading was getting more difficult. I began increasing the font size of the text, rather than considering the alternatives. I didn’t want to admit that I might need glasses.

I also noticed that my long distance vision was becoming blurred. Our town has many streets with one lane change adjustments, and I began finding myself in the wrong lane, and needing to navigate into traffic at the last minute because I didn’t see lane changes coming. Once I actually missed a stop sign in our neighborhood, and had to brake hard to keep from hitting a bicyclist.

I decided it was time to swallow my pride and face the reality that “perhaps” I needed glasses.

My supportive wife and I went to her optician, Todd VanBuskirk, owner of VanBuskirk Opticians at  798 Neapolitan Way 649-1011.There are several places to buy glasses closer to our home on Vanderbilt Drive.

However, we prefer doing business with local people. Todd provides personalized customer service, Specialized and prescription lenses and jazzy, Designer Frames that just aren’t available at chain stores. VanBuskirk Opticians is a family owned business, serving Naples since 1973.  Todd’s parents are now retired, but since Todd grew up in the optical business, I was confident that he really “knew his stuff.”

The first thing I learned is that VanBuskirk Opticians have a Doctor of Optometry on staff at their facility. Doctors of Optometry test, diagnose and determine what correction a person needs to rectify vision problems.  Opticians “fill” that prescription by providing lenses, frames, and professional guidance.  The fact that there was a Doctor of Optometry on staff saved me from the inconvenience of first needing to go to a doctor’s office and then finding an optician to fill the prescription.

One of the things the eye doctor mentioned is that long before retirement age he usually sees early signs of macular degeneration in most of his patients, and taking extra antioxidants is one way to maintain eye health. Perhaps the fact that we use Shaklee CarotoMax, with lutein, lycopene, and; beta carotene to protect not only eyes, but also heart, skin, lungs prostate and; cervical health, accounts for my overall eye health, even tough I am past 70 years old.

Their doctor, who has worked with them for many years, did his examination and told Todd what my prescription should be. Todd spent much of his valuable time helping us select frames and lenses that were best for my situation, educating us and patiently answering our questions. I chose attractive glasses with an invisible “progressive” bi-focal feature, and “transition lenses” that automatically darken when I am in sunlight.


A few days latter Todd called us and said that my glasses had arrived. Todd custom fitted the glasses to my unique cranial features, and I was amazed at the result. I could barely feel them on my face.


I drove home like I was in a brand new world, with every detail sharp and clear! I felt like a kid with a new toy! The fuel gauge that had been a blur now had all the increments visible! I could read license plates on other cars clearly! I experimented with looking at things without my classes and with them on. I was astounded at the difference my new glasses made.  Evidently I needed glasses more than I realized!


When I got home I went straight to my computer. Again, there was a startling difference. I didn’t need to increase font size. Web pages seemed to jump out at me!  Videos were far more enjoyable. I realized that my computer monitor had a high definition capability.  Now I could select the HD option on videos, and actually tell the difference between ordinary video and HD.


Emotionally I was experiencing a brand new high.


That evening I sat down to watch TV. I enjoy watching “nature” programs. Again I found myself mesmerized by the detail I could now see in HD programs. I remember saying excitedly to my wife, “Look Honey, I can see an individual hair sticking up on the head of that bear.”


I now regret that I had procrastinated for so long about getting glasses.  Being able to see clearly again is a precious blessing to my life. 


Tell me, what IS the sex of that flea on the leg of a hawk, five hundred feet in the air?

(More CartoMax, please!)  :-)


# # # # # # # # #

I asked Todd VanBuskirk to tell us about his parent’s missionary work in Jamaica.  Here is his report
# # # # # # # # #

 More than twelve years ago my parents, Richard and Sally VanBuskirk, with a small group of Neapolitans, were founding members of The Jamaica Outreach Program, a local 501c3 publiccharity.  What do you think my dad and mom wanted to offer to the “dirt-poor” residents of the third world city of Kingston, Jamaica?  You might have guessed—they set up an optical clinic, with Dr. Jason Eugenides doing the very first basic eye exams and the VanBuskirk family making the eyeglasses in their Naples lab, then delivering them to our Jamaican patients.  We never realized what this would mean to these people—but for them it was no less than a miracle!  Over the last dozen or more years my parents, along with countless volunteers from this community, have made 20 optical trips.  I took time off and worked with them on one trip—what a thrill!  Novices are quickly trained to complete the necessary tasks.  Now they have teamed up with surgeons from Ohio who have made 3 cataract surgery trips in the past few years—charitably restoring vision for many people whose condition was so severe that they were about to go completely blind.  Amongst the tears, these grateful families shouted for joy.  A typical trip looks like this:   450 eye exams with two optometrists; 180 cataract surgeries if the surgeons are with us; and dad comes back to our Naples lab to make about 350 pair of custom eyeglasses.

To learn more about this mission

It is a joy to serve as Naples’ oldest Optical Center, and to be able to give back to people who might otherwise go without. We thank you for your business and for your support of The Jamaican Outreach.

Sincerely,

Todd VanBuskirk

798 Neapolitan Way S

Naples Fl 34112
649-1011