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Magic Gypsy Oils

Are you familiar with essential oils?

I can see that some of you are already twitching for the vial in your pocket . . .

Now, before you get the urge to baptize me in peppermint oil,

Just hold on for a minute. . .

If you’re heavily into essential oils . . . I get it.

Seriously, I get it . . . It’s fun to believe in magic.

This may make some of you get chest pain and shortness of breath,

I just need to explain, essential oils can’t fix EVERYTHING.

I realize if you are vegetarian or vegan, you might believe these magic oils. That usually happens when you don’t eat meat and your vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and carnitine levels fall.

If you’ve never heard of essential oils, or you’re not familiar, let me educate you.

It’s this small cult . . .

Heavily saturated in Utah . . .

Convinced that whatever your life problem is . . .

It can be fixed by their magic gypsy oil.

Somehow these “believers” have forgotten or were never educated in the fact that the Egyptians used these oils to cover up the scent of body odor and sweat . . .

By burning cypress and pine to clean the air in their temples.

And, that the Greeks used these oils, specifically lavender, to embalm people after they died.

You know, the aroma of lavender seems to cover the scent of death quite well . . .

And, before you start throwing vials of juniper oil at me,

Remember that the Egyptians embalmed with juniper oil to keep the skin soft and keep rigor mortis from setting in too fast.

So, use that cypress, lavender and juniper oil at your own risk . . .

Apparently, you just rub some of this magic oil onto your body and it will heal your skin . . .

And your dog’s anxiety at the same time.

Oh, OK?!

Now, to be fair, the medical literature states that using these oils MIGHT boost your mood. . .

And, they MIGHT reduce your anxiety . . .

or at least your dog’s anxiety.

There is good evidence that frankincense helps with inflammation . . . we’ve known this for some time.

But, remember, there is also significant medical evidence showing that lavender oil and tea tree oil shuts down production of hormones in young boys . . .

It just causes that bothersome side effect of “man boobs” (gynecomastia).

That’d be the high estrogen effect and anti-testosterone activities that these oils have on boys, especially during puberty.

In fact, they found this same estrogenic effect in 65 other essential oils.

Man boobs from companies that fit perfectly into pyramid-schemes . . .

This magic gypsy oil just keeps getting better and better.

Oh. . . some of you just unsubscribed?

Probably too much eucalyptus oil.

It never hurts to be a little educated . . .

Adam (It’s been a day full of magic oil side effects and rashes) Nally, DO

PS – I realize this will probably upset a few of you. But before you send me a bunch of nasty emails. Go put some cedar wood in the fire place and sit for a while . . .

PSS – Yes, I was in a “mood” this afternoon.

If you want some oil that actually works on skin, hair, constipation and cholesterol, use my Omega 1250 Fish Oil supplement that I designed specifically for these benefits:

Pluck Yew

The Beautiful One drives a great big Ford dually long-bed pickup truck so that she can pull a horse trailer.

Yesterday, while she and my amazing daughter, the Sword Fighter, were driving down the road running errands, some obnoxious punk cut them off.   And, to demonstrate his degree of obnoxiousness, knowing he was in the wrong, he flipped them off . . .

This angered my daughter, riding as passenger.  So, in her moment of anger, she yelled out the window “Pluck Yew!!”  Yes. That’s what she said.  And, there is a reason. . .

My daughter, a great student of history, is also an archer.

A little back ground . . .

The English military archers during the Middle Ages used long bows. The longbow as we recognize it today, measuring around the height of a man, made its major appearance during the 13th century.  It was the English prowess with the longbow that made the English army so formidable during this period of time.  And the English soldiers could accurately shoot these weapons between 200 and 250 yards, the distance of 2 ½ football fields.

You need to understand that these longbows commonly had a draw weight of 80-100 lbs.  That means that the archer had to be strong enough to pull up to 100 lbs. as he drew the arrow back in to firing position and held it there while aiming.

The archer would use his pointer, middle and ring fingers (2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers) to pull back on the string, while holding the arrow in place.

70% of the weight would rest on his middle finger, with 20% of the weight on the ring finger and 10% of the weight on his pointer finger.  That means that the archer was holding up to 70 lbs. of weight on his middle finger.

This All Started Because of the French

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle fingers of all captured English soldiers.  Without the middle finger, it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbows and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future.

The famous English long bow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as “plucking the yew” or “pluck yew.”

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, “See!! We can still pluck yew!”

Since pluck yew is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative.  And, thus, the words are now often used in conjunction with the one-finger salute that has become famous to this day.

There you have it . . . another essential bit of history you need to understand.

Shooting the long bow arrow fletched with pheasant feathers was often referred to by the English archers as “giving the bird.”

And, there yew have it.  Yew thought yew knew every plucking thing . . . didn’t yew?!

You Have Two Choices

As we near the holidays, you have two choices:

  1. Set your scale back 15 lbs at midnight . . . Just before the holiday
  2. Come and talk to me about GLP-1 agonists

“Doc, for the first time in three years I’ve lost 10 lbs in a month . . .!”

“The constant food noise is gone from my brain . . . “

“My constant cravings are gone . . .”

I’ve heard these comments over and over in the last 3 months.

Patients following ketogenic or carnivorous diets with persistent insulin elevation will initially lose weight, but then struggle and plateaued with their weight loss. I’ve seen it for years.

When your fasting insulin stays high, the weight doesn’t want to move until you coax those fat cells to open up. This is a challenge because there are 42 different hormones that communicate between our gut, brain, pancreas and fat cells that are responsible for controlling our weight.

I hear the complaint of weight loss stalls from my severely insulin resistant and diabetic patients all the time.

The challenge is that weight doesn’t drop until the fat cells heal, then they will open up and weight loss can occur.

There are number of ways to do this. Helping the “sick fat cells” to heal occurs by maintaining a ketogenic state through carbohydrate restriction and heavy exercise, using Curcumin and decreasing the satiety signals at the gut and brain.

This is where caloric intake begins to play a role in weight management.

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are the two incretin peptides that work to help this process along. Until recently these peptide medications cost over $1000 per month to use, and if covered by your insurance, your pharmacy charges you a $250-$450 per month copay.

I’ve been using these medications in my practice with diabetic patients since 2005, nearly 18 years at the time of this writing.

They are very effective and I am a proponent of their success . . .

With a caveat.

The once weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist medications like semaglutide (Ozepic, Trulicity and Wegovy) have become very popular for good reason. Additionally the most recently approved combo GLP-1/GIP agonist tirzepatide (Monjaro or Zepbound) has skyrocketed in its use due to their weight loss and celebrity testimonials.

Prior to the availability of weekly forms of GLP-1 agonists, exanatide (Byetta and later Bydureon) and liraglutide (Victoza, Saxenda) and lixisenatide (Adlyxin) were available in a daily form.

These GLP-1 receptor agonists are non-insulin based medications approved for the treatment of diabetes type 2, and recently for weight loss, in those with elevated insulin and blood sugar who are overweight or obese.

They are usually found in the injectable form, however there is a daily oral pill form of semaglutide (Rybelsus) that was approved in 2019.

GLP-1 is an incretin hormone. This is the hormone produced by the gut when it stretches. When you eat a large meal, like Thanksgiving dinner, GLP-1 essentially tells the hypothalamus in the brain the gut is full and decreases hunger and thirst. Though they do have an insulin stimulating effect on the pancreas that also lowers blood sugar, because of the decrease in appetite and the slowing of transit time in the gut, overall insulin levels drop allowing for fat loss, especially visceral fat.

Byetta was first FDA approved in 2005 and Victoza was FDA approved in 2010.

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) is a second incretin released from the gut when enabling optimal levels of insulin secretion via the GIP receptor (GIPR) on β cells.

Because of this, appetite decreases, blood glucose is lowered and weight loss occurs secondarily.

Because of their popularity, they are now in short supply and manufacturers don’t think they will be able to fill the need until mid 2024.

No Drug is without Side Effects:

The following can occur in those using these medications: Abdominal and back pain, rash, itching, nausea, vomiting, slowing of gut transit time (gastroparesis), ileus (partial bowel obstruction), dizziness, heart palpitations, hoarseness, dry mouth, extreme thirst, decreased urination, shortness of breath, swelling in the face, feet, ankles or lower legs.

If you’ve had pancreatitis, gastroparesis (slow transit of the GI system) or are on dialysis, you shouldn’t use these drugs.

In animal studies GLP-1 agonists were shown to promote thyroid cell tumors, specifically these drugs should NOT be used in those with a family history of thyroid medullary cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2.

Muscle Loss with Weight Loss

The problem is that not all weight loss is considered healthy. This class of medication, although effective in reducing total body mass can be problematic if the diet is not correct. Post market, many physicians see muscle loss if adequate protein is not taken in with meals. This not so great because of the reduction of lean body mass in addition to fat mass.

Two recently published studies demonstrate that these miracle drugs are not so miraculous when looked at more closely. It should be noted that these patients were not following ketogenic or carnivorous diets. In my clinical experience, there is no muscle loss with these drugs if adequate protein is being ingested daily.

First, the STEP 1 trail conducted in 2021 looked at 140 patients under a DEXA scan for body composition and when evaluated, almost 40% of the weight loss was muscle or lean body mass. From a weight loss perspective that sucks. [Wilding JPH, et al. STEP 1 Study Group of the Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med 2021; 384:989-1002. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2032183. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity | NEJM]

In a second study, the SUSTAIN 8 trial, looking at semaglutide (Ozempic) as a diabetic treatment, the average proportion of lean body mass loss was nearly identical at around 40%, despite lower doses and less total weight loss than in the STEP 1 trial. [McCrimmon, R.J., Catarig, AM., Frias, J.P. et al. Effects of once-weekly semaglutide vs once-daily canagliflozin on body composition in type 2 diabetes: a substudy of the SUSTAIN 8 randomized controlled clinical trial. Diabetologia 63, 473–485 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-05065-8]

This can be an acceptable side effect in those with overweight and obesity challenges if you are trying to control blood sugar in a diabetic population, as these are significant risk factors for early death and vascular disease.

However, these drugs have gained huge popularity in those that are not obese.

Even those that are obese, not everyone can afford to lose significant muscle mass. Sarcopenia in older adult populations is a significant risk factor in lifespan and longevity.

Remember weight loss is not always fat loss.

I am a big fan of the GLP-1 agonists when paired with a ketogenic or carnivorous diet.

I hope this gives you a little insight into the risks and benefits of using these GLP-1 agonists and how I recommend them being used.

I’ve recently been able to locate a compounding pharmacy that can make these for my patients at 15% of that cost using the FDA approved base form of the medication, around $150 for the starting dose of semaglutide and $200 for the starting dose of tirzepatide (Note: prices subject to change based on manufacturing cost and shipping).

If you are interested in using these peptides, semaglutide or tirzepatide in conjunction with your ketogenic diet and exercise program, schedule an appointment with us today.

To Your Health & Longevity

Adam Nally, DO

References:

  1. Wilding JPH, et al. STEP 1 Study Group of the Once-Weekly  Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med 2021; 384:989-1002.  DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2032183.
  2. McCrimmon, R.J., Catarig, AM., Frias, J.P. et al. Effects of once-weekly semaglutide vs once-daily canagliflozin on body composition in type 2 diabetes: a substudy of the SUSTAIN 8 randomised controlled clinical trial. Diabetologia 63, 473–485 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-05065-8

That Gateway We Call Death

I’ve spent the majority of my professional life in the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom and skill to treat illness and help heal disease.  I’ve spent almost 30 years in the practice and application of that wisdom.  That’s nearly 100,000 hours of my life, dedicated to health and healing of my patients. 

My greatest foes over the years are and have been ignorance, disease, distress, anxiety, depression, disability, apathy and ultimately, death.  I come in contact daily with those who are seriously ill facing the very real prospect of death.  Of necessity, I have come to look upon death as a formidable foe to be fought.  For all conscientious doctors, death’s gateway from life threatens us as the prospect of individual defeat.

I attended the funeral of a friend today who was only a few years older than me.  His life was cut short.  His passing has been weighing upon my mind, as similar events occurred in the life of my brother-in-law last year, my sister a few years ago and my father before that.  I find myself re-reading the words and passages I wrote a number of years ago at the time of my father’s death. I re-post them again, partially for myself, but also for any who may be pondering the gateway we call death. 

The famed scientist Madame Marie Curie returned to her home the night of the funeral of her husband, Pierre Curie, who was killed in an accident in the streets of Paris.  She made this entry in her diary:

Madame Marie Curie

“They filled the grave and put sheaves of flowers on it. Everything is over. Pierre is sleeping his last sleep beneath the earth. It is the end of everything, everything, everything.”

BUT IS IT?

What is this thing that men call death,

This quiet passing in the night?

Tis not the end, But Genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch though my aching heart,

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is not death, but only change

With recompense for won;

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One.

(G. B. Hinckley)

This blog is intended to help those struggling with their health, in particular, weight gain, diabetes and the diseases of civilization.  One of those diseases frequently affecting weight is the depression and fear that accompanies the death of a loved one.  Often, the answers science offers are only cold and empty, and we are required to rely upon our faith.  I share some of that with you here.Every patient of every doctor, if followed long enough will pass away. 
The first rule I learned in surgery is that “all bleeding stops eventually.” The inescapable rule of life is that no matter how good your treatments are, all patient’s will meet the undertaker, eventually.  None of us get out of this alive. 

When this happens, and it happens to all of us, a sense of sadness naturally prevails regardless of the age or nature of the deceased.

If death is to happen to all of us, then why do we feel sadness at the death of a friend or loved one?

This sadness is caused by the feeling of loss tied to three age-old unanswered questions:

  1. Did you and I exist before we were born, and if so, where were we?
  2. Why are we here together and what is the purpose of this life?
  3. Where do we go when we die?

Are there answers to these questions?

When science does not have the answers, I have found great hope and answers in hidden within the teachings of my faith. I share them with you, not to preach, but in hopes that you might find peace and solace in your life as I have in mine.

The spiritual leader Wilford Woodruff said “that if the people knew what was behind the veil, they would try by every means . . . that they might get there, but the Lord in his wisdom has implanted the fear of death in every person that they might cling to life and thus accomplish the designs of their creator.” (The Gateway We Call Death, Russell M. Nelson, p.96)

The Lord explained to Moses, “For this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)

This work and glory is referred to by a number of names including The Plan of Salvation, The Plan of Redemption, The Plan of Eternal Progression, The Plan of Happiness and others.

I often speak with people that say to me, “I just want to be happy.” Or they question me asking, “Will I ever really be happy?”

Happiness is the object and design of our existence . . . and well be the end thereof if we pursue the path that leads to it.  Along this path lies virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness and keeping the commands of our Creator.  So how does this help us find happiness in the face of the death of a friend or loved one?

The answers are found in contemplation of the the three age-old questions.  First, where were we before we were born?

The Old Testament prophet Job, one of the more ancient writers of the Bible, gives us some insight. The Lord asked him the same question: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where was thou when I laid the foundation of the earth . . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:2-7)

You and I must have been somewhere – the Lord asked us where we were. And, who were all the “sons of God shouting for joy?” Why were they shouting? Where were they?

The apostle, Luke, in the New Testament answers those questions years later as he lays out the genealogy of the human family.  He starts at Christ and then names each subsequent father leading up to ” . . . Enos, which is the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:38)

The apostle, John, must have had some idea of a pre-mortal existence because of the way they phrased the question to Jesus Christ about the man who was born blind, “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) The question was not “could he have sinned before he was born?” but instead, “who did sin?” Christ’s answer implied that both were possible, but neither was the case in this situation.

Paul writes to the Hebrews, “Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of our Spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:9) We are also given instruction to open our prayers with a phrase like, “Our Father in Heaven.” Hence, He is the Father of our Spirits, our Heavenly Father, our spiritual Father.

We then are brothers & sisters in the spiritual sense, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother, being the firstborn spirit child of God.  If this is the case, then all of us, including you and I, were among the sons and daughters of God who shouted for joy along with Adam.

The Lord explained to Moses, “I have created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually before they were naturally upon the face of the earth . . . for in heaven created I them.” (Moses 3:5) In addition to this, we learn from Moses that a council was held in heaven in which you and I were present. At this grand council, the plan to create this earth, including the fall of Adam, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ was presented and accepted.

There was, however, someone who opposed this plan. Lucifer rebelled and was cast out of heaven with those who chose to follow him.

If all this is true, then it means you and I accepted this plan and here we are. Accepting this plan as described by the prophet Abraham is defined as accepting our First Estate.

So, the first question is where did we come from? We came from the presence of God, the pre-mortal spirit world, in the company of all our spirit brothers and sisters.

Second question, why are we here? Trying to wrap the whole of this question into a nutshell gives us the following answer.

First, on the eternal perspective, progression requires that we each have our own physical mortal body that has the capacity of becoming refined, immortalized or glorified through the process of death and subsequently resurrection.

Second, we had to be sent somewhere outside of the presence and powerful righteous influence of God our Father to prove ourselves, to exercise our own agency, and determine in this life the nature of our life to come – the life after death. One of the prophets, Jacob, tells us that Adam & Eve were expelled out of the Garden of Eden into a “lone and dreary world” and on a probation of sorts, where a person could chose from a myriad of different things that were either good or evil. It is necessary for man to taste the bitter to enable him to appreciate the good, is one way to explain it.

The ancient prophet Alma calls this a probationary state, a time to repent, to grow, to learn responsibility, and to prepare for the next life. (Alma 12:24, 42:4)

Said the Lord, “And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man in the days of his probation – that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe.” (Doctrine & Covenants 29:43)

Obtain a Body . . . Prove Ourselves . . . Get Experience . . . this is your first estate.

Some of us live 80 years, some of us live 50 years, some of us live 39 years, and some live only a brief few years on this earth. Will you and I be given as much time? There are laws to be learned and lived, ordinances to experience, and covenants to be made and kept, and faith and obedience to demonstrate in this life.

Third, where do we go from here? Where will I go when I die? Where have friends and family that have passed on gone to?

The penitent thief on the cross being crucified with the Savior, Jesus Christ, asked the Him the same question. The Savior responded with this answer, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Christ died in the literal sense that you and I will die. He underwent a physical dissolution by which His immortal spirit was separated from His body of flesh and bones, and that body was actually dead. While the corpse lay in Joseph’s rock-hewn tomb, the living Christ existed as a disembodied Spirit. Where was He?  We naturally assume that he went where spirits of the dead ordinarily go. He was in the disembodied state a Spirit among spirits. He went to the Spirit world.

We know that the spirit world is not heaven, as the Savior, on the third day after his crucifixion, met the weeping Mary Magdalene and said: “I am not yet ascended to my Father.” He had gone to Paradise as he told the penitent thief, but not to the place where God dwells. Sprit Paradise, therefore, is not Heaven, or the place where God the Eternal Father and his celestialized children dwell and make their abode. Spirit Paradise is a place where dwell

righteous and repentant disembodied spirits between bodily death and resurrection. Another division of the spirit world is reserved for those disembodied beings who have lived lives of wickedness and who remain impenitent even after death.

The ancient prophet Alma explained to his son Corianton who was confused on this matter, “Now there is must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of resurrection.” (Alma 40:6) “Now concerning this state of the soul between the death and the resurrection, behold it has been made know unto me by an angel that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happens, which is called Paradise, a state of rest from all their troubles and from all care and sorrow.”

“And the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil – for behold they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold they chose evil works rather than the good; therefore, the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house – this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and as a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.” (Alma 40:11-14)

The Spirit World is therefore quite a unique place.

Another apostle and scriptural historian, Bruce R. McConkie, explains from the Savior’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, “The spirit world is divided into two parts: Paradise which is the abode of the righteous, and hell which is the abode of the wicked. Until the death of Christ, these two spirit abodes were separated by a great gulf, with the intermingling of their respective inhabitants strictly forbidden.” (Luke 16:19-31)  We know that Christ visited this spirit world because the apostle Peter’s biblical account tells us the following: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18-20)

When Christ visited the Spirit world, he also organized the affairs of this kingdom such that the righteous spirits began teaching the His gospel to those who had not heard it and those who were disobedient or wicked.  Although, there are two spheres within the one spirit world, there is now some intermingling of the righteous and the wicked that inhabit those spheres; and when the wicked spirits repent, they leave their prison-hell and join the righteous in spirit paradise. Hence Joseph Smith said, “Hades, Sheol, paradise, spirit prison are all one: it is a world of spirits. The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection.” (Teachings, p. 310).

Life, work and activity all continue in the spirit world. Men and women have the same talents and intelligence there which they had in this life. They possess the same attitudes, inclinations, and feelings there which they had in this life. They believe the same things, as far as eternal truths are concerned: they continue in effect, to walk in the same path they were following in this life. (Mormon Doctrine, Spirit World, McConkie) The prophet Amulek said, “That same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in the eternal world.” (Alma 34:34) Thus, if a man has the spirit of charity and the love of truth in his heart in this life, that same spirit will possess him in the spirit world.

Family and friends who have passed away with the spirit of joviality and happiness will find it will carry them forward in the gospel and in the teaching of the gospel to many others on the other side.

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

In your royal courts on high?

Then at length, when I’ve completed

All you sent me forth to do,

With your mutual approbation

Let me come and dwell with you.

(Eliza R. Snow, “O My Father,” Hymns, #292)

This post mortal world is a place to await resurrection. All will be resurrected. The Atonement of Jesus Christ ensures a universal resurrection. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor 15:22) Judgment will then, after the resurrection, be passed on all according to individual works and obedience while in mortality. The great prophet Nephi says, “For by grace are they saved after all they can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23) Said the Savior to His disciples, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me because I live and ye shall live also.” (John 14:19)

Inheriting the glory that Christ has been resurrected into is conditional and is based upon the laws by which individuals choose to govern their mortal lives.

Said the prophet Alma, “The plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself.

“And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also as the last day, be restored unto that which is good.” (Alma 41:2-3)

The righteous who understand and live the truth will be resurrected to receive a glory in heaven referred to as Celestial and Paul refers to this as comparable to the glory of the Sun. In this celestial kingdom also known as the Kingdom of God, marriages and eternal family relationships are secured, eternal progress and progression is uninterrupted forever and ever.

The less valiant who choose the lesser law will be resurrected to receive a glory Terrestrial that Paul compares to the glory of the moon. They chose not to enjoy that which they could have enjoyed. These would not accept the words of the prophets in this life and died in their sins, but accepted afterwards.

And to the undisciplined, wicked, liars, sorcerers, adulterers, whoremongers, and the unrepentant who are shut out in spirit prison until the Savior finishes his work (D&C 76:85), they will be resurrected to a glory Telestial or that equivalent, as Paul puts it, to the “glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory.” (1 Corinthians 15:40-44)  The remainder will become attached to Perdition, those who refuse any part of the Atonement of Christ – those that are cast off forever, as the scriptures say, into outer darkness.

What of those that have taken their lives prematurely when the Lord has said, “Thou shalt not kill”? Are they consigned to spirit prison and later a telestial glory?

Another of the Lord’s modern day apostles, M. Russell Ballard, recently stated that there are “some things we know, and some we do not . . . [the] judgment for sin is not always as cut and dried as some of use seem to think. . . the Lord recognizes differences in intent and circumstances: Was the person who took his life mentally ill? Was he or she so deeply depressed as to be unbalanced or otherwise emotionally disturbed? Was the suicide a tragic, pitiful call for help that went unheeded too long or progressed faster than the victim intended? Did he or she somehow not understand the seriousness of the act? Was he or she suffering from a chemical imbalance in their system that led to despair and a loss of self control? Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances surrounding every suicide. Only the Lord knows the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on earth.” (Liahona, March 1988, Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not)

Said the prophet Joseph Smith: “While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard . . . He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not according to the narrow contracted notions of men, but ‘according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil,’ . . . We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts, their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable designs in relations to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1938, p218)

When we are judged, the Lord will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth.

That is the plan. Those are the answers. Death, then, is a gateway.

Upon the cross he meekly died

For all mankind to see

That death unlocks the passageway

Into eternity.

(Hymns, #184 – “Upon the Cross of Calvary”)

“The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” (2 Nephi 9:41)

To live, to love, and to be loved are the essence of what is important in this life.  Those we have known and passed on have lived great lives, they were loved and are still loved.

Mourning and tears are normal – in fact, they are a healthy reaction. Mourning is one of the purest expressions of deep love. It is a natural response in accord with divine commandment: “Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die.” (D&C 42:45)

By mortal standard time, it’ll be much longer than we like till we see our loved ones again. By eternal standard time – “We’ll see you soon.”

Until then watch. There are another set of hands you should look for, pierced at the palms and at the wrists. You will recognize His hands when you see them. You will recognize Him when you see Him. His hands are always open. The brightness of His eyes and smile will warm the darkest recesses of your soul. When you meet Him, touch his hands, feel the mark in his side, and bow at His feet. He knows you by name. He knows each of us by name. He will offer you the peace, the rest and the love that you seek.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh, at time to mourn, and a time to dance . . . a time to get and a time to loose . . . a time to embrace . . . and a time to love.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

This death of which I speak eventually comes to all. It comes to some in childhood, to some in ripe old age, and to others in the prime of life. To some it comes by natural means, anticipated and expected, to others it comes without warning, unannounced. It may come quietly in the peace of the night, or it may come violently in the confusion of an instant, but assuredly, it comes to all.

To you my beloved friends and patients and family, remember His invitation.  “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

This yoke is a conviction, a way of life; it is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It does not take away challenges, disappointments, frustrations, pain or sorrow. But, when lived, it lifts burdens, lightens loads, and makes life bearable. It empowers you with light and strength from on high to learn and grow from experiences in spite of whatever life brings.

This is my conviction. This I know to be true. It is what brings hope in the battle against that inevitable foe, death. May it bring you the warmth of heart and the solace of soul that it brings to me as I ponder its meaning in my life and the lives of my family. May the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation bring you comfort in knowing that those we care about have passed through the gateway we call death to look forward upon immortality and the Glory of the Savior Jesus Christ.

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Infertility after Pfizer Vaccination

I’ve been ridiculed, censured and I’ve been reprimanded recently that I am not strongly supporting vaccination of everyone 6 months old and older with one of the COVID-19 vaccinations. Yet today, even more proof appears in support of my concerns . . . (mind you that it shows up on a weekend when no one in the news cycles will see it).

The Pfizer vaccine decreases male sperm count over 25% for up to six months post vaccination, “but it returns to normal after six months.” That’s the findings this week from Andrology.

Hmmm . . . ? Are we actually sure about that?

Last June in JAMA, we were reassured that two doses of the vaccine are “safe and there was no problem with fertility of any kind.” Any legitimate questions about COVID-19 vaccination affecting fertility were dismissed using the perverse rhetoric of “there’s no evidence” (it’s dependent upon the advocates of a universally distributed medical product to prove it’s safe, not the other way around).

After the publication of the study and positive support from the scientific community, hospital systems, the US Military and medical societies around the country, all male fertility concerns were brushed aside. Anyone who dared question the parameters of the study or the other longer-term effects like increase in associated miscarriage’s was relegated to the status of a conspiracy theorist or quack.

Meanwhile, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha made a contrary statement, saying that vaccines for children down to 6 months or older “have been thoroughly tested. Millions of children above the age of 5 have gotten these vaccines. They’re exceedingly safe,” Jha told CBS News in a June 20 interview.

The CDC last Saturday, June 18th, 2022, signed off on giving both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to infants and children between 6 months and 5 years old. It came after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel unanimously voted to authorize the use of the vaccines.

Jha also said while the majority of children likely have natural immunity, getting the vaccines will help keep children out of the hospital if they get it again.

The White House is echoing the FDA and CDC’s message to get young children vaccinated.

And, yet today, buried in the weekend news, a longer term study find out that these vaccines cause a 25% reduction in sperm counts in males . . .

My concern, and the concern of many others, is the small initial studies on these vaccines only looked at sperm counts before the first dose and 70 days after the second. What happens after two months remained a mystery. What about after a 3rd for 4th booster? What about sperm counts in infant males receiving the vaccination prior to puberty? What about males in puberty an their sperm counts at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years? All of these answers are still a mystery, but a mystery not worth worrying about as we were told.

“Thoroughly tested” is a blatant bold-faced lie.

 If a child or an adult has an adverse reaction to the vaccine, that child’s parents or family could not sue for damages because the emergency use authorization prevents the companies from being held liable.

The vaccines are experimental by definition. A product that’s being used under emergency use [EU] authorization definitionally is investigational. The EU authorization gives these vaccine companies blanket liability protection.

Will reduction in sperm counts be longer than six months? Will reduction in sperm counts be different in those who receive the vaccine as children versus those who receive it as adults? Who knows? Only time will tell. But, the White House, FDA, CDC and most medical societies don’t seem to think that is important.

I remember taking an oath as a physician to, first, do no harm? Yet, I’m a conspiracy theorist for asking the question and not towing the line?

Hormone Pellet Therapy for Men

As we age, testosterone levels drop.   Dr. Nally and his staff are committed to providing relief for men and women suffering from symptoms of hormone deficiency.  Hormone deficiency is a major contributor to fatigue, hair loss, poor sleep, anxiety, weight gain, difficulty with weight loss, decreased libido, vaginal dryness, and painful intimacy.

Dr. Nally has had great success over the years using Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Pellet Therapy as well as oral/topical treatments.

Utilizing a quick, simple, painless in-office procedure, performed with a local anesthetic, tiny pellets are inserted under the skin allowing the medication to be absorbed over the next 5 to 6 months.

The results are exceptional and many times, more affordable than other treatments.  Both men and women are experience better sleep, clearer thinking and more energy in general.  Additionally, they are enjoying an increase in libido.

What Are Testosterone Pellets?

Testosterone pellets are made of testosterone.  These hormones are identical to those produced in our bodies.  The hormones are pressed into small, solid pellets slightly larger than a grain of rice, but smaller than a Tic-Tac.  These pellets are mad by compounding pharmacists and delivered to our office in sterile glass vials. Because they are mad of natural compounds, the pellets are completely absorbed by the body over 5-6 months.

Why Are Pellets the Best Choice for Testosterone Replacement Therapy?

Unlike creams, pills, and patches, pellets deliver more consistent and healthy levels of hormones into the body. Pellets are absorbed over the course of 5-6 months for men. Pellets are ideal because they avoid the delivery fluctuations experienced with other testosterone replacement methods.

Additionally, these natural hormones don’t increase the risk of blood clots in the same way as synthetic hormones. Pellet therapy maintains an extremely high success rate, even for patients who have tried other systems of hormone therapy with little or no results.

What Are the Effects of Testosterone Pellet Therapy?

Testosterone pellets are used in both men and women, and will increase your lean body mass (strengthening muscles and bone density) and decreases your fat mass.

The most common response from our patients about pellet therapy is that it has restored their quality of life. With Testosterone Replacement Pellet Therapy,, men may experience the following benefits:

  • Improved Energy
  • Improved Vitality
  • Sharpened Brain Function and Memory
  • Reduction in Depression and Anxiety
  • Increase in Motivation and Drive
  • Increased Libido
  • Improved Symptoms of Erectile Dysfunction
  • Increased Fat Loss
  • increase in muscle mass
  • Decreased Blood Pressure
  • Improved Bone Health
  • Reduced Risk for Alzheimer’s Dementia and Other forms of Dementia
  • Reduced Risk for Prostate Cancer

Cost of Pellet Therapy

Male Pellet Therapy insertion costs $699.  The initial and follow up lab work may be covered by your insurance at your covered lab. Through our office the initial basic lab work is $600.  Follow up labs which may be covered by your health insurance through your covered lab, cost $390 in our office.

How Are the Labs Measured Before and During Therapy?

Before testosterone pellets are administered, we’ll draw your blood and send it to the lab for the most comprehensive analysis available. This will allow us to establish baseline testosterone levels in your entire system. We can then determine the optimal testosterone dose on an individual basis. We check the whole hormone profile.

Levels of thyroid hormone may also be checked.

For men, testosterone, prostate specific antigen, estradiol, blood count, and liver profile levels will all be checked. Dr. Nally and his staff test the most accurate levels of all components of the blood. This is not a simple testosterone blood test. And, there is no more comprehensive test that can be used for determining your levels and your dose.

Is Pellet Therapy Covered by Insurance?

Usually, pellet therapy is not covered by health insurance. While other forms of hormone therapy are covered by some insurance companies, pellets are excluded. Because hormone pellets aren’t produced by large, conglomerate pharmaceutical corporations, there isn’t any pressure being put on insurance companies to cover pellet therapy. When copays and deductibles are factored in, most of our patients find pellet therapy to be affordable despite the fact it isn’t covered by insurance. Receiving superior treatment is worth the investment.

What Are the Adverse Side Effects of Pellet Therapy?

Unlike other, less-effective forms of testosterone therapy, there are very few side effects to pellet therapy. Even still, those side effects are transient. You may experience temporary breast discomfort, nipple tenderness, or bloating. Very rarely, a pellet insertion site could become inflamed or come out. Most patients, however, only experience minor bruising at the insertion site.

Because hormone receptors are very sensitive, you may also experience a temporary water weight gain, but it will resolve on its own. Some women (who still have their uterus) will see a return of some menstrual-type bleeding, but this bleeding is easily managed by adjusting the dosage of pellets.

Testosterone stimulates bone marrow and increases production of red blood cells. If hemoglobin and blood count get too high, a unit of blood may need to be donated.

As with any product or procedure, it’s important that you let Dr. Nally and his staff know about any side-effects you might be experiencing during the process.

What is the Recovery or Downtime after Pellet Insertion?

After pellet insertion, any vigorous physical activity should be avoided for up to 5-7 days in men. Early physical activity can be a cause for pellet “extrusion,” the pellet working its way out of the insertion site. Remember, pellet insertion only occurs 2 times per year.

Every American Parent Needs To Hear This

Today during the Senate Health Committee Hearing, Senator Rand Paul noted that the current administration and CDC recommends that everyone over age five get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including taking a booster shot. “Are you aware of any studies that show reduction in hospitalization or death for children who take a booster?” Paul asked.

“Right now, there’s not enough data that has been accumulated, Senator Paul, to indicate that that’s the case,” Fauci answered.

To be fair, the CDC, the FDA, medical societies (including AAFP and ACP) and many health systems around the country recommend COVID-19 vaccination to those 6 months and older. These recommendation are all based upon the CDC and FDA data. These recommendation come in light of the fact that “there is not enough data to indicate children should be taking a booster.”

If you are a patient, parent or grandparent, please take seven minutes and watch this set of questions closely. Your health and the health of your children depends on it.

I have been criticized by my medical colleagues and specialists, about holding these concerns regarding the risks of COVID-19 vaccination. Yet, I’ve had over twenty patients with significant adverse and life threatening reactions in my office due to the vaccine. As a physician, my first duty is to do no harm. Yet, I am being threatened on all sides because I don’t just roll over and lend my support to this vaccine. I am told that my concern about the CDC vaccination recommendations for children are unfounded.

My concern about these vaccines is identical to that of Senator Rand Paul’s. Namely, there are no actual medical studies that COVID vaccination for children and those under age 24 years old are at risk of death or hospitalization warranting a booster vaccine, especially a vaccine that comes with significant health risks.

When 75% of the U.S. population has already had COVID and has antibodies from the exposure and/or infection, there is NO legitimate medical reason to vaccinate this age group. As of today, the Director of the NIH, Dr. Anthony Fauci himself, cannot give legitimate reason for vaccinating this age group. Yet he and the CDC have approved these vaccines and recommend that children be fully vaccinated.

The Coddling of the American Mind: The Catalyst for the Anxiety Overwhelming Us Today

I have seen dramatic increases in anxiety, fear and depression in my practice over the last 20 years. I keep asking myself why. My amazing wife shared this video with me and I think Jonathan Haidt has the answer. (Thanks, Tiffini!!)

Watch the video below.

Are we being too protective of our kids as parents today? Do we let our kids do all the things we did as kids? Are we stifling childhood discovery and independence, even though we have the best intentions?

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business who has written multiple books exploring morality and society. In 2018, he authored the book “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure,” which delves into how overprotective parenting is leading to more harm than good, especially on college campuses. Jonathan has many thoughts on what parents can be doing to support students, without focusing only on their safety. Here are the Top 5 lessons we learned about being antifragile from Jonathan Haidt.

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The Myth Of the “Family Man”

You aren’t a “family man.”  Your a man with a family.   This distinction matters.  And, it matters to the survival of our species. 

You were taught to think of family life as the promised land – a blissful state wherein, once won, you collapse into the arms of an all-loving, all-sustaining woman, carried along in the euphoric carefree nirvana of procreation and whelp-tending . . . 

That once you entered the paradise of marriage and family life, the need for seeking and striving and straining and providing will, at last, be behind you . . .  

That you can slip gratefully into the rest and reprieve of being the “family man.”  

That’s the mythical dream we’ve be sold for the last 50 years . . . interwoven within our cultures, media and folktales.  But, as you know, it’s a lie.  It’s a deceptive lie upon which stories and movies have been founded.

Deep down, you and I know it.  What’s the point in trying if you know the game is rigged? For the satisfaction of knowing you are contributing to the greater good? That’s just the kind of stupid thing an intellectual Ivy League indoctrinated mind would regurgitate.

Family life demands much much MORE piss and vinegar, not less.  Anyone who calls marriage the simple domestication of a man never actually successfully tried it. 

In fact, it must always be the wildest of men who marry. 


When you marry, you don’t “settle down.”  You settle in for the long haul.  The long haul is where you sweat and bleed and hammer to create, and attack and guard and parry and defend from the ever encroaching evil at that scale of creation . . .  for the rest of your life.  Being  a man with a family is dangerous.  It takes courage, and courage implies a risk. It implies a potential for failure and the presence of danger. Courage is measured against danger. The greater the danger, the greater the courage.  And, courage is the only virtue that you cannot fake.

Family life isn’t some trophy to be won; some suspended state; some hall-pass that lets you opt out of the agonies and ecstasies of the masculine life. 

Family life is a fitting and beautiful burden; a mantle; a forged function of the highest order that draws more vision, power, brilliance and greatness than any unattached life could ever offer.

Yet, if you get that fundamental mindset wrong, then married life will feel like a constant catastrophe, getting burned at the forge of creation with the supposed fruits of family life perpetually denied you.   

The universalism of today’s society desires the “family man.”  The universalism that can only condemn those who defend, and can only separate those who attempt to differentiate, is the product and unintended consequence of a global trade. The one true god of the universalist is Mammon, and he embraces anyone with a pocket full of cash who doesn’t scare away other infecund customers. This is why we are told to accept the unacceptable, to condemn religions that condemn, to share cultures with everyone as if they belong to no one, to deny all racial affinity, to pretend that men and women are interchangeable. Because exclusion and a real man is bad for business.

Again, you aren’t a “family man.”  You aren’t some separate, cloistered categorical shell of a man.  That’s what every educational institution, every government and every feminizing organization within the world wants you to think.

You are a MAN with a family – a man subject to all the gauntlets and crucibles and devastations of our sex. 

So, quit the myth of the well-adjusted, happily-sequestered family man. Drop every pretense of arrival you were sold; lest you rob your family and yourself of your full power, your abounding glory, let loose your native self.  

You are just getting started.

You and I, we are, each of us, alone.  Even with a family, this is the first law of masculinity. And it is the most important law. Your value is equal to the value which you bring to your family and to your tribe. We are not equal. You are not special. Your masculine respect is earned, not given. 

This is why men make fun of the “the family man.” Your brothers will not love you unconditionally for who you are, just being a man or yourself. They will criticize you. They will push you to your limits. They expect you to bring out your best, put on your “A” game. And, then, they only give you their respect when you’ve earned it, family or no. 

This isn’t shocking at all. It’s common knowledge to any man because deep in your genetics, it is hardwired into you, ready for use. 

Your childhood is over. The boy is dead. Wake up, step up.  It’s time to be a man with a family for the rest of your life.

Semper Virilis

The Elk

(I was asked to speak in church yesterday. This is the talk I gave. For those of you that don’t mind pondering your spirituality, as the spirit so powerfully influences one’s health, I thought you might enjoy it)

The huge elk stood in the center of the dirt road. . . 

The morning air in the pines had been crisp and clean.  The sky was blue, not a cloud present.  Other than the chirping of birds, the Alpine Forest was quiet and peaceful.  I got up early for a morning run before I was needed at our scout camp.  I took off at an easy pace and the ground felt good under my feet.  

A mile down the road it happened.  I came to a dead stop as I rounded the corner.  He stared me down, snorted, then . . . he bugled.  The sound pierced my head and chest, I felt it in my soul. He was a majestic beast transformed, standing taller than my horse.  His antlered rack fully-formed, he towered over me, standing over 8 feet high . . . the hair at the top of his head darker, and hackled.

We stood face to face only a few yards from each other.  He lowered his head and stomped his hoof, when our eyes met, and I instantly felt his temptation to head-butt me off the road down which I had been jogging.

For much of the year, male elk are indistinguishable from the female: bull and doe alike are antler-less. Yet each spring the males regrow their antlers…which in turn are soon covered in velvet.

And, then, finally they come into the “hard horn,” when the velvet is rubbed off from the battles and grind of the year, antlers polished and the bull is ready to mate.  Once the rut is over, the bull’s antlers fall off… taking the bulk of the male’s testosterone with them. The bull’s power is in the horn.

This bull, with which I had come face to face had a full rack, the span of his antlers and easy four and a half feet.  He towered above me in his grandeur.  He was the biggest elk I’d ever seen.  And, his doe was just off the road grazing in the pines.   He looked at her, she at him, then back at me. I felt a chill from my head to my toes.  He owned that road that day, I knew it, and he knew it. I will never forget that moment.  This was his path and I was obligated to step aside.

Men Have Lost Power And Momentum

We live in an age when men have become essentially indistinguishable from women.  They’ve lost their power, they’ve lost their momentum for life and the path.  Men may have their own marks.  

Yet, no size of beard, no amount of gym swole, no tattoo, no amount of bravado can hide the fact that man shed his rack–his essential POWER–a long time ago.  For anyone with eyes, the truth is plain to see: The antlers have fallen off. 

There Is No Safe Path

As I learned on that dirt road years ago, in this life there is no safe path. 

Despite what the minions of the world and those of the adversary attempt to convince us of on a regular basis, there is no escape from the consequences of this life.  That’s the reason that 1/3rd of the hosts of Heaven decided against receiving a mortal body and coming to this test tube of earth where there is no safe path (Revelation 12:9).  

There is a noble path. 

There is an honorable path.

But there is no safe path . . . and to be frank, in the premortal existence, you and I didn’t want that anyway.  That was Lucifer’s modification to the plan – provide them a safe path and they all will make it back unbruised and unscathed so that he could take the glory (Isaiah 14:13-14). 

Yet, civilization and society has created cities and communities of no consequence.  Men and women have been deluded into thinking that if they walk into the street, the car will always stop, and the only result will be an angry driver.  But, this is a delusion.  Ride a motorcycle just once on the streets of Phoenix, and you’ll learn this lesson.  

You and I live upon a telestial planet that does not freely offer mercy.  When you live upon the land, when mother nature is your neighbor, there can be no mistakes.  Despite what the CDC says, nature does not care.  The river will freely swallow you if you can’t swim.  The snake doesn’t care how much you love your children.   And, the wolf has no interest in your dreams.  If you fail to beat the current, you will drown.  If you get too close, you will be bitten.  If you are too weak, you will be eaten. There is no government that can save you.  There is no congress that can legislate away the rattlesnake.  There is no vaccine that inoculates you from the fangs of the wolf.  This is what caused a third of the hosts of heaven to shudder when the plan was presented.  This has been Satan’s pick-up line at the watering hole for millennia.  The alure of safety is a lie. Yet, here you are.  You and I chose to come.  You and I got on that bus.

Who are you anyway?  You and I, we are warrior stock.  Every single one of your ancestors got a body, came to the earth, and kept your genealogical line alive for over 6000 of the historically recorded years to get you here, to this moment, today. 

So, what makes you so sure you were built for safety?  What makes you so sure that safety is the ultimate goal we should be striving for?   

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

My childhood hero, John Wayne said, “Have you heard of some fellas who first came over to this country?  You know what they found?  They found a howling wilderness, with summers too hot, and winters ice cold and freezing.  Did they have insurance for their old age, for their crops, for their homes?  They did not.  They looked at the land and the forest and the rivers, they looked at their wives, their kids and their houses.  Then, they looked up at the sky and said, ‘Thanks God, we’ll take it from here.’  They were men!’  you and I, we come from real men and real women. 

Coming to this earth was an act of courage.  If you want adventure, you tell the truth about reality in your life, then you take action . . . that is the adventure. 

Action Toward Goals Starts the Momentum

The very act of seeking out your goals takes courage and sets things in motion, it begins the momentum.   Courage implies a risk. It implies a potential for failure or the presence of danger. Courage is measured against danger. The greater the danger, the greater the courage. Running into a burning building is more courageous than telling off your boss.  Telling off your boss is more courageous than writing a really mean anonymous letter or reposting a meme on Facebook or Twitter.

Acts without meaningful consequences require little courage.

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.  Satan and his minions have successfully turned our attention away from the promises spoken of in Matthew 13:17, the prophets desiring to see the things that you’ve seen, and hear the things that you’ve heard.  

Just because millions of people share the same vices does not make those vices acceptable, the fact that they share so many errors does not make those errors true, and the fact that millions of people share the same psychological pathology does not make these people sane.  Much of our society is on spiritual autopilot. . . the problem with autopilot is that you may be on the wrong plane.  Many men spend their entire lives fishing without ever knowing that it isn’t really fish they’re after. 

Something I’ve learned from my son while mountain-biking is that you hit what you focus on.   But, you first must focus.  And your focus must be on truth, not upon flawed reality. The very act of seeking truth sets things in motion. 

President Nelson defined Momentum in his April Conference talk.   Momentum is the motion of a body, equal to the product of the body’s mass and it’s velocity.  it can also be defined as the force or energy exhibited by a moving body.”  That elk that stared me down, though he was just standing in the road, had momentum.  I felt it.

Spiritual Momentum Aids In The Journey Back Home

Momentum is the most powerful physical force you can have helping you or hindering you.  Once you are moving, momentum helps you more easily reach the goal.  Spiritual momentum aids you in your journey to exaltation and eternal life in our heavenly home.  The speed by which you travel the road of life matters not as long as you do not stop.

For those of you who love to geek out on science stuff, Newton’s first law of motion states that every object at rest will remain at rest unless compelled to change its state, while objects in motion will stay in motion. 

Simple actions in life are often the cause of momentum.  Success often hides within your morning habits.  Everything that happens in our lives is based upon a law of the universe and our adherence to or deviance from that law.

Focused attention on your intentions causes you to gain momentum.   Thoughts are actually matter attached to energy. Our thoughts are made up of hope and dreams.

Often, the difference between winning and losing is usually ones momentum.

People will pay any price for motion.  They will even work for it.  Look at bicycles. People walk into a bicycle store and drop five to ten thousand dollars for something that will help them gain motion.

Momentum Is Applied to Faith

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1)   Faith then is the actual substance of hope.  It is a substance to which action or motion can be applied.   Much like a boat upon the water, when wind is added to the sails the boat begins to move.   Once in motion that boat has momentum. 

Joseph Smith tells us that the human mind and body would remain in a state of inactivity or at rest (based on Newton’s First Law of Motion) without action applied to the substance of hope, or without faith.  

Benjamin Franklin reminds us to “never confuse motion with action.”

Most of life is routine – dull, grubby and repetitive.  However, this routine is what keeps a man moving toward a goal.  Routine is actually what creates the perpetual momentum.

Routine becomes hopeless if there are no goals clearly defined by you individually or in your family. 

We experience almost all our hope in relationship to our defined goals. 

Momentum arises in the routine day to day activities that move one toward desired goals. 

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream – CS Lewis

If people are to live together in harmony, there must be some overarching structure that unites you.   What else is a family, if it is not an overarching structure that unites you?

Within the family there must be tolerance and even appreciation for necessary individual differences.  Obviously there should be.  But, that does not mean that there is a higher unity that the entire organization is striving for in some manner.  Not just striving for, but pining for or even dying for. 

The absence of that sense of incorporating higher structure is a felt sense of catastrophe on the part of members of the family.  This is why family is so essential to the growth of the child. 

How do you move toward the goal? You break it down into small steps.  Steps small enough that even the useless can do them. . . and those steps are placed into a daily routine. 

You’ll move toward the goal if you break the steps down small enough so that even a child will do it.  This requires a fair bit of humility.  The step you are resisting to take today is often so small that you may be embarrassed to admit it to yourself.  So, then you don’t take any steps at all. 

FIVE STEPS

President Russell M. Nelson, in the April 2022 General Conference, outlined Five Actions that perpetuate momentum. 

First, Get On the Covenant Path and stay there – Renew your covenants every week.  Don’t be afraid of covenants and or commitments.  Do not be afraid of taking on responsibility.  It is within that responsibility that you find out what sustains you in your life. 

A lot of the things that people regard as traps are actually the means to their lives.  Young people are often afraid of commitment because they fear it will prevent them from identifying something more valuable.  You will never find something more important in your life than a committed relationship with someone that you love walking the covenant path together that sustains itself across time and in all likelihood produces children.  That is life.  Do not be afraid to try and fail.  That is why we were given the ability to repent.  

I have had a fascinating career thus far with up and downs and successes and failures.  Yet, the most important thing in my life has been my intimate relationship with my wife and my family.  Commitment is the igniter of momentum.  Only committing to the “right thing” half way causes stress, fatigue, disease and dead pastures.

Second, Daily Repentance brings joy.  Alma taught, “teach nothing but repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Mosiah 18:20).   Tell the truth every day of your life.  If you do this it will change your life.  Stop cheating at whatever game it is you’ve chosen to play.   

How will telling the truth change your life?  You cannot adapt to reality if you falsify it.  You cannot just lie to other people.  What you say becomes you.  The words you say are recorded by your subconscious and your subconscious then works to create the reality of what you say.  What you say becomes you.   We build ourselves out of our words whether those words are true or false, as a man thinketh, so is he.   Well, if I lie, I can get away with something.  NO you don’t.  

In all of my clinical practice, I have never every seen anyone get away with anything, even once.   You think the chickens won’t come home to roost?   All that means is you are too stupid to see the cost of your lies, too blind or too self-deceptive.  You just don’t see it.   You don’t get away with anything.  Nothing.  It’s terrifying when we actually understand that.   What if you can’t get away with anything?  Well, that the old idea of a judgmental God.  It’s an old idea for a reason.   

Do you think you are someone who can warp the structure of reality with your words and get away with it?  There may be those that say, well I’ve lied and got away with things.  But look at yourself, is everything right in your life right now?  Is everything just as you want it to be?  

People eventually figure out who you are and you have to come clean or move on.  No long term relationships can be formed, no love, no trust, no brotherly affection, no friends.  No financial success, not in the real sense.  Or maybe your are just too dim to see the consequences.   Take it from someone who sees this on a daily basis.  You can’t try to warp the structure of reality and get away with it.  You don’t mess with reality.  Eventually you have to pay the piper.  It kills you.  And, it may torture you quite a lot before doing that if you are particularity unlucky.  

Again, this is why 1/3rd of the hosts of heaven didn’t even want to get onto the bus down here to this earth life.   You violate your conscience and you will pay.  That is hell.   

Daily repentance, then is what fills the sails with positive momentum.    

How do you start? Clean up your room.  Attend sacrament meeting.  Tell the truth.  Applying just that little bit of advice changes your life.   Don’t substitute the false for the real.  The trouble is, you think you have time.  Talk to your parents. Talk to your spouse.  Talk to your bishop. 

Third, Learn About God and How He Works. Learn to distinguish between the truth of God and the counterfeits of Satan.  

“Pray always . . .  that we may conquer Satan and escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.” (D&C 10:5). 

Learning about God is how you learn about yourself.  

I see men ages 20-35 that are desperate for a discussion about responsibility, and fair play, noble being, God and working properly in the world.  They are desperate actually hear the idea that their lives actually matter. That if they straighten themselves up and fly right that they’ll have a beneficial effect on themselves and their families and their communities.   

The world is starving for those conversations.  Our young men and our young women are starving for that knowledge as individuals.  You in this room have that knowledge.  Share it with them.  Faith cannot be effectively exercised enough to move one on to life and salvation, or have the momentum to do so, without three specific things:

  1. The idea that God actually exists
  2. A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes
  3. A knowledge that the course in life you are pursing is according to God’s will.

Learn about God and your relationship to him and you will be amazed at the momentum it provides you.  That will move you on to the fourth action.

Fourth, Seek and Expect Miracles.  God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.  

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is. . . The second is the source of peace and happiness.  

Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith.  

Few things will give you more momentum than the knowledge that God is helping you move a mountain in your life.   

Chose to believe something good can happen.  Expecting it to happen energizes your goal and actually gives it momentum.   

Are you fully committed to your goal?  Very few Americans are truly committed to a lifestyle. They don’t want to be called a fanatic. Are you all in? If you’re not all in, why are you surprised you haven’t had results or seen the hand of the Lord in your life?  

My daughter has just returned from Missouri on her mission.  I lived there while attending medical school.  It was there that my wife and I were fascinated by fireflies.  If God can make a bug’s bottom light up in the night sky, think of what He can do for you and me.

Fifth, End the Conflicts in Your Life.  Matthew 6:14 – For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  See what’s getting in your way.  Rectify the things in your life that need to be fixed.   Look at yourself first to fix the problem. Listen to the other person.  Unhappy is the man or woman who never faces adversity.  For he or she are never permitted to truly prove themselves.  

Seek the Top of the Mountain

You seek the top of the mountain.  You’ve felt this longing for years. 

There is a trail that leads to the top, but the path is long and narrow, it is perilous and often very hard. 

You yearn for easy transport, for the helicopter to take you directly to the peak. 

You search for the silver bullet, the magic formula, the push-button solution that will wipe your old life away and replace it with something far removed… something utterly transformed. 

But, in your heart you know the truth: The fulfillment you seek comes not from tricks, hacks, or shortcuts, but from taking one step after the other until you stand there, at last, on the roof of the world, on the top of the mountain.

The fulfillment you seek comes from becoming the man or woman who climbs, the one who’s trodden the path, climbed the mountain. 

So, do not ask for the helicopter. Do not ask to be taken out of yourself. 

Live your life, instead, in such a way that your mind is transformed, that the miracle happens, so that the thought of traveling the path that fills other men with dread, fills you with soulful excitement.  

Live your life in such a way that the utterly spent exhaustion of childhood comes back to you and you feel like a 12-year-old again. 

Live your life in such a way that all traces of action-crippling ambivalence are seared away, that you may climb the mountain with joy. 

The blinding thicket, the burning wind and lactic burn will never go away. It’s all still there. 

Only now, those pains do not stop you, for you have chosen to be dauntless, lionhearted and valiant. 

And what would seem arduous and unbearable to others who are not lifted from within, as you are, seems instead to you a privilege, an honor, and the greatest of adventures.  

Because you are filled with hope, you are driven with honor, you have the momentum of the Spirit of God. 

Be the one who waits at the bottom of the hill and holds the coats . . . or be the man or woman who climbs to meet the Sage on the mountain, who meets the Master.  

There is one who already showed you the way.  The choice is yours. 

Toxic Femininity?

I posted this on social media today. However, it will probably be taken down by the “fact checkers.”

So, I figured I’d post these statistics here. It is a huge problem, yet no one is talking about it, and it is being blamed on men. Let me preface this with the statement that any form of abuse is abhorrent and should not be tolerated from men or women. We as a society should never have to resort to violence resolve conflict, and yet, here we are.

It is sad that we live in a society where a man is guilty until proven innocent when it comes to accusations of abuse. We are supposed to be living in a country where a man is innocent until proven guilty. The case of Johnny Depp proves the latter to be false.

This is shocking because women are statistically more likely to be the abusers than men. Don’t believe me, read them yourself.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FACTS:

  • Women are more often domestic abusers. SOURCE: HHS
    • In 2020,
      • 248,335 instances involving a female perpetrator.
      • 225,020 instances involving a male perpetrator.
  • Single mothers are more often abusive toward children than single fathers. SOURCE: HHS
    • In 2020:
      • 221,372 instances involving only the mother.
      • 138,803 instances involving only the father.
  • Lesbian couples have the highest domestic abuse rate of any demographic. According to the National Coalition of Domestic Violence, “43.8% of lesbian women and 61.1% of bisexual women have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.” SOURCE: NCADV

I don’t have an answer for these issues. The first step is just recognizing the truth about what is actually happening in our society.

The Top of the Mountain

You seek the top of the mountain.  You’ve felt this longing  for years.
There is a trail that leads to the top, but the path is long and narrow, it is perilous and often very hard.
You yearn for easy transport, for the helicopter to take you directly to the peak.
You search for the silver bullet, the magic formula, the push-button solution that will wipe your old life away and replace it with something far removed… something utterly transformed.
But in your heart you know the truth:
The fulfillment you seek comes not from tricks, hacks, or shortcuts, but from taking one step after the other until you stand there, at last, on the roof of the world.
The fulfillment you seek comes from becoming the man or woman who climbs, the one who’s trodden the path, climbed the mountain.
So, do not ask for the helicopter. Do not ask to be taken out of your self.
Live your life, instead, in such a way that your mind is transformed, so that the thought of traveling the path that fill other men with dread, fills you with soulful excitement.
Live your life in such a way that the utterly spent exhaustion of childhood comes back to you and you feel like a vibrant 12 year old again.
Live your life in such a way that all traces of action-crippling ambivalence are seared away, that you may climb the mountain with joy.
The blinding thicket, the burning wind and lactic burn will never go away. It’s all still there.
Only now they do not stop you, for you have chosen to be dauntless.
And what would seem arduous and unbearable to others who are not lifted from within, as you are, seems instead to you a privilege, an honor, and the greatest of adventures.  Because you are filled with hope, you are driven with honor.
Be the man who waits . . . or be the the man who climbs to meet the Sage on the mountain, the Master.
There is one who already showed you the way.
The choice is yours.
Happy Easter.

How Do You Use Exogenous Ketones (BHB)?

BHB stands for beta-hydroxybutyrate. This is one of three naturally occurring ketones formed in the body when metabolizing fat.

I’ve been asked what they are and how to use them quite a few times in the last week, so I thought I’d answer it here. . .

BHB can be used for a number of things:

1) to push you into a ketogenic state for 1-6 hours – I use them to jumpstart keto in people just starting a ketogenic diet (however, if BHB is being used while cheating on carbs at the same time, they often halt weight loss and in some cases can allow for weight gain).

2) I use it as a pre-workout drink for increased energy and stronger muscle contraction (I use them prior to sword fighting and it allows me more energy and endurance.)

3) For appetite suppression when the “munchies” try to kick in due to stress or anxiety.

4) To help enhance cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

5) To improve mental clarity and focus in those with ADD/ADHD.

6) I also use them as a meal replacement while traveling.

7) I use them to help people who are morbidly obese experience a ketogenic state when they have never restricted carbohydrates before.

8) And, to prevent seizures when scuba diving with re-breather type equipment (bubble-less SCUBA).

You can find my exogenous ketones (BHB) at http://www.ketoliving.com

Are More Children Dying From the COVID Vaccine than the Virus Itself?

In the last 12 months I have seen sixteen significant and severe reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. I cannot be alone in seeing this trend. However, physicians and providers around the world seem fearful in even talking about it with their colleagues. And, as of this week, there is VAERS data implying that more children have died from the vaccine than from the virus itself.

I have always been a big proponent of vaccines. But, that advocacy for vaccination has been based on good research and data demonstrating that both the short and long-term risk is greatly outweighed by the benefit of vaccination. I have been in practice long enough to have seen multiple vaccinations and therapeutics pulled off the market 1-5 years after they were released because of severe adverse events relating to the drug or vaccine (ie – thalidamide, DES, Baycol, Accutane, Redux, Seldane, Zelnorm and Vioxx just to name a few.)

In my family practice clinic over the last 22 years, I’ve rarely seen acute cases of myocarditis show up on my doorstep. However, in the last 12 months I’ve had eight cases of myocarditis (inflammation of the wall of the heart) and eight cases of prolonged colitis (inflammation of the colon that did not respond to antibiotics) directly related to COVID-19 vaccination. Because I practice in the midst of a retirement community on one side of the street and a city of young families on the opposite side of the street, my practice is predominantly newly marrieds and people over 60 years old. I don’t see nearly as many children as other family practitioners or pediatricians. But, the numbers don’t lie.

I’ve been patiently waiting to seen the journal articles about this topic. Yet, it has not been written. Why must a family practitioner be writing about this, when this should be front page news on every website? Of course, I have my biases, to which I will openly admit. Yet, I seriously don’t know the answer to that question.

We live in a time when medicine has become a politicized weapon. The medical and political leadership on both sides of the isle keep moving the goal posts. Both sides appeal to false authorities. Those who are supposed to be authorities flip flop their position on the clear evidences. And, medical journals have become less and less trustworthy for a number of reasons. It leaves the physician in the trenches scratching his or her head.

Elevated D-Dimers, Fatigue, Colitis & Palpitations

All sixteen of these cases above had elevated D-dimer tests (the protein marker in the blood for significant inflammation and clotting risk) lasting 6-8 months. Four of these sixteen patients had blood clots in the lungs. Most of these cases occurred after the second vaccine dose, but a few occurred after the first dose. Six of these patients have been so fatigued, they could not work and could barely function for over four to six months.

I provide below two of the actual ultrasound images I completed while examining these sixteen patients:

41 year old male with 2 months of fatigue and palpitations starting 30 days after his first dose of COVID vaccine.

Why is this significant? Because in 22 years of medical practice, I can count on one hand the number of severe vaccine reactions I’ve personally seen in my office in all vaccines combined. Then, suddenly in the last 12 months I have 16 severe reactions to the COVID-19 jab?! It makes a person think . . .

Let’s Stop Pretending that COVID-19 Vaccines are Perfect

To date, Dr Anthony Fauci, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy remind us that 97% of new covid-19 hospitalizations or 99% of covid-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated. I’m sure the message is well-intentioned: “Vaccines will protect you from severe disease, so go get vaccinated!”

The problem is that the message is not true. Initially, there was an 81-89% reduction in severe hospitalization in the first 2-3 months of vaccination according to the studies we had. However, this protection has dramatically decreased. Hence the introduction of boosters. Yet, the studies on boosters have only looked a antibody levels, not at hospitalization risk reduction or reduction of death from COVID-19.

We saw this in the UK, where deaths among the vaccinated went from “rare” to two-thirds of all delta variant deaths by July. We saw this in Israel, where literally no fully vaccinated people died of covid-19 for 3-4 weeks in June, but by August over 60% of the severely ill were fully vaccinated.

As of today, Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is just 39% effective in Israel where the delta variant is the dominant strain according to the recent report from the country’s Health Ministry.

Is there some effectiveness to the vaccine? According to the studies we have to date – yes. However, does that benefit outweigh the long-term risk? That is the $1 million dollar question.

How Do We Know What the Risk of Vaccination Actually Is?

Other than the very short term vaccine trials conducted by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson lasting 6 months, we really don’t know what the long-term real world risks are. The only data we have is the CDC’s ongoing VAERS data reporting system.

Established in 1990, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines. VAERS is co-managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VAERS accepts and analyzes reports of adverse events (possible side effects) after a person has received a vaccination. Anyone can report an adverse event to VAERS. Healthcare professionals are required to report certain adverse events and vaccine manufacturers are required to report all adverse events that come to their attention.

VAERS is a passive reporting system, meaning it relies on individuals to send in reports of their experiences to CDC and FDA. VAERS is not designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem, but is especially useful for detecting unusual or unexpected patterns of adverse event reporting that might indicate a possible safety problem with a vaccine. This way, VAERS can provide CDC and FDA with valuable information that additional work and evaluation is necessary to further assess a possible safety concern.

Jessica Rose, Ph.D., a research fellow at the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge in Israel, was interviewed about what the VAERS data tell us about the COVID vaccine risk. Rose stated that the average number of adverse event reports following vaccination for the past 10 years has been about 39,000 annually, with an average of 155 deaths. That’s for all available vaccines combined.

The COVID vaccines now account for 983,756 adverse event reports as of December 17, 2021, including 20,622 deaths—and this doesn’t include the underreporting factor, which we know is significant and likely ranges from five to 40 times higher than reported. Most doctors and nurses don’t even know what VAERS is and even if they do, they chose not to report the incidents.

Data as of January 14, 2022, reports 9,936 deaths in the U.S. due to COVID-19 vaccination.

In the case of the COVID vaccinations, data demonstrates that 50% of the deaths occur within 48 hours of injection. It’s simply not conceivable that 10,000 people died two days after their shot from something other than the shot. Though fact checkers around the world discount this site as not official “because anyone can report” and claim it is coincidental. It cannot all be coincidence. Especially since so many of them are younger, with no underlying lethal conditions that threaten their lives. 80% have died within one week of their injection, which is still incredibly close in terms of cause and effect.

Children Are At 80% Greater Risk

Aside from the immediate risk of death, children are also at risk for potentially lifelong health problems from this vaccination. Myocarditis (heart inflammation seen in the two adult ultrasound images above) has emerged as one of the most common problems, especially among boys and young men.

In early September 2021, Tracy Beth Hoeg and colleagues posted an analysis of VAERS data on the preprint server medRxiv, showing that more than 86% of the children aged 12 to 17 who report symptoms of myocarditis were severe enough to require hospitalization.

Cases of myocarditis exploded after the second shot, Hoeg found, and disproportionally affecting boys. A full 90% of post-injection myocarditis reports are males, and 85% of reports occurred after the second dose. 

Said Hoeg, “The estimated incidence of CAEs [cardiac adverse events] among boys aged 12-15 years following the second dose was 162 per million; the incidence among boys aged 16-17 years was 94 per million. The estimated incidence of CAEs among girls was 13 per million in both age groups.”

According to Steve Kirsch, doctors are seeing an increase in myocarditis, but few are willing to talk about it. 

In October 2021, Jessica Rose and Dr. Peter McCullough submitted a paper on myocarditis cases in VAERS following the COVID vaccination to the journal Current Problems in Cardiology. Everything was set for publication when, suddenly, the journal changed its mind and took it down.

You can still find the pre-printed article on Rose’s website. The data clearly show that myocarditis is inversely related to age. The younger you are the higher the risk of myocarditis. The risk is also dose-dependent, with boys having a six-fold greater risk of myocarditis following the second dose.

While our health authorities and the CDC are shrugging off this risk saying cases are “mild,” that’s a blatant and frightening lie. The damage to the heart is typically permanent.

https://vaersanalysis.info/2022/01/14/vaers-summary-for-covid-19-vaccines-through-01-07-2022/

In the most recent VAERS report, you and I can see that in just six months, deaths in children and young adults from the COVID vaccine under the age of 29 years old has now surpassed the total number of deaths in this age group from COVID-19 in the last two years.

Why is this not being shouted from the rooftops? I still don’t have the answer.

COVID-19 Vaccines Double Your Risk for Acute Coronary Syndrome

Researchers have also found that Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines dramatically increase biomarkers associated with thrombosis, cardiomyopathy and other vascular events following injection.

People who have received two doses of the mRNA injection more than doubled their five-year risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the researchers found, driving it from an average of 11% to 25%. ACS is an umbrella term that includes not only heart attacks, but also a range of other conditions involving abruptly reduced blood flow to your heart.

In a Twitter post November 21, 2021, cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra wrote: “Extraordinary, disturbing, upsetting. We now have evidence of a plausible biological mechanism of how mRNA vaccine may be contributing to increased cardiac events. The abstract is published in the highest impact cardiology journal so we must take these findings very seriously.”

Yet, all you and I’ve heard from the “experts” is . . . crickets . . .

What Does the VAERS Data Actually Say?

As of December 17, 2021, looking only at U.S. reports, excluding the international reporting, VAERS had received:

  • 308 cases of myocarditis among 18-year-olds
  • 252 cases among 17-year-olds
  • 226 cases in 16-year-olds
  • 256 cases in 15-year-olds
  • 193 in 14-year-olds
  • 132 in 13-year-olds
  • 108 in 12-year-olds

In total, that’s 1,475 cases of myocarditis in U.S. teens aged 18 and younger—five times the background rate in just six months! And again, this does not take into account the underreporting rate, which has been calculated to be anywhere from five to 40.

The CDC claimed that myocarditis was a possible rare side effect of the COVID infection itself.

Now, assuming the COVID hospitalization rate for adolescents is 21 per million, and we have 73.1 million adolescents, we could expect there to be 1,535 hospitalizations for COVID in this age group in a year. If 0.146 percent of those 1,535 teens develop myocarditis (the CDC’s quoted percentage of myocarditis found in adolescents), we could expect 2.2 cases of myocarditis to occur in this age group each year, among those who come down with COVID.

In summary, based on CDC statistics, we could expect just over two teens to contract myocarditis from COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, we have 1,475 cases reported following the COVID vaccination in just six months (shots for 12- to 17-year-olds were authorized July 30, 2021). That’s a pretty big difference.

Based on the data we have in the last 12 months, there is absolutely no medical rationale or justification for children and teens to get a COVID shot. It’s all risk and no gain. 

And, as an adult, unless you are very high risk with diabetes, asthma, heart disease, morbid obesity, I’d think twice about getting a booster.

If your child experiences any symptoms of a cardiac or cardiovascular problem, seek immediate medical attention.

In my clinic, we use the following protocols to treat the elevated D-Dimer and lessen the adverse effect on the heart.

  1. Colchicine 0.6 mg daily
  2. Resveratrol 250-500 mg daily
  3. Vitamin D 2000-5000 IU daily

I’ve written about the potential risks of vaccination here and here. Want additional information? Listen to Collette Martin’s testimony before the Louisiana State Senate about this issue last month:

Sources:

  1. OpenVAERS Myocarditis cases by age as of Dec. 17, 2021
  2. Louisiana Government Archived Videos 2021 (see Health and Welfare)
  3. Louisiana Health and Welfare Committee Meeting, Dec. 6, 2021
  4. Dare to Seek the Truth Dr. Peter McCullough
  5. SteveKirsch.substack, Dec. 30, 2021
  6. Journal Pre-proof, A Report on Myocarditis Adverse Events in the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)
  7. Census.gov 2020 Statistics
  8. CDC MMWR Sept. 3, 2021; 70(35);1228–1232
  9. https://vdmeta.com/
  10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8714120/
  11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8159193/

How the CDC Spins a Worthless Study to Sell a Vaccine

The CDC just published a study on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and death. The table below shows the 13 US Jurisdictions it was taken from between April 4th and July 17th, 2021.

I am now seeing a number of my medical colleagues posting information and telling my patients that they are 10 times more likely to die if they are not vaccinated based on this study. Yet, THAT IS NOT what the study shows.

In this very limited ecological study that DOES NOT take into account MULTIPLE variables linking causality to the absence of a vaccine, it is essential to understand some basic points about those with “COVID related” disease.

  1. 92% of the people in this study were not vaccinated. 8% were vaccinated.
  2. 92% of the people hospitalized were not vaccinated. 8% were vaccinated.
  3. 91% of the people who died were unvaccinated. 9% were vaccinated.

Did you notice that the rate of death is higher if you’re vaccinated?

In this study, just by the simple numbers alone, you are less likely to die if you are unvaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.

Yet, they had the audacity to state “In 13 U.S. jurisdictions, rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were substantially higher in persons not fully vaccinated compared with those in fully vaccinated persons . . .”

Well, of course the numbers are “substantially higher,” because 92% of the people that entered the study were unvaccinated! 92 is bigger than 8. We learned that in grade school . . . at least some of us did.

Yet, as you can see by the advertisement below, the CDC spins these numbers and claims that if you are vaccinated you reduce your risk of infection, hospitalization and death by 10%.

In their own study they state that six severe limitations in this study exist:

  1. Many of the “unvaccinated” were partially vaccinated
  2. Variable linkage may completely change the incident rate ratio (IRR) for which this whole study was completed.
  3. Ecological studies have never been effective in determining incident rate ratios (IRRs)
  4. Vaccine effectiveness can never be determined based on an ecological study due to such uncontrollable variables.
  5. They don’t really know if the delta variant was >50% of the cases because they didn’t check.
  6. This data only accounts for ~ 25% of the population, so you really can’t generalize the results.

What is the take home message?

This is a trash can study that is being used as propaganda to continue selling a vaccine to unsuspecting population, and the CDC knows it.

If you are a medical professional, and you’re going to try to scare my patients into getting this vaccine by touting big numbers, please read the damn study before you speak.

Liver Myths and Fatty Liver Disease

Every year, I see more and more people in my medical office with Fatty Liver Disease. I get at least two to three questions a week about it on social media sites. Fatty liver disease is now so common that many gastroenterologists are fearful that it will soon surpass viral hepatitis and alcohol use as the primary causes of cirrhosis.

Insulin resistance is the underlying driver for Fatty Liver Disease or Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).  Fatty liver disease is also called hepatic steatosis (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH) when alcohol is not the primary cause of fat accumulation in the liver.  NAFLD can progress to cirrhosis and is an important cause of cryptogenic cirrhosis. 

In fact, we are now seeing more cirrhosis from NAFLD then we see caused from Hepatitis infections or even alcohol use.  NAFLD is the driver behind the majority of cases of cirrhosis. It is 3.9 times more prevalent among Hispanics and African Americans than European Americans, and it is caused by the same metabolic processes that cause obesity and diabetes (1).

30-35% of the population in 2004 who did not drink alcohol were demonstrated to have NAFLD (2).  And, 46% of US military personnel and their families had NAFLD by ultrasound in a 2011 study (3).

Insulin Resistance & NAFLD

It is interesting to me that NAFLD is directly associated with all of the diseases caused by insulin resistance including obesity, hypertension, abnormal cholesterol and overt diabetes.

Elevated insulin responses to starches, sugars and fructose in the diet cause increased fat deposition in the fat cells (adipocytes).  As we gain weight, and our fat cells fill to capacity, the fatty tissues (largest endocrine glands in the body) begins over-production of hormones like TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6.  These hormones have an abnormal influence on the liver and the signaling of insulin from the pancreas.  Compensatory changes to handle these abnormal signals lead to increased glucose production from the liver and increased insulin from the pancreas.  This abnormal signaling causes increase triglcyeride (TG) deposition in the liver and increased deposition of non-esterified cholesterol in the liver (4).  Secondary oxidative injury from non-esterification of cholesterol, elevated hepatic iron, leptin resistance, antioxidant deficiencies and changes in intestinal bacteria all seem to play a part in the orchestration of fatty deposition in the liver.  This, concert of changes hormonaly and metabolically, leads to liver enlargement and can progress to non-alcoholic cirrhosis. 

Figure 1 – Interplay between glucose and lipid metabolism in the PRIM and SEC models of NAFLD. Liver-specific overexpression of SREBP-1c and increased hepatic DNL in the PRIM mouse model leads to accumulation of DAGs and triacylglycerols (TAG) and development of NAFLD. NAFLD in PRIM associates with decreased insulin signaling and higher hepatic glucose output. On the one hand, mitochondrial oxidative capacity (O2 flux) is increased under fasted conditions while emission of ROS remains unchanged. ChREBP-mediated lipogenesis in adipose tissue and fat mass are increased, which could protect from hyperglycemia and peripheral IR. On the other hand, SEC mice are characterized by loss of adipose tissue and ectopic lipid (DAG, TAG) accumulation in both liver and skeletal muscle. Moreover, accumulation of extrahepatic lipids in SEC but not intrahepatic lipids in PRIM associates with portal and lobular inflammation of the liver. In SEC, hepatic O2 flux is increased under fed conditions as well as systemic oxidative stress. Liver and skeletal muscle are both characterized by decreased insulin sensitivity. alb, albumin; AP2, adipocyte P2. (4).

How do you know if you have fatty liver disease? 

Elevated liver enzymes (AST and ALT) by 10-100 points are usually the first signal.  This is confirmed by ultrasound or CT scan of the abdomen.  Diagnostic imaging reveals a heterogenous texture (sandy or speckled appearance of a liver) that is often enlarged about 20% of the time – Liver width of > 18 cm). 

When liver enzymes are elevated for an unknown reason, the following lab testing is essential:

  • Anti-Hepatitis C virus antibody
  • Hepatitis A IgG
  • Hepatitis B surface antigen
  • Hep B surface antibody
  • Hep B core antibody
  • Plasma Iron
  • Ferritin
  • Total Iron Binding Capacity
  • Serum gammaglobulin levels
  • ANA titier
  • Anti-smooth muscle antibody
  • Anti-liver/kidney microsomal antibody-1

These tests should all be completed to rule out viral and auto-immune forms of hepatitis. 

Historically, most physicians had no idea why fatty liver disease starts happening. And, many physicians not well versed in how insulin resistance works metabolically, still don’t know why fatty liver disease occurs.

Because of what we now know about how insulin affects the fat cells, and the adverse effects of cholesterol oxidation, we have a much better understanding. This understanding now makes it possible to reverse fatty liver disease.

We aggressively treat insulin resistance in my office, and I have repeatedly seen fatty liver disease completely resolve in 12 months with the use of a ketogenic or carnivorous diet.   In fact, I’ve seen fatty liver disease reversed thousands of times over the last 20 plus years of my practice. 

Myth #1

“Liver cleanses or detoxes are important for daily health especially if you over indulge.”  

Though liver cleanses are packaged to claim that they’re a cure-all for daily liver health and overindulgence, I DO NOT recommend them.  These products and mixtures are not regulated by the FDA, and thus are not uniform and have not been adequately tested in any clinical trials. 

It has been my clinical experience over the last 20 years that liver cleanses actually do more harm than good.  While some common ingredients in liver cleanses have been shown to have positive results — milk thistle has been shown to mildly decrease liver inflammation, and turmeric extract has been shown to protect against liver injury by helping to stabilize glucose signaling — there have not been adequate clinical trial data in humans to recommend the routine use of these natural compounds for prevention.

As for overindulgence of alcohol or food, less is always best when it comes to liver health, and cleanses have not been proven to rid your body of damage from excess consumption.  The best way to cleans your liver is an 18-24 hour fast.

Myth #2

“Liver cleanses are a safe and health way to lose weight.” 

Many liver detoxification products are sold as weight loss cleanses. However, there is absolutely no clinical data to support the efficacy of these cleanses. In fact, some dietary supplements can actually cause harm to the liver by leading to drug-induced injury.  Any of these products should be used with great skepticism and caution.

Myth #3

“You cannot protect yourself against liver disease.” 

Contrary to this myth, there are many preventative methods to protect yourself from liver disease. 

  • Don’t drink alcohol in excess. In fact, abstinence is a fantastic way to avoid liver disease from alcohol.  However, if you must drink, limit your consumption to no more than two drinks per day.
  • Avoid simple sugars.  Carbohydrates and sugars contain fructose. Fructose is metabolized identically to alcohol in the liver.  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is driven by increased consumption of sugar, fruit juices and fruit.  Fatty liver disease can be reversed in 12 months with the use of a ketogenic diet. 
  • Avoid risky behaviors like illicit drug use, having unprotected sex with multiple partners or getting a tattoo in an unregulated setting. These behaviors increase the risk of acquiring viral hepatitis. 

Myth #4

“Liver cleanses can correct existing liver damage.” 

Liver cleanses have NEVER been proven to treat existing liver damage. However, if you already have liver disease, talk to your doctor about treatments know to be very effective in treatment of liver disease. 

  • Hepatitis A & B – vaccines exist that are very effective in prevention of these forms of hepatitis.
  • Oral medications are available to treat Hepatitis B infections. 
  • Hepatitis C – Very effective and well tolerated oral medications are available to treat those with hepatitis C.
  • Alcoholic Liver Disease – Discontinue all alcohol to provide the best chance of recovery. The liver has an amazing ability to heal, and recover once the damage has stopped. 
  • Non-alcoholic Liver Disease – The most effective method to reverse non-alcoholic liver disease is to cut out all simple sugars and starches from the diet. Use a ketogenic or carnivorous diet.

Myth #5

“Obesity does not increase your risk of liver disease.”   

This is the biggest myth of all.  The media has begun to push “healthy obesity” as a mindset.  Obesity increases your risk of fatty liver disease by 30-50%. If Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) persists, this can cause fibrosis and cirrhosis later in life.  NAFLD is increasing rapidly and may surpass the prevalence of Hepatitis C in the next 20 years. 

Ultimately, the best thing you can do to keep your liver healthy is to treat it well. Avoid frequent overconsumption of sugary and starchy foods and alcohol, maintain a healthy low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diet and exercise regimen, and get screened if you have liver disease risk factors. If you do have liver damage, work with your physician to come up with the healthiest and safest plan for your personal needs.

References:

  1. Browning JD, Kumar KS, Saboorian MH, Thiele DL.  Ethnic differences in the prevalence of cryptogenic cirrhosis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2004 Feb;99(2):292-8. PubMed:15046220
  2. Browning JD, Szczepaniak LS, Dobbins R, Nuremberg P, Horton JD, Cohen JC, Grundy SM, Hobbs HH. Prevalence of hepatic steatosis in an urban population in the United States: impact of ethnicity.  Hepatology. 2004;40(6):1387. PMID:15565570
  3. Williams CD, Stengel J, Asike MI, Torres DM, Shaw J, Contreras M, Landt CL, Harrison SA.  Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis among a largely middle-aged population utilizing ultrasound and liver biopsy: a prospective study. Gastroenterology. 2011;140(1):124. Epub 2010 Sep 19. PMID: 20858492
  4. Jelenik T, et al. Mechanisms of Insulin Resistance in Primary and Secondary Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver. Diabetes 2017 Aug; 66(8): 2241-2253.  Published online 2017 May 10. doi: 10.2337/db16-1147

A Little Insight Into Your Colonoscopy Prep

What happens when you drink 10 oz of Magnesium Citrate?

I’m so glad you asked…

12:05 pm: It’s time. You shotgun a 10 oz bottle like it’s a lukewarm Power-aide because you don’t want to be a pansy in front of your brother’s friends.

It’s suppose to be lemon flavored, however, it’s quite clear that whoever led the Wal-Mart R&D team that day has never actually tasted anything remotely like lemons in their life.

You are already regretting this decision.

12:06 pm: You splurge, and down a cupcake like you’ve been saving it for the apocalypse because let’s face it…that special time is here.

You know it’s going to turn to liquid before it even clears your throat but you really don’t care.

All is right in the world at this moment. . .

However, hold on to that thought because you’re about to enter a very dark period in your life.

12:37 pm: First sign of ‘movement.’ The pressure is growing.

You know that you already have 5 lbs of impacted stool in your colon, and you just drank the “safe for humans” version of Drano.

You feel a movement coming on finally. You think it’s time. . . You’re wrong.

You get a little snaked band of poop . . . just a teaser, an appetizer if you will.

And yet, beware . . . this is the last semi-solid thing you will see leave your body for the next 24 hours.

12:57 pm: That little science experiment you started cooking 52 minutes ago is about to reach it’s boiling point.

Your stomach is angry now. It hates you…you can feel it.

You have exactly three tenths of a second to make it to the nearest toilet but you can’t run . . . do not run, NEVER run!

You pray to the Man Above that there is enough elasticity in your rectum to keep the gates closed for five more steps as you start to preemptively undo your pants to save valuable time.

Almost there.

3…2…1…

12:58 pm: Sweet Mary,…is this real life?!!!!

Your cheeks barely hit the seat and all hell breaks loose.

The mixture coming out of your colon exits with such force that it actually sprays the back of the toilet bowl at a 45 degree angle, deflecting in every direction but down.

Is that blood? WHEW! NO, False alarm. Oh, wait, that’s the remnants of a cherry pie you ate at Thanksgiving . . . when you were 5 years old.

The smell is horrid . . .the sound is deafening . . . the look on your spouse’s face is frightening.

You try to clench what’s left of your rectal orifice to soften the blow but it’s just not working.

The whole house just heard you expel gas as if someone ignited a propane tank . . . followed by the sound of liquefied . . . holy cow, what was that?!

1:06 pm- 8:30 pm: Everything’s a blur. You have pooped out everything you have ever eaten since the day of your birth. You feel like you even passed things your ancestors ate in the early 1800’s. Your rectum feels like a flaming hot Cheeto shedding the tears of a thousand Jalapeno seeds.

You curl up in the bathtub while ugly crying because you have to remain within arm’s reach of the toilet at all times.

You have now experience the poop sweats. And then, you meet Jesus.

8:37 pm: Your family will never be able to unsee the things they’ve seen in the last 8 hours.

You’re broken.

Your rectum will never be the same again.

Your spirit’s broken.

Life as you know it will never be the same. However, . . . tomorrow’s a new day.

You’re going to wake up, throw on the only remaining pair of underwear you have that doesn’t have permanent racing stripe, and you’re going to run up to the nearby Target with the last shred of dignity you have left . . .

And, you buy yourself a new toilet brush. You’ve earned it.

Vaccine Guidance Got You Confused?

Do you find yourself confused about mixed guidance when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and safety concerns?  You’re not alone.  Even we, as physicians, struggle to wade through the ever changing guidance, research and new adverse events popping up every day.

Today, the Surgeon General recommended that we as physicians try to calm your concerns about the vaccine and encourage you to get it. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Surgeon General are marketing widespread use of the emergency-use vaccines in the U.S. for both old and young alike, many other countries are limiting COVID-19 vaccine use. Health officials around the world are giving varying advice on safety issues as COVID-19 vaccines are given to more people, and more information can be collected.

Below are summaries of some of the concerns as of July 15th, 2021, that have emerged or been raised by medical officials around the world.  I’ve written about many of them.  Hopefully, this summary gives you a good 30,000 foot perspective.

General

Fifty-seven authors from 17 countries have signed an endorsement urging that Covid-19 vaccinations be stopped unless new safety mechanisms are immediately implemented.

The authors include Dr. Peter McCullough, cardiologist and Vice Chief of Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, who has called for a halt to vaccinating 30-year olds due to “no clinical benefit” and safety concerns.

In the United Kingdom, some scientists analyzed adverse event reports and called upon the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to stop the Covid-19 vaccines as “not safe for human use” due to reports of issues with bleeding/clotting, pain, immune system, neurological, loss of sight/hearing/smell/speech, and questions about impact in pregnant women.

A petition of scientists led by Linda Wastila, Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is calling for Covid-19 vaccines to be disapproved.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome Autoimmune Paralysis

As of July 13th, 2021, the FDA issued a warning about Guillain-Barre autoimmune paralysis, in which the immune system attacks the body’s nerves, after immunization with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. According to reports, the cases have primarily been reported about two weeks after vaccination, mostly in men, and “any aged 50 and older.” The risk of contracting this syndrome is 3-5 times higher, meaning up to 10 out of every 100,000 vaccinated persons are at risk.

Numerous case reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome paralysis after Covid-19 vaccine have prompted scientists to warn that “all physicians” should be “vigilant in recognizing Guillain-Barre syndrome in patients who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.”  Observations suggest that “this clinically distinct [Guillain-Barre syndrome] variant is more severe than usual and may require mechanical ventilation.”

In the U.K., scientists flagged “bifacial weakness and normal facial sensation in four men between 11 and 22 days after their first doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine.” A case has also been reported in a patient who got the Pfizer vaccine. In India, there are reports of seven severe cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome 10 to 14 days after the first dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Six were women, all had facial paralysis, “all progressed to quadriplegia, and six required respiratory support. Patients’ ages ranged from 43 to 70. Four developed other cranial neuropathies, including abducens palsy and trigeminal sensory nerve involvement.”

Guillain-Barre syndrome has been reported after other mRNA vaccinations like Gardasil. The cause is believed to be damage to the immune system. The disorder can be extremely serious and can lead to total paralysis with dependence on artificial respiration. Even those who recover may have serious muscle wasting and may have to slowly teach the body to relearn most every normal task, such as walking.

Statistically, one in 20 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome is fatal.

Heart Issues

The Food and Drug Administration has added a new warning to Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines about risk of heart inflammation.

As of June of 2021, CDC said that more than 1,200 cases of heart inflammation (myocarditis of pericarditis) in young people had been reported after Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccination.

  • More than half were after the second dose.
  • Most of the injuries are in males under age 30.

The Israeli Ministry of Health announced it’s monitoring for heart inflammation after Pfizer’s vaccine due to reports of problems.

Myocarditis and Other Cardiovascular Complications of the mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccines [Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna] in a number of patients are described in a scientific article:

  • Two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis
  • One patient with stress cardiomyopathy 
  • Two patients with pericarditis 

According to the research: 

  • The two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis were otherwise healthy young men who presented with acute substernal chest pressure and/or dyspnea after receiving the second dose of the vaccine and were found to have diffuse ST elevations on electrocardiogram (ECG), elevated cardiac biomarkers and inflammatory markers, and mildly reduced left ventricular (LV) function on echocardiography. Both patients met the modified Lake Louise Criteria for acute myocarditis by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. 
  • A case of stress cardiomyopathy occurred in a 60-year-old woman with known coronary artery disease (CAD) and previously normal LV function, who presented with new exertional symptoms, ECG changes, and apical akinesis following the second dose of the vaccine. 
  • The two patients with pericarditis who presented with chest pain, elevated inflammatory markers, and pericardial effusions after receiving the vaccine.

Blood Clots

In late June, the first case of a blood clot disorder called “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia” after an RNA double-dose vaccine was been reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The case was that of a 65-year-old man who developed symptoms ten days after his second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Because the blood clot disorder was not previously warned about in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, doctors treated the patient with heparin, the very drug that’s not supposed to be used in post-vaccine patients suffering from the disorder because it could actually worsen the condition.

The Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine was temporarily removed from the market in the U.S. on April 16, 2021 while health officials studied reports of blood clot injuries. Among them was an 18-year old teen named Emma Burkey, who got sick about a week after the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and ended up having three brain surgeries related to blood clots and seizures.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was allowed back on the market April 27, 2021 with new warnings about the disorder.

Swedish health officials determined that people under age 65 should not get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine due to reports of blood clots.

An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended women under age 50 avoid the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns about blood clots. The recommendation discussed 12 case reports of a blood disorder known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia following the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (not currently approved in the U.S.) has been linked to a dangerous disorder involving blood clots with low blood platelets. On April 7, 2021, the European Medicines Agency says it made the association after it analyzed 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis reported in the EU drug safety database (EudraVigilance) as of March 22, 2021. Eighteen of these cases of were fatal.

An otherwise healthy South Florida doctor, Gregory Michael, died of a brain hemorrhage 16 days after he got Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Authorities concluded he died of a blood disorder called “immune thrombocytopenia” (ITP) that can prevent blood from clotting and cause internal bleeding. His wife said a blood test showed the level of his platelets to be at “zero.” She said before the shot, Dr. Michael had “absolutely no medical issues” and no underlying conditions. However, authorities later categorized his death as “natural.”

Dr. Charles Hoffe, a Canadian physician with 28 years of medical practice, was relived from hospital duty and placed on a gag order after sounding the alarm that 62% of the 900 dose of the Moderna Vaccine he gave in his office caused an elevated D-Dimer test, implying microscopic clotting throughout the body.

I’ve personally seen and treated five patients with elevated D-dimer and abnormal blood clotting post COVID-19 vaccination in the last 6 months. These clots have occurred with 4 hours to 2 weeks after vaccination in otherwise healthy patients with no other risk of clotting.

In Spain, the AstraZeneca shot has been restricted in people under age 60 due to reports of blood clots in younger people.

Bulgaria, Iceland and Norway have halted AstraZeneca shots. 

Austria, Italy and Romania banned certain “lots” or batches of the AstraZeneca shots.

Denmark stopped using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccine after investigations into blood clots, saying “the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine.”

The Italian government recently restricted AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to adults over age 60 after a teenager who got the shot died from a rare form of blood clotting. Eighteen-year-old Camilla Canepa died after getting vaccinated May 25, 2021. 

Several other European countries have also stopped giving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to people below a certain age, usually ranging from 50 to 65. 

Grave’s disease Autoimmune Disorder

Studies in Mexico and Turkey link the autoimmune thyroid disorder Grave’s disease to Covid-19 vaccination in numerous female health care workers, including two who were breastfeeding. Pfizer-BioNTech was the vaccine given in Mexico. A Chinese vaccine was given in Turkey. Read more here.

Frail & Elderly

Health officials in Norway sounded the alarm after 23 patients died shortly after getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. They advise doctors to use caution in administering the shot to “very frail elderly patients.” 

After investigating 13 of the deaths, the Norwegian authorities concluded that common side effects from so-called “RNA” vaccines may be too much for a frail elderly person to handle, and may contribute to their death. 

“There is a possibility that these common adverse reactions, that are not dangerous in fitter, younger patients and are not unusual with vaccines, may aggravate underlying disease in the elderly,” said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

CDC said it is monitoring the impact of the vaccines on already-frail patients such as the chronically ill in nursing homes.

Several clusters of elderly patients in U.S. nursing homes died after Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. In one group, a number of the patients who died tested positive for Covid-19 after vaccination.

Pregnant Women

Several Brazilian states suspended use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women in May 2021 after a pregnant woman died after getting vaccinated. The decisions follow the recommendation of the country’s National Health Surveillance Agency, which recommended “immediate suspension” of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women after results of vaccine adverse events monitoring in the country.

CDC says that with limited data on impact of Covid-19 vaccine in pregnant women and on their unborn children, the decision on whether to vaccinate while pregnant is an individual decision to be made between a woman and her physician.

Previously-Infected

CDC falsely claimed that studies showed Covid-19 vaccines are effective for those who already had Covid-19. In fact, studies showed the opposite.

Manufacturing Problems

On June 11, the European Union’s drug regulator announced it will not use batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that were made at a Baltimore, Maryland-based plant around the time that cross-contamination manufacturing problems were reported at the facility.

Anonymous sources claimed that up to 60 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine had to be thrown out. But the FDA issued a news release saying that two batches from the Baltimore plant were safe to use. The FDA said “several other batches are not suitable for use, but additional batches are still under review.”

Lack of Immunity

Israel announced that about half of the adults infected with Covid-19 during its outbreak in the June 2021 time period were fully vaccinated. The fully-vaccinated individuals had gotten Pfizer’s shots.

According to Epoch Times, in June 2021 nearly 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts tested positive for Covid-19. On April 30, “the CDC reported that some 10,626 breakthrough cases were reported in 46 states and territories.” Breakthrough cases are where fully vaccinated people still end up infected with Covid-19.

Scientists hoped that Covid-19 vaccines would be effective in variants of Covid-19, which are mutations that occur naturally with viruses and were always expected with Covid-19. However, the vaccine effectiveness against variants may be limited. CDC and vaccine makers are studying the medical landscape to find out more. Other states, such as Maine, are noting Covid-19 deaths occurring in fully vaccinated people.

The Ambulance Down in the Valley

Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,

Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;

But over its terrible edge there had slipped

A duke and full many a peasant.

So the people said something would have to be done,

But their projects did not at all tally;

Some said, “Put a fence ’round the edge of the cliff,”

Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,

For it spread through the neighboring city;

A fence may be useful or not, it is true,

But each heart became full of pity

For those who slipped over the dangerous cliff;

And the dwellers in highway and alley

Gave pounds and gave pence, not to put up a fence,

But an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right, if you’re careful,” they said,

“And, if folks even slip and are dropping,

It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much

As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”

So day after day, as these mishaps occurred,

Quick forth would those rescuers sally

To pick up the victims who fell off the cliff,

With their ambulance down in the valley.

Then an old sage remarked: “It’s a marvel to me

That people give far more attention

To repairing results than to stopping the cause,

When they’d much better aim at prevention.

Let us stop at its source all this mischief,” cried he,

“Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally;

If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense

With the ambulance down in the valley.”

“Oh he’s a fanatic,” the others rejoined,

“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!

He’d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;

No! No! We’ll support them forever.

“Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?

And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?

“Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence,

While the ambulance works in the valley?”

But the sensible few, who are practical too,

Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;

They believe that prevention is better than cure,

And their party will soon be the stronger.

Encourage them then, with your purse, voice, and

And while other philanthropists dally,

They will scorn all pretense, and put up a stout fence

On the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young than reclaim them when old,

For the voice of true wisdom is calling.

“To rescue the fallen is good, but ’tis best

To prevent other people from falling.”

Better close up the source of temptation and crime

Than deliver from dungeon or galley;

Better put a strong fence ’round the top of the cliff

Than an ambulance down in the valley.

By Joseph Malin

The Vaccine Passport Power Grab

I’ve been warning over the last 13 months about the slippery slope we are on as we’ve watched our freedoms being pushed away from us under the flag of “safety for all.” I am horrified to see that this has led down the road to fascism in the form of a “vaccine passport.”

It has been stated by a famous Democratic politician that a “good crisis should never go to waste.” And, this crisis is no different.

Let me start with a few things that others will probably get wrong about me. First, I am in favor of safe and effective vaccines. Because the Coronavirus vaccines were released under emergency conditions, I have been closely watching the safety profiles of the four coronavirus vaccine manufacturers. We are still not out of the woods, and there are still a number of questions that need to be answered for those of us with severe allergic reactions to other vaccines or medications, but these vaccines are effective at reducing disease severity.

As a practicing physician with over 20 years of experience who was trained at The Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, I am dual boarded in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine. Vaccines and preventative health for families and children is the bread and butter of my practice for the last 21 years. Vaccines are a wonder of medicine in the last 100 years. The ability of our nation to move forward with a series of vaccines to prevent illness in those at greatest risk is a modern marvel.

Second, I served as the chemical & biological warfare medical specialist for my AirForce Reserve medical unit. My job was to be prepared for all types of viral, bacterial and chemical exposures for the soldiers and pilots in my unit. I’ve spent years studying deadly viral, bacterial and chemical substances that can kill, maim and cause severe illness and appropriate prevention and treatment for those illnesses.

Third, I am strongly in favor of people making their own medical and person decisions. My job as a physician is to educate my patients on the risks and benefits and help them to make informed medical decisions. I completed a Health Policy Fellowship through the American Osteopathic Association and studied the effect of Health Policy on the individual and collective health freedoms of cultures around the world.

We know that by early summer, everyone in America will have been eligible for a vaccine. Between those who took the vaccine or those who have had COVID-19 infections, there is no doubt, herd immunity will have been reached and the danger from COVID-19 will be low. As of today, the CDC admits (though the deeply entrenched bureaucrat, Dr. Fauci, denies it) that those who have been vaccinated (and those who have been sick) are not getting sick and they are not passing the disease on to others. (1,2, 3)

This concept alone makes the idea of a Vaccine Passport a horrible idea, as it will have no impact on anyone and will destroy the freedoms we as Americans have experienced since the 1700’s.

A vaccine passport would determine your social suitability to engage in you everyday life.

  • Want to get some groceries? Show your vaccine card.
  • Want to get a burger at the restaurant? Show your vaccine card.
  • I recently registered to attend a conference in Las Vegas, but you cannot attend if you don’t have a vaccine card.
  • Want to go to a concert? Did you tell the government what vaccines you’ve had this month?
  • Want to travel or take a cruise? “Vaccine papers, please!”

We cannot let government tyrants and media fear-mongers push us into accepting this horrible idea that we need someone’s permission to live our lives.

As Senator Rand Paul recently stated in an article that inspired me to write this blog post, “I know for a fact, they want to keep this power. We should never have let them take it in the first place in the form of lockdowns, mandates and closings.

“Now that we know those didn’t work, and that they intend to keep pushing anti-science, anti-freedom ideas, we must resist.” (1)

We were told last June that schools are safe for children, yet many are still closed. Families and children have been irreparably harmed in many cases. Learning has fallen to an all time low, depression and suicide are on the rise at an alarming rate.

All of this has been created under the guise of “worshiping at the alter of government power.” (1)

We know that Lockdowns, mask mandates and closures caused huge loss in jobs, businesses and homes. And, we know that they didn’t work. They were ineffective. And, in many cases harmful.

Get a vaccine if you think you need it or you want it. Then throw away your mask, demand that the schools open back up, and live your lives free of government mandate and interference.

In the words of Sen. Paul, “Burn your vaccine passport if they try to give it to you, and vote out any politician who won’t do the same.” (1)

Reference:

  1. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/546412-we-must-resist-the-latest-covid-era-power-grab-the-vaccine
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33219229/ 
  3. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.488.4644&rep=rep1&type=pdf

What is Your Release Valve?

Twice a week I join up with my HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) group and sword fight. My wife and I participated with group sparing yesterday. It is a wonderful group of peeps.

We all live very stressful lives. Stresses come in the form of phone calls, getting cut off in traffic, and angry outbursts from people around us. These short bursts of stress act like a bear chasing you through the woods. Every time that “fight or flight” signal kicks in, it is the physiological equivalent of eating a donut. Literally.

If you don’t already, you need a physical release valve. You must have a physical outlet 3-6 days per week to burn off the accumulating adrenalin and cortisol or your anxiety, depression and fatigue will overwhelm you. Research shows that progressive repetitive daily bouts of stress that aren’t physically dissipated leads to weight gain, anxiety and depression.


(After 50 years, I’ve finally figured out how to relax . . .)

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