Dr. James Stein, MD from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, praised the JUPITER study for exposing the fact that current therapeutic LDL-cholesterol levels are not only arbitrary, but are in fact a poor indicator of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. ?Most patients with heart attacks have normal cholesterol values,? he stated. With the cholesterol theory crumbling the industry is under intense pressure to come up with a new risk factor, and one that can be treated with the same statin drugs they have invested so much money in. Enter Dr. Ridker and C-reactive protein (CRP). Ridker has been pushing treating CRP with statins for years. But is CRP a risk factor? A National Panel on CRP found no evidence treating CRP levels will improve survival rates (www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/story.cfm?id=182). Elevated CRP levels are associated with many things including; anger, stress, arthritis, cancer, lupus, pneumonia, TB, oral contraceptive use, pregnancy, heart attacks, surgery, trauma, intense exercise, etc. It?s a marker for disease, not the cause. But since statins lower CRP levels slightly, you can count on CRP becoming the new cholesterol. The public will be made to fear CRP, be tested for it, and be put on dangerous statins to lower it. What a racket.

In a large percentage of animals, females are only fertile during a brief period of time surrounding ovulation. For the males of these species, this period promotes mating behavior. There is evidence that shows that males can actually smell when a female is ovulating. Recent studies indicate that the olfactory sense may play a large role in human attraction and mating also.

The researchers performed two separate but related experiments. In the first scenario, the scientists gave four women plain, white T-shirts. The women wore the shirts when they slept over three days during ovulation or late follicular phase. Five days later, the women again wore T-shirts for three days when they slept during the luteal phase, which is far from ovulation. At the end of every night sleep the shirts were collected and put in bags separately then frozen.

In the second experiment, the scientists added an extra variable: fresh T-shirts that hadn’t been worn by anyone, which were also placed in bags.

The researchers asked dozens of men to stick their noses into the bags. As the men sniffed the shirts, scientists sampled the participants’ saliva, which was used to measure testosterone. Men who smelled the shirts of ovulating women in the first experiment had, on average, testosterone levels that were 37 percent higher than the men who smelled the shirts of non-ovulating women. For the second experiment, the testosterone levels of the men who smelled the T-shirts of ovulating women were, on average, 15 percent higher than men who sniffed the two other T-shirt samples.
(Psycological Science)

The male offspring of rats fed diets containing genistein, a chemical found in soybeans, developed abnormal reproductive organs and had sexual dysfunction as adults. This finding may indicate a need for further research to determine whether exposure to genistein while in the womb and during breastfeeding influences human reproductive development, according to researchers.

Researchers found that while the sperm counts of genistein-exposed males were normal, they had smaller testes and a larger prostate gland than unexposed rats. They also had lower testosterone levels and were less likely to ejaculate than unexposed rats.

The effects of genistein exposure continued long after the rats were exposed, leading researchers to say that exposure during reproductive development may have negative, long-term consequences in males.

It is thought that genistein may act as an estrogen or an anti-androgen, blocking the function of the sex hormones, known as endogenous androgens, necessary for males to develop a normal reproductive system.
(J urol2003;169(4):1582-6)

Any man or woman with a functioning sex organ and a mind experiences sexual desire and can describe it. Yet, if you ask 10 people to describe their level of sex drive and what makes them “randy,” you’ll get 10 different answers. Despite these differences, all 10 will agree — they want more of it.

The human sex drive is so intense, and having sex is so pleasurable, people are willing to do almost anything to heighten or improve their sexual desires and experiences. This includes engaging in activities that risk and possibly ruin their personal and professional lives. But this is nothing new. People have been seeking ways to improve their sex lives for thousands of years.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to see so many ads for sexual enhancement. You can buy everything from creams and pills to various contraptions, but does this stuff work? Can you increase your libido or performance? Does hormone therapy work? Does the size of a man’s johnson matter? And if it does, can you make it bigger just by taking a pill? Can over-the-counter products help erectile dysfunction?

In this recent article, Sexual Rx: The research, I have made a compilation of interesting studies I’ve seen over the last year or so I thought readers would find interesting.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

A recent meta-analysis with almost 347,747 subjects assessed the correlation between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Conclusion: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat. Gee, wonder what those nutrients could be…vegetable oil anyone. (Wise Traditions Spring 2010;11(1):15) (Amer J Clin Nutr)

Take note of the lack of fan fare for studies going against established dogma like the lipid hypothesis. Did you see this study’s results in magazines or TV? The mainstream media deems studies like this to be politically incorrect. None-the-less,the lipid hypothesis is simply archaic and untenable.

I am a voracious reader and I only consider several of the many, many book I’ve read to be as powerful and life altering as Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy. A culmination of 25 years of research and thousands of hours of seminars, Maximum Achievement is a “How to” guide to better every aspect of your life.

You will learn that success starts on the inside. Brian Tracy lists the first of “The Seven Ingredients of Success”, as peace of mind. When you live in harmony with your highest values and convictions and are living a perfectly balanced life, you will enjoy peace of mind. Without this first ingredient nothing is possible.

The following six ingredients build on one another and all have to do with your inner self. He explains that the seven ingredients are like targets to aim at. When you know exactly what you want, and achieve a positive, optimistic outlook, you can begin to unlock your inner powers to succeed.

The system contained within Maximum Achievement is straightforward and simple, yet profoundly practical. Practicing what you learn in this book will allow you to enjoy greater peace of mind, better health, improved personal relationships, and greater financial freedom. Your life will improve starting with your inner self.

First, life is hard. It always has been and it always will be. It’s never been any different for you or me or anyone else. The good thing is that if you accept this basic truth, life somehow becomes a little easier because you don’t suffer so much from feelings of frustration and injustice.

Second, everything you are or ever will be is up to you. You are where you are today because that is where you have chosen to be. You are always free to choose your actions, or inactions, and your life today is the sum total of your choices, good or bad. If you want your future to be different, you have to make better choices.

Third, and perhaps most important, you can learn anything you need to learn to become anyone you want to become, to achieve anything you want to achieve. There are very few limitations and most of them are on the inside, not the outside.

Brian Tracy
Maximum Achievement
Strategies ans Skills that will Unlock your Hidden Powers to Succeed

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has updated the package insert for its restless legs syndrome drug Requip. According to the new insert, Requip may cause ?pathological gambling? and ?increased libido including hypersexuality.?

These side effects are reportedly a class-wide effect, which impact all the drugs belonging to the non-ergoline dopamine agonist class of drugs. The insert reads:
?Impulse control symptoms, including compulsive behaviors such as pathological gambling and hypersexuality, have been reported in patients treated with dopaminergic agents.?

Another RLS drug, Mirapex (which is also used to treat Parkinson?s disease), has reported similar symptoms. The Mirapex package insert reads:
?Patients taking certain medicines to treat Parkinson?s disease or RLS, including Mirapex . . . have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive.?

A 2005 study published in the Archives of Neurology also found that dozens of patients using Mirapex or similar drugs developed serious gambling addictions.

Hundreds of people have reportedly contacted lawyers about joining class-action lawsuits that allege Mirapex and Requip caused unusual side effects such as compulsive gambling, shopping, painting and eating.
(Arch Neurol 2005;62(9):1377-1381)