Celinda Lake: Why Dems Lost, Reps Won: #LayoftheLand - 2016 Elections - Big Picture, and a Word on Health

Why Dems Lost, Reps Won: Lay of the Land

Laura H Russell@LauraHRussell  Yesterday

#LayoftheLand: Election Highlights by Pollster Celinda Lake -

See this Twitter Moment for a summary of election highlights, and a word on health.

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NIH Precision Medicine Patient Engagement & Health Equity Work Group, July 1-2, 2015

Storify: NIH Precision Medicine Advisory Committee Work Group on Patient Engagement & Health Equity July 1-2, 2015

Click here for highlights from the Meeting, comments, questions and tweets.

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Laura H Russell @LauraHRussell

Excited to be at NHI #PMINetwork Meeting on Participant Engagement and Health Equity and meet all working for health

11:01 AM - 1 Jul 2015

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LET'S GET HEALTHIER AGAIN! 1 MINUTE VIDEO

Laura Henze Russell on Health, Chronic Disease & Hidden River Health Challenge, a project of Ocean River Institute

WELCOME! HIDDEN RIVER'S PATHS TO GOOD HEALTH, MAKING CHRONIC DISEASES HISTORY

What We Do To Help Others:

• engage people of all ages, stages, walks of life

• learn about genes and toxins, common causes of chronic diseases 

• understand our own health information

• share what we learn with others

• take actions to help ourselves and others

• reach out to health care stakeholders, patient advocacy and other device illness groups, and innovators in patient care, health apps, precision medicine, biotech, digital health, big data

What We Do to Help Ourselves:

• work with functional/integrative/environmental MDs, biologic/holistic/mercury-safe dentists

• get appropriate, helpful tests (biocompatibility, allergy, genetics, heavy metals, toxins)

• separate ourselves from exposures - in our bodies, homes, schools, workplaces, yards 

• get supportive treatment from knowledgeable professionals, monitor & curate our health

• build supportive communities so we share, give and receive support and help

• ask questions, advocate, communicate, innovate, thrive!

We Get Healthy, and We Change Policy Together

ATLANTA WSB-TV2 INVESTIGATES: Are Fillings in Your Mouth Toxic?

Here is a jaw dropper from Atlanta WSB-TV2 on May 18, 2015

Atlanta WSB-TV2 Investigates: Are Fillings in Your Mouth Toxic?
">WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO NOW


Atlanta WSB-TV2 Investigates: Are Fillings in Your Mouth Toxic?

Genome, Toxome, Deviceome: Ultimate Selfies for Health

My comment on the CDC Blog Post, The Ultimate Selfie.

The CDC cautions against overreliance on the genome and the dangers of the "narcissome."  Instead, it should accelerate equal attention to the toxome, the exposome, the dentalome, the deviceome.

Among the early adopters of genomics are those whom mainstream top line medicine failed for years, who got sick and tired of living with inexplicable chronic diseases, and doing the best they could with "medication management" and "chronic disease management." They are discovering new learning, medical practitioners, avenues and approaches to explore, and groups to seek out peers and share experiences, initially in person and increasingly online.

We learn that looking at both sides of the equation, genetics and toxicology together, are the keys to chronic diseases, and that one can remediate bad combinations and restore healthy functioning of the body and brain.  We learn that functional medicine physicians can be more helpful than specialists for various conditions because they see they body as a whole, an integrated symphony and set of systems.  We learn that the lack of attention to biocompatibility in the human body is a  gaping whole in medical practice and regulation of installed devices, as is lack of an integrated approach to body, brain, dental and mental health.

We are working to update regulations that are nearly 50 years out of date in which patients get no labels, no written informed consent, no prior biocompatibility screening for the individual before installation of permanent medical and dental devices (while it is recommended for temporary hair color products), no entry and updating of information on our installed devices such as we get for prescription drugs and OTCs at every doctor visit.

There is a Rosetta Stone of sorts, it is to follow basic engineering principles in the body. If genetic glitches impacts one's ability to methylate and clear everyday toxins, we must be vigilant in screening them and clearing them for health. These can be biotoxins like Lyme throughout its lifecycle and coinfections, chemotoxins, metallotoxins like mercury from fillings and fish, mycotoxins like mold, etc.

Health is a powerful motivator, and reward.  As important as genomics is toxicology. As important as Precision Medicine is Precision Devices, to ensure they are right for us. This is where the easy, quick wins and big payoffs for reducing chronic disease rates begins.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION May 2015 - HELP THE TOXIC SUBSTANCE ABUSED FOR HEALTH, LOWER COSTS

1. Patient Labeling of All Installed Medical and Dental Devices

2. Funding Recovery Services for Device Related Illnesses

3. Develop Comprehensive Plan for Patient/Worker Protection, Reform

4. Urgent FDA Safety Reform of Installed  Devices, Surgeon General Report
OUTLINE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN for Patient Protection and Reform

a)      Patient Protection

i)   Follow the lead of four states and add consumer labels with warnings to the product to discourage its use by those for whom it may be harmful and written consent; the FDA has indicated state consumer laws do not violate preemption.[1]

ii)   Fund and require Medicaid to pay for alternate filling materials, as Pennsylvania does, so people can chose what is best for their children’s and their own health needs.

iii)   Require dental plans to be cost neutral on fillings, and accountable to medical necessity and patient protection laws, and require them to use of biocompatible dental materials.

iv)    Encourage integrated health and dental insurance plans to ensure oral care supports physical and cognitive health, and reduce costly externalities down the road.

v)   Require and expedite inclusion of dental materials and records in electronic medical records for review and analysis by physicians, ACOs, health insurers, HiWay, MA Health Policy Commission.

b)      Research

i)        Set up a surveillance system and reporting system as there is none functioning at the federal or state level, and include as a priority for the Health Prevention Trust Fund.

ii)       Hold hearings and survey the public as to prevalence of people who had health impacts, survey biologic dental practices and functional medicine practices to quantify numbers served with dental mercury toxicity and assess training and capacity building needs, and conduct a learning tour to get their input on steps to expand training and capacity.

iii)     Include dental insurance data in the all-claims database and analyze connections between oral health, dental materials, chronic diseases, and health and long-term care costs.

iv)     Require organ donor programs operating in Massachusetts, and all autopsies performed with state funds, to measure bioburden of mercury in the brain, heart, kidneys and liver of its donors and report to state and federal authorities, along with proximate cause of death.

c)       Systems Reform and Building Capacity

i)        Update dental and medical practice and insurance standards to confidentially screen people for genetic glitches, and for toxic burden; and/or require biocompatibility tests for dental materials.

ii)       Tax dental amalgam to equalize the costs with alternative filling materials, and neutralize the bias of dental insurance plans that base what they will pay on amalgam fillings cost.

iii)     Reboot community hospitals that have overcapacity for acute care needs as centers for the training and practice of biologic dentistry, train all dentists in mercury safe removal protocols and special safety equipment. Explore launch of a state university Biologic Dental School.

iv)     Design a new a Mass Save Health program, similar to Mass Save, helping screen people for toxins in their bodies and homes, and fund treatment and remediation, as win-win.

d)      Occupational and Environmental Risks

i)        Require dentists and staff who work chairside be tested periodically for mercury exposure. Because standard blood and urine tests only measure circulating mercury, more sensitive tests are required to rule out false negatives for non-excretors.

ii)       Require dentists and staff get special training and equipment to protect patients, staff and dentists from mercury vapor during installation, polishing and amalgam removal.

iii)     Test mercury levels in all dental offices and dental schools, and inspect all dental offices and dental schools for proper use and functioning of amalgam separators.

iv)     Require removal of amalgam from all bodies before cremation, and require installation of adequate scrubbers on crematoria, to protect people from exposure via air, water and fish.

4. Ask Delegation for Urgent FDA Safety Reform of Installed Dental and Medical Devices
5. Petition for Surgeon General Report on Dental Amalgam and Mercury Health Risks

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[1] http://www.fda.gov/downloads/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/DentalProducts/DentalAmalgam/UCM174024.pdf pp. 71-72.

WHAT ARE THE COST IMPACTS OF CHRONIC DISEASES? LUCKY AND UNLUCKY

Mercury poisoning changes your life, your family, and your future. I was unlucky to have these genetic glitches, and a lifetime of mercury dental amalgam placed, drilled out and replaced over the years.  

I was also extremely fortunate. I finally found out why I was chronically ill for two decades, and why I had serious escalating health problems. I was fortunate to find a functional medicine specialist and a biologic dentist who could treat my condition, and had the full support of my primary care physician.  My health plan has been good, although there are elements of my treatment they do not cover. 

My dental plan has not. There is no medical necessity, no patient protection in dental plans. They denied all appeals based on medical necessity. The FDA's decision to protect the amalgam industry over patient health gives them license to cover the cheapest material which contains a known neurotoxin, and not to replace it, because the FDA says it is "safe."  Imagine if your health plan did not replace a stent that was killing you, or if schools did not provide an alternative to peanut butter sandwiches for allergic children.

The only consolation is to help others avoid this fate through building awareness, reaching consumers, moving markets, and working for policy and practice change so we catch up with other nations in patient protection for health, and helping to make chronic diseases history.

Here is a Summary of the Economic Impacts (ten years 2004-2013)

Cumulative lost family income:  Well into six figures.  

Cumulative public lost federal and state taxes:  Into six figures, plus 18 months of unemployment insurance.

Excess Family Medical and Dental Expenses:  Double FSA limits (doubled from over $5,000 per year to over $10,000 per year peak).  ACA halved the FSA limit to $2,500, while expenses continue at over $5,000/year, and still face large dental bills well in excess of insurance for several years.

Excess Health Plan Medical Expenses: Significant during chronic disease phase, on multiple medications for years. Got third opinion consults in many specialties, expensive diagnostic tests and scans, major prescription expenses, chronic disease management for fibromyalgia, breast cancer surgery and treatment 14 years ago, treatment and one surgery for bone fractures resulting from balance issues, and frequent physical therapy for physical problems. In contrast, only referral now is follow up with Allergist/Functional MD.

Excess Dental Plan Expenses: Will be maxing out and exceeding plan limits for years to come.  

Excess Costs to Health Insurance Plans, and to Accountable Care Organizations: Frequent and expensive flyer in the health care system due to chronic disease and associated conditions, with expenses skyrocketing during the acute phase. Future high expenses now averted, as is early entry into the long-term care system. 

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Risk Assessment: With funding, Hidden River can develop templates, project cost-benefit scenarios, and perform risk assessments, for a variety of stakeholders in health care, including families, employers, health plans, accountable care organizations, and governments.

Family Impacts:  Not at my best during 20+ years of marriage, and raising our son. Could not have second child. Physical limitations. Recreational limitations. Increasing work limitations. Job losses. Unemployment. Exhaustion of unemployment benefits. Growing health problems, then a year of escalating medical misery. 

Please help make this needless tragedy of chronic disease and injustice history.

OLD HARD AND NEW FAST WAYS OF LEARNING ABOUT THE GENOME, THE TOXOME, AND HOME

I learned the old hard way (20+ years of chronic disease), then the new fast way about gene types and toxins: two years discovering biocompatibility issues in dentistry and medical devices, and immersion in the sciences and arts of investigative and scientific research. An economist and ethicist by training, with a new vocation and skill set by life's necessities and the fundamental urge to be well.

What am I learning? Health and chronic disease has a lot to do with methylation, and other basic biochemical and bioelectrical pathways essential for human life, animal life, probably plant life. We are the biome, the toxome, the home. Much as we like to think we are a higher being or species, our higher creative and economic capabilities come back to bite us when we ignore the fundamental economic, social, medical, environmental externalities at the scale of patient, profession, and  local, national and global levels.

It's all about luck in the gene pool, and in the toxins pool.Those with great genes can swill toxins and expel them with ease, and dance and compose magna opi in their 90s. Those with bad luck in methylation, detoxification, and immunological pathways can still be healthy - but only if they avoid toxins like the plague. Because they are ubiquitous, and stick with us given our genetic glitches, we begin the long slow decline, the long sunset, and the long goodbyes much too early, before our time.

But there is hope! We can now learn our gene types and our toxins, separate the bad from the bad, and strengthen the good.The body, brain and psyche has an astonishing capacity to heal itself when, like a computer or a car, we clean out bugs, reboot/reset electrical pathways and get things humming in the right direction again.

After being 25 years clinically older, I am now 25 years clinically younger. At 60, I may live to 101 like my grandmother relatively intact, instead of mid 80s with a horrible last few years like my mom. When my time comes I'd vote for a massive heart attack in my sleep or the ice floe or ocean to reenter the great sea and circle of life from which it began.

There are clinical trials underway in Sweden of a compound that boosts glutathione to help with metals toxicity because the FDA wouldn't grant orphan drug status. People travel even overseas for biologic dentistry because dental plans have no patient protection nor medical necessity rules, they are strictly commercial contracts that write their own rules. Health insurers would be so wise to cover biologic dentistry like any specialty, make referrals, and incorporate all things dental into EHRs.

Dental is the root of much inflammation and oxidative stress throughout the body and brain. Teeth are god's plan for mortality. Dental infections, and toxins - conveniently denied by the ADA and the FDA - cheat us of years of health, vitality, cognition and mobility. Dental mercury poisoning is acknowledged in many advanced countries, not in the USA. Toxins - bad for humans - are synergistic.

Biologic dentistry, functional medicine, integrative and holistic approaches are growing by leaps and bounds not just because they make people feel better, but because they work.

I am interested in partners for fascinating ventures. New interests include health innovation, apps and IT, wellness, chronic diseases, etiology, epidemiology, QR codes, old and new medicine, genomics, toxicology, pharmacology, cellular bio-chem-electrics, medical devices, FDA, Form 3500s, govt regulation of dentistry and medicine, self regulation of the professions, patents held by professional associations, conflicts between professional and commercial roles, civil rights, genetic rights (none where it counts in dentistry and not enough in medicine), constitutional law, health law, conflicts of interest among top regulators and industry, lobbying and campaign spending reports, media, censorship and journalism. 

RACHEL LOUISE CARSON: Google lets fly a Doodle true to ‘Silent Spring’ writer’s nature - May 27, 2014

My Comment on Today's 
Washington Post Article on Rachel Carson's Google Doodle: 

We have many scourges we have unleashed upon ourselves. We need to pick up the mantle and continue fighting not just the silent spring from pesticides, but the rising tide of chronic cognitive, immune, neurological and psychiatric diseases caused by the hidden river of toxins within us. 

The greatest scourges of our time, stealthily ravaging our bodies and minds, are mercury, mold and Lyme. They are not significantly recognized, they are not sufficiently considered and screened and tested for, and when found, they are not properly treated by the vast majority of physicians. 

Please read and share the Issue Paper: For Good Health, Integrated Care, and Making Chronic Diseases History, posted on www.hiddenriverhealthchallenge.blogspot.com. It addresses the first scourge.  

Rachel Carson was, and is my inspiration, and my muse. I organized a 1970 Earth Day cleanup in my high school, founded a local environmental organization, set up a school-based recycling center, and collected pictures for the first Dirty Dozen Campaign while a college intern at Environmental Action. 

Now we need to organize a People Day. Hidden River Health Challenge is gearing up to launch a Fishing Expedition to land the worst offenders, and celebrate the champions, of ending the scourge of dental mercury installed without our knowledge or informed written consent. Think about that. No labels No informed written consent. For a medical device. Containing a known neurotoxin. That off-gases mercury vapor with heat and abrasion, in teeth made to chew. Genetically susceptible children and adults experience great harm. It is not on our radar screen. 

The media is silent. The FDA was sued March 5th by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology and others, and no mainstream media covered the release. Congress is silent. The Obama Administration is silent. Apparently the media and politicians are even more sensitive to toxins - the ones called money, lobbying, and spin.

NOW WE LAG NEPAL! Health experts stress Mercury-free dental fillings

 

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Health experts stress Mercury-free dental fillings

KATHMANDU, MAY 27 - Public health experts have drawn the attention of the concerned authorities and public over the use of amalgam (mercury) in dental fillings, warning that it causes negative health effects including immunological, neurological and psychological problems among the people.

Organising a two-day national workshop on Mercury Free Dentistry that started from Monday, the Centre for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) along with Nepal Dental Association are planning to raise awareness among concerned dental institutions, professionals and people in general regarding the harmful impact of amalgam dental fillings on an individual’s health and promote mercury-free dentistry.

Even though Nepal is signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a legally binding treaty agreed by the world to prevent use of mercury containing products by 2020 to protect human lives and the environment from mercury pollution, and is working on a long-term action plan to phase out production, export and import of a range of mercury containing products and equipments such as thermometers, increasing use of mercury in dentistry is posing serious health risks to patients, says Ram Charitra Sah, Executive Director at CEPHED.

Dental amalgam, a combination of mercury with other metals like copper and silver, has been used for over 150 years for the treatment of tooth cavities and decay.

However, amid widespread health concerns on the use of amalgam fillings in dentistry, Western countries such as Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden have either totally banned or discouraged mercury fillings, especially for children and pregnant women.

“We need to also work on a regulatory framework and our plan to phase out amalgam in dental fillings should be our top public health priority. Nepal should work to address the possible public health and environmental implications from the increased and continuous use of amalgam dental fillings in the dental health care system of Nepal,” Sah added.

Posted on: 2014-05-27 08:48 

NOW WE LAG NIGERIA! Nigeria to Ban Dental Mercury

WorldStage News: Nigeria to Ban Dental Mercury

WorldStage Newsonline--

News Update (May 21, 2014 19:27:17pm)

The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday announced plans to phase out the use of mercury because of its effect on the environment.

Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia Mallam who spoke in Abuja at a Stakeholder Forum on Phasing Down Dental Amalgam with the theme: “Nigeria: towards a mercury free dentistry”, said mercury pollutes the environment and disrupt the ecosystem.

She also said the use of dental amalgam, a substance use in filling decayed tooth was hazardous to human health.

Mallam who was represented by the Acting Director, Pollution Control, and Environmental Health, Mr. Kasimu Bayero, said government would look for other measures that are effective, environmentally friendly, and non hazardous to human health.

She said: “The Federal Ministry of Environment has put in place measures for managing mercury issues in Nigeria among which are the phase down of dental amalgam. The 2013 Minamata Convention contains provision to address growing problems of mercury issues in dentistry such as dental amalgam.

“Mercury is one of the most poisonous elements on earth. It aggravates the environment and disrupts the ecosystem. It has significant effects on human health and the environment. The environment and health of our country remains the main concern.

The Executive Director Development and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria), Leslie Adogame explained that mercury is a toxic substance of global concern that causes significant harm to human health, wildlife and ecosystems.

He cautioned that exposure to mercury could be harmful to pregnant women and lactating mothers who expose children to mercury during breast feeding.

Adogame said: “Parental and infant mercury exposure can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, and blindness. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child’s development, delaying walking and talking and causing learning disabilities.

 “In adults, mercury poisoning can adversely affect fertility and blood pressure regulation and can cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss, and numbness of the fingers and toes. A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to mercury may also lead to heart diseases.

“Improper disposal of these mercury wastes contaminates the environment locally, downstream and globally.”

Deborah Sampson vs. Goliath: Will Sharon Make History as First Town to Call for Surgeon General Report on Mercury Health Risks?

Article 24 is expected to come up on the second night, Tuesday May 6th, at Town Meeting at the Sharon High School Auditorium. Non-residents must request permission in advance to attend Town Meeting.

Watch Russell's Presentation to Sharon Finance Committee on Article 24: Why We Need a Surgeon General Report  

Sharon resident Laura Henze Russell filed Article 24 to raise awareness, and begin to change official government policy on dental amalgam, which is still in unrestricted use in the United States. Four Scandinavian nations and Japan ban amalgam. Canada and much of Europe have warnings and consent.

Russell is acting in the spirit of Deborah Sampson, a patriot who fought against all odds for her beliefs and for the rights of others. She is acting in the tradition of promoting an environment free of toxins for health and wellness, and lessening the burden and impact of chronic diseases. She is acting as a witness to her personal experience of illness and recovery, that of others she has met with similar experiences, and her belief, faith and knowledge from two years of in-depth research.

Russell was an ocean lifeguard in her youth. In her late 30s Russell developed fibromyalgia that restricted her physical activities. In her 40s she was treated for breast cancer and developed osteopenia that contributed to fractures of her foot, wrist and elbow. In her late 50s she developed escalating problems that specialists at leading Boston hospitals were unable to diagnose, and had to stop working.

Finally diagnosed and treated for mercury toxicity, she learned she has some common genetic glitches that increase susceptibility to heavy metals and toxins, and impact immunity. Large amalgams were drilled out with only a dental dam (inadequate protect from inhaled vapor) after she stopped breastfeeding, right before she developed fibromyalgia. Russell has experienced a remarkable recovery, and resolved to help others avoid her fate.  

James S Woods et al have published three peer reviewed studies retracting their prior findings of amalgam safety in the Children’s Amalgam Trial, finding neurobehavioral deficits in boys with certain gene types. Many studies show associations between amalgam and chronic diseases. Three dental associations – International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, International Association of Biologic Dentistry and Medicine, and Holistic Dental - are opposed to its use as mercury vapor off-gasses with heath and abrasion, harming genetically susceptible patients, dentists and staff.  They provide training in safer removal.

The FDA has a logjam on amalgam. We do not get labels, we do not get information, we do not have the basic human and medical right of informed written consent for a medical device that has a potent neurotoxin. Unlike the AMA, the ADA is also a commercial and trade association, with 83 patents in the 38 years in which the US Patent Office has fully digitized records. The ADA’s last patents on dental amalgam were filed in the mid 1970s and expired in the mid 1990s. 

During the last 12 years, the only new patents granted on dental amalgam are to help mitigate its impacts on the environment, through better wastewater separators, and for encapsulation in corpses prior to cremation to minimize release of toxic mercury vapor from crematoria, which are exempt from strict pollution controls.

Russell has provided extensive information the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Executive Office of Human Services, and the Division of Insurance which regulates dental insurance, but they can take no action as long as the FDA says it is safe. The IAOMT sued FDA March 5th for failing to respond to a petition to reconsider its Class II ruling with numerous errors in its risk assessment. States are permitted to require labels and give information for patients, as in CA, CT, ME and NH.

Rep. Kafka and Sen. Joyce filed bills on amalgam; they were sent to study. Russell shared extensive information with Rep. Kennedy, Sen. Warren and Sen. Markey. Rep. Kennedy and Sen. Markey are not on the right committees to lead. Sen. Warren's staff said they will need to see a large coalition before taking action. This is a step to raise awareness and help build momentum.

Russell founded Hidden River Health Challenge: A Social Innovation Enterprise, to help people learn about genes and toxins, and the importance of our own health information, share what we learn, and take action to help ourselves and others. Hidden River is forming a Coalition for Good Health, co-sponsored by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology.  For information, contact Laura Henze Russell, laurarussell2@comcast.net.  

Filed by Laura Henze Russell, here is Article 24: "To see if the Town will request that the Sharon Board of Selectmen write to President Obama asking him to instruct the Surgeon General of the United States to prepare a report on Dental Amalgam and Health Risks; or take any other action relative thereto." 

The Board of Selectmen voted 2-0-0 against approval. THE FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTED 8-0-1 AGAINST APPROVAL."