There is more than one choice between modern Western medicine and alternatives. There are three traditions of healing.

The Wise Woman tradition, focusing on integration and nourishment, and insisting on attention to uniqueness and holographic interconnectedness, is another choice: a new way that is also the most ancient healing way known. A way that follows a spiral path, a give-away dance of nourishment, change and self-love. “Trust yourself.”

Alternative health care practitioners usually think in the Heroic tradition: the way of the savior, a circular path of rules, punishment, and purification. “Trust me.”

AMA-approved, legal, covered-by-insurance health care practitioners are trained to think in the Scientific tradition: walking the knife edge of keen intellect, the straight line of analytical thought, measuring and repeating. Excellent for fixing broken things. “Trust my machine.”

The Scientific, Heroic, and Wise Woman traditions are ways of thinking, not ways of acting. Any practice, any technique, any substance can be used by a practitioner/helper in any of the three traditions. There are, for instance, herbalists, and midwives, and MDs in each tradition.

The practitioner and the practice are different. The same techniques, the same herbs are seen and used differently by a person thinking in Scientific, Heroic, or Wise Woman ways.

Thinking these ways does lead to a preference for certain cures. The Wise Woman helper frequently nourishes with herbs and words. The Heroic savior lays down the law to clean up your act fast. The Scientific technician is most at ease with laboratory tests and repeatable, predictable, reliable drugs. But still, the practices do not conclusively identify the practitioner as being in a particular tradition.

The intent, the thought behind the technique points to the tradition: scientific fixing, heroic elimination, or wise womanly digestion and integration.

You contain some aspects of each tradition. And the three traditions are not limited to the realm of healing. The Scientific, Heroic, and Wise Woman ways of thinking are found in politics, legal systems, religions, psychologies, teaching styles, economics. As the Wise Woman way becomes more clearly identified, it opens the way to an integrated, whole, sacred, peaceful global village, interactive with Gaia, mother, earth. As each discipline spins anew its wise woman thread, we reweave the web of interconnectedness with all beings.

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Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498
Fax: 1-845-246-8081
www.susunweed.com
www.ashtreepublishing.com

Women find their own breast cancers most of the time (90% of the time according to one English study).

Monthly breast self-exam (or breast self-massage) provides early detection at lower cost, with no danger - and more pleasure - than yearly screening mammograms.

Most breast cancers (80%) are slow growing, taking between 42 and 300 days to double in size. A yearly mammogram could find these cancers 8-16 months before they could be felt, but this “early detection” does little to improve the already excellent longevity of women with slow-growing, non-metastasized breast cancers.

The 20% of breast cancers that are fast growing are the trouble-makers. They can double in size in 21 days. Monthly breast self-exams are much more likely to find these aggressive cancers than are yearly mammograms. (A 21-day doubling cancer will be visible on a mammogram only six weeks before it can be felt.) If you massage or examine your breasts even six times a year, you can take action on fast-growing lumps. If you rely on mammograms exclusively, the cancer could grow undetected for months.

In a recent look at 60,000 breast cancer diagnoses in the United States, 67% were found by the woman or her doctor - and over half of these were not visible on a mammogram - while 33% were discovered by mammogram. (This may seem like a substantial number of cancers found by mammography, but the majority of them were in situ cancers, a controversial type of cancer that may - but often does not - progress to invasive cancer.)

Green blessings!

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Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498

www.susunweed.com

www.ashtreepublishing.com

All mammograms are x-rays

A mammogram uses radioactive rays to “see” breast tissues. X-rays are known to cause DNA damage in breast cells.

A diagnostic mammogram is used when a woman or her practitioner feels a lump and wants to see it. (Sonograms - a non-radioactive test - can be used instead.) Most diagnostic mammograms are not one x-ray, but a series of x-rays.

A screening mammogram is done on a healthy woman to determine if there are unsuspected signs of cancer, such as a shadow or micro-calcifications. A screening mammogram is not one x-ray, but a series of x-rays, usually two per breast, four in all.

Mammograms distract us from the need for societal commitment to true prevention

Many of the cancers found by mammographic screening are in situ cancers. Women with in situ cancers rarely die from them. With or without early detection and treatment, 93% survive more than five years. When in situ breast cancers are found by mammogram, treated, and added to the statistical base, breast cancer cure rates and longevity statistics improve. No wonder mammography is praised. It has done what decades of research into cures for breast cancer have failed to do: make it appear that there is some progress in stemming the tide of breast cancer. But finding and treating an ever-increasing number of breast cancers isn’t real progress; committing to reducing chemical and radioactive pollution is.

Yearly screening mammograms aren’t cost effective to society nor are they safe environmentally

The Southern Medical Journal reports that the cost effectiveness (defined as the number of dollars spent so one person can live one year longer) of mammograms for women under 55 is $82,000. A recent analysis found that it cost $195,000 to detect one breast cancer using screening mammograms.
Dr. Charles Wright of Vancouver General Hospital estimates that the cost of saving one life by mass screening is $1.25 million (Canadian).

The mammography industry could gross $1 billion per year if every woman aged 40-49 was screened yearly. Less than 10% of all breast cancers occur in women that age.

Choosing screening mammograms means I choose to contribute to the stream of low-level radioactive waste leaving hospitals. Will my mammogram increase my daughter’s risk of developing breast cancer by increasing the amount of radioactivity in her environment? What is the real cost of this choice?

Green Blessings.

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Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.ashtreepublishing.com

D-Ribose is a simple five-carbon sugar that has been shown to delay the progression of congestive heart failure in many people who have had a heart attack at some point in the past. Congestive heart failure is a condition that can occur as a result of any structural or functional cardiac disorder which impairs the ability of the heart to fill with and pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. Since not all patients experience volume overload at the initial evaluation, this disease is most commonly referred to as heart failure, rather than congestive heart failure. This disease is often under-diagnosed because of a universally agreed upon definition does not exist and there are difficulties with diagnosis, especially in those with a mild condition. Even with the best care and therapy, heart failure has an associated mortality rate of ten percent and is the leading cause of hospitalization in people above the age of sixty-five.

Many studies have been done and presented at the Second Annual Academic Surgical Congress, which is sponsored by the Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University Surgeons. Heart attacks often lead to the progressive onset of congestive heart failure. After a heart attack, the portion of the heart that hasn’t been damaged must work harder to compensate for the functional loss of the tissue that is damaged. The heart will eventually begin to fail, causing the chambers of the heart to enlarge and waken, which in turn causes the heart to lose its ability to pump blood effectively.

A study, which was conducted by the University of Minnesota, led by Dr. John Foker and his team, determined that administering D-Ribose will significantly improve heart function after a heart attack. The study also showed that the progression of heart failure after a heart attack begins with the fall of energy levels. D-Ribose is very unique, it serves as a foundation for many important compounds such as DNA, RNA, and ATP (the energy of cells). ATP is very important to health and for maintaining normal energy-dependent body functions. Hearts that are stressed, muscles, and other tissue lack the metabolic machinery that is needed to quickly make D-Ribose and overcome progressive energy depletion. D-Ribose has been shown to significantly increase energy formation in those tissues that are stressed. The energy level of the heart tissue that is not damaged by the heart attack is in control of the beginning events of heart failure. When ATP starts to decrease, function will worsen, which sets the progression of chronic cardiac failure in motion. Supplementing with D-Ribose is known to increase energy in stressed hearts, which slows the progression of heart failure and in some cases even prevents it altogether. Although the study is in its early stages of investigation, Dr. Foker is positive about the results. By treating hearts with D-Ribose, ATP concentration of the heart can be improved and loss of energy can be prevented, which is known to be the major contributor to this disease’s progression.

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More information on d-Ribose can be found at http://vitanetonline.com/ where a large selection of Ribose and similar supplements can be found.

Mammographic screening increases risk of breast cancer mortality in premenopausal women. A Canadian study of 90,000 women (published in Lancet, November 1992) showed a 36-52% increase in mortality from breast cancer in women 40-49 who had annual mammograms.

The Swedish Malmo Screening Trial (as reported in The British Medical Journal, 1988) which also included tens of thousands of women, showed 29% greater mortality from breast cancer in women under 55 who were regularly screened with mammograms. (Studies of women 50-59 showed no difference in breast cancer mortality between women who did and women who did not have regular screening mammograms.)

Critics of these studies claim that newer mammographic equipment uses less radiation. This belies the point that mammograms are inherently dangerous. Orthodox medicine tells me again and again to overlook the harm that it has done to women and promises a future where the machines will be better calibrated and safer. But what of the harm that has been, and is now, done?

Mammographic screening is not and never will be a safe way to find breast cancer. Although safer after menopause than before, mammography is never without risk entirely.

Why I haven’t had a baseline mammogram: The idea behind having a baseline mammogram -that there will be a norm to refer back to - is erroneous. Breast tissues are constantly changing as menstrual, ovulatory, pregnancy, lactational, and menopausal hormones change. Science, the constant straight line, meets woman, the ever-changing spiral. And younger breast tissue is especially sensitive to radiation. According to J. W. Gofman (M.D., Ph.D., authority on dangers of radiation exposure), a 35-year-old woman whose normal risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 1500 increases it to 1 in 660 by exposing herself to the radiation of a baseline mammogram. The National Women’s Health Network says baseline mammograms should be abolished.

If you’ve already had a baseline mammogram and now feel worried, make yourself a soup of lentils (to restore damaged DNA to normalcy), seaweed (to remove radioactive isotopes), and carrots (to support your immune system). Season with miso and tamari (to stop the promotion of cancer cells), and thyme, rosemary, and garlic (to further strengthen the immune system). Breathe in, relax, don’t worry.

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Green Blessings.
Susun Weed PO Box 64 Woodstock, NY 12498 Fax: 1-845-246-8081 Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.ashtreepublishing.com. For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com

Many people in America have started buying organic foods. Organic food sales have shot up from $180 million in 1980 to over $6.5 billion last year, not only in health food stores but in grocery stores as well. Actually, grocery stores sales made up fifty-six percent of organic food sales in the past year. Although organic food sales only make up two percent of national food sales, the organic market has definitely begun soaring, especially on Wall Street. Experts expect the figure to more than double by the year 2010. The USDA has finally released an official definition of what qualifies as �organic� food in response to the great increase in sales. It is also developing labeling standards which should be in effect by this summer. Up until the past couple of months, a definition of what actually qualifies as organic foods did not even exist. Throughout the past decade farmers and conventional farming organizations have been debating the need for federal organic labeling. Fear that the organic labels would create an unfair bias against conventional products kept conventional farmers from encouraging labeling. In December, the Grocery Manufactures of America actually complained about the new organic standards, claiming that the new labels will mislead consumers into believing that organic products are safer and more nutritious. The agricultural secretary denies the accusation of bias stating that although the organic seal will give more validity to organic products, the seal will not imply that organic foods are safer or more nutritious. Of course, users of organic foods often believe that organic foods are safer, since they contain fewer pesticides, more nutritious because they contain more trace minerals and nutrients, and also better for the environment because organic growing practices are kinder to the soil, sky, and water.

The new USDA standards mean you will get better organic food for your buck due to an official and national standard for what foods can be called organic. You will now know with certainty that the organic foods you purchase contain no synthetic pesticides and no added chemicals. Organic farmers will also use no genetic engineering, no irradiation and no sewage fertilization. Additionally, live-stock raised under these standards will be given 100 percent organic feed and will not be treated with antibiotics. Before the standardization, consumers often had to trust misleading labeling claims on organic products. Even with the new standards, the question is whether it is worth it to purchase organic. Americans who consume organic foods often have substantially higher monthly grocery costs. Actually, in 1998 average costs of organic foods were fifty-seven percent higher than conventional foods. Additionally, a recent report on 20/20 stated that organic foods contain dangerous bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. However, more and more doctors believe that organic foods are safe and are well worth the additional cost. Those doctors who support organic eating often believe that the cumulative effects of toxins in our food, water, and air can be extremely harmful to our health. They also believe that anything we can do to reduce the toxins is well worth it.

If you only have a small budget but would like to go organic, there are still some things you can do. Some foods are more known for pesticide residue than others. Start with buying these if you can only buy limited amounts of organic foods. Citrus foods are usually not a high risk because of their thick skins, as well as asparagus, bananas, broccoli cauliflower, cherries, corn, onions, pineapple, sweet peas, and watermelon. These are considered by the FDA and EPA to be the ten cleanest foods. Additionally, make sure to wash all the produce you buy, whether or not it is organic. You can regularly take an antioxidant supplement which will help the body to remove any toxins that are on the produce. Most importantly, be sure to keep eating fruits and vegetables, as they are essential to good health.

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More information on buying organic foods is available at http://vitanetonline.com/ where a large selection of organic foods is available.

Between fifty and ninety-five percent of all pregnant women, as well as some women who use hormonal contraception experience morning sickness, which is also referred to as nausea, vomiting of pregnancy, or pregnancy sickness. The nausea can range from being mild to severe enough to induce actual vomiting. Extreme cases, which are referred to as hyperemesis gravidarum may result in hospitalization to treat dehydration. Although morning sickness can occur at any time throughout the day, it often occurs upon waking since blood sugar levels are at their lowest after a night without food. This condition usually begins in the first month of pregnancy, where it is at its worst between the fifth and seventh weeks and ends around the fourteenth or sixteenth week. At this point in pregnancy, the embryo’s organ systems are being laid down and the embryo is most susceptible to birth defects. Although there is not enough evidence to blame one single cause, there are many theories for possible causes of this condition. Some of these include: an increase in the level of estrogen circulating throughout the blood; low blood sugar, which often occurs during pregnancy; an increase in progesterone which relaxes the muscles in the uterus, preventing early childbirth, but also relaxes the stomach and intestines, leading to excess stomach acid; and an increase in sensitivity to odors, which in return over-stimulates normal nausea triggers. Women who deal with morning sickness are told to avoid foods that are bitter, pungent, or highly-flavored, as well as foods that are likely to contain toxins. Morning sickness offers an evolutionary advantage, since studies have demonstrated that those women with more severe morning sickness are less likely to miscarry or have a child with birth defects.

For those of you who are pregnant and are having problems with morning sickness, there are ways to help. At least half of all pregnant women experience some type of upset stomach at least once during their pregnancy. If the morning sickness is mild, there are a couple things you can do in order to control it. First, avoid any foods or smells that will trigger your stomach to be upset. It’s a good idea to develop certain eating habits which decrease the frequency of morning sickness such as eating small frequent meals and avoiding hunger pains. You should plan on eating a snack high in protein in the evening to regulate your blood sugar and a few crackers or toast in the morning after waking. It’s also a good idea to take a prenatal vitamin daily. If problems consist, try drinking ginger, peppermint, fennel seed, and red raspberry teas regularly. Flat sprite can also help to settle an upset stomach. Some women use acupressure bands, breathing exercises, and aromatherapy to relieve morning sickness. If your morning sickness is severe, you should see a doctor. Your nausea may be connected with other problems or you may be suffering from a type of morning sickness that can endanger your health and cause pregnancy complications. Although the causes are unknown, treatment usually consists of vitamin shots or pills anti-nausea medication, and IVs to re-hydrate you if vomiting is causing serious problems.

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More information on vitamins and herbs can be found at http://vitanetonline.com/ where articles and vitamins are available to browse.