J Food Sci. 2013 May;78(5):C685-90
Authors: Chung JH, Kim S, Lee SJ, Chung JO, Oh YJ, Shim SM
Abstract
The effect of green tea formulated with vitamin C and xylitol on intestinal cell transport of gallated and nongallated catechin was studied. The transport of catechins from both apical to basolateral and basolateral to apical directions was measured. The effect of vitamin C (4, 10, 20 ppm), xylitol (11, 27.5, 55 ppm), and combinations of both on the intestinal transport rate of catechins was examined. The efflux value (Pb→a/Pa→b) of (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), (-)-epicatechin (EC), and (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) was 0.26, 0.22, 1.22, and 0.17, respectively, indicating that EC appeared to be less absorbed compared with other catechins. The addition of xylitol (11, 27.5, 55 ppm) and vitamin C (4, 10, 20 ppm) and in combination enhanced transport rate of nongallated catechins such as EC and EGC. For EC, vitamin C was revealed to be the most effective on intestinal transport, implying the inhibition of the efflux transport mechanism of EC. Intestinal transport of gallated catechins significantly increased from catechins formulated with vitamin C and xylitol in a dose-dependent manner compared to the catechin-only formulation. Results provide a potential strategy to enhance the delivery and bioavailability of catechins in humans by modulating green tea formulation with vitamin C and xylitol.--PMID: 23551173 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]---simply mix in your capsules ground green tea-vitamin C ( ascorbic acid)-and xylitol**************************************************************************
If Cell Phone Radiation Were Visible, The World Would Look Like This
sage / Comments Off
Category: Tags: Cell phone radiation
We already know that cell phone radiation is bad. These images really bring it home as to just how much we have been inflicted with this form of poisoning.
By Betsy Isaacson, Huffington Post – December 13, 2013
http://tinyurl.com/nloedxl
What would the world look like if you could see cell phone radiation?
Artist Nickolay Lamm has tried to answer that question. In July, Lamm released a series of illustrations imagining a Washington, D.C., where Wi-Fi was visible, bathing famous sites in a rainbow of colors. On Wednesday, he finished a sequel of sorts — a series of pictures of U.S. cities and landmarks, this time with cell phone radiation visible as a hazy, multicolored, strangely geometric overlay.
Lamm worked with two professors of electrical and computer engineering — Danilo Erricolo at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Fran Harackiewicz at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale — to get his illustrations right. (The pictures can be seen with more technical explanation at MyVoucherCodes.com.)
In an email to The Huffington Post, Lamm explained what was going on with each picture.
Here, a “hexagonal grid of cellular base-station sites” covers the city of Chicago. Base stations, more commonly called cell phone towers, sit at the corner of each hexagonal “cell” in Chicago’s huge network. The picture also shows “antenna signal extending beyond the original cells” that provides coverage over part of Lake Michigan.
An earlier article in The Atlantic Cities explained that cell phone networks across the country are made up of multiple hexagonal areas, each of which is called a cell. The hexagonal grid is efficient: Each cell tower sits at the intersection of three cells and each of the three directional antennas on top of the tower covers a 120-degree slice of the landscape.
Lamm’s rendering of the Department of Commerce headquarters in Washington focuses on the tridirectional nature of radiation emanating from a single cell phone tower. The different colors represent the radiation’s different frequencies, which allow mobile users to make calls without experiencing interference.
This illustration of the New York skyline shows how cellular base stations on top of buildings provide much of the coverage in the crowded city.
Here’s how a long-distance cell tower radiates over the Hollywood Hills.
For good and ill, finding places where cell phones don’t reach is becoming increasing difficult. In 2012, the World Bank announced that mobile signals reached three-quarters of the people on earth, and that number is only getting bigger. Radio Quiet Zone, anyone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgLo1PzWpz8
Interview on RFS and Electro Smog
http://www.google.com/patents/US3723811
devices to block the freq
and some rad
*********************************************************************
Alembic-Distiller
Different Distilling Processes
The principle of distillation is simple. The important aspect remains the means of separating alcohol from an alcohol containing liquid. Alcohol starts to evaporate at 78.3º C at sea level while water vaporises at 100ºC, hence when an alcohol-containing liquid is heated to that temperature the alcohol starts to vaporize. All distilling equipment function on this simple principal but may use different techniques and/or additional equipment to obtain the final distillate. The equipment used to distil will influence and determine the quality and taste of your end result.
Simple Distillation
How does it work? By way of example when boiling water we have often observed how the steam from a kettle condenses back to water when it comes in contact with a cold surface. This simple technique is applied to the separation of a mixture into its different parts by boiling the mix in a boiler, condensing the vapours and collecting the resultant liquid.
The process begins by heating a fermented mash or wash, in the boiler of a pot still or alembic. As the temperature rises the most volatile constituents of the mixture (those that vaporise at lower temperatures) begin to evaporate first. This will permit us to isolate the different components of the mixture as these will dominate at different temperatures. By taking accurate temperature readings one can ascertain which component is dominating at that temperature. As the vapours accumulate in the head of the alembic they find their way to the condensing recipient via a connecting tube or swan neck. In the case of the traditional alembic the swan neck tubing leads to a serpentine coil in the condenser filled with running cold water. Once the vapours come into contact with the cold surface of the serpentine coil they condense to their liquid state and trickle down to where they are collected, in an appropriate vessel drop by drop. This process has to be carefully monitored so you know exactly what you are collecting at any given stage of the distillation as we do not want to be collecting any harmful substances. (see Basic distillation laws).
Most distillation methods are based on the simple distillation method with some modifications. Simple distillation is quite adequate for isolating fractions from a wide variety of substances with different boiling points and may be used for distilling seawater into pure water, for example. Hydrosols or floral waters are also distilled in this way. Obviously its main application is for the distillation of alcoholic spirits from any number of fermented substances in which alcohol is present. It may seem obvious to say that, but to clear up any apparent misconception it must be stated once again that what we are doing here is not making something new which was not there to begin with but simply separating the alcohol from the mix. So you will end up with the same amount alcohol but more highly concentrated.
Alembic stills yield better taste and more characteristic distillates but are slow and require more labour. Nonetheless single malt Scotch whiskey producers, a few rum manufacturers and other quality oriented distillers employ pot stills. In the U.S.A. more and more small distilleries are using alembic stills to produce high end products that are appreciated for their subtle refined taste.
Steam Distillation
Steam distillation is a technique employed to distil alcohol or extract essential oils from organics by passing steam generated in a pot still through the plant material. Temperature sensitive compounds which would normally decompose through simple distillation vaporise at lower temperatures when subjected to steam in the vapour chamber or column of the still. This allows for the separation of essential oils, which tend to be less soluble in boiling water, from chemically complex materials. When the steam passes through the organic material tiny pockets that hold the essential oils open to release the essential oil molecules without damaging or burning these delicate components. The distillate will contain a mix of water vapour and essential oils which return to their liquid form in the condensing recipient and are separated using a Florentine separator. Both the essential oils and the water called floral water or hydrosol is retained. The distillation procedure is the same as for the simple distillation method with the exception that distillation takes place by means of steam.
As for essential oils, using steam for alcohol distillation permits the distillate to retain the more delicate flavours and aromas which would otherwise breakdown if subjected to high temperatures. This process is typically used to extract essential oils from aromatic plants to flavour liqueurs. Alternatively alcohol may be distilled from fermented matter placed in the column of an alembic such as pressed grape skins left over from wine making.
There are obvious advantages to steam distillation with commercial applications in the food, medical and chemical industry, for example aromatic oils, hydrosols, perfumes, essences and flavoured liqueurs.
Fractional Distillation
Fractional distillation is a modified version of the simple distillation technique which allows for the separation of a complex solution into its different components in a single distillation run by taking advantage of the difference in their boiling points.
A simple distillation is effective if you intend to isolate a volatile component (those that evaporate more readily at lower temperatures) from one that is not volatile in a solution, or if there is a marked difference in their boiling temperatures. When you distil an alcohol solution by means of a simple distillation the distillate obtained will have a higher concentration of alcohol but some water will also be present. You'll have to redistill this solution repeatedly in order to obtain higher concentrations of alcohol especially if you want to get into the 80% a/v range and above. Fractional distillation improves on that by effectively performing multiple distillations in a single run.
The fractionating column design exemplifies the fractional distillation process. In simple terms vapours from a boiling mixture rise up a column or fractionating tower and as the temperature along the height of the column decreases the less volatile elements condense on special perforated plates placed horizontally in the column a few centimetres apart. This may be considered as a single simple distillation run. As the vapours in the boiling mix continue to rise, these bubble up through the condensed liquid on the plates, enriching and reheating the condensate, initiating a second distillation. The rising vapours are also cleansed and purified as they come in contact with the condensate on the plates. The condensate or distillate may also overflow the plates sequentially from left to right creating a reflux stream of distillate which cool and purify the rising vapours. This process is described as rectification. Repeated condensation and evaporation of the vapours up the column on the plates results in greater concentrations of volatile components near the top of the column. Theoretically you can obtain 90% a/v with this design. The Armagnac Type Alembic Still, a professional continuous still is an example of this design
The fractional design is for columns with wide diameters and is therefore not suited for the hobbyist. An inexpensive alternative was devised in which these plates are substituted with packing such as copper mesh or ceramic objects and create the same effect as the plates in a fractional column allowing for condensation of the vapours on the packing itself and reflux of the distillate. This design is appropriately named as the reflux column and is incorporated into our Reflux Column Alembic Still. (Link to Other Product) The height of the packing for the reflux column needed to do the same job as an ideal plate is known as HETP (Height Equivalent to Theoretical Plate.) The smaller your HETP the greater number of theoretical plates you can pack into a column and therefore the greater alcohol purity obtained.
Although perhaps not considered fractional distillation in the strictest sense, a multiple distillation process can be effected with our Rum Type Alembic Still. This design incorporates 2 smaller recipients where rectification of the rising vapours takes place before proceeding to the condensing recipient
Fractional distilling revolutionized the petroleum industry. A fractionating or refining tower is used to draw off various petroleum products at different levels. So at the bottom bitumen type substances are drawn off, different fuels at higher levels and petroleum gases at the top. Liquid oxygen and nitrogen is also obtained through fractional distillation. For the hobbyist the best way to obtain almost colourless and flavourless high purity alcohol is the reflux column. You may use your pure vodka like distillate as a base for distilling herbs or fruits or for making liqueurs. Alternatively you may use it to produce your own high grade whiskey.
Continuous Distillation
A Continuous distillation is an uninterrupted distillation process where a continuous flow of distillate is collected as output. The raw material may be continuously fed into the still at one point or reloaded without interrupting the collection of distillate.
When performing a batch distillation using the simple distillation process the still needs to be continuously emptied of the spent material and refilled for each individual distillation run, interrupting the collection of the distillate. This is not so for continuous distillation as there are no interruptions in the distillation process.
A prime example of continuous distillation is the professional Armagnac Type Alembic Still with which high grade alcohol can be obtained in a single run which would normally require double or triple distillations using the simple distillation technique. In the fractional column a continuous feed of an alcoholic solution such as wine is introduced in the column. As this solution comes into contact with the hot rising vapours, from the boiler, the more volatile components are stripped from the solution and rise up the column. These alcohol vapours are drawn off and condensed after continuous rectifications (discussed further in the fractional distillation method). The more dense components or the less volatile components of the alcoholic solution stream back down into the boiler.
Fractional and continuous distillations methods are only descriptive of the various processes that take place and all may be incorporated into a single still design.
The graceful Charentais Alembic Still developed in France in the early 16th century to distil fine cognacs from Charentais wines is a semi continuous distillation process as you may allow for a continuous feed of wine for distillation. This unit is comprised of an alembic pot attached to an onion shaped dome or preheater and condensing unit. The wine to be distilled in this case is preheated in the onion shaped dome by the flow of vapour from the swan neck tubing of the alembic pot as it flows in the direction towards the condenser unit. The wine in the preheater in turn is transferred to the alembic pot via a connecting tube between the two for distillation, thus closing the circuit.
The Portuguese Arrastre de Vapour distilling system is yet another example of a semi continuous distillation design. This system is very versatile and may be constructed according to the clients' specific needs. A two or more column system allows for continuous drawing off of distillate as while one column is emptied and refilled the distillation process continues in the second column.
Professional continuous distillation systems have obvious applications for large scale high grade alcohol production with unlimited potential for producing any number of alcoholic spirits. The hobbyist distiller may want to experiment with the Charentais Alembic Still, fully functional yet beautiful in design. The Portuguese Arrastre de Vapour is a multi-purpose distilling system, due to its versatility, and may be used for the distillation of spirits, essential oils, medicinal herbal extracts, perfumes, rosewater etc.
*************************************************************************
Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome
Long-term dietary intake influences the structure and activity of the trillions of microorganisms residing in the human gut1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but it remains unclear how rapidly and reproducibly the human gut microbiome responds to short-term macronutrient change. Here we show that the short-term consumption of diets composed entirely of animal or plant products alters microbial community structure and overwhelms inter-individual differences in microbial gene expression. The animal-based diet increased the abundance of bile-tolerant microorganisms (Alistipes, Bilophila and Bacteroides) and decreased the levels of Firmicutes that metabolize dietary plant polysaccharides (Roseburia, Eubacterium rectale and Ruminococcus bromii). Microbial activity mirrored differences between herbivorous and carnivorous mammals2, reflecting trade-offs between carbohydrate and protein fermentation. Foodborne microbes from both diets transiently colonized the gut, including bacteria, fungi and even viruses. Finally, increases in the abundance and activity of Bilophila wadsworthia on the animal-based diet support a link between dietary fat, bile acids and the outgrowth of microorganisms capable of triggering inflammatory bowel disease6. In concert, these results demonstrate that the gut microbiome can rapidly respond to altered diet, potentially facilitating the diversity of human dietary lifestyles.[F1]
Extended Data Figures
a, b, The plant-based (a) and animal-based (b) diets were fed to subjects for five consecutive days. All dates are defined relative to the start of these diet arms (day 0). Study volunteers were observed for 4 days before each diet (the baseline period, days −4 to −1) and for 6 days after each diet arm (the washout period, days 5 to 10) in order to measure subjects’ eating habits and assess their recovery from each diet arm. Subjects were instructed to eat normally during both the baseline and washout periods. Stool samples were collected daily on both diet arms and 16S rRNA and fungal ITS sequencing was performed on all available samples. Subjects also kept daily diet logs. Several analyses (RNA-seq, SCFAs and bile acids) were performed primarily using only two samples per person per diet (that is, a baseline and diet arm comparison). Comparative sampling did not always occur using exactly the same study days owing to limited sample availability for some subjects. Because we expected the animal-based diet to promote ketogenesis, we only measured urinary ketones on the animal-based diet. To test the hypothesis that microbes from fermented foods on the animal-based diet survived transit through the gastrointestinal tract, we cultured bacteria and fungi before and after the animal-based diet.
a–c, One of the study subjects is a lifelong vegetarian (subject 6). a, Relative abundances of Prevotella and Bacteroides are shown across the plant-based diet for subject 6 (orange circles), as well as for all other subjects (green circles). Consecutive daily samples from subject 6 are linked by dashed lines. For reference, median baseline abundances are depicted using larger circles. b, Relative abundances are also shown for samples taken on the animal-based diet. Labelled points correspond to diet days where subject 6’s gut microbiota exhibited an increase in the relative abundance of Bacteroides. c, A principal-coordinates-based characterization of overall community structure for subject 6, as well as all other subjects. QIIME30 was used to compute microbial β diversity with the Bray–Curtis, unweighted UniFrac and weighted UniFrac statistics. Sample similarities were projected onto two dimensions using principal coordinates analysis. Top, when coloured by subject, samples from subject 6 (green triangles) partition apart from the other subjects’ samples. Bottom, of all of subject 6’s diet samples, the ones most similar to the other subjects’ are the samples taken while consuming the animal-based diet.
a, Gastrointestinal motility, as measured by the initial appearance of a non-absorbable dye added to the first and last lunch of each diet. The median time until dye appearance is indicated with red arrows. Subject motility was significantly lower (P < 0.05, Mann–Whitney U test) on the animal-based diet (median transit time of 1.5 days) than on the plant-based one (1.0 days)[F2]. b, Range (shaded boxes) and median (solid line) of subjects’ weights over time. Subjects’ weight did not change significantly on the plant-based diet relative to baseline periods, but did decrease significantly on the animal-based diet (asterisks denote q < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected Mann–Whitney U test). Subjects lost a median of 1.6% and 2.5% of body weight by days 3 and 4, respectively, of the animal-based diet arm.[F3] c, Measurements of subjects’ urinary ketone levels. Individual subjects are shown with black dots, and median values are connected with a black solid line. Urinary ketone readings were taken from day 0 of the animal-based diet onwards. Ketone levels were compared to the readings on day 0, and asterisks denote days with significant ketone increases (q < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected Mann–Whitney U test; significance tests were not carried out for days on which less than four subjects reported their readings.). All subjects on the animal-based diet showed elevated levels of ketones in their urine by day 2 of the diet (≥15 mg dl−1 as compared to 0 mg dl−1 during initial readings), indicating that they experienced ketonuria during the diet arm. This metabolic state is characterized by the restricted availability of glucose and the compensatory extraction of energy from fat tissue56.[F4]
Prevotella fractions were computed by summing the fractional 16S rRNA abundance of all OTUs whose genus name was Prevotella. Daily intake of dietary fibre over the previous year was estimated using the Diet History Questionnaire32 (variable name “TOTAL_DIETARY_FIBER_G_NDSR”). There is a significant positive correlation between subjects’ baseline Prevotella abundance and their long-term dietary fibre intake (Spearman’s ρ = 0.78, P = 0.008).
SCFAs are drawn in rectangles and coloured maroon or green if they are produced from amino acid or carbohydrate fermentation, respectively. Clusters whose members include known bile-tolerant or amino-acid-fermenting bacteria15, 16 are coloured maroon, whereas clusters including known saccharolytic bacteria3 are coloured green. Uncoloured clusters and SCFAs are not associated with saccharolytic or putrefactive pathways. Significant positive and negative correlations are shown with black arrows and grey arrows, respectively (q < 0.05; Spearman correlation).
a, b, To measure the degree to which diet influences inter-individual differences in gut microbial gene expression, we clustered RNA-seq profiles from baseline (a) and diet (b) periods. Dots indicate pairs of samples that cluster by subject. The potential for diet to partition samples was measured by splitting trees at the arrowed branches and testing the significance of the resulting 2 × 2 contingency table (diet versus partition; Fisher’s exact test). To avoid skewed significance values caused by non-independent samples, we only clustered a single sample per subject, per diet period. In the case of multiple baseline samples, the sample closest to the diet intervention was used. In the case of multiple diet samples, the last sample during the diet intervention was kept. A single sample was randomly chosen if there were multiple samples from the same person on the same day. No association between diet and partitioning was found for partitions I–VI (P > 0.05). However, a significant association was observed for partition VII (P = 0.003). c, To determine whether diet affects inter-individual differences in gut microbial community structure, we hierarchically clustered 16S rRNA data from the last day of each diet arm. Samples grouped weakly by diet: sub-trees partitioned at the arrowed node showed a minor enrichment for plant-based diet samples in one sub-tree and animal-based diet samples in the other (P = 0.07; Fisher’s exact test). Still, samples from five subjects grouped by individual, not diet (indicated by black nodes), indicating that diet does not reproducibly overcome inter-individual differences in gut microbial community structure.
a, Major bacterial and fungal taxa found in plant-based diet menu items were determined using 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing, respectively, at the species (s), genus (g) and order level (o). The majority of 16S rRNA gene sequences are Streptophyta, representing chloroplasts from the ingested plant matter. b, One of the fungi from a, Candida sp., showed a significance increase in faecal abundance on the plant-based diet (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). c, Levels of bacteria and fungi associated with the animal-based diet are plotted over the plant- and animal-based diet arms. Taxa are identified on the genus (g) and species (s) level. The abundance of foodborne bacteria was near our detection limit by 16S rRNA gene sequencing; to minimize resulting measurement errors, we have plotted the fraction of samples in which bacteria are present or absent. Lactococcus lactis, Pediococcus acidilactici and Staphylococcus-associated reads all show significantly increased abundance on the animal-based diet (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Fungal concentrations were measured using ITS sequencing and are plotted in terms of log-fractional abundance. Significant increases in Penicillium-related fungi were observed, along with significant decreases in the concentration of Debaryomyces and a Candida sp. (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). One possible explanation for the surprising decrease in the concentration of food-associated fungi is that the more than tenfold increase in Penicillium levels lowered the relative abundance of all other fungi, even those that increased in terms of absolute abundance.
a, Identified plant and other viruses. The most common virus is a DNA virus (lambda phage) and may be an artefact of the sequencing process. b, Identified fungi, protists and other eukaryotes. Taxa that were re-annotated using manually curated BLAST searches are indicated with asterisks and their original taxonomic assignments are shown in parentheses (see Methods for more details).
a, b, Median bulk bile acid concentrations are shown for all individuals on the plant-based (a) and animal-based (b) diets (error bars denote median absolute deviations). For detailed experimental protocols, see Methods. Bile acid levels did not significantly change on the plant-based diet relative to baseline levels (P > 0.1, Mann–Whitney U test). However, bile acid levels trended upwards on the animal-based diet, rising from 1.48 μmol per 100 mg dry stool during the baseline period to 2.37 μmol per 100 mg dry stool (P < 0.10, Mann–Whitney U test).
a, Microbes reduce sulphate to hydrogen sulphide by first converting sulphate to adenosine 5′-phosphosulphate (APS) via the enzyme ATP sulphurylase (Sat). Next, APS is reduced to sulphite by the enzyme APS reductase (Apr). Finally, the end product hydrogen sulphide is reached by reducing sulphite through the enzyme sulphite reductase (DsrA). This last step of the pathway can be performed by Bilophila and is thought to contribute to intestinal inflammation6. b, No significant changes in apr gene abundance were observed on any diet (P > 0.05, Mann–Whitney U test; n = 10 samples per diet arm). Values are mean ± s.e.m. However, dsrA abundance increased on the animal-based diet (Fig. 5d). NS, not significant.
****************************************************************************
Could Vitamin B3 Be the Secret to a Long and Healthy Life?
For centuries, people have looked for the secret for a long and healthy life. Surprising new research involving an animal model suggests that the search for the key to longevity may be in the common nutrient niacin, which is also another name for vitamin B3. What have the scientists discovered about vitamin B3 and what other health benefits does niacin provide?
Vitamin B3: A powerful anti-antioxidant?
A group of scientists from Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and the United States investigated the effects of vitamin B3 supplements in roundworms, which have metabolic pathways that are similar to the human ones. Researchers use the parasitic worms because they have a short life span, which makes them easy to study. The team found that the roundworms that were treated with vitamin B3 improved their life span by one-tenth when compared to the animals that did not have the supplement.
When Michael Ristow from the University of Jena in Germany presented the results of the study, his explanation of the team’s finding was surprising to many people in the health community. He explained that niacin promotes the formation of free radicals, which appears to go against the widely held premise that free radicals leads to oxidative stress that causes damage to cells. Dr. Ristow claims that cells can neutralize the effects of the free radicals on their own, which minimizes any sort of health damage. At the same time, he did agree that antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables are healthy and people should continue to include them in their diet.1
Sirtuin: The secret to niacin’s life enhancing power
When your body needs to breakdown niacin into nicotinamide to generate energy, the molecule that facilitates this transformation is an enzyme called sirtuin. Another effect of sirtuin is that it slows the expression of some genes in your body that contribute to the aging process.1 An earlier study conducted at the Harvard Medical School also demonstrated that nicotinamide and sirtuin can act together to mimic calorie restriction, which is also linked to extending health and longevity.2
Niacin and sirtuin may offer treatment for 7 age-related diseases
A scientist from the University of Sydney in Australia has released exciting research about how niacin, nicotinamide, and sirtuin promote longevity. He identified the different pathways in the body that are affected by the seven different types of sirtuin. Through this work, he found seven different age-related disease processes that can be treated or prevented by sirtuin, which is activated by vitamin B3, as well as resveratrol.
You can reduce your risk of the following diseases when you take B3 supplements:
- Cancer
- Dementia
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Neurodegenerative diseases3
It is never too late to start the journey to a longer and healthier life by including a high-quality vitamin B3 supplement in your daily nutritional regime.
References
1Schmeisser, K., Mansfeld, J., Kuhlow, D., Weimer, S., Priebe, S., Heiland, I. , Birringer, M., Groth, M., Segref, A., Kanfi, Y., Price, N. L., Schmeisser, S., Schuster, S., Pfeiffer, A.F.H., Guthke, R., Platzer, M., Hoppe, T., Cohen, H. Y. Zarse, K.,Sinclair, D. A., Ristow, M. Role of sirtuins in lifespan regulation is linked to methylation of nicotinamide Nature Chemical Biology. 2013. (9)11: 693-700. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1352.
2Anderson, R. M., Bitterman, K.J.. Wood, J., Medvedik, O., Sinclair, D.A. Nicotinamide and PNC1 govern lifespan extension by calorie restriction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nature. 2003. (423) 6936: 181-185.
3Morris, B.J. Seven sirtuins for seven deadly diseases of aging. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 2013. 56: 133–171. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.10.525.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loriaux SM, et al. The effects of nicotinic acid and xanthinol nicotinate on human memory in different categories of age. A double blind study. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;87 (4):390-395.
Abstract: The treatment effect of nicotinic acid and xanthinol nicotinate on human memory was compared with placebo in 96 healthy subjects. Forty-three subjects were young (35-45 years), 30 subjects were middle aged (55-65 years) and 23 subjects were old aged (75-85 years). Pre- and post- treatment scores were measured on a battery of memory tasks, covering sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. The treatment regime was 1 dragee t.i.d. for 8 weeks. The administration of xanthinol nicotinate (500 mg, containing 141.7 mg nicotinic acid), nicotinic acid (141.7 mg) and placebo (lactose) was double-blind. Pre- and post- treatment scores were analyzed by means of a multivariate covariance technique, the pre-treatment score serving as covariate. Nicotinic acid treatment resulted in improvement of sensory register and short-term memory, while xanthinol nicotinate improved sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. In comparison with placebo, both active compounds yielded improvements of 10-40%, depending on the task. Treatment effects of nicotinic acid were predominantly found in the young and middle-aged, whereas treatment effects of xanthinol nicotinate were predominantly found in the old. These results are interpreted by the supposed activity of nicotinic acid at the cell membrane, improving neuronal transmission, and of xanthinol nicotinate inside the cell, enhancing cell metabolism and oxygen supply in the brain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vitamin B-3: Niacin and Its Amide
by A. Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.The first water soluble vitamins were numbered in sequence according to priority of discovery. But after their chemical structure was determined they were given scientific names. The third one to be discovered was the anti-pellagra vitamin before it was shown to be niacin. But the use of the number B-3 did not stay in the literature very long. It was replaced by nicotinic acid and its amide (also known medically as niacin and its amide). The name was changed to remove the similarity to nicotine, a poison. -- The term vitamin B-3 was reintroduced by my friend Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, (Bill Wilson). We met in New York in 1960. Humphry Osmond and I introduced him to the concept of mega vitamin therapy. We described the results we had seen with our schizophrenic patients, some of whom were also alcoholic. We also told him about its many other properties. It was therapeutic for arthritis, for some cases of senility and it lowered cholesterol levels. --Bill was very curious about it and began to take niacin, 3 g daily. Within a few weeks fatigue and depression which had plagued him for years were gone. He gave it to 30 of his close friends in AA and persuaded them to try it. Within 6 months he was convinced that it would be very helpful to alcoholics. Of the thirty, 10 were free of anxiety, tension and depression in one month. Another 10 were well in two months. He decided that the chemical or medical terms for this vitamin were not appropriate. He wanted to persuade members of AA, especially the doctors in AA, that this would be a useful addition to treatment and he needed a term that could be more readily popularized. He asked me the names that had been used. I told him it was originally known as vitamin B-3. This was the term Bill wanted. In his first report to physicians in AA he called it "The Vitamin B-3 Therapy." Thousands of copies of this extraordinary pamphlet were distributed. Eventually the name came back and today even the most conservative medical journals are using the term vitamin B-3. ---Bill became unpopular with the members of the board of AA International. The medical members who had been appointed by Bill, felt that he had no business messing about with treatment using vitamins. They also "knew" vitamin B-3 could not be therapeutic as Bill had found it to be. For this reason Bill provided chemical for about 100 years before it was recognized to be vitamin B-3. It is made from nicotine, a poison produced in the tobacco plant to protect itself against its predators, but in the wonderful economy of nature which does not waste any structures, when the nicotine is simplified by cracking open one of the rings, it becomes the immensely valuable vitamin B-3. ---Vitamin B-3 is made in the body from the amino acid tryptophan. On the average 1 mg of vitamin B-3 is made from 60 mg of tryptophan, about 1.5% Since it is made in the body it does not meet the definition of a vitamin; these are defined as substances that can not be made. It should have been classified with the amino acids, but long usage of the term vitamin has given it permanent status as a vitamin. The 1.5% conversion rate is a compromise based upon the conversion of tryptophan to N-methyl nicotinamide and its metabolites in human subjects. I suspect that one day in the far distant future none of the tryptophan will be converted into vitamin B-3 and it then will truly be a vitamin. According to Horwitt [1], the amount converted is not inflexible but varies with patients and conditions. For example, women pregnant in their last three months convert tryptophan to niacin metabolites three times as efficiently as in non-pregnant females. Also there is evidence that contraceptive steroids, estrogens, stimulate tryptophan oxygenase, the enzyme that converts the tryptophan into niacin. --This observation raises some interesting speculations. Women, on average, live longer then men. It has been shown for men that giving them niacin increases their longevity. [2] Is the increased longevity in women the result of greater conversion of tryptophan into niacin under the stimulus of their increase in estrogen production? Does the same phenomenon explain the decrease in the incidence of coronary disease in women? --The best-known vitamin deficiency disease is pellagra. More accurately it is a tryptophan deficiency disease since tryptophan alone can cure the early stages. Pellagra was endemic in the southern U.S.A. until the beginning of the last world war. It can be described by the four D's: dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia and death. The dementia is a late stage phenomenon. In the early stages it resembles much more the schizophrenias, and can only with difficulty be distinguished from it. The only certain method used by early pellagrologists was to give their patients in the mental hospitals small amounts of nicotinic acid. If they recovered they diagnosed them pellagra, if they did not they diagnosed them schizophrenia. This was good for some of their patients but was not good for psychiatry since it prevented any continuing interest in working with the vitamin for their patients who did not recover fast, but who might have done so had they given them a lot more for a much longer period of time, the way we started doing this in Saskatchewan. I consider it one of the schizophrenic syndromes.
Indications
I have been involved in establishing two of the major uses for vitamin B-3, apart from its role in preventing and treating pellagra. These are its action in lowering high cholesterol levels [3] and in elevating high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (HDL), and its therapeutic role in the schizophrenias and other psychiatric conditions. It has been found helpful for many other diseases or conditions. These are psychiatric disorders including children with learning and behavioral disorders, the addictions including alcoholism and drug addiction, the schizophrenias, some of the senile states. Its efficacy for a large number of both mental and physical conditions is an advantage to patients and to their doctors who use the vitamin, but is difficult to accept by the medical profession raised on the belief that there must be one drug for each disease, and that when any substance appears to be too effective for many conditions, it must be due entirely to its placebo effect, something like the old snake oils. ---I have thought about this for a long time and have within the past year become convinced that this vitamin is so versatile because it moderates or relieves the body of the pernicious effect of chronic stress. It therefore frees the body to carry on its routine function of repairing itself more efficiently. The current excitement in medicine is the recognition that hyperoxidation, the formation of free radicals, is one of the basic damaging processes in the body. These hyperexcited molecules destroy molecules and damage tissues at the cellular level and at the tissue level.--All living tissue which depends on oxygen for respiration has to protect itself against these free radicals. Plants use one type of antioxidants and animals use another type. Fortunately there is a wide overlap and the same antioxidants such as vitamin C are used by both plants and animals. There is growing recognition that the system adrenaline -> adrenochrome plays a major role in the reactions to stress. I have elaborated this in a further report for this journal. [4] --The catecholamines, of which adrenalin is the best known example, and the aminochromes, of which adrenochrome is the best known example, are intimately involved in stress reactions. Therefore to moderate the influence of stress or to negate it, one must use compounds which prevent these substances from damaging the body. Vitamin B-3 is a specific antidote to adrenalin, and the antioxidants such as vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta carotene, selenium and others protect the body against the effect of the free radicals by removing them more rapidly from the body. Any disease or condition which is stress related ought therefore to respond to the combined use of vitamin B-3 and these antioxidants provided they are all given in optimum doses, whether small or large as in orthomolecular therapy. I will therefore list briefly the many indications for the use of vitamin B-3.For each condition I will describe one case to illustrate the therapeutic response. For each condition I can refer to hundreds and thousands of case histories and have already in the literature described many of them in detail. [5]
Psychiatric
1) The Schizophrenias. I have reviewed this for this journal. [6]2) Children with Learning and/or Behavioral Disorders.
In 1960 seven year-old Bruce came to see me with his father. Bruce had been diagnosed as mentally retarded. He could not read, could not concentrate, and was developing serious behavioral problems such as cutting school without his parents' knowledge. He was being prepared for special classes for the retarded. He excreted large amounts of kryptopyrrole, the first child to be tested. I started him on nicotinamide, one gram tid. Within four months he was well. He graduated from high school, is now married, has been fully employed and has been paying income tax. He is one case out of about 1500 I have seen since 1960.
Current treatment is more complicated as described in this Journal. [7]
3) Organic Confusional States, non-Alzheimers forms of dementia, electroconvulsive therapy-induced memory disturbances.
In 1954 I observed how nicotinic acid relieved a severe case of post ECT amnesia in one month. Since then I have routinely given it in conjunction with ECT to markedly decrease the memory disturbance that may occur during and after this treatment. I would never give any patient ECT without the concomitant use of nicotinic acid. It is very helpful, especially in cardiovascular-induced forms of dementia as it reverses sludging of the red blood cell and permits proper oxygenation of the cells of the body. For further information see Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry. [8]
In September 1992, Mr. C., 76 years-old, requested help with his memory. He was terribly absentminded. If he decided to do something, by the time he arrived where he wanted to do it he had forgotten what it was he wanted to do. His short-term memory was very poor and his long-term memory was beginning to be affected. I started him on a comprehensive vitamin program including niacinamide 1.5 G daily. Within a month he began to improve. I added niacin to his program. By February 1993 he was normal. April 26, 1993, he told me he had been so well he had concluded he no longer needed any niacin and decreased the dose from 3.0 G to 1.5 G daily. He remained on the rest of the program. Soon he noted that his short term memory was failing him again. I advised him to stay on the full dose the rest of his life.
4) An antidote against d-LSD,9,10 and against adrenochrome. [5]
5) Alcoholism.
Bill W. conducted the first clinical trial of the use of nicotinic for treating members of Alcoholics Anonymous. [11] He found that 20 out of thirty subjects were relieved of their anxiety, tension and fatigue in two months of taking this vitamin, 1 G tid. I found it very useful in treating patients who were both alcoholic and schizophrenic. The first large trial was conducted by David Hawkins who reported a better than 90% recovery rate on about
90 patients. Since then it has been used by many physicians who treat alcoholics. Dr. Russell Smith in Detroit has reported the largest series of patients. [12]Physical
1. Cardiovascular
Of the two major findings made by my research group in Saskatchewan, the nicotinic acid-cholesterol connection is well known and nicotinic acid is used worldwide as an economical, effective and safe compound for lowering cholesterol and elevating high density cholesterol. As a result of my interest in nicotinic acid, Altschul, Hoffer and Stephen [3] discovered that this vitamin, given in gram doses per day, lowered cholesterol levels. Since then it was found it also elevates high density lipoprotein cholesterol thus bringing the ratio of total over HDL to below 5.In the National Coronary Study, Canner [2] showed that nicotinic acid decreased mortality and prolonged life. Between 1966 and 1975, five drugs used to lower cholesterol levels were compared to placebo in 8341 men, ages 30 to 64, who had suffered a myocardial infarction at least three months before entering the study. About 6000 were alive at the end of the study. Nine years later, only niacin had decreased the death rate significantly from all causes. Mortality decreased 11% and longevity increased by two years. The death rate from cancer was also decreased.
This was a very fortunate finding because it led to the approval by the FDA of this vitamin in mega doses for cholesterol problems and opened up the use of this vitamin in large doses for other conditions as well. This occurred at a time when the FDA was doing its best not to recognize the value of megavitamin therapy. Its position has not altered over the past four decades.
Our finding opened up the second major wave of interest in vitamins. The first wave started around 1900 when it was shown that these compounds were very effective in small doses in curing vitamin deficiency diseases and in preventing their occurrence. This was the preventive phase of vitamin use. The second wave recognized that they have therapeutic properties not directly related to vitamin deficiency diseases but may have to be used in large doses. This was the second or present wave wherein vitamins are used in therapy for more than deficiency diseases. Our discovery that nicotinic acid was an hypocholesterolemic compound is credited as the first paper to initiate the second wave and paved the way for orthomolecular medicine which came along several years later.
2. Arthritis
I first observed the beneficial effects of vitamin B-3 in 1953 and 1954. I was then exploring the potential benefits and side effects from this vitamin. Several of the patients who were given this vitamin would report after several months that their arthritis was better. At first this was a surprise since in the psychiatric history I had taken I had not asked about joint pain. This report of improvement happened so often I could not ignore it. A few years later I discovered that Prof. W. Kaufman had studied the use of this vitamin for the arthritides before 1950 and had published two books describing his remarkable results. [13] Since that time this vitamin has been a very important component of the orthomolecular regimen for treating arthritis.The following case illustrates both the response which can occur and the complexity of the orthomolecular regimen. Patients who are early into their arthritis respond much more effectively and are not left with residual disability.
K.V. came to my office April 15, 1982. She was in a wheelchair pushed by her husband. He was exhausted, depressed, and she was one of the sickest patients I have ever seen. She weighed under 90 pounds. She sat in the chair on her ankles which were crossed beneath her body because she was not able to straighten them out. Her arms were held in front of her, close to her body, and her fingers were permanently deformed and claw-like. She told me she had been deeply depressed for many years because of the severe pain and her major impairment. As she was being wheeled into my office I saw how ill she was and immediately concluded there was nothing I could do for her, and had to decide how I could let her know without sending her even deeper into despair. However I changed my mind when she suddenly said, "Dr. Hoffer, I know no one can ever cure me but if you could only help me with my pain. The pain in my back is unbearable. I just want to get rid of the pain in my back." I realized then she had a lot of determination and inner strength and that it was worthwhile to try and help her.
She began to suffer from severe pain in her joints in 1952. In 1957 it was diagnosed as arthritis. Until 1962 her condition fluctuated and then she had to go into a wheelchair some part of the day. She was still able to walk although not for long until 1967. In 1969 she depended on the wheelchair most of the time, and by 1973 she was there permanently. For awhile she was able to propel herself with her feet. After that she was permanently dependent on help. For the three years before she saw me she had gotten some home care but most of the care was provided by her husband. He had retired from his job when I first saw them. He provided the nursing care equivalent to four nurses on 8 hour shifts including holiday time. He had to carry her to the bathroom, bathe her, cook and feed her. He was as exhausted as she was but he was able to carry on.
She was severely deformed, especially her hands, suffered continuous pain, worse in her arms, and hips and her back. Her ankles were badly swollen and she had to wear pressure bandages. Her muscles also were very painful most of the day. She was able to feed herself and to crochet with her few useful fingers, but it must have been extremely difficult. She was not able to write nor type which she used to do with a pencil. A few months earlier she had been suicidal. On top of this severe pain and discomfort she had no appetite, was not hungry and a full meal would nauseate her. Her skin was dry, she had patches of eczema, and she had white areas in her nails.
I advised her to eliminate sugar, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, (about 10% of arthritics have allergic reactions to the solanine family of plants). She was to add niacinamide 500 mg four times daily (following the work of W. Kaufman), ascorbic acid 500 mg four times daily (as an anti-stress nutrient and for subclinical scurvy), pyridoxine 250 mg per day (found to have anti-arthritic properties by Dr. J. Ellis), zinc sulfate 220 mg per day (the white areas in her nails indicated she was deficient in zinc), flaxseed oil 2 tablespoons and cod liver oil 1 tablespoon per day (her skin condition indicated she had a deficiency of omega 3 essential fatty acids). The detailed treatment of arthritis and the references are described in my book. [14]
One month later a new couple came into my room. Her husband was smiling, relaxed and cheerful as he pushed his wife in in her chair. She was sitting with her legs dangling down, smiling as well. I immediately knew that she was a lot better. I began to ask her about her various symptoms she had had previously. After a few minutes she impatiently broke in to say, "Dr. Hoffer, the pain in my back is all gone." She no longer bled from her bowel, she no longer bruised all over her body, she was more comfortable, the pain in her back was easily controlled with aspirin and was gone from her hips, (it had not helped before). She was cheerful and laughed in my office. Her heart was regular at last. I added inositol niacinate 500 mg four times daily to her program.
She came back June 17, 1982, and had improved even more. She was able to pull herself up from the prone position on her bed for the first time in 15 years, and she was free of depression. I increased her ascorbic acid to 1 gram four go into a wheelchair some part of the day. She was still able to walk although not for long until 1967. In 1969 she depended on the wheelchair most of the time, and by 1973 she was there permanently. For awhile she was able to propel herself with her feet. After that she was permanently dependent on help. For the three years before she saw me she had gotten some home care but most of the care was provided by her husband. He had retired from his job when I first saw them. He provided the nursing care equivalent to four nurses on 8 hour shifts including holiday time. He had to carry her to the bathroom, bathe her, cook and feed her. He was as exhausted as she was but he was able to carry on.
She was severely deformed, especially her hands, suffered continuous pain, worse in her arms, and hips and her back. Her ankles were badly swollen and she had to wear pressure bandages. Her muscles also were very painful most of the day. She was able to feed herself and to crochet with her few useful fingers, but it must have been extremely difficult. She was not able to write nor type which she used to do with a pencil. A few months earlier she had been suicidal. On top of this severe pain and discomfort she had no appetite, was not hungry and a full meal would nauseate her. Her skin was dry, she had patches of eczema, and she had white areas in her nails.
I advised her to eliminate sugar, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, (about 10% of arthritics have allergic reactions to the solanine family of plants). She was to add niacinamide 500 mg four times daily (following the work of W. Kaufman), ascorbic acid 500 mg four times daily (as an anti-stress nutrient and for subclinical scurvy), pyridoxine 250 mg per day (found to have anti-arthritic properties by Dr. J. Ellis), zinc sulfate 220 mg per day (the white areas in her nails indicated she was deficient in zinc), flaxseed oil 2 tablespoons and cod liver oil 1 tablespoon per day (her skin condition indicated she had a deficiency of omega 3 essential fatty acids). The detailed treatment of arthritis and the references are described in my book. [14]
One month later a new couple came into my room. Her husband was smiling, relaxed and cheerful as he pushed his wife in in her chair. She was sitting with her legs dangling down, smiling as well. I immediately knew that she was a lot better. I began to ask her about her various symptoms she had had previously. After a few minutes she impatiently broke in to say, "Dr. Hoffer, the pain in my back is all gone." She no longer bled from her bowel, she no longer bruised all over her body, she was more comfortable, the pain in her back was easily controlled with aspirin and was gone from her hips, (it had not helped before). She was cheerful and laughed in my office. Her heart was regular at last. I added inositol niacinate 500 mg four times daily to her program.
She came back June 17, 1982, and had improved even more. She was able to pull herself up from the prone position on her bed for the first time in 15 years, and she was free of depression. I increased her ascorbic acid to 1 gram four times daily and added vitamin E 800 IU. Because she had shown such dramatic improvement I advised her she need no longer come to see me.
September 1, 1982, she called me on the telephone. I asked her how she was getting along. She said she was making even more progress. I then asked her how had she been able to get to the phone. She replied she was able to get around alone in her chair. Then she added she had not called for herself but for her husband. He had been suffering from a cold for a few days, she was nursing him, and she wanted some advice for him.
After another visit October 28, 1983, I wrote to her doctor "Today Mrs. K.V. reported she had stayed on the whole vitamin program very rigorously for 18 months, but since that time had slacked off somewhat. She is regaining a lot of her muscle strength, can now sit in her wheelchair without difficulty, can also wheel herself around in her wheelchair but, of course, can not do anything useful with her hands because her fingers are so awful. She would like to become more independent and perhaps could do so if something could be done about her fingers and also about her hip. I am delighted she has arranged to see a plastic surgeon to see if something can be done to get her hand mobilized once more. I have asked her to continue with the vitamins but because she had difficulty taking so many pills she will take a preparation called Multijet which is available from Portland and contains all the vitamins and minerals and can be dissolved in juice. She will also take inositol niacinate 3 grams daily."
I saw her again March 24, 1988. About 4 of her vertebra had collapsed and she was suffering more pain which was alleviated by Darvon. It had not been possible to treat her hands surgically. She had been able to eat by herself until six months before this last visit. She had been taking small amounts of vitamins. She was able to use a motorized chair. She had been depressed. I wrote to her doctor, "She had gone off the total vitamin program about two or three years ago. It is very difficult for her to swallow and I can understand her reluctance to carry on with this. I have therefore suggested that she take a minimal program which would include inositol niacinate 3 grams daily, ascorbic acid 1 gram three times, linseed oil 2 capsules and cod liver oil 2 capsules. Her spirits are good and I think she is coming along considering the severe deterioration of her body as a result of the arthritis over the past few decades." She was last seen by her doctor in the fall of 1989.
Her husband was referred. I saw him May 18, 1982. He complained of headaches and a sense of pressure about his head present for three years. This followed a series of light strokes. I advised him to take niacin 3 grams daily plus other vitamins including vitamin C. By September 1983 he was well and when seen last March 24, 1988 was still normal.
3. Juvenile Diabetes
Dr. Robert Elliot, Professor of Child Health Research at University of Auckland Medical School is testing 40,000 five-year old children for the presence of specific antibodies that indicate diabetes will develop. Those who have the antibodies will be given nicotinamide. This will prevent the development of diabetes in most the children who are vulnerable. According to the Rotarian for March 1993 this project began 8 years ago and has 3200 relatives in the study. Of these, 182 had antibodies and 76 were given nicotinamide. Only 5 have become diabetic compared to 37 that would have been expected. Since 1988 over 20,100 school children have been tested. None have become diabetic compared to 47 from the untested comparable group. A similar study is underway in London, Ontario.4. Cancer
Recent findings have shown that vitamin B-3 does have anti-cancer properties. This was discussed at a meeting in Texas in 1987, Jacobson and Jacobson. [15] The topic of this international conference was "Niacin, Nutrition, ADP-Ribosylation and Cancer," and was the 8th conference of this series.Niacin, niacinamide and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) are interconvertable via a pyridine nucleotide cycle. NAD, the coenzyme, is hydrolyzed or split into niacinamide and adenosine dinucleotide phosphate (ADP-ribose). Niacinamide is converted into niacin, which in turn is once more built into NAD. The enzyme which splits ADP is known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or poly (ADP) synthetase, or poly (ADP-ribose) transferase. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase is activated when strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are broken. The enzyme transfers NAD to the ADP-ribose polymer, binding it onto a number of proteins. The poly (ADP-ribose) activated by DNA breaks helps repair the breaks by unwinding the nucleosomal structure of damaged chromatids. It also may increase the activity of DNA ligase. This enzyme cuts damaged ends off strands of DNA and increases the cell's capacity to repair itself. Damage caused by any carcinogenic factor, radiation, chemicals, is thus to a degree neutralized or counteracted.
Jacobson and Jacobson, conference organizers, hypothesized that niacin prevents cancer. They treated two groups of human cells with carcinogens. The group given adequate niacin developed tumors at a rate only 10% of the rate in the group deficient in niacin. Dr. M. Jacobson is quoted as saying, "We know that diet is a major risk factor, that diet has both beneficial and detrimental components. What we cannot assess at this point is the optimal amount of niacin in the diet... The fact that we don't have pellagra does not mean we are getting enough niacin to confer resistance to cancer." About 20 mg per day of niacin will prevent pellagra in people who are not chronic pellagrins. The latter may require 25 times as much niacin to remain free of pellagra.
Vitamin B-3 may increase the therapeutic efficacy of anti-cancer treatment. In mice, niacinamide increased the toxicity of irradiation against tumors. The combination of normobaric carbogen with nicotinamide could be an effective method of enhancing tumor radiosensitivity in clinical radiotherapy where hypoxia limits the outcome of treatment. Chaplin, Horsman and Aoki16 found that nicotinamide was the best drug for increasing radiosensitivity compared to a series of analogues. The vitamin worked because it enhanced blood flow to the tumor. Nicotinamide also enhanced the effect of chemotherapy. They suggested that niacin may offer some cardioprotection during long-term adriamycin chemotherapy.
Further evidence that vitamin B-3 is involved in cancer is the report by Nakagawa, Miyazaki, Okui, Kato, Moriyama and Fujimura [17] that in animals there is a direct relationship between the activity of nicotinamide methyl transferase and the presence of cancer. Measuring the amount of N-methyl nicotinamide was used to measure the activity of the enzyme. In other words, in animals with cancer there is increased destruction of nicotinamide, thus making less available for the pyridine nucleotide cycle. This finding applied to all tumors except the solid tumors, Lewis lung carcinoma and melanoma B-16.
Gerson [18] treated a series of cancer patients with special diets and with some nutrients including niacin 50 mg 8 to 10 times per day, dicalcium phosphate with vitamin D, vitamins A and D, and liver injections. He found that all the cancer cases were benefited in that they became healthier and in many cases the tumors regressed. In a subsequent report Gerson elaborated on his diet. He now emphasized a high potassium over sodium diet, ascorbic acid, niacin, brewers yeast and lugols iodine. Right after the war there was no ready supply of vitamins as there is today. I would consider the use of these nutrients in combination very original and enterprising. Dr. Gerson was the first physician to emphasize the use of multivitamins and some multiminerals. More details are
in Hoffer. [19]Additional evidence that vitamin B-3 is therapeutic for cancer arises from the National Coronary Study, Canner. [2]
5. Concentration Camp Survivors
In 1960 I planned to study the effect of nicotinic acid on a large number of aging people living in a sheltered home. A new one had been built. I approached the director of this home, Mr. George Porteous. I arranged to meet him and told him what I would like to do and why. I gave him an outline of its properties, its side effects and why I thought it might be helpful. Mr. Porteous agreed and we started this investigation. A short while after my first contact Mr. Porteous came to my office at University Hospital. He wanted to take nicotinic acid himself, he told me, so that he could discuss the reaction more intelligently with people living in his institution. He wanted to know if it would be safe to do so.That fall he came again to talk to me and this time he said he wanted to tell me what had happened to him. Then I discovered he had been with the Canadian troops who had sailed to Hong Kong in 1940, had been promptly captured by that nicotinamide was the best drug for increasing radiosensitivity compared to a series of analogues. The vitamin worked because it enhanced blood flow to the tumor. Nicotinamide also enhanced the effect of chemotherapy. They suggested that niacin may offer some cardioprotection during long-term adriamycin chemotherapy.
Further evidence that vitamin B-3 is involved in cancer is the report by Nakagawa, Miyazaki, Okui, Kato, Moriyama and Fujimura [17] that in animals there is a direct relationship between the activity of nicotinamide methyl transferase and the presence of cancer. Measuring the amount of N-methyl nicotinamide was used to measure the activity of the enzyme. In other words, in animals with cancer there is increased destruction of nicotinamide, thus making less available for the pyridine nucleotide cycle. This finding applied to all tumors except the solid tumors, Lewis lung carcinoma and melanoma B-16.
Gerson [18] treated a series of cancer patients with special diets and with some nutrients including niacin 50 mg 8 to 10 times per day, dicalcium phosphate with vitamin D, vitamins A and D, and liver injections. He found that all the cancer cases were benefited in that they became healthier and in many cases the tumors regressed. In a subsequent report Gerson elaborated on his diet. He now emphasized a high potassium over sodium diet, ascorbic acid, niacin, brewers yeast and lugols iodine. Right after the war there was no ready supply of vitamins as there is today. I would consider the use of these nutrients in combination very original and enterprising. Dr. Gerson was the first physician to emphasize the use of multivitamins and some multiminerals. More details are
in Hoffer. [19]Additional evidence that vitamin B-3 is therapeutic for cancer arises from the National Coronary Study, Canner. [2]
5. Concentration Camp Survivors
In 1960 I planned to study the effect of nicotinic acid on a large number of aging people living in a sheltered home. A new one had been built. I approached the director of this home, Mr. George Porteous. I arranged to meet him and told him what I would like to do and why. I gave him an outline of its properties, its side effects and why I thought it might be helpful. Mr. Porteous agreed and we started this investigation. A short while after my first contact Mr. Porteous came to my office at University Hospital. He wanted to take nicotinic acid himself, he told me, so that he could discuss the reaction more intelligently with people living in his institution. He wanted to know if it would be safe to do so.That fall he came again to talk to me and this time he said he wanted to tell me what had happened to him. Then I discovered he had been with the Canadian troops who had sailed to Hong Kong in 1940, had been promptly captured by that nicotinamide was the best drug for increasing radiosensitivity compared to a series of analogues. The vitamin worked because it enhanced blood flow to the tumor. Nicotinamide also enhanced the effect of chemotherapy. They suggested that niacin may offer some cardioprotection during long-term adriamycin chemotherapy.
Further evidence that vitamin B-3 is involved in cancer is the report by Nakagawa, Miyazaki, Okui, Kato, Moriyama and Fujimura [17] that in animals there is a direct relationship between the activity of nicotinamide methyl transferase and the presence of cancer. Measuring the amount of N-methyl nicotinamide was used to measure the activity of the enzyme. In other words, in animals with cancer there is increased destruction of nicotinamide, thus making less available for the pyridine nucleotide cycle. This finding applied to all tumors except the solid tumors, Lewis lung carcinoma and melanoma B-16.
Gerson [18] treated a series of cancer patients with special diets and with some nutrients including niacin 50 mg 8 to 10 times per day, dicalcium phosphate with vitamin D, vitamins A and D, and liver injections. He found that all the cancer cases were benefited in that they became healthier and in many cases the tumors regressed. In a subsequent report Gerson elaborated on his diet. He now emphasized a high potassium over sodium diet, ascorbic acid, niacin, brewers yeast and lugols iodine. Right after the war there was no ready supply of vitamins as there is today. I would consider the use of these nutrients in combination very original and enterprising. Dr. Gerson was the first physician to emphasize the use of multivitamins and some multiminerals. More details are
in Hoffer. [19]Additional evidence that vitamin B-3 is therapeutic for cancer arises from the National Coronary Study, Canner. [2]
5. Concentration Camp Survivors
In 1960 I planned to study the effect of nicotinic acid on a large number of aging people living in a sheltered home. A new one had been built. I approached the director of this home, Mr. George Porteous. I arranged to meet him and told him what I would like to do and why. I gave him an outline of its properties, its side effects and why I thought it might be helpful. Mr. Porteous agreed and we started this investigation. A short while after my first contact Mr. Porteous came to my office at University Hospital. He wanted to take nicotinic acid himself, he told me, so that he could discuss the reaction more intelligently with people living in his institution. He wanted to know if it would be safe to do so.That fall he came again to talk to me and this time he said he wanted to tell me what had happened to him. Then I discovered he had been with the Canadian troops who had sailed to Hong Kong in 1940, had been promptly captured by the Japanese and had survived 44 months in one of their notorious prisoner of war camps.
Twenty-five percent of the Canadian soldiers died in these camps. They suffered from severe malnutrition from starvation and nutrient deficiency. They suffered from beri beri, pellagra, scurvy, infectious diseases, and brutality from the guards.
Porteous, a physical education instructor, had been fit weighing about 190 pounds when he got there. When he returned home he weighed only 2/3rds of that. On the way home in a hospital ship the soldiers were fed and given extra vitamins in the form of rice polishings. There were few vitamins available then in tablets or capsules. He seemingly recovered but had remained very ill. He suffered from both psychological and physical symptoms. He was anxious, fearful and slightly paranoid. Thus, he could never be comfortable sitting in a room unless he sat facing the door. This must have arisen from the fear of the guards. Physically he had severe arthritis. He could not raise his arms above his shoulders. He suffered from heat and cold sensitivity. In the morning he needed his wife's help in getting out of bed and to get started for the day. He had severe insomina. For this he was given barbiturates in the evening and to help awaken him in the morning, he was given amphetamines.
Later I read the growing literature on the Hong Kong veterans and there is no doubt they were severely and permanently damaged. They suffered from a high death rate due to heart disease, crippling arthritis, blindness and a host of other conditions.
Having outlined his background he then told me that two weeks after he started to take nicotinic acid, 1 gram after each meal, he was normal. He was able to raise his arms to their full extension, and he was free of all the symptoms which had plagued him for so long. When I began to prepare my report [20] I obtained his Veterans Administration Chart. It came to me in two cardboard boxes and weighed over ten pounds, but over 95% of it was accumulated before he started on the vitamin. For the ten years after he started on the vitamin there was very little additional material. One could judge the efficacy of the vitamin by weighing the chart paper before and after he started on it. Porteous remained well as long as he stayed on the vitamin until his death when he was Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. In 1962, after having been well for two years, he went on a holiday to the mountains with his son and he forgot to take his nicotinic acid with him. By the time he returned home almost the entire symptomatology had returned.
Porteous was enthusiastic about nicotinic acid and began to tell all his friends about it. He told his doctor. His doctor cautioned him that he might damage his liver. Porteous replied that if it meant he could stay as well as he was until he died from a liver ailment he would still not go off it. His doctor became an enthusiast as well and within a few years had started over 300 of his patients on the vitamin. He never saw any examples of liver disease from nicotinic acid.
I have treated over 20 prisoners from Japanese camps and from European concentration camps since then with equally good results. I estimated that one year in these camps was equivalent to 4 years of aging, i.e. four years in camp would age a prisoner the equivalent of 16 years of normal living. [F5]
George Porteous wanted every prisoner of war from the eastern camps treated as he had been. He was not successful in persuading the Government of Canada that nicotinic acid would be very helpful so he turned to fellow prisoners, both in Canada (Hong Kong Veterans) and to American Ex-Prisoners of War. These American veterans suffered just as much as had the Canadian soldiers since they were treated in exactly the same abysmal way. The ones who started on the vitamin showed the same response. Recently one of these soldiers, a retired officer, wrote to me after being on nicotinic acid 20 years that he felt great, owed it to the vitamin and that when his arteries were examined during a simple operation they were completely normal. He wrote, "About two years ago, I was hit, was bleeding down the neck. The MDs took the opportunity to repair me. They said the arteries under the ears look like they had never been used."
There is an important lesson from the experiences of these veterans and their response to megadoses of nicotinic acid. This is that every human exposed to severe stress and malnutrition for a long enough period of time will develop a permanent need for large amounts of this vitamin and perhaps for several others.
This is happening on a large scale in Africa where the combination of starvation, malnutrition and brutality is reproducing the conditions suffered by the veterans. Those who survive will be permanently damaged biochemically, and will remain a burden to themselves and to the community where they live. Will society have the good sense to help them recover by making this vitamin available to them in optimum doses?
Doses
The optimum dose range is not as wide as it is for ascorbic acid[F6], but it is wide enough to require different recommendations for different classes of diseases. As is always the case with nutrients, each individual must determine their own optimum level. With nicotinic acid this is done by increasing the dose until the flush (vasodilation) is gone, or is so slight it is not a problem.One can start with as low a dose as 100 mg taken three times each day after meals and gradually increase it. I usually start with 500 mg each dose and often will start with 1 gram per dose especially for cases of arthritis, for schizophrenics, for alcoholics and for a few elderly patients. However, with elderly patients it is better to start small and work it up slowly. No person should be given nicotinic acid without explaining to them that they will have a flush which will vary in intensity from none to very severe. If this is explained carefully, and if they are told that in time the flush will not be a problem, they will not mind. The flush may remain too intense for a few patients and the nicotinic acid may have to be replaced by a slow release preparation or by some of the esters, for example, inositol niacinate. The latter is a very good preparation with very little flush and most find it very acceptable even when they were not able to accept the nicotinic acid itself. It is rather expensive but with quantity production the price might come down.
The flush starts in the forehead with a warning tingle. Then it intensifies. The rate of the development of the flush depends upon so many factors it is impossible to predict what course it will follow.
The following factors decrease the intensity of the flush: a cold meal, taking it after a meal, taking aspirin before, using an antihistamine in advance.
The following factors make the flush more intense: a hot meal, a hot drink, an empty stomach, chewing the tablets and the rate at which the tablets break down in liquid.
From the forehead and face the flush travels down the rest of the body, usually stopping somewhere in the chest but may extend to the toes. With continued use the flush gradually recedes and eventually may be only a tingling sensation in the forehead. If the person stops taking the vitamin for a day or more the sequence of flushing will be re-experienced. Some people never do flush and a few only begin to flush after several years of taking the vitamin. With nicotinamide there should be no flushing but I have found that about 2% will flush. This may be due to rapid conversion of the nicotinamide to nicotinic acid in the body.
When the dose is too high for both forms of the vitamin the patients will suffer from nausea at first, and then if the dose is not reduced it will lead to vomiting. These side effects may be used to determine what is the optimum dose. When they do occur the dose is reduced until it is just below the nausea level. With children the first indication may be loss of appetite. If this does occur the vitamin must be stopped for a few days and then may be resumed at a lower level. Very few can take more than 6 grams per day of the nicotinamide. With nicotinic acid it is possible to go much higher. Many schizophrenics have taken up to 30 grams per day with no difficulty. The dose will alter over time and if on a dose where there were no problems, they may develop in time. Usually this indicates that the patient is getting better and does not need as much. I have divided all patients who might benefit from vitamin B-3 into the following categories.
Category 1. These are people who are well or nearly well, and have no obvious disease. They are interested in maintaining their good health or in improving it. They may be under increased stress. The optimum dose range varies between 0.5 to 3 grams daily. The same doses apply to nicotinamide.
Category 2. Everyone under physiological stress, such as pregnancy and lactation, suffering from acute illness such as the common cold or flu, or other diseases that do not threaten death. All the psychiatric syndromes are included in this group including the schizophrenias and the senile states. It also includes the very large group of people with high blood cholesterol levels or low HDL when it is desired to restore these blood values to normal. The dose range is 1 gram to 10 grams daily. For nicotinamide the range is 1 1/2 g to 6 g.
Nicotinamide does not affect cholesterol levels.
Side Effects
Here are Dr. John Marks' conclusions. [21]"A tingling or flushing sensation in the skin after relatively large doses (in excess of 75 mg) of nicotinic acid is a rather common phenomenon. It is the result of dilation of the blood vessels that is one of the natural actions of nicotinic acid and one for which it is used therapeutically. Whether this should therefore be regarded as a true adverse reaction is a moot point. The reaction clears regularly after about 20 minutes and is not harmful to the individual. It is very rare for this reaction to occur at less than three times the RDA, even in very sensitive individuals. In most people much larger quantities are required. The related substance nicotinamide only very rarely produces this reaction and in consequence this is the form generally used for vitamin supplementation.
"Doses of 200 mg to 10 g daily of the acid have been used therapeutically to lower blood cholesterol levels under medical control for periods of up to 10 years or more and though some reactions have occurred at these very high dosages, they have rapidly responded to cessation of therapy, and have often cleared even when therapy has been continued.
"In isolated cases, transient liver disorders, rashes, dry skin and excessive pigmentation have been seen. The tolerance to glucose has been reduced in diabetics and patients with peptic ulcers have experienced increased pain. No serious reaction have been reported however even in these high doses. The available evidence suggests that 10 times the RDA is safe (about 100 mg)."
Dr. Marks is cautious about recommending that doses of 100 mg are safe. In my opinion, based upon 40 years of experience with this vitamin the dose ranges I have recommended above are safe. However with the higher doses medical supervision is necessary.
Jaundice is very rare. Fewer that ten cases have been reported in the medical literature. I have seen none in ten years. When jaundice dose occur it is usually an obstructive type and clears when the vitamin is discontinued. I have been able to get schizophrenic patients back on nicotinic acid after the jaundice cleared and it did not recur.
Four serious cases have been reported, all involving a sustained release preparation. Mullin, Greenson & Mitchell (1989) [22] reported that a 44 year-old man was treated with crystalline nicotinic acid, 6 grams daily, and after 16 months was normal. He then began to take a sustained-release preparation, same dose. Within three days he developed nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine. He had severe hepatic failure and required a liver transplant. Henkin, Johnson & Segrest found three patients who developed hepatitis with sustained release nicotinic acid. When this was replaced with crystalline nicotinic acid there was no recurrent liver damage. [23]
Since jaundice in people who have not been taking nicotinic acid is fairly common it is possible there is a random association. The liver function tests may indicate there is a problem when in fact there is not. Nicotinic acid should be stopped for five days before the liver function tests are given. One patient who had no problem with nicotinic acid for lowering cholesterol switched to the slow release preparations and became ill. When he resumed the original nicotinic acid he was well again with no further evidence of liver dysfunction. I have not seen any cases reported anywhere else. I have described much more fully the side effects of this vitamin elsewhere. [24]
Inositol hexaniacinate is an ester of inositol and nicotinic acid. Each inositol molecule contains six nicotinic acid molecules. This ester is broken down slowly in the body. It is as effective as nicotinic acid and is almost free of side effects. There is very little flushing, gastrointestinal distress and other uncommon side effects. Inositol, considered one of the lesser important B vitamins, does have a function in the body as a messenger molecule and may add something to the therapeutic properties of the nicotinic acid.
Conclusion
Vitamin B-3 is a very effective nutrient in treating a large number of psychiatric and medical diseases but its beneficial effect is enhanced when the rest of the orthomolecular program is included. The combination of vitamin B-3 and the antioxidant nutrients is a great anti-stress program.Reprinted with the permission of the author:
Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.References
1. Horwitt MK: Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Fifth Ed. RS Goodhart and ME Shils. Lea & Febiger, Phil. 1974.2. Canner PL, Berge KG, Wenger NK, Stamler J, Friedman L, Prineas RJ & Freidewald W: Fifteen year mortality Coronary Drug Project; patients long
term benefit with niacin. American Coll Cardiology 8:1245-1255, 1986.
3. Altschul R, Hoffer A & Stephen JD: Influence of Nicotinic Acid on Serum Cholesterol in Man. Arch Biochem Biophys 54:558-559, 1955.
4. Hoffer A: The Schizophrenia, Stress and Adrenochrome Hypothesis. In Press, 1995.
5. Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Medicine for Physicians. Keats Pub, New Canaan, CT, 1989.
6. Hoffer A: The treatment of schizophrenia. In Press 1995.
7. Hoffer A: The Development of Orthomolecular Medicine. In Press, 1995.
8. Hoffer A: Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry. C. C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1962.
Hoffer A & Osmond H: New Hope For Alcoholics, University Books, New York, 1966. Written by Fannie Kahan.
Hoffer A & Walker M: Nutrients to Age Without Senility. Keats Pub Inc, New Canaan, CT, 1980.
Hoffer A & Walker M: Smart Nutrients. A Guide to Nutrients That Can Prevent and Reverse Senility. Avery Publishing Group, Garden City Park, New York, 1994.
9. Agnew N & Hoffer A: Nicotinic Acid Modified Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Psychosis. J Ment Science 101:12-27, 1955.
10. Ivanova RA, Milstein GT, Smirnova LS & Fantchenko ND: The Influence of Nicotinic Acid on an Experimental Psychosis Produced by LSD 25. Journal of Neuropathology and Psychiatry of CC Korsakoff 64:1172-1176, 1964. In Russian. Translated by Dr. T.E. Weckowicz.
11. Wilson B: The Vitamin B-3 Therapy: The First Communication to A.A.'s Physicians and A Second Communication to A.A.'s Physicians, 1967 and 1968.
12. Smith RF: A five year field trial of massive nicotinic acid therapy of alcoholics in Michigan. Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry 3:327-331, 1974.
Smith RF: Status report concerning the use of megadose nicotinic acid in alcoholics. Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry 7:52-55, 1978.
13. Kaufman W: Common Forms of Niacinamide Deficiency Disease: Aniacin Amidosis. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1943.
Kaufman W: The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction: Its Incidence and Treatment. E.L. Hildreth and Co., Brattelboro, VT, 1949.
14. Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Medicine For Physicians, Keats Pub, New Canaan, CT, 1989.
15. Jacobson M & Jacobson E: Niacin, nutrition, ADP-ribosylation and cancer. The 8th International Symposium on ADP- Ribosylation, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth, TX, 1987.
Titus K: Scientists link niacin and cancer prevention. The D.O. 28:93-97, 1987.
Hostetler D: Jacobsons put broad strokes in the niacin/cancer picture. The D.O. 28:103-104, 1987.
16. Chaplin DJ, Horsman MP & Aoki DS: Nicotinamide, Fluosol DA and Carbogen: a strategy to reoxygenate acutely and chronically hypoxic cells in vivo. British Journal of Cancer 63:109-113, 1990.
17. Nakagawa K, Miyazaka M, Okui K, Kato N, Moriyama Y & Fujimura S: N1-methylnicotinamide level in the blood after nicotinamide loading as further evidence for malignant tumor burden. Jap. J. Cancer Research 82:277-1283, 1991.
18. Gerson M: Dietary considerations in malignant neoplastic disease. A prelimary report. The Review of Gastroenterology 12:419-425, 1945.
Gerson M: Effects of a combined dietary regime on patients with malignant tumors. Experimental Medicine and Surgery 7:299-317, 1949.
19. Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Oncology. In, Adjuvant Nutrition in Cancer Treatment, Ed. P. Quillin & R. M. Williams. 1992 Symposium Proceedings, Sponsored by Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and American College of Nutrition. Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, 3455 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 200, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-1090, 331-362, 1994.
20. Hoffer A: Hong Kong Veterans Study. J Orthomolecular Psychiatry 3:34-36, 1974.
21. Marks J: Vitamin Safety. Vitamin Information Status Paper, F. Hoffman La Roche & Co., Basle, 1989.
22. Mullin GE, Greenson JK & Mitchell MC: Fulminant hepatic failure after ingestion of sustained-release nicotinic acid. Ann Internal Medicine 111:253-255, 1989.
23. Henkin Y, Johnson KC & Segrest JP: Rechallenge with crystalline niacin
Kaufman W: The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction: Its Incidence and Treatment. E.L. Hildreth and Co., Brattelboro, VT, 1949. drug-induced hepatitis from sustained-release niacin. J. American Medical Assn. 264:241-243, 1990.
24. Hoffer A: Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry. C. C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1962.
Hoffer A: Safety, Side Effects and Relative Lack of Toxicity of Nicotinic acid and Nicotinamide. Schizophrenia 1:78-87, 1969.
Hoffer A: Vitamin B-3 (Niacin) Update. New Roles For a Key Nutrient in Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease and Other Major Health Problems. Keats Pub, Inc., New Canaan, CT, 1990.
*******************************************************************************************************************
We Are One False Flag Away From Genocidal Internment of Citizens
Dave Hodges
Mankind has always engaged in a series of forced removal of its political undesirables, which usually culminated with deadly consequences. This fact is not lost upon the inhabitants of this country. The United States has a checkered past when it comes to the treatment of political undesirables. In this country, Plymouth Colony banished individuals who had the “wrong beliefs” and the “wrong attitudes” to a near certain death in the New England winter. This was followed by the Indian Removal Act, initiated by President Andrew Jackson, which led to the infamous Trail of Tears. The latter incident led to the widespread practice of placing Native American tribes on reservations under very unhealthy, and often deadly consequences. In 1942, America citizens of Japanese descent were sentenced to relocation camps for the crime of being the wrong race in a time of war. The Germans also had their concentration camps and the Russians had their Gulags, and on and on it goes. ---------Despite the fact that history is replete with examples of forced incarcerations of political undesirables and in many cases, extermination of innocents, most Americans refuse to believe it could ever happen here. “We are too civilized or we have the Bill of Rights, are the two most common justifications used to reinforce the mass denial systems of the sheep of this country. Yet, another voice emerges on this topic from the world of scientific research. The psychological research is stunning in that it shows that a holocaust could occur in the United States ( or any Free System ) and the circumstances would not have to be extraordinary for this to occur.
Stanley Milgram and the Solomon Asch Experiments On Obedience
In 1963, after listening to Americans proclaim their superiority to the Nazis by indicating that our fair and virtuous society would never engage in what the Germans did in the pre-WWII years, Yale University professor, Dr. Stanley Milgram, set out to test that unproven hypothesis. What the Milgram research indicated was that 67% of the population are nothing but a bunch of sheep as the experiment proved that most subjects would follow the orders of a perceived authority figure to put an innocent to death even where there was a distinct absence of real coercion. Milgram proved that most people need very little provocation to carry out a “Lord of the Flies” agenda. ---Prior to the Milgram experiment, Solomon Asch conducted his own experiment on mindless conformity. Asch demonstrated that just under 60% of the people could be coerced into giving what they knew was the wrong answer by the ever so subtle application of peer pressure. By having six confederates in the experiment, give the wrong answer, most of the test subjects would also give what was obviously the wrong answer in an effort to go along to get along.[F1] Americans, like any other people, are largely conformist sheep.
People in this country who mistakenly believe as most Americans did in 1963 that we could never have a genocidal internment in this country, believe so at their own peril. Some Americans who believe that this event is inevitable, are obviously not aware of the follow up research in response to the Milgram and Solomon Asch experiments, for if there was a silver lining the research, it is that when people become aware of our tendencies to conform are known, the rates of compliance go down[F2]. Therefore, simply knowing about the phenomenon makes it less likely to occur[F3]. -----
What is most frightening to me is that when we compare the psychological experiments of the 1960′s to today’s population, it is noteworthy that the people of the 1960′s did not live under the NDAA, Executive Order 13603 and REX 84. This means that genocidal internment is much more likely today.
A Ray of Hope for Spreading the Word---Later research confirmed that when people are educated about the subtleties of peer pressure, group think and our need to obey, the Milgram and Solomon Asch rates of compliance dropped by about 50%. ---The totality of this research has clear implications for our time in history. If we educate as many people about what is really going on in this country with regard to the loss of civil liberties and current events, we can lessen the likelihood that Americans will engage in genocidal internment of its own citizens. The disinfectant of the light of day is our best ally. Everyone, and I mean everyone needs to become a citizen journalist and report on the abuses of this administration and the banksters who control the politicians. For if we do next to nothing, we are very likely sealing our fate. Consider the words of warning of Solzhenitsyn.--“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?… The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”
The people of Russia acquiesced because they were not educated. We have the internet, which is the ultimate in the modern day example of the Committees of Correspondence. We can educate the country and diminish the threat. And every exposure of the truth needs to be accompanied by the message, “Do Not Comply”!----What happens when the “authorities” come for the people that they intend to abuse. Can one enter into a detention center and expect to come out alive and in intact?
The Two Biggest Threats to Your Survival
Imagine how a man who is deprived of everyone he has ever cared about, and at the same time this man has lost his house and all of his possessions and is separated from his family, sent to a detention center, how will he survive? There are two primary dangers facing detainees and the biggest danger consists of bad luck and that your showers will actually emit cyanide instead of water resulting in your demise. And the second danger detainees will face is the loss of hope as we succumb and psychologically let go of the virtues of life. For how will you find meaning in your life, when you’re separated from everything that you’ve ever known and loved?--If you are sent to the camps in the upcoming clamp down, there are things you can do to exercise control over the things of which you have influence.---One of the founding fathers of the modern psychology movement, Victor Frankl, wrote about these challenges in a book entitled, Man’s Search For Meaning, which was based upon his imprisonment during WWII.--Frankl believed that the greatest loss of life in the concentration camps was the loss of individual hope. In the book, Frankl described how person after person in the death camps lost hope, pulled the covers up over their head and died. Many of the concentration camp survivors were very resilient people and were able to manufacture their own subculture while in the death camps. This helped to provide a connectivity to other human beings which provided a glimmer of hope for the detainees in the midst of abject despair.---[F4]Frankl spent four years in Auschwitz and everyone in his family, which were imprisoned along with him, died in the camp. Frankl began to seek ways to carve out a life worth living. He used his talents, as a psychiatrist, to give aid and comfort to people who were losing hope. In doing so, he connected with people at a very deep level. As a result, he found his meaning in life. He also used his imagination to hope for a better day. He used to look at the birds flying overhead and he imagined that he was one of them and for a brief moment, he was not bound by the armed guards and the fences around the camp. He was free to go anywhere and do anything. He was, for a brief time, totally free. This reminder kept his inner spirit alive and made him yearn for the day that his life would improve. Frankl maintained hope.
There Were Resisters to the Forced Incarcerations
When they come for you, what does history say about resisting incarceration? There were those in the camps that did resist as they ran from the relocation trains, and/or attacked their captors. In almost every instance, resisting authorities at the time of arrest was almost 100% fatal, most often ending with a bullet in the back of their head.---What enhanced survivability was forming a set of meaningful communities in the camps. Within the death camps, a legitimate subculture appeared as the people played cards and actors, musicians, comics, singers, and dancers all entertained small groups who came together for a few hours to forget their horrific levels of dehumanization. Inmates formed close relationships with one another and this was their grass roots form of resistance.--The voices of history are clear, if you’re ever forced into a re-education camp, pray for good luck and develop meaningful relationships among your fellow detainees as well as find pleasure in the small things over which you will have some measure of control.---- Some Inmates Resisted--If you allowed yourself to be taken to a camp, could you organize a resistance and somehow win your freedom? There were some that -tried just that. However, the results were not promising. --In Treblinka, seven hundred Jews were successful in blowing up the camp on August 2, 1943. All but 150 of the inmates perished in retaliation for their efforts. Only 12 Treblinka inmates survived the war. In Sobibor, Jewish and Russian inmates mounted an escape on October 14, 1943. One in ten successfully escaped, about 60 out of 600. The prisoners involved in the escape survived to join the Soviet underground. In Auschwitz, on October 7, 1944, one of the four crematoria was blown up by Jewish workers, whose job it was to clear away the bodies of gas chamber victims. The workers were all caught and 100% of them were executed.
The lesson seems clear, if you allow yourself to be taken, you’re probably not coming out of the experience alive.---What is the lesson that one should draw? First, do not get caught by the so-called authorities, and I know that is easier said than done. Secondly, some will survive, not many, by choosing to go along to get along. Third, you can try to escape but the odds for survival are long. To survive by going along to get along, requires a fair amount of luck to survive. If you are not one who wants to risk their life to chance, I believe history teaches that mounting an organized escape effort may be the best chance for survival that an inmate possess Some will survive, but not most.[F5]
What About Community Resistance?
Can a community mount a successful resistance against forced genocidal internment? Despite the stereotype which betrays all death camp detainees (i.e. Gypsies, Jews, homosexuals, political dissidents and the handicapped) as meekly going to their death, there were plenty of communities which mounted a resistance. For example, on September 3, 1942, seven hundred Jewish families escaped from the Tuchin Ghetto, located in the Ukraine. However, the Nazis hunted them down, and only 15 survived.--By 1943, the residents in the famous Warsaw Ghetto, had organized an army of about 1,000 men, mostly unarmed and without military equipment. In January 1943, German soldiers entered the ghetto to round up more Jews for shipment to the death camps. They were met by a volley of bombs, Molotov cocktails, and a few bullets from the sparse number of firearms which had been smuggled into the ghettos. Twenty German soldiers were killed. The action encouraged a few members of the Polish resistance to support the uprising, and a few machine guns, some hand grenades, and about a hundred rifles and revolvers were smuggled in.
The Germans returned with almost 3,000 veteran SS troops and overcame the resistance. It is true that nearly 300 Germans were killed. However, the rebel losses were estimated at 15,000. Some survived and some actually did escape, but not many.
Conclusion
What is the takeaway from these experiences? Unfortunately, it is an almost certain death sentence if one allows themselves to be incarcerated by a ruthless totalitarian regime. We have seen that resistance at the point of arrest is futile. Armed and organized resistance which includes community involvement, produces long odds for survival, but some do survive. Resisting captors inside of the concentration camp, by any means necessary, is nearly fatal in every case. Acquiescing to authority, while one carves out a life under very dire circumstances, provides the best chance for survival while in the camp. However, under these conditions, one’s survival is highly dependent on being lucky.---I used to have survivors of the Holocaust come and speak to my sociology students. Subsequently, I asked all of these former death camp prisoners, what was the number one factor in their survival? Almost to a person, they stated the number one factor in their survival was luck. I was told that the Nazis would herd people to the showers which they knew was a death trap, and they were the next in line, but were turned away, because the quota had been met. It just wasn’t their day to die.--- The moral of the story is clear, we need to resist with everything we have and we can best do that by shining the light of day on what is happening to us.Research shows this will dramatically lessen the rates of compliance. Everyone needs to be that reporter on the front line. Get to work and expose the NDAA, EO 13603 and REX 84.
GET OUT OF AMERICA...........NOW!!!
http://www.freegroups.net/groups/hiskingdom
"But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." Ezekiel 33:6-9
[F1]This can work 2 ways—you can riase awareness expect resistance and then apply the pressure to a view point that is accurate—the people you are in network with at that moment may not fully see but with other voices this in of itself will turn people to the truth
[F2]This is huge –“The truth Shall Set you free”
[F3]But this entails awareness and either a proactive or non active response—non active meaning once the truth is known then the activity to support the movement stops or a proactive once the truth is known a move to stop or reverse the activity either way it is activity that will support the truth
[F4]The need to be in a good network and to work at something bigger then yourself and to progress toward this---when your in a shit hole the only option you have is either to be smothered or to get out and if you give up your smothered—and the more angry you get at the unrighteousness of things to more your going to want to resist and fight the more you work toward the objective the more it will inspire---remember david and goliath here is a perfect example of superiority in tech in almost everyway and was brought down by faith and a determination and an unyielding to surrender no matter how big the odds were against him—he prevailed due to ingenuity-will and faith
[F5]In this better to die free then chipped as a slave your dead either way whether in a gulag or out doors you can adapt to the out doors but adapting to being a chipped drone would mean once you have become obsolete-broken or aged they will terminate you
