WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.000 This free program is paid for by the listeners of Redwood Community Radio. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:09.000 If you're not already a member, please think of joining us. Thank you. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.000 ... of life. Rapists don't discriminate. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.000 If you or someone you love has been hurt, the North Coast Rape Crisis Team is available 24 hours a day 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:22.000 at 445-2881. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.000 And support for KMUD comes in part from Golden Dragon Medicinal Syrup, 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:35.000 an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, antioxidant medicine made from... 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.000 Sorry, made without heat or ice. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:44.000 Golden Dragon Medicinal Syrup is organic, edible, topical, cosmetic, and water-soluble. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.000 Information is available at goldendragonmedicinalsyrup@gmail.com 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:57.000 and by phone at 707-223-1569. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And we are KMUD, Redwood Community Radio. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:11.000 Garberville, 91.1 FM, KMUE, Eureka Arcata, 88.3 FM, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:18.000 KLAI Laytonville, 90.3 FM, and FM Translator K258BQ, Shelter Cove, 99.5, 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:21.000 on the web at kmud.org. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.000 And coming right up, we have Ask Your Herb Doctor, 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.000 although their nice CD is not working. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:40.000 It's funny because it doesn't work in my computer, and now it does not work in the most reliable of our lovely KMUD CD players. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:46.000 And I will try on the unreliable KMUD CD player, and if not, actually, I have a lovely song, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:53.000 and we're going to have a new theme song for right this second. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:02:00.000 Here we go. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.000 [Music] 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:10.000 [Music] 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.000 [Music] 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.000 [Music] 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.000 [Music] 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.000 [Music] 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:37.000 [Music] 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.000 Well, welcome to this month's Ask Your Herb Doctor. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:41.000 My name is Andrew Murray. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000 My name is Sarah Johannison Murray. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.000 For those of you who perhaps have never listened to our shows, 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.000 which run every third Friday of the month from 7 to 8 PM, 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.000 we're both licensed medical herbalists who trained in England 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:56.000 and graduated there with a degree in herbal medicine. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:00.000 We run a clinic in Garberville where we consult with clients about a wide range of conditions 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 and recommend herbal medicine and dietary advice. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.000 As I mentioned a few months ago, it's become increasingly obvious over the last few years 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.000 that if you really want to get a point across, you cannot just mention it once or twice, 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.000 but that varied topics encompassing a similar root subject 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.000 will allow the emergence of a coherent view of the matter in question. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Association is, after all, an excellent tool for improving the memory. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.000 We get such a lot of positive feedback concerning Dr. Ray Peat on our shows 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:36.000 that he's joining us again tonight and we want to explore misconceptions in medicine 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 and marketing related to serotonin and melatonin, 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 but with wider implications for medical drugs in general, 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 as well as carrying on last month's topic on the Fukushima incident, 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.000 which is still ongoing, unfortunately. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:55.000 Thank you once again for joining us, Dr. Peat. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.000 Hello? 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Okay, maybe he's not with us just yet. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:08.000 All right, well, until he comes on, you're listening to Ask Your Herb Doctor, KMUD Garberville 91.1 FM, 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 and from 7.30 until the end of the show at 8 o'clock, 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.000 you're invited to call in with any questions, either related or unrelated, 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 to this month's topic of the continuing Fukushima incident 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:27.000 and the misconception in medicine surrounding serotonin and melatonin, 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:31.000 with wider implications for medical drugs in general. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:34.000 Okay, so I think we've got Dr. Peat on the line, 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.000 so thank you once again for joining us, Dr. Peat. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.000 Hello. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.000 Okay, thank you. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:46.000 I think, probably, if we start with finishing off last month's topic on... 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.000 First, I'd like you to introduce Dr. Peat to our listeners. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Okay, well done. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:55.000 You've introduced us, and my name's Sarah, this is Andrew. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.000 We always do this, I'm so sorry. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.000 I got thrown a little bit there when he wasn't joining us, 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.000 so I kind of skipped the intro, Dr. Peat. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:06.000 So if you would, please just describe your academic professional background 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000 for those who, perhaps, have never listened to you. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:16.000 Okay, after I had studied and taught literature and linguistics, 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:24.000 I decided that to understand consciousness and language, I should study the brain. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.000 But when I started graduate school specializing in nerve biology, 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:38.000 I discovered that the brain scientists were just as dogmatic as the linguistic theorists, 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:48.000 so I went into general physiology, specializing in reproductive endocrinology. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:56.000 And that was--one aspect of that got me interested in the biological effects of radiation, 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:07.000 although I had been interested in the fallout from the nuclear tests for many years as a big problem. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:17.000 So when I saw that the biology of estrogen was very similar to the biology of radiation damage, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:28.000 I tried to understand just what was going on in a cell that caused identical biochemical events to occur, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:36.000 either from a dose of x-rays or a dose of estrogen. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Okay. All right. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:46.000 Well, I guess to continue on and wrap up, last week--last month's presentation on the Fukushima dilemma, 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.000 what was happening there, unfortunately the power plant is still smoldering, 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.000 and it doesn't look like there's going to be any real hope of having it calm down sufficiently, 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.000 at least until September, I heard, as a realistic date. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:09.000 The cores themselves are not either approachable or too hot to deal with at this point in time, 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.000 and it looks like they're going to continue smoking away. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:19.000 And then the initial stages of the development of this catastrophe, 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:23.000 several websites were revealing information. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:31.000 I think one of the first ones we came across was an Austrian website, and it was zamg.au. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.000 I think it was .au something. I can give that address out a little bit later on. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:44.000 There's also a website, RadNet, which is the EPA RadNet air concentration measurement data. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.000 They were giving out measurements right in the early days, 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:54.000 and we could see, looking at the model of the plume fallout from Fukushima, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:58.000 that it was spreading across the Pacific and was eventually going to touch land on the West Coast 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:04.000 and/or affect northern and southern latitudes. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:12.000 Sarah, do you want to go cover some of what's gone on with those results to date? 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.000 And just cover some more of that? 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:23.000 Well, I've only found one PDF file on the EPA's website that lists reported uranium 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:30.000 in Anaheim, Uranium 234 in Anaheim Riverside on March 15th, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:36.000 and then also in Seattle and San Francisco on March 18th. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:41.000 And I haven't seen an updated file of recent records of uranium. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.000 On that same PDF, it did list plutonium. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.000 It had a column for plutonium, but it didn't list that it had detected any. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 Right. It seems to have shut down. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.000 Well, I'm not sure if that's just because they haven't detected any 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 or they haven't reported what they have detected. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:03.000 It seems that there's iodine being detected in the rainwater and the air all over the country. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.000 And I don't know if that's--we can presume that's from Japan 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:11.000 or whether that was being detected there before the accident 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.000 and we only see it after the accident. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 Dr. Peat, I wonder, I had a look on-- 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:21.000 there's an interesting website which is called the Modern Survival Blog 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.000 which covers many different topics relating to preparedness, etc. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:31.000 And when this incident happened, the person who runs Modern Survival Blog 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:38.000 got straight on it and was posting a day-by-day scenario of what was happening. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:44.000 There was a retired nuclear scientist-- 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.000 I think that was his title, nuclear scientist--called Arne Gunderson 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:53.000 who I think he's been on several radio and television interviews with various people 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.000 detailing what's happening. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.000 And from the very outset of the incident, he was saying that 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:02.000 rather than being a level 5 accident, it was already a 7 about a month ago. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.000 And in fact, they've raised it from a 5 to a 7 now. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:12.000 So in terms of what's potentially happening here, 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:17.000 what do you think is some of the best advice people could take? 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:25.000 I think the basic thing is to eat old food, canned or dried food, 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:31.000 and avoid fresh vegetables as far as you can do that. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:40.000 And for example, cheese, aged cheese is going to be completely safe for a long time. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.000 And avoiding the iodine damage to the thyroid gland, 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:52.000 you can pretty well protect yourself by saturating yourself with iodine from kelp 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:57.000 and eating canned oysters and other shellfish. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:04.000 And maybe even taking--if you paint a tincture of iodine on your skin, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.000 you absorb quite a bit of it. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:13.000 So you can saturate yourself with iodine to protect the thyroid gland 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:16.000 during the time that iodine is still active, 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:24.000 but it stays harmful for roughly six weeks after its creation. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.000 So if they're still making new radioactive iodine and emitting it, 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.000 there's no telling how long that might continue to be a problem. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:42.000 What's your impression of potassium iodide as a supplement? 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:48.000 Well, it has its own long-range potentially harmful effects. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:58.000 Even one milligram a day in a chronic diet is known to be associated with thyroiditis, 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:04.000 hypothyroidism, and probably increased rate of thyroid cancer. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:15.000 You don't want to take any thyroid supplement beyond a normal dietary sufficiency, 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:22.000 except in the presence of serious radioactive iodine exposure. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:27.000 But considering the risk from the radioactive iodine, 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:39.000 I think a few milligrams of potassium iodide per day is a reasonable balance. 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.000 Okay, but you would probably--I think in a lot of ways with most things, 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:48.000 you would rather see these things come from nutrition. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:53.000 Yeah, it's a safer balanced amount. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:13:00.000 Even iodized salt is now seen to correlate with increased thyroiditis. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.000 So just what they're putting--they're putting iodine in our salt to try to protect us from thyroid problems, 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000 and in fact, it's now been associated with causing thyroid problems. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:15.000 So a half a teaspoon of kelp powder a couple times a week 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:21.000 or a couple milligrams of potassium iodide if you're in an area that has iodine coming, 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:26.000 or even if you're not in an area with radioactive iodine, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:32.000 the fact that that low dose shouldn't be too harmful for several weeks. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.000 For most people, not. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:40.000 A few people have some strange hypersensitivity to iodine, 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 so you want to test the first dose at a very small amount 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.000 because some people get an asthma attack 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:53.000 or other very violent symptoms from even a small dose of iodine. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.000 Okay. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:02.000 And then the other site I wanted to mention was the beta count on the RadNet data, the EPA's website. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:08.000 It's showing that there's been up to 50 counts per minute. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.000 Well, 50 per second is where I would be seriously concerned, 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.000 but 50 per minute wouldn't be bad. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:23.000 So that was showing--like in Eureka, California, they have a beta count monitor, 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:31.000 and it's showing it was up to 50 counts per minute before the Japanese catastrophe, 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:35.000 and it continues sometimes reaching up to that level. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:40.000 So locally, if this information is correct, 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:45.000 there's another website that's called Radiation Network, 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:50.000 and it's a bunch of individuals with their Geiger counters, 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.000 and they've hooked up to a database that's on real time. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:15:00.000 So every minute, this website updates with the counts, the beta counts per minute. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:06.000 And so that's another place people might want to go if they're interested to look at real time around the country, 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.000 and it's called RadiationNetwork.com. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:17.000 The government website is the EPA.gov, and you click on Japanese nuclear emergency. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:24.000 Okay, and then lastly, the other one I mentioned at the beginning was ModernSurvivalBlog.com, 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:31.000 and the nuclear scientific engineer, Arne Gundersen, he's got a couple of posts on the site, 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:36.000 and he's basically giving a day by day breakdown of what's been happening. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:41.000 Okay, I think as time goes on, these things will become more apparent. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:46.000 But unfortunately, I think what Arne Gundersen was bringing out was the striking similarities 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:52.000 in the cover-up of information between Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and this incident, 00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:00.000 and that it's unfortunate, but the pathways of which the information comes is restricted 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.000 in many ways at many times. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:07.000 The same thing holds true, and that'll be the focus of the rest of the show, 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:10.000 of a lot of pharmaceutical drugs. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:17.000 Unfortunately, pharmaceutical drugs and drugs in general are manufactured for profit 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:25.000 with supposed pathologies to treat, and not always does the truth emerge, 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000 until much later perhaps when they're withdrawn. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:35.000 Unfortunately, the motive behind their production is not always too white. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:43.000 So, I just wanted to let people know that you're listening to Ask Europe Doctor on KMED Galbafield 91.1 FM, 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:48.000 and from now really until the end of the show at 8 o'clock, you're invited to call in with any questions 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:53.000 either related to the nuclear incident and what can be done, 00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:01.000 or surrounding the rest of this month's show, which is going to be serotonin uptake inhibitors and melatonin. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:07.000 Both of these are, I think, widely known by people, and people have heard of the SSRIs, 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:10.000 and they've heard of some of the controversies surrounding them, 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:17.000 but it seems that people generally believe that serotonin is a good, happy drug. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000 If you look for it, or you search for it on the web, 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.000 everyone talking about it says it's a feel-good hormone. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:31.000 Dr. Peat, what do you have to say about serotonin in terms of your knowledge and information on it? 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:36.000 The body has many responses to injury, 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:48.000 and serotonin and estrogen are two of the most basic primitive responses to any kind of generalized injury. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:59.000 And, for example, if you get sunburned, in the next few hours you can measure a large amount of serotonin in the urine, 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:09.000 and the same thing happens for any kind of injury, including ionizing radiation. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:18.000 Dental x-rays are enough to activate the production of serotonin, 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:24.000 and it's one of the basic defense mechanisms. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:37.000 What it does is activate simple things like shifting away from oxidative metabolism to glycolytic 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.000 or even a kind of hibernating shutdown of systems. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:53.000 At an extreme overproduction of serotonin, you tend to go into a hibernating state. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:19:00.000 Animals, according to the diet and weather stress and so on, 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:08.000 before they go into hibernation for the winter, will be producing more and more serotonin. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:23.000 And that's its basic purpose, is to keep the machinery running while shutting down the expensive biological processes. 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:27.000 Actually, Dr. Peat, could I ask you to hold that thought for a second? 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Okay. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.000 There's actually a caller on the line, so I just wanted to make sure the person gets on. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:34.000 You're on the air? 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.000 Hi. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:36.000 Hi. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.000 Yeah, I had a couple of questions. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:45.000 One, does anybody know how long it takes for the ocean currents from Japan to come over to the West Coast? 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:54.000 I was looking at an old atlas, and the current goes north up Japan and south down the West Coast, 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.000 and my fisherman friend says that it's actually seasonal. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.000 It does that in the summertime, and it's something different in the winter or something. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:14.000 And the other question I had is, is anybody monitoring the ocean contamination from the plan? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:18.000 And, of course, everything that's not coming over to us is ending up, you know, 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000 most of it's probably going into the ocean. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:25.000 So I was wondering if anybody would know, maybe some callers would know on that. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.000 Anyway, thank you very much. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:28.000 Okay. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Yeah, I think we'll leave that open to other callers, 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.000 as I don't have that information in front of me, and it would only be a rough guess. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:43.000 I think some of it, so something like 80 to 100 miles a day, maybe. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Right. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.000 Okay, there you go. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.000 And it's 4,000 miles, is it? 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:50.000 Okay, all right. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.000 I think more than that. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.000 I think it's 6,000, isn't it? 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000 Somewhere around there. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:56.000 Okay. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.000 Maybe even 8. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.000 It takes 12 hours flying, or 11. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.000 Right, so that's-- 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:03.000 Okay, well, let's carry on. 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.000 We'll leave that thought open, then, for any other callers, 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.000 perhaps, who've got that specific information to hand. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:15.000 And then, Dr. Peat, if you'd carry on, you were talking about hibernation 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:21.000 and a protective mechanism for expensive cellular machinery. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:30.000 Yeah, in the 1950s and '60s, when the Soviets were worried about getting hydrogen bombed, 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:38.000 they were doing a lot of research on ways to defend against very intense radiation doses, 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:49.000 and serotonin was one of the things that they were studying and looking for safe analogs to use defensively, 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:58.000 because a big dose of radiation puts the organism in a state where it can tolerate 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:12.000 maybe reducing mortality for a given dose by maybe 50%, in some cases, for a dose of maybe 1,000 rads. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:24.000 And unfortunately, for the kind of dose that we're more likely to be exposed to, 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:30.000 serotonin is really what's causing the bulk of the damage. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:42.000 For example, if you give cells in a culture dish the amount of X-ray exposure that you get with a set of dental X-rays, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:48.000 these cells will-- if you put them in a photon detector, 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:58.000 they'll be emitting photons, light produced by the cellular damage and excitation, 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.000 for over an hour after the exposure. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:14.000 And if you put unexposed cells in the water that those cells are in, 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:23.000 even without being exposed to radiation, just to the emissions such as serotonin into the water, 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:31.000 the second batch of cells will begin mutating hours later, 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:37.000 and people have cultured these unexposed cells, 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:45.000 exposed only to the chemical products produced by the injured cells, 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:50.000 and for 30 generations mutations keep occurring. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:24:01.000 And to form a human being, you only need about 30 multiplications of the original fertilized ovum. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:09.000 So that one small exposure has tremendous repercussions. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:19.000 And, for example, a man with an X-ray treatment to a brain tumor, for example, 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:27.000 is much more likely to have children with major malformations. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:35.000 The injury is circulated through the body, even affecting the health of the sperms, 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:47.000 and probably animal studies suggest that these genetic instabilities can go on for many generations 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:55.000 of whole cycling organisms passing on their unstable genes. 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:01.000 So do you think the amount of radiation we might be exposed to, however small it might be, 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:06.000 right in this area in Humboldt County or even up to Oregon or along the West Coast, 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:13.000 you're saying that's not a lot of radiation, but it could be causing our cells to express more serotonin 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:18.000 and be exposed to more serotonin that then could have long-term negative effects? 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:33.000 Yes, probably one single atom fissioning in your body, it will cause that cell or a few cells 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:40.000 to produce those toxic communicating substances. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:51.000 And the rest of the body, if the person is healthy, the rest of the body will shut down those excited signals. 00:25:51.000 --> 00:26:01.000 So it's a matter of balancing the vitality of the whole organism against the number of these injured cells. 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:06.000 Okay, good. Well, we're going to talk about how we can balance that serotonin, 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.000 but we do have a couple callers on the line. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:14.000 Actually, first a caller just wanted to interject that they had heard that it's going to take three years 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.000 for the parts of houses that were washed out from the tsunami to start washing up on our beaches here. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:21.000 Three years? 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:26.000 Three years, according to one source. And we have another caller coming right on now. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.000 You're on the air. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:33.000 Oh, sorry. That was me. I did say that. It was on the BBC. 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:41.000 Thanks a million for the program. It's terrifyingly wonderful. Thanks. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:46.000 What was the name of that program? I didn't quite hear that. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.000 Was that the name Terrifyingly Wonderful? 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.000 I'm not sure. It was on the BBC, whatever it was. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:52.000 I didn't hear the name of the program. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.000 Okay, so that was the caller who said it would take three years. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.000 She heard on the BBC it would take three years. 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:04.000 Okay, well, let's get back to what we were doing here a minute ago. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:10.000 Okay, so Dr. Peat, so if our cells are being exposed to a minute amount of radiation or more, 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.000 if they're not telling us the whole picture, the full story, 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:26.000 and our cells are starting to express more serotonin and the vitality of our organism is trying to quell that cascade of inflammation, 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:30.000 what can we do to keep our cells in a vital state? 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:40.000 If you think of the old studies of the radiation causing DNA breaks, 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:53.000 they found about 40 years ago that high thyroid function and the magnesium taken up into the cells under the influence of thyroid 00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:05.000 was the best way to accelerate the repair process so that you didn't have the lingering mutations from breaking the chromosomes in the DNA. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:13.000 But that was the repair activation for fairly high doses. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:22.000 But there are processes that apply to even the lowest exposure. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:35.000 For example, a study in Seattle two or three years ago found that a full set of dental X-rays to a woman who was pregnant 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:46.000 but wearing a lead apron and so on, the exposure to her face would cause systemic influences 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.000 that would cause the babies to be underweight and underdeveloped, 00:28:52.000 --> 00:29:00.000 just as if she had taken an estrogenic substance that was stressing the system. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:14.000 And animal studies found that those estrogenic effects coming from the exposure of any part of the body to ionizing radiation 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:25.000 could be antagonized just like normal estrogen is by a good dose of progesterone or even testosterone 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:37.000 and the usual nutritional things that help the body constantly control the estrogen that it's being exposed to. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:46.000 So just average everyday stress has a great overlap with radiation injury 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:54.000 and estrogen and serotonin happen to be the things that we have the best handle on 00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:01.000 for protecting ourselves from the long-range effects. 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:12.000 Okay, well, how about the, gosh, all the serotonin, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that have come out, 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:17.000 some of which have been discontinued, some of which have been modified. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:24.000 What's your opinion on this class of drugs in terms of their negative effects, 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:29.000 knowing what they do energetically within the body? 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:36.000 Well, to the extent that they really are acting largely on the serotonin, 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:48.000 I think it's good to look for alternatives, but much of that is just advertising invented things 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:53.000 for going with the TV commercials, 00:30:53.000 --> 00:31:01.000 the idea that they're a happy pill for raising your happy hormone and that sort of thing, 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:12.000 but actually they're acting on many different processes, increasing adrenaline and dopamine 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:19.000 and activating enzymes and inactivating other enzymes all through the body, 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:23.000 so no one really knows the full extent of what they're doing, 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:31.000 and some of what they're doing is beneficial, some of it isn't, so it goes pill by pill. 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:38.000 There are a few very effective antidepressants that are the opposite. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:48.000 They're the serotonin uptake promoters, just exactly the opposite, but they even work better, 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:55.000 so what are the drug names for those serotonin reuptake promoters? 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.000 The best studied is tianeptine. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:05.000 The brand name is Stablon, and some people get it over the Internet, but it isn't legal in the U.S. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.000 But it's basically, it promotes, you're saying it-- 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000 It promotes the uptake of serotonin, so it's less active, 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:23.000 and it turns out to have lots of beneficial effects on bodily health for arthritis and diabetes 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:32.000 and lots of inflammatory things that relate to overexposure to serotonin. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.000 So with people that have diabetes and arthritis, 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:43.000 maybe for them to take something that would block their serotonin like Stablon, is that how you say it? 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:47.000 Then that would help their symptoms in arthritis? 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:54.000 Yeah, I've talked to quite a few people who were taking it as an antidepressant 00:32:54.000 --> 00:33:02.000 who had very dramatic physical improvements at the same time. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:11.000 And the physical conditions are all things that are known to be associated with high serotonin. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:22.000 And there's a whole class of antiserotonin drugs that are becoming popular for more uses. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:30.000 For example, some of their uses are to prevent nausea or diarrhea from radiation exposure. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.000 What they're doing is protecting you from the serotonin, 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:38.000 which is a byproduct of the radiation exposure. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:44.000 And you can even prevent sunburn with an antiserotonin drug. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:52.000 So I wonder if the Japanese medical system is giving the people that have been exposed to high levels of radiation, 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:55.000 I wonder if they're giving them these antiserotonin drugs. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:01.000 I suspect that they're just as hypnotized by the pharmaceutical industry as Americans are. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:09.000 So what are some of the names of these antiserotonin drugs that are used for nausea, diarrhea, and radiation exposure? 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:16.000 Ondansetron is the most popular antinausea, antiserotonin drug, 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:23.000 but I think one of the best is called Lisuride, L-I-S-U-R-I-D-E. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:34.000 And all of these are based on the same indole molecular structure that serotonin is, 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:39.000 but they are tuned in a different way by additives. 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:50.000 For example, adding bromine, bromocriptine, is one that's used to treat pituitary tumors 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:58.000 because prolactin is promoted by stress or by serotonin or by radiation. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:08.000 And by modifying the indole molecule from the ergot fungus, 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:16.000 that's the basic molecule that is used for these antiserotonin drugs. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:22.000 By modifying it slightly, it blocks the effect of serotonin 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:32.000 and shrinks the pituitary tumor by preventing the stimulating effects of the serotonin. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:33.000 Wow. 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:38.000 Okay, you're listening to Ask Your Own Doctor on KMED Galbraith 91.1 FM 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:44.000 and from 7.30, and it's gone, it's 7.35, until the end of the show here at 8 o'clock. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:49.000 You're invited to call in any questions either related or unrelated to this month's topic of 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:53.000 serotonin, melatonin and misconceptions in medical drugs. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:57.000 And we have with us special guest speaker, Dr. Raymond Peat, 00:35:57.000 --> 00:36:00.000 who's able to answer any questions that you may have about that subject 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:09.000 and/or the ongoing Fukushima accident and what can be done safely to help yourself avoid any unnecessary harm. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:17.000 Okay, so serotonin, it's so strange, it's come full circle that serotonin is supposed to be the happy pill 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:23.000 and yet, slowly but surely, through one mistake or another, they're now bringing around antiserotonin drugs. 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:27.000 Well, our tax dollars are paying for research in medical universities. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:29.000 Well, I think, I don't know exactly if it's tax dollars or not, 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:35.000 but all these professors and people doing their PhDs are doing this research on these things 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:41.000 and yet, the general public, when they go to see their doctor and they ask for this drug or that drug, 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:44.000 well, that's not what they get prescribed. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:47.000 It doesn't matter what the research shows, it has to go through how many... 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:49.000 Oh, it's just very frustrating. 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:52.000 Well, how about melatonin, Dr. Peat? 00:36:52.000 --> 00:37:01.000 Oh, well, the body has enzymes that are activated by stress, 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:06.000 for example, in the pineal gland, adrenaline is the signal. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:16.000 Adrenaline rises in the darkness because ordinary light is preventing some of the free radical activity 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:20.000 that rises in the darkness. 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:27.000 That activates adrenaline and the adrenaline is the immediate activator of the enzyme 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:32.000 which converts serotonin into melatonin. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:43.000 But the same enzyme system can be found in an inflamed breast or a rheumatic knee joint, for example. 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:50.000 And in these situations of inflammation, melatonin is... 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:57.000 Some people have believed that melatonin was at fault for causing rheumatoid arthritis, 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:05.000 but actually, it seems to be performing the same function that it does in the brain, 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:13.000 a way of eliminating serotonin which is the actual pro-inflammatory substance. 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:20.000 And since serotonin stimulates cell division and inflammation, 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:27.000 the presence of this enzyme in the breast is being considered one of the approaches 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:34.000 for preventing or treating breast cancer to accelerate the removal of serotonin. 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.000 And into the breakdown of serotonin into melatonin. 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:38.000 Yeah. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:41.000 We have a caller on the line. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:43.000 Hey, Cooley, you're on the air? 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:44.000 Hi, yeah. 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:48.000 A couple of questions and you've gotten actually to where my question was going to go, 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:50.000 how serotonin relates to melatonin. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:56.000 I'm understanding that serotonin is converted by adrenaline into melatonin 00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:01.000 and is that part of, as a body has maybe done a lot of work, 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:06.000 that sort of downshifts them into a sleep mode, because I understand, 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:11.000 and it's available as a supplement, melatonin is, to help people relax 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:16.000 and get to a sleep state sooner. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:24.000 Yeah, probably melatonin has a fairly direct anti-serotonin effect. 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:30.000 It hasn't been studied very much, but besides eliminating the serotonin 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:37.000 by combining it chemically, turning it into melatonin, 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:46.000 I suspect that the melatonin is actually a defense as an antagonist to some extent 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:48.000 against the serotonin. 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.000 And when you say antagonist, I want to make sure I understand the term. 00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:59.000 It means basically that it counters or converts whatever that material that it's an antagonist to 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:02.000 into something else or neutralizes its effect? 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:05.000 Neutralizes the effect, I think. 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:13.000 The presence of the enzyme that changes serotonin to melatonin, 00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:17.000 it's present in inflamed situations, 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:23.000 and I think that's a way of getting down the level of serotonin. 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:29.000 But I think the presence of melatonin itself blocks some of the effects, 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:34.000 such as free radical production activated by serotonin. 00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:39.000 So melatonin in and of itself would be an anti-serotonin in effect, I would understand. 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:44.000 Yeah. I don't know how great that effect is, 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:49.000 but I think there's evidence that it has some of that effect. 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:52.000 Now, you mentioned something a little bit ago that piqued my curiosity. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.000 We've got this huge problem with diabetes, 00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:58.000 and I think that a lot of it is related to high fructose corn syrup, 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:01.000 if I can say that obscenity on the air. 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:05.000 And the other thing is, since you brought this up, 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:13.000 I'm curious as to whether the huge influx of SSRIs such as Prozac, et cetera, 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:20.000 may also have contributed to the rise in diabetes and obesity amongst very young kids 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:23.000 that seem to be the lab rats for the pharmaceutical industry 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:29.000 when it comes to giving them these new, allegedly wonderful antidepressants. 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:34.000 A study at UCLA that came out last summer 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:41.000 analyzed the corn syrup sweetener that's used in soft drinks, 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:46.000 and they chemically tested it and found that it contained 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.000 just the amount of fructose and glucose that it was claimed to have, 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:58.000 but then they hydrolyzed it and found that it contained polysaccharides, 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:06.000 starch-like material containing four to five times the amount of calories 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:09.000 that the original sugar had. 00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:14.000 So it's basically a syrup or a starch-like material 00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:21.000 with four or five times as many calories as you think you're getting from the sugars. 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:25.000 And then if somebody were taking a lot of those types of foods 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:31.000 and was given an antidepressant that was a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:34.000 that might even further compound the problem. 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:47.000 Well, these polysaccharides that aren't easily digested by our human enzymes 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:52.000 are likely to feed bacteria lower in the intestine 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:57.000 that produce fermentation products including lactic acid, 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:07.000 which are responsible for causing the intestine to increase its already great production of serotonin 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:14.000 and to cause it to be absorbed into the circulation in quantities enough to affect behavior. 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:24.000 Anxiety, for example, is increased in animals in proportion to the fermentation of these starch-like molecules. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:30.000 So I suspect that the starchy materials in the corn sweetener 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:36.000 are pretty directly increasing exposure to serotonin. 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:41.000 Well, I wonder if anyone has done a study on someone taking Prozac or a related SSRI 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:48.000 who's also obese, would expose the real cause of this whole thing spinning out of control 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:50.000 and causing all this obesity. 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.000 It's really an interesting point that you brought up and it made me think along those lines. 00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:58.000 And before I go, I did want to mention to previous callers, 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:03.000 there are some websites that should have the information as to how long those radionuclides 00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:08.000 and weather in general coming across the Pacific from Japan and the whole Asian continent 00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.000 over here to the Pacific coast. 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:18.000 And that would be the NOAA website, the USGS website, Helen Caldicott, 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:23.000 and Physicians for Social Responsibility will have all kinds of information on radiation 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:26.000 and radionuclides and its after effects, 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:31.000 and probably will have some links to other websites that might have good information on that. 00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:39.000 And there should be a UC Berkeley site that has specific transmission across the Pacific. 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:43.000 I saw on a newscast specifically what that caller was asking about, 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:47.000 and it was just a few days because of the jet stream. 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:52.000 So if it gets up into the jet stream, that's why we here in the Cape Mendocino area, 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:55.000 both in Humboldt and Mendocino County, 00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:00.000 we were the first landfall that detected radionuclides a few days after that occurred. 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:02.000 Thank you very much for the program, 00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:06.000 and I always enjoy listening to the information that you bring to the air. 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:07.000 Thank you for your call. 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:08.000 Thank you for calling. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:11.000 We do have one or two more calls on the line, so let's take the next caller. 00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:14.000 Actually, your engineer has a question about inflammation. 00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:19.000 I keep honeybees and get stung a lot, and I've heard it's good to stop inflammation, 00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:22.000 yet I get inflamed when I get stung. 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:23.000 So what's going on? 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:25.000 Probably developing some kind of hypersensitivity to it. 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:27.000 Did you get the same inflammation? 00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:28.000 Oh, no, no. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:32.000 I mean, at the site of the sting, it's inflamed, 00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:35.000 but I hear it's good for you and anti-inflammatory in the long run, 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:37.000 so I was wondering if you knew anything about that. 00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:39.000 And it seems to be good. 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:40.000 Okay, yeah. 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:46.000 I heard a little bit about the treatment of arthritis with bee stings. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:48.000 I know that I've heard about the nettles, 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:52.000 the Romans thrashing themselves with nettles to relieve joint pains, 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:56.000 and that seems a little bit--I don't know. 00:45:56.000 --> 00:46:02.000 In terms of the histamine, Dr. Peat, what would you think about the histamine reaction from that? 00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:10.000 I've heard that it's the high cortisol production from the pain 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:16.000 as well as the histamine and serotonin from the venom itself. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:25.000 Serotonin has some very direct actions on the cortisol-producing system, 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:37.000 and I think it's maybe analogous to the way surgery can cure things. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:46.000 In animal research, they have to do a control, false surgery on one group of animals 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:53.000 because it's so common for the trauma of just being cut to cure whatever it was 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:57.000 that they were thinking a surgery was curing. 00:46:57.000 --> 00:47:10.000 And a very painful bee sting will activate your adrenals to the point that it can relieve a swollen knee, for example. 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:12.000 Right, from the cortisol. 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:17.000 Counter irritation that doctors used to practice. 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:23.000 Okay, we do actually have two more callers on the line, so let's take the next caller. 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:25.000 Hello. 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:36.000 The pharmaceutical industry makes a claim that these SSRIs increase the receptors for serotonin, 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:42.000 accounting for long-term effects even after the drugs are stopped. 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:47.000 I wonder if you could comment about that. 00:47:47.000 --> 00:47:58.000 If you block a transmitter, the body adaptively increases the so-called receptors. 00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:07.000 So increasing the exposure to something usually decreases the receptors for that substance 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:14.000 in an adaptive process so everything ends up more or less the way it started. 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:22.000 The whole idea of the receptor, I think, is just another ploy of the industry 00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:33.000 to make things simple for television advertising and for medical school. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:43.000 When you look carefully at the long-range arguments behind the whole receptor idea, 00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:53.000 people for 60 years or more have been pointing out that the state of the organism and of the cell 00:48:53.000 --> 00:48:59.000 absolutely determines how a given substance is going to affect the cell, 00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:04.000 exciting it or inhibiting it, for example. 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:11.000 It isn't necessarily that you make more of the so-called receptor protein, 00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:18.000 but that the whole state of the cell, the energy charge, for example, of the cell, 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:27.000 governs what activation of that receptor protein is going to do to the whole cell. 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:36.000 So I think the only way to think of a receptor is that the organism is the receptor 00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:46.000 or the cell is the receptor because the state of the brain affects the way the gonad or the adrenal, 00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:50.000 for example, is going to respond to a given chemical 00:49:50.000 --> 00:50:02.000 because everything is constantly being subjected to nervous chemical and energy inputs. 00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:05.000 Caller, is your phone on? 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:06.000 Oh, sorry about that. 00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:08.000 Yeah, sorry, we're having a really hard time here. 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:11.000 Callers, always turn your phone off, please. 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:14.000 Okay, next question. 00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:16.000 No, I didn't mean you to hang up. 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:18.000 Okay, well, we do have another caller. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:21.000 Let's take the next caller. 00:50:21.000 --> 00:50:24.000 Callers always turn their radios off before you talk on the phone, right? 00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:26.000 Yeah. 00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:28.000 I said phone off. 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:29.000 Whoops, sorry. 00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:30.000 That's okay. 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:32.000 I think the next caller should be there. 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:33.000 Are you there, caller? 00:50:33.000 --> 00:50:36.000 Yeah, I'm here. 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:39.000 I can't hear you too well, but let me get my question. 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:43.000 This show is just fascinating, I must say, 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:48.000 and the expertise is well appreciated that you're sharing it with us on the air. 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:55.000 I want to find out, because I'm currently taking Lexapro, 00:50:55.000 --> 00:51:02.000 and also sometimes I get migraines and I take Imatrex, 00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:12.000 and I know that Imatrex sure works well on those migraines. 00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:19.000 And I've got a thyroid condition, so I'm hypothyroid, so I take Synthroid, 00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:31.000 and I just kind of wondered if the serotonin uptake inhibitors are any kind of a problem for the thyroid situation. 00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:35.000 Yeah, they're very closely connected. 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:47.000 For a long time it's been clear that hypothyroid people often have extremely high serotonin levels, 00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:58.000 and so the active part of the thyroid hormone, T3, Synthroid is just T4, which requires the liver to activate it. 00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:09.000 The active thyroid hormone increasing will decrease the production and retention of serotonin, 00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:22.000 and serotonin being inflammation-promoting and affecting constriction and leakiness of blood vessels 00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:32.000 is a major factor in migraines, which are mostly associated with hypothyroidism. 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:35.000 Well, you know, I also take Cytomel. 00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:45.000 Yeah, Cytomel is a good antiserotonin thing, and with the right amount of it, 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.000 it's pretty effective against migraines. 00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:57.000 That was one of my first interests in endocrinology was my own migraines. 00:52:57.000 --> 00:53:05.000 I found that it was largely an interaction between intestinal inflammation, 00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:10.000 which 95% of our serotonin is made in the intestine, 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:16.000 and any kind of irritation in the intestine increases our exposure to serotonin, 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:25.000 but especially if your thyroid function is low, causing inefficient sugar metabolism, 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:37.000 hypothyroidism plus a sensitive intestine will cause periodic flooding of the system with serotonin, 00:53:37.000 --> 00:53:46.000 which can be measured in migraine attacks during an attack or just before an attack. 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:50.000 The serotonin rises tremendously. 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:55.000 So I can't hear everything you're saying, but the upshot is, 00:53:55.000 --> 00:54:03.000 is there a problem to combine the Lexapro and the Imatrex and the Synthroid and the Cytomel 00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:06.000 and all that crap they got me on? 00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:15.000 There is a blood test for serotonin that I think more people should be checking on. 00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:21.000 It's much more meaningful than the urine test and so on. 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:39.000 And the long-range effects of excess serotonin exposure are very similar to the long-range effects of chronic radiation 00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:42.000 or chronic estrogen exposure. 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:52.000 They acutely can produce inflammation, but if you keep up the exposure in the long run, 00:54:52.000 --> 00:55:01.000 you increase your tendency to have fibrosis of various tissues. 00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:05.000 Okay, one last question for the host there. 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:10.000 Are you guys the ones that own the Western Botanical Medicine Company? 00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:11.000 Yeah. 00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.000 I've tried it. 00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:19.000 I initially had real good luck with your headache relief medicine or whatever you call it, the Tinkster. 00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:23.000 But I thought I bought it again recently and I hadn't bought it for a while. 00:55:23.000 --> 00:55:26.000 But did you change the dosage amount for migraine? 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:31.000 Because I thought I used to use more of it for migraine. 00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:36.000 And it seems now like the migraine and the other kind of headaches have the same kind of dosage. 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:37.000 Was there some change? 00:55:37.000 --> 00:55:40.000 Yes, there was a label change. 00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:41.000 Okay. 00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:45.000 And it was also a dosage recommendation change on that. 00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:46.000 Right. 00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:53.000 I just recommended the same type of dose whether you were -- you can still take up to the 20 milliliters per day, 00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:58.000 but I changed the dosage because if you were having a stress or tension headache, 00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:02.000 I'm not allowed to put that on the label, and I can't put migraine on the label either. 00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:06.000 So I have to just put for occasional headaches. 00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.000 I see. 00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:13.000 Yeah, because that helps explain it because when I took the lower dosage that you talk about now, 00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:20.000 it didn't seem to have the same effect as the dose that I had previously been recommended to. 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:22.000 So I guess I'll just try to go back to that. 00:56:22.000 --> 00:56:23.000 Okay. 00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:24.000 Thanks. 00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:25.000 That's a good product. 00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:26.000 Appreciate it. 00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:27.000 Thank you. 00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:28.000 Thank you for your call. 00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:29.000 Bye-bye. 00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:30.000 Well, there's one more call on the line. 00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:31.000 We better not take it because -- 00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:36.000 Because I still have to give some recommendations for nutritional advice before we get off the air tonight. 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:37.000 So, hello? 00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:38.000 We've only got three and a half minutes. 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:41.000 Hello, you're on the air. 00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:43.000 Are they all taking me? 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:44.000 Okay, yeah, hello? 00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:50.000 Yes, my name is Louise, and I live on Spyrock Mountain, and I have a thyroid condition, 00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:57.000 and I take levothyroxine prescribed by my doctor every month, but I also -- I'm 60 years old, 00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:01.000 and I also take a Tyrenol for high blood pressure. 00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:05.000 And I've recently been having some migraine headaches, and I was wondering, 00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:08.000 does my thyroid have something to do with that? 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:12.000 Well, there's lots of different things that could cause migraine headaches, 00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:17.000 but it would be good if you came for a consultation and we could look at your nutritional status. 00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:19.000 That's always a good place to start. 00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:20.000 And if you -- 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:21.000 Okay. 00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:24.000 Are you going to be in at Cave Mud or Midway or -- 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:27.000 I'll give you my number at the end of the show. 00:57:27.000 --> 00:57:30.000 If you'll just listen, in a couple more minutes, 00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.000 I'm going to give our phone number and Dr. Peat's website, and you can contact him, 00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:41.000 and you can also contact us, and we'd be more than happy to discuss nutritional advice with you. 00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:46.000 Okay, because I am overweight, and I'm very, very saddened and concerned about this. 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:50.000 I've never been overweight before in my whole life, and I've never -- 00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:53.000 and my thyroid condition, I have real bad migraines also. 00:57:53.000 --> 00:57:59.000 I mean, the cough will weigh both of those things. 00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:04.000 Well, we'd be happy to talk with you, and we'll give you that information in a little bit. 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:07.000 I'm sorry, we have to end the callers, 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:13.000 and I wanted to briefly mention before the end of the show that Dr. Peat's talked about starches, 00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:18.000 as in the form of the corn syrup, irritating the intestine and increasing serotonin. 00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:21.000 So one way we can protect ourselves from this radiation 00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:27.000 and the increased serotonin effects of inflammation is to replace our starches, 00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:34.000 which are grains and beans and starchy vegetables like cooked potatoes and carrots and beets, 00:58:34.000 --> 00:58:38.000 replace those with soft, ripe, juicy fruits, 00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:45.000 and also by keeping our thyroid function high with lots of coconut oil, up to three tablespoons a day, 00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:50.000 plenty of foods with calcium, local dairy, if it's still okay around here. 00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:57.000 It seems to be that Eureka's level hasn't changed, and also plenty of good fruit sugars. 00:58:57.000 --> 00:59:00.000 And Dr. Peat, did you have any final comments? 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:02.000 No, I think that covers it. 00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:09.000 Okay, well, for those that are listening, Dr. Raymond Peat, endocrinologist and research biochemist. 00:59:09.000 --> 00:59:17.000 His website is www.raypeat.com, and my name's Andrew. 00:59:17.000 --> 00:59:23.000 My name's Sarah, and our phone number is 888-926-4372, 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:28.000 which is WBM for Western Botanical Medicine, HERB, H-E-R-B. 00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:33.000 Thank you to all of you who listen regularly and those who tuned in this evening. 00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:36.000 To those who have ears, let them hear. 00:59:43.000 --> 00:59:48.000 And support for KMED comes in part from Golden Dragon Medicinal Syrup, 00:59:48.000 --> 00:59:53.000 an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antibacterial, antioxidant medicine made without heat or ice. 00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:57.000 Golden Dragon Medicinal Syrup is organic, edible, topical, cosmetic, and water-soluble. 00:59:57.000 --> 01:00:06.000 Information available at goldendragonmedicinalsyrup@gmail.com and by phone at 707-223-1569. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:11.000 And support for KMED comes in part from the Los-- sorry, the North Coast. 01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:16.000 Please remember that this program is supported by the listener members of Redwood Community Radio. 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:22.000 If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a member of KMUD or renewing if you've already joined. 01:00:22.000 --> 01:00:27.000 A regular yearly membership is $50, but we accept any amount. 01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:30.000 Help us keep free speech alive.