Truth is stranger than fiction
A little boy late one night looked intently about on a corner underneath a street lamp. A stranger came upon the lad and made a caring inquiry.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for a quarter I lost", the lad responded.
The stranger questioned further.
"Where exactly did you lose your quarter?"
"Down around the corner in that alley over there", the lad replied.
Puzzled, the stranger quizzically asked one final question.
"Why are you looking for your quarter here?"
"The light's better here", the lad gave as his final answer.
Medical research far too often concentrates its search for answers where the "light" (read: attention and MONEY) is greater.
It was the field of medicine that kept cigarettes from being condemned for the cancerous menace that they are for many years. As recently as 10 years before the warning on cigarette packages finally came to be, leading medical authorities were smoking and proclaiming, "A package a day keeps lung cancer away."
The well-written phrase, "truth will come to light" is also a well-known quote. It is also from one equally as fictitious as Holmes and Watson. The quote is taken from Launcelot, a clowned servant of the villain from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'.
Medical research will not be able to find truth if it is not to be found under the "light" that they are searching. Such "light" should be moved to where the truth may be found if truthful enlightenment is to be achieved.
Truthfully spoken were the words of Mark Twain (fictional name of the real life Samuel Clemens) when he said, "truth is stranger than fiction".
A real life doctor
Dr. Guy E. Abraham, M.D., is a graduate and formerly a professor of the prestigious University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). The studies and writings of Dr. Abraham regarding magnesium in various applications cover more than two decades.
The Journal of Reproductive Medicine published one article of his in 1990 relative to magnesium and calcium in bone density. The study Abraham conducted was on women past menopause afflicted with osteoporosis.
Two groups were compared. Each received dietary advice and hormone therapy. One group only received a high magnesium and low calcium supplement. That group demonstrated a bone density increase exceeding 11% compared to less than 1% in the non-supplemental group.
A real life tragedy
I worked for one of the biggest newspapers in the world for more than 10 years. It is a daily newspaper that is a multiple winner of the coveted Pulitzer Prize. Rising through the ranks there I eventually became an editor.
This newspaper published a story with the headline "Higher calcium standard outlined" on 8/14/97. It noted "new standards … that increase the recommended daily allowance of calcium" according to "a panel of nutrition experts … convened by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences".
The same newspaper published another story exactly one week later, 8/21/97, about a study from the New England Journal of Medicine of the same date. It revealed that calcium supplementation in fact DID NOT prevent bone loss.
Subsequently, I telephoned Dr. Abraham. He lived in the county next to where the newspaper was located. He expressed a willingness to be interviewed for a story about calcium. I put this through the appropriate channels and prodded the newspaper to provide a balanced approach for a feature story.
Shortly thereafter, a front cover story was published about "the need" for more calcium. Dr. Abraham was never interviewed. There was no mention of magnesium.
So much for the vaunted journalistic objectivity of a "prestigious" newspaper.
The big picture
Magnesium is not the only element of truth in the picture regarding calcium and bone health. The minerals silicon and boron are two other elements that have been prominently noted in numerous studies. Silicon studies relative to bone health go back more than half a century.
When it comes to hard data, it is in many little pictures of magnesium, silicon and boron that the big picture of healthful living will ultimately be painted clearly regarding bone health.
You may find this information to be incredible … perhaps you may even think it extraordinary … in any case, this 'Case of the Calcium Controversy' is without any doubt … ELEMENTary.
