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Holistic Health Virtual Audio Conference with Steven F. Hotze, M.D.

Jennifer Johnson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Holistic Health Virtual Conference

Dr. Steven F. Hotze, along wtih nine other experts in the field of health and wellness, share their expertise!

Dr. Hotze speaks on the

Signs and Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance

Click here to register!

27-Jan-10 3:00 PM

Grass Fed Beef

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Grass Fed Beef

Grass fed beef has many health benefits! Grass fed beef is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than grain fed beef. People who eat diets rich in Omega-3's are less likely to have depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit or Alzheimer's disease. Omega-3's are formed in the leaves (specifically the chloroplasts) of plants. Grass fed beef has five times as much CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) as compared to grain fed beef. CLA is one of our most potent defenses against cancer.

If you are interested in purchasing grass fed beef, please contact Mack Janak:

janakranch@yahoo.com

979-263-5160

12-Jan-10 4:00 PM

"No" to H1N1 Vaccine

Jennifer Johnson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:30:00 GMT

I will not be taking the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, nor will the Hotze Health & Wellness Center be offering it. In fact I recommend against it for the following reasons:

1. The swine flu has been very mild. According to the World Health Organization there have been less than 5000 deaths from the swine flu worldwide, hardly an epidemic when you consider that 100,000 people die in U.S. hospitals from drug interactions of doctor prescribed, FDA approved drugs given in appropriate doses and 750,000 Americans die annually from heart disease.

2. Most of the cases of the so called “swine flu” are undocumented. Few physicians perform the lab tests for the swine flu or seasonal flu because the tests cost around $300 each and take up to two weeks to get the results. The diagnosis is routinely made based upon clinical presentation. The symptoms of the swine flu are the same as that of the seasonal flu.

3. The H1N1 vaccine has not been tested effectively. The FDA states that 5000 children were given sample vaccinations. The long term effects cannot be determined for months or years.

4. In 1976 there was a swine flu scare and over 40,000,000 Americans were vaccinated. It was a disaster with thousands of healthy individuals developing Guillain Barre’s syndrome, a severe neurological disorder, after receiving the vaccine. My mother was bedridden for six months after she took the swine flu vaccine in 1976.

5. The swine flu vaccine contains a live “attenuated” virus, formaldehyde, the preservative used for corpses, and thimerasol, which contains mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin, in 10 times levels considered to be a safe exposure by the Environmental Protection Agency. Thimerasol has been strongly implicated in the development autism despite drug company denials. The Swine flu vaccine also contains an oil-based "adjuvant" known as MF-59 which contains two main ingredients of concern, squalene and gp120. It is manufactured by the Chiron Pharmaceutical Company. Studies have demonstrated that these immune adjuvants cause devastating autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and lupus.

6. Squalene in vaccines has been strongly linked to the Gulf War Syndrome, which ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of troops and killed thousands of others. Veteran vaccine risk assessor, Dr. Viera Scheibner, investigated squalene’s use as a vaccine adjuvant and wrote: “Squalene contributed to the cascade of reactions called Gulf War Syndrome. GIs developed arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, rashes, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anemia, elevated ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, deadly Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Raynaud’s phenomenon with paroxysms of lack of blood in fingers and toes in fingers and toes, Sjorgren’s syndrome with blurred vision, chronic diarrhea, night sweats and low-grade fever.”

7. Few people die from the flu itself. Death is usually caused by secondary pneumonia in individuals whose immune systems are compromised. Healthy individuals can bolster their immune systems using vitamins D3, C, E, fish oil and a good vitamin B multivitamin with minerals.

8. Epidemiological studies question whether the annual flu shot has any true benefit. I have never taken a flu shot nor does our center offer them. Please read the
article from the November 2009 Atlantic Monthly,

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1

Please take time to review the swine flu article from Russell Blaylock, M.D., a noted neurosurgeon who promotes natural approaches to health. Dr. Blaylock is a friend of mine who has done extensive research on the issue of the swine flu vaccine and whom I hold in the highest regard. To view the article, go to the below website and click on Swine Flu Data:

http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/

It appears to me that the federal government is promoting this hysteria around the swine flu as a straw man to take the public’s eyes off its socialization of health care and the economy. The drug companies pay drug user prescription fees, which make up nearly 30% of the FDA’s budget, totaling nearly $400 million annually. This vaccine is a windfall in new money for the FDA and profits for the pharmaceutical producers of the vaccine.

26-Oct-09 11:30 AM

Stop the Government Takeover of Medicine!

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:00:00 GMT

We do not want politicians rationing our medical care and telling people that they are somehow too old or too sick for treatment. We do not want politicians deciding which treatments will be available, and which will not.

Whom do we trust more: our doctors or our politicians? Of course we trust our doctors more than our politicians. We must keep and defend our freedoms, starting with our most fundamental freedom to choose the medical care that we need most.

The bill that is passing through the House committees is a complete government takeover of medicine that will restrict our choices and lower the quality of care. HR 3200, misleadingly entitled “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009,” takes away the choice and control that Americans have today over their medical treatment. People will be told under the bill that abortion is covered at taxpayer expense, but some life-saving or life-enhancing treatments are not.

The Obama bill imposes a “public option” that will define which treatments will be allowed. Your access to bio-identical hormones will probably be rejected by the public option, and that could squeeze out even private access to these helpful treatments.

The bill would force people to buy insurance they do not need, and which will not cover what we do need. Taxpayers will be forced to buy that insurance for those who cannot, at a trillion-dollar expense that will bankrupt the government.

The bill requires that government investigate “self-insured employers not being able to pay obligations.” This means government will audit and harass small business owners until they pay for insurance they cannot afford.

The government will dictate the health benefits that must be included by insurance as a condition of being able to participate in the Health Insurance Exchange. The private insurance will have no reason to differ from the public option, and private insurance will soon disappear.

Families with special needs could be hit hardest by this new health bill. In America children with cystic fibrosis live an average of 37 years, but under nationalized health care the life expectancy for this condition is only 27 years in Ireland. That’s because government-run health care does not cover many special-needs conditions, and there is not enough of a private market to fund such care after the government takes over.

The Senate bill’s summary authorizes “home visits” supposedly to “improve immunization coverage.” Americans don’t want government knocking on their doors to demand proof of vaccination.

No one expects the U.S. Post Office to be innovative, and it isn’t. In fact, Post Offices are shortening their hours because they can’t make ends meet. The Post Office did not develop Federal Express, cell phones, and the internet. Do we want medical care in our nation to become like the Post Office? Do we want to kiss goodbye to medical innovation, like possible cures for cancer and other life-saving medical treatments?

Keep the government out of medical care and let the free market work its magic. Return the money to patients so that private medicine can develop the new cures.

The bottom line is that the Obama health care bill gives almost total control to government politicians and bureaucrats to deny you medical care you need. Everyone must say “no” to this government takeover of medicine.

What you can do now:

Go to http://www.house.gov/ and type in your zip code in the upper-left corner to find the Congressman representing you. When their name pulls up, click on it to get to their website. There should be a tab for their district office.

Please call, email, or visit your Congressman while they are in recess this month so they know how you feel about Obama’s plan. Attend town hall meetings in your district like this one, where an ordinary citizen received a thunderous applause for saying: “I look at this health care plan and I see nothing that is about health or about care. What I see is a bureaucratic nightmare, senator. Medicaid is broke, Medicare is broke, Social Security is broke and you want us to believe that a government that can’t even run a cash for clunkers program is going to run one-seventh of our U.S. economy? No sir, no.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/03/audience-shouts-sebelius-specter-health-care-town-hall-philadelphia/

We have a window of opportunity to make our voices heard! Thank you for speaking out!

18-Aug-09 10:00 AM

Antidepressant Romance Fuels Premedicated Murder

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT

By Shane “The People’s Chemist” Ellison

I wish medicine wasn’t so darn complicated. If it weren’t, people would see how Big Pharma cleverly plays prescription cupid to hook the masses into an antidepressant romance. Fueled by dreamy ads, sexy actors, and medical experts who get paid, the romance has grown.

Antidepressants are among the best selling drugs, yet not one single diagnostic test supports their effectiveness. Romance makes for great business. But, are patients getting the love they deserve or are they facing another life threatening disaster akin to the Vioxx fiasco (killing an estimated 30,000 people who could have just used aspirin)? Perhaps the chemical facts behind antidepressants will give way to reality and help Americans sever ties to the deadly affair.

Life can be hard at times. Everyone knows it and Big Pharma profits from it. To answer our cries for happiness, they sell us a slew of molecules ripe with supposed happy atoms purported to elicit wanton pleasure. It’s a pipe dream. Like a parent who doesn’t like their daughter dating drug reps or psychiatrists, the FDA started using Black Box Warnings to inform us that, “Antidepressants, compared to placebo, increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children in short term studies.” Psychiatrists quickly refuted this.

Massaging our fears, Dr. McAllister-Williams of the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University publicly insisted that “I believe they work andhave an acceptable risk: benefit ratio for many patients.” Taking his cue, psychiatrists from around the world did what they do best: Ignore scientific ethics and get on their knees for Big Pharma.

In a vulgar display of medical ineptitude, prescribing habits surged. From 1996 to 2006, use of antidepressants increased 50% among children, 73% among adults and a ghastly 100% among the elderly - so much for Black Box Warnings. Why not rename them Profit Warnings?

As prescribing habits have surged, so has antidepressant reality.

The so called disease of a “serotonin” chemical imbalance among depressed patients has never been proven. The Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience recently reminded doctors that, “Brain serotonin cannot be directly measured” and that even in the deceased, “Serotonin levels are unstable, within 24 hours of death.” Therefore, “direct evidence that serotonin is low in depressed persons is unavailable.”

Panicked, psychiatry hypothesized yet another cause of a chemical imbalance: Bad genes. Apparently, select people (basically anyone with a heartbeat) have a defective gene that makes them susceptible to depression – and drugs, drugs and more drugs can save them from the scourge of sadness. Bio-babble like “alleles” and “transporter genes” were thrown around like condoms at a high school pep rally. The jargon confused everyone. And in their dizzy stupor, most were convinced that it must mean one thing: antidepressants are the Holy Grail to attaining happiness. Psychiatry was once again renewed with the stench of pharmaceutical pheromones. But it didn’t last.

Thanks to scientific methodology, the industry was slapped with the facts. The New York Times delivered the blow and wrote, “One of the most celebrated findings in modern psychiatry — that a single gene helps determine one’s risk of depression in response to a divorce, a lost job or another serious reversal — has not held up to scientific scrutiny.”

You don’t need science to disprove the antiquated, reductionist propaganda surrounding the chemical imbalance theory. You only need the common sense of a child.

The human brain floats in thousands, billions or maybe even trillions of brain chemicals – all working in orchestra like unison to confer proper brain function. Even serotonin exists not as a single molecule, but instead as an ever changing chemical cascade of 5-htp, niacin, L-tryptophan, quinolinate, kynurenine and more. You’d have to be Paris Hilton or a psychiatrist to miss this logic and adhere to the simplistic serotonin imbalance theory.

With no such thing as a chemical imbalance or “depression inducing genes,” psychiatry did what any organization would do in the face of impending demise: Get the U.S Government to do their dirty work.

Today, an insidious collusion between Big Pharma and Big Government is doling out drugs paid for by our tax dollars to foster children, to our U.S. Troops, and to the elderly at breakneck speeds. With so many being drugged, a harsh reality is emerging: Antidepressant romance fuels “premedicated murder.”

While researching my new book, Over-The-Counter Natural Cures, I uncovered stories of horrific suicide and rage that occurred after being medicated with antidepressants. But none more disturbing than the Chris Wood story. Doped up on his prescribed cocktail of antidepressants – all three of them – he shot his 33 year old wife Francie and their three children – Chandler, 5, Gavin, 4, and Fiona, 2. Shockingly, in his drug damaged mind, they weren’t “dead enough” and gruesome decapitation followed. Afterwards, he picked up a shotgun and killed himself. This isn’t an isolated incident.

Among our US troop, suicide and rage is at an all time high – in direct correlation to mass prescribing. The same trend exists among teens as seen by the ever growing act of spraying classmates with bullets. Psychiatrists don’t seem to be alarmed with these trends, or at all interested in seeing the obvious correlations. In an attempt to “leave no American un-medicated,” they encourage subjective mental screening tests for the rest of us as a means of converting healthy people into psychiatric patients.

Pyschiatry wants to position antidepressants as the cure for the premedicated violence. So to counter the growing evidence that their drugs are the cause, they insist that, “The only evidence that would be acceptable is the demonstration in a double blind trial that a difference in suicide rates was consistently seen. There is no evidence at all for a differential suicide attempt rate with antidepressants. Suicidal thoughts are an integral part of depression.” Here comes the backhand.

Writing for the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Joel Kauffman elucidates that combined clinical trials on antidepressants show five times the risk of suicide among the treated compared to placebo.

The suicide/aggression trend is not inexplicable from a chemistry viewpoint. Using the latest cloning techniques and laboratory methods, it’s been shown that antidepressants elicit “neurotransmitter hijacking.” This may be partially responsible for the mental state that causes a person to gruesomely murder their loved ones, then put a shotgun to their chin and pull the trigger.

Once swallowed, antidepressants sail past the blood brain barrier and congregate on top of “neurotransmitter recyclers.” This can prevent the cellular “recycling factories” from activating previously used neurotransmitters like serotonin or any of its chemical cousins. With nowhere to go, the inactive brain compounds get “hijacked” by recycling facilities found in other regions of the brain. This would be similar to a square peg being shoved into a round hole. As shown by Baylor College of Medicine, the recycling facilities of key neurotransmitters, like dopamine (round), begin to retrieve serotonin (square) into dopamine vesicles. A dastardly consequence ensues.

Commenting on the hijacking, CNN publicized that, “Antidepressant drugs actually create a perilous brain imbalance.” And Psychiatric Times hypothesized that blocking transporters on cell bodies could drop neurotransmitter levels in the synapse. Is it true?

To measure if neurotransmitter hijacking leads to an empty synapse, you can simply look for clinical manifestations of poor neurotransmitter function (like Parkinson’s disease, which is due to poor output of dopamine) among antidepressant users. As far back as 1995, the American Journal of Medicine showed that 37% of all prescriptions for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease are due to Psychiatric drug use. Case closed. These antidepressant actions are the exact opposite of the claimed “neurotransmitter boosting” actions purported by most doctors!

Once neurotransmitter hijacking takes place, pharmacopossession (due to poor neurotransmitter function) may also set in. As patients come fully under the spell of antidepressants, the brain can become so scrambled that all normal reality and reason are overwritten by a new confusing and violent agenda. A new personality arises – one with homicidal and suicidal tendencies. And for an ever increasing number of antidepressant users, these tendencies are manifesting as premedicated murder – the deliberate killing as a result of being medicated in advance.

Unbalanced by drugs, the brain of an antidepressant user faces a slew of mind altering outcomes. What kind? What was Chris Wood thinking and feeling prior to committing premedicated murder of his family while pharmacopossessed? To answer these questions just go back to the beginning of this article and read the “profit warning” that comes with every Prozac prescription. It’s all there in black and white.

Even though the FDA “compels” drug companies to warn the public about antidepressant risks, their “death grip” on the medical industry has kept doctors and patients from knowing the real extent of the danger. Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association said that “Pharma’s influence on medicine is so blatant now you’d have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to see it.” I guess psychiatrists are all three since they continue to ignore science and romance the masses with promises of happiness courtesy of antidepressants.

Before your doctor gives you an antidepressant, ask him to read you the Black Box Warning that comes with your prescription. This will ensure that the potential romance quickly gives way to reality and that you don’t succumb to premedicated murder.

About the Author

Ellison’s entire career has been dedicated to the study of molecules; how they give life and how they take from it. He was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant for his research in biochemistry and physiology. He is a bestselling author of Over-The-Counter Natural Cures, which helps you live healthier and pay less with $10 lifesaving supplements for under $10! Get a free chapter now – cancer truths that will save your life – at http://www.otcnaturalcures.com.

17-Aug-09 11:00 AM

Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Click on the link below to read "Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones" by Steven F. Hotze, M.D. and Donald P. Ellsworth, MD., that was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons - Summer 2008 issue.

"Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones"

15-Jul-09 4:00 PM

Prevent Heart Disease Naturally!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America for men and women. If I asked you what the number one cause of heart disease is, what would your answer be? Let me guess - high cholesterol? Did you know that cholesterol is actually NOT the cause of heart disease? More than half of the people who die from heart attacks have low cholesterol.

So what is the cause of heart disease? The primary cause of heart disease is a vitamin C deficiency in the cells of the blood vessel walls. When lesions form in our arteries, the body needs collagen to properly repair itself, and our body needs Vitamin C to form collagen. If we do not have enough Vitamin C, our body compensates in an unhealthy way with a sticky substance that forms sticky plaques. Dr.Matthias Rath found that this sticky substance in the artery walls is actually made from a similar cholesterol-based protein called lipoprotein(a). These plaques then build up and cause blockage in the arteries which then cause heart attack and stroke.

Importance of Cholesterol – Cholesterol is essential to the human body. We make cholesterol in our liver. It is the precursor to our hormones and vitamin D production. When you lower your cholesterol,you are lowering the important hormones in the human body, such as testosterone,progesterone and estrogen. Cholesterol is like the nails that hold a house together. If you take the nails out of the house, the house will fall apart. If you lower cholesterol with a statin drug,you are putting your health in additional danger. Statin drugs,such as Lipitor and Pravachol, cause a host of serious side effects, including memory loss, amnesia and muscle and joint pain. The fact is, the higher the cholesterol, the longer people are living.

Importance of Vitamin C – Did you know that only humans, guinea pigs and monkeys do not make their own vitamin C? If your body had no Vitamin C at all, you would get scurvy, the lesions would rupture and you would die of internal bleeding. Vitamin C is also needed to help convert cholesterol to bile, and to keep cholesterol and lipoprotein(a) from building up in your bloodstream.

Hypothyroidism and Heart Disease – Dr. Broda Barnes performed a twenty year study of the relationship between supplemental thyroid hormone and reduced risk of heart attacks, which demonstrated a decreased heart attack death rate of 95% in patients who received natural thyroid hormone - a truly remarkable finding. Why not consider using natural thyroid hormone supplementation to reduce your risk of having a heart attack? Remember thyroid production
declines as we age. Fifty-year-olds produce one half the thyroid hormones that they made
during their twenties.

Prevention – Did you know that there is a natural way, without drugs or surgery, to prevent and reverse plaque build up in your arteries? Most physicians are uneducated about the benefits of nutritional supplements. I recommend a protocol for prevention of heart disease that was developed by Dr.Matthias Rath and Dr. Linus Pauling. The protocol consists of a daily regimen of Vitamin C, L-Lysine, and L-Proline to help keep your arteries healthy. Also, by boosting your levels of B12 and folic acid, you can lower your homocysteine levels and reduce your risk of heart disease, as well. Take charge of your health today and live a long, healthy life!

Steven F.Hotze, M.D. is the founder of the Hotze Health & Wellness
Center and author of “Hormones,Health, and Happiness.”

20-Mar-09 8:00 AM

The Truth About Hormone Therapy

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

By ERIKA SCHWARTZ , KENT HOLTORF , and DAVID BROWNSTEIN

Mainstream medicine has been given a wake-up call on a matter critical to the health of 65 million women in the U.S. At issue are the options for treatment of menopause symptoms that cause significant health problems for women in mid-life as their bodies produce fewer hormones. It doesn't seem like a complicated problem, given advances in medical science. Yet hormone-replacement therapy has become a textbook example of how special interests, a confused medical establishment, and opportunists can combine to complicate the issue and deny patients access to safe and effective treatments.

Until seven years ago, women going to conventional doctors were prescribed the FDA-approved synthetic hormone Premarin, derived from the urine of pregnant horses; Provera, a synthetic progestin; or Prempro, a combination of the two. Premarin was the bestselling drug in the U.S. in 2001, generating $2 billion a year for Wyeth.

In 1994 a study led by the National Institutes of Health called the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) was started with the hope of establishing that Premarin and Provera would, beyond relieving menopause symptoms, protect aging women from heart attacks, strokes, osteoporosis and cancer.

On July 9, 2002, however, the WHI came to an abrupt halt. The study proved unequivocally that the drugs were unsafe and significant factors in increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer in the more than 16,000 women studied.

This led doctors to take millions of women off Premarin, Prempro and Provera overnight. Predictably, these women started to feel horrible in the aftermath of the drugs' sudden withdrawal, and their physicians told them there were no alternatives. Instead they prescribed antidepressants or birth control pills with shoddy results.

One year after this disaster, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology developed new guidelines that encouraged physicians to prescribe the same drugs in lower doses for shorter periods of time. Yet, and this is key, the safety of this "low dose option" was never proven scientifically.

Meanwhile, many conventional physicians have ignored the effectiveness of "bioidentical" or natural progesterone, which is formulated to be identical to the progesterone molecule that is produced by the human body.

There are 25 years of scientific research with hundreds of studies in the U.S. and Europe that have demonstrated that bioidentical hormones, estradiol and micronized progesterone, are equally or more effective than synthetics -- and safer. Yet mainstream medicine has buried its head in the sand and refused to take these studies seriously.

While Europeans have long used bioidenticals, no commercially available bioidentical hormones existed in the U.S. until 1998, when a few pharmaceutical companies obtained FDA approval for an array of bioidentical estrogen preparations and one progesterone preparation. Unfortunately, due to drug companies running the medical profession by controlling what goes into medical education, most doctors never get educated about bioidentical hormones or the way in which different hormone molecules work. With Premarin and Provera dominating the market, drug companies had no incentive to spread the word.

Today the distinction between bioidentical/natural progesterone and the synthetic progestin Provera remains widely misunderstood. Progesterone is used by fertility specialists to protect pregnancy, while medroxyprogesterone (Provera) is used in the morning after pill and in birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. Their actions are totally different and antithetical.

Sadly, seven years after the WHI study finding Premarin/Provera unsafe, the hormone-replacement debate can be summed up in three words: confusion, ignorance, misinformation. Meanwhile, millions of women have embraced bioidenticals, leaving their conventional physicians looking stubborn and foolish.

The medical establishment must stop kowtowing to drug companies and start serving women's best interests -- and that involves widely prescribing bioidentical hormones. This will lead to healthier, happier women and, in the long run, help reduce America's skyrocketing health-care costs.

Drs. Schwartz, Holtorf and Brownstein are founding members of the Bioidentical Hormone Initiative, a nonprofit group of physicians dedicated to patient and physician education (www.bioidenticalhormoneinitiative.org).

Please add your comments to the Opinion Journal forum.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A17

16-Mar-09 4:00 PM

A Wellness Approach to Breast Cancer Screening

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

A Wellness Approach to Breast Cancer Screening

The limitations of mammography

The currently recommended series used for screening mammography exposes the breast tissue to potentially harmful radiation doses.

As you make your decision about having a screening mammogram, you should know that we now have evidence that the biologic effect of the radiation used in mammography is higher than previously believed. Most would reassure you that the dose is negligible; however, one must factor in several additional issues:

1. Mammography is repeated frequently.
2. In the US – radiologists typically perform 2 views per breast – doubling the dose.
3. The current guidelines for screening mammograms were based on the assumption that the

biologic effect of the radiation was the same as the higher energy x-rays like those used in

chest x-rays. Recent articles demonstrate the biologic effect of mammographic x-rays is

actually 2-5 times greater (see Radiation Research 162, 120–127 (2004) and International.

Journal Radiation Biology (2002, vol. 78, no. 12, 1065-1067). This would make each

mammogram more comparable to 14-35 chest x-rays

Younger women desperately need more than the status quo

In his article Beyond Mammography, Len Saputo, MD points out that the most devastating loss of life from breast cancer occurs between the ages of 30-50. The breast is not only more sensitive to radiation during this period but the mammograms are less useful due to the increased breast density. The minimal effectiveness of screening mammography as well as the complications of false positives and radiation exposure requires us to develop a better approach. A new tool is needed to help women, especially young women, and this is where thermal imaging comes in.

The benefits of thermal imaging

Thermal imaging (aka Thermography or Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging - DITI) is a powerful tool which enhances the ability to detect breast changes and can enable earlier cancer detection.

WHAT IS DITI?

Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging ‘DITI’ is a 15 minute non invasive test of physiology. The benefit of DITI testing is that it offers the opportunity of earlier detection of breast disease than has been possible through breast self examination, doctor examination or mammography alone. DITI detects the subtle physiologic changes that accompany breast pathology, whether it is cancer, fibrocystic disease, an infection or a vascular disease.

PROCEDURE

This first session provides the baseline of your “thermal signature”. A subsequent session assures that the patterns remain unchanged.

WHO

All women can benefit from DITI breast screening. However, it is especially appropriate for younger women (30 - 50) whose denser breast tissue makes it more difficult for mammography to be effective. Also for women of all ages who, for many reasons, are unable to undergo routine mammography. This test can provide a 'clinical marker' to the doctor or mammographer that a specific area of the breast needs particularly close examination.

A Suggested Wellness Oriented Recommendations for Breast Imaging

Wellness Recommendation: Use breast thermal imaging to safely identify those at the highest risk.

Rational mammography: Mammography should be used selectively to follow up abnormal exams rather than as a routine screen.

Mammograms will continue to have a role in evaluating breast health; however, this role may best reserved to complement thermal images that suggest changes and warrant further evaluation.

Prevention of Breast Cancer

Progesterone: We have multiple studies which lead us to conclude that Progesterone plays a powerful role in preventing cancer:

1. The higher the level of progesterone, the lower the rate of breast cancer in premenopausal

women High progesterone levels were associated with 1/8 risk of breast cancer.
2. Women with normal progesterone levels had 1/5 the rate of cancer deaths seen in

progesterone-deficient anovulatory women.
3. Progesterone has been documented to activate the p53 gene which is involved in preventing

cell division.
4. Progesterone has been documented to kill breast cancer cells in the lab. For more on the

importance on hormones, please see my July 20, 2008 posting.

Vitamin D at optimal levels is associated with a 50% lower all-cause death rate.

22-Jan-09 2:00 PM

PRESS RELEASE - Breast Cancer: Counterfeit Synthetic Hormones vs. Bio-identical Hormones

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hotze Health & Wellness Center Contact: Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
20214 Braidwood, Houston, Texas 77450 281.698.8698
Today’s Date – December 16, 2008

Breast Cancer: Counterfeit Synthetic Hormones vs. Bio-identical Hormones

The Associated Press distributed an article for publication in newspapers across the country on December 13, 2008 entitled, “New Study firmly ties hormone use to breast cancer”. The title of this article erroneously refers to “hormone use”, when it should correctly be entitled “counterfeit hormone and synthetic drug” use. It discusses the results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a study which was launched in 1991 and involved 161,808 postmenopausal women. The clinical trials were designed to test the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy, diet modification, and calcium and vitamin D supplements on heart disease, fractures, as well as breast and colorectal cancer. This initiative had two studies: the synthetic estrogen-plus-progestin study of women with a uterus and the synthetic estrogen-alone study of women without a uterus. It did not study the effects of bio-identical human hormones.

This article correctly states that Prempro increases the risk of breast cancer in women who use it. This is what our Center expected since Prempro is not a hormone which naturally occurs in women. It is a combination of horse estrogens extracted from pregnant mare’s urine and a counterfeit, synthesized progestin. The progestin, medroxyprogesterone, is not a naturally occurring molecule and is a drug which is foreign to the human body. Wyeth, the manufacturer of both Prempro and Premarin, admits to not knowing all the types of horse estrogen contained in Premarin.

What is not mentioned in this article is the fact that breast cancer is commonly caused by hormonal imbalance. While the three female estrogen hormones, estrone, estradiol and estriol are essential hormones, the risk of breast cancer is directly related to either an excess of estrogen or an imbalance between the estrogen hormones and progesterone. A number of studies have found that a progesterone deficiency may play an important role in increasing a woman’s risk of breast cancer.

Progesterone and estrogen operate in balance and the optimal balance of these two hormones is crucial to a woman’s health and well being. Correcting this imbalance, which is called estrogen dominance and increases as women progress through their menstrual lives, is key to decreasing the risk of breast cancer. Bio-identical progesterone helps to reduce the risk of breast cancer by balancing the estrogen in your body.

This was the conclusion of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health study, published in the August 1981 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology. This study demonstrated that women who were infertile due to a progesterone deficiency had a premenopausal breast cancer risk that was 540% greater than those women whose infertility was not related to a progesterone deficiency. This study also found that women with progesterone deficiency had a 1,000 % greater risk of death from all types of cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should prohibit counterfeit hormones, such as Premarin and Prempro from being marketed and prescribed.

Natural, bio-identical hormones provide a safe, natural alternative for women who are experiencing significant side effects from hormonal decline and imbalance.

16-Dec-08 5:00 PM

AAPS APPLAUDS THE RESIGNATION OF TMB PRESIDENT ROBERTA KALAFUT

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9

Tucson, AZ 85716

www.aapsonline.org

December 12, 2008

Contact: Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director, (520) 323-3110

For immediate release

AAPS APPLAUDS THE RESIGNATION OF TMB PRESIDENT ROBERTA KALAFUT.

MARI ROBINSON SHOULD RESIGN NEXT.

Roberta Kalafut, D.O., just announced her resignation as President of the Texas Medical Board, possibly bringing to a close the worst abuses of power by the TMB against good physicians. Kalafut’s tenure was marked by unjust disciplinary actions, particularly against her competitors, and stonewalling by the TMB and Governor Rick Perry.

“We applaud Kalafut’s resignation,” said AAPS Executive Director Jane Orient. “AAPS has received far more complaints from good physicians in Texas about their medical board than from any other state.”

Kalafut’s husband, Ed Brandecker, M.D., has been deposed in AAPS’s lawsuit against the TMB, which asserts that Kalafut and the TMB have been repeatedly violating constitutional rights.

Fewer than 10% of Texas physicians are the subject of a complaint each year, but nearly all of Kalafut’s competitors have been victimized by complaints. In a letter to State Senator Kyle Janek, Dr. Norman Dozier wrote,

“I am the only doctor left in a 150 mile radius that is involved in Pain Management in any form or fashion that has not been sanctioned by TMB..., but God knows she [Kalafut] has been trying.”

Under Kalafut’s reign, the Chairman of its Disciplinary Process Review Committee was being paid both by Blue Cross and in malpractice cases by plaintiff’s attorneys. Kalafut claimed not to know about the extent of the conflict of interest until a few months before he resigned.

While Kalafut has resigned as President, attorney Mari Robinson, J.D., still hangs on as Interim Executive Director. Robinson has been the focus of many criticisms, and she should resign immediately also. She instructed Kalafut not to answer a question at a legislative hearing in 2007 concerning her role in the filing of a complaint.

“Perhaps Governor Perry has been too busy campaigning for reelection to find a physician to serve as Executive Director for the TMB,” Jane Orient said. “Texans deserve better.”

For more information AAPS’s lawsuit, see: http://www.aapsonline.org/tmb.php

NOTE: AAPS is a non-profit, professional association of physicians in all specialties, dedicated since 1943 to protection of the patient-physician relationship. It accepts no corporate or government funding, and its board members and officers serve without compensation.

15-Dec-08 10:00 AM

Natural Solutions for the Prevention of Heart Disease

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Natural Solutions for the Prevention of Heart Disease
Danger of Statin Drugs
Hotze Health & Wellness Center
Don Ellsworth, M.D.
December 10, 2008

Recently the media has been reporting the results of the JUPITER study which looked at 17,800 people who had high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) - a marker of inflammation in the body. Ongoing silent inflammation quietly can cause damage to our body and to the blood vessels causing atherosclerosis (blockage of the arteries) and heart disease.

This drug company funded study simply demonstrated that statin drugs, such as Lipitor and Crestor, could lower the CRP in individuals with a normal cholesterol level. Since we already knew that statins lower the CRP, what would be the motive for this study? The answer is that the drug companies want to boost statin drug sales by encouraging healthy individuals with normal cholesterol levels to start taking statin drugs - daily for the rest of their lives.

Many mainstream doctors will be recommending statin drugs to even more of their patients, but this would not be smart medicine and would be dangerous. Missing from the press releases concerning statins and the CRP issue has been any discussion of the true causes of inflammation and what can be done naturally to lower it.

The cause of inflammation is not a deficiency of Lipitor or Crestor! There are many known causes of inflammation which include:

            Gingival disease from not flossing daily
            Chlorine in our drinking & bathing water damaging our blood vessels
            Low intake of antioxidant fruit & vegetables
            Low intake of omega 3 rich foods
            Eating partially hydrogenated oils with trans-fatty acids
            High consumption of sugar and starchy processed foods
            Inadequate Vitamin C intake

Statin Drugs’ Adverse Side Effects

While statin drugs are effective at lowering the CRP, they have far too many dangerous side effects to recommend their use for the purpose of lowering the CRP. The adverse side effects of statin drugs include tripling the rate of cancer, nerve and muscle damage, nausea, irritability, homicidal impulses and poor memory. On top of this, these drugs are not effective at achieving their actual goal – the primary prevention of heart attacks and stroke. The NND – Number Needed to Treat to find any benefit is 70 to 100 patients, i.e., only 1 out of about 70-100 see any benefit in 5 years of daily use of statins. Most who take statins are just getting their side effects and filling the pharmaceutical industries’ pockets.

Natural Solutions to Prevent Inflammation Causing Heart Disease

1. Take Vitamin C 1000 – 6000 mg/day.
A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that 1000 mg of Vitamin C is just as good at lowering CRP as statin drugs! The researchers stated that “It has recently been suggested by some researchers that people with elevated CRP should be put on statins as a preventive measure. For people who have elevated CRP but not elevated LDL cholesterol, our data suggest that vitamin C should be investigated as an alternative to statins…..”

            Free Radic Biol Med. 2008 Oct 10
            Vitamin C treatment reduces elevated C-reactive protein Block G, Jensen CD,
            Dalvi TB, Norkus EP, Hudes M, Crawford PB, Holland N, Fung EB, Schumacher
            L, Harmatz P.

The Hotze Health & Wellness Center recommends taking 6000 mg. per 150 lbs. of body weight.

2. Natural Bio-identical Hormones supplementation reduces inflammation.

3. Natural Thyroid (Armour Thyroid, Naturethroid) supplementation, when
           Indicated, reduces the risk of heart disease.

4. Floss Daily – gingivitis causes inflammation throughout the body. Studies have
          demonstrated that daily flossing significantly reduces the risk of heart disease.

5. Fruits & Vegetables: Eat 5-9 serving of fruit & vegetables.

6. Take Nordic Naturals ProOmega Fish Oil 2-12 caps a day (1/2 -3 tsp). This is
      carried by Physician’s Preference, www.physicianspreference.com.

7. Avoid sugar and starches and maintain an optimal body weight.

8. Use a filter to remove chlorine from your water supply. You can order these
     from www.aehf.com. If you live in the Houston area, you can order filters from Environmental Progress at 281-347-4811, or e-mail them at enviroprogress@prodigy.net. For more information, read my posting on Chlorine at www.hotzehwc.com.

9. Eat whole foods and less processed foods

10. Eat organically grown foods to avoid pesticides.

11. Get plenty of sleep.

For more information about how you can obtain and maintain health and wellness naturally contact a New Guest Consultant to discuss your problems at 281.698.8698.

Listen to Health & Wellness Solutions on 700 AM KSEV in Houston or 1160 AM KVCE in Dallas, 12-1 pm CST Monday through Friday, or listen on line at www.hotzehwc.com.

10-Dec-08 3:00 PM

The Dangers of Chlorine in Our Water

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:00:00 GMT

The addition of chlorine to our drinking water began in the late 1800s and by 1904 was the standard in water treatment. Why is chlorine used? It is cheap! We are essentially adding bleach to our water before we drink it. Chlorine and other chemical compounds in our drinking water create 'free radicals'. A free radical is a chemical by-product of metabolism which behaves like bullets flying indiscriminately and whatever they hit can become damaged or destroyed. The long term effects of chlorinated drinking water have just recently being recognized:

Medical Experts on Chlorine Causing Cancer and Heart Disease:

"We are quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water." - Medical College Of Wisconsin research team

Dr. Robert Carlson, a highly respected University of Minnesota researcher who’s work is sponsored by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, sums it up by claiming , “the chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution”, and adds that “chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times!”

According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, “Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.”

Dr. Joseph Price, a medical doctor, wrote a fascinating book in the late 1960's entitled, Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine. He states, "The basic cause of atherosclerosis, heart attacks and most forms of strokes is chlorine. The chlorine contained in processed water."

Studies Showing Chlorinated Water is Dangerous

Dr. Joseph Price did a series of animal experiments on chickens. Within a few months, 95% of the chickens drinking chlorinated water developed atherosclerosis. To retest these results, Dr. Price divided the original control group into two groups, conducted the exact same experiment and obtained the exact same results.

It is not just what we drink

One of the most shocking components to all of these studies is that up to 2/3 of our harmful exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and skin absorption while showering. A warm shower opens up the pores of the skin and allows for accelerated absorption of chlorine and other chemicals in water. The steam we inhale while showering can contain up to 50 times the level of chemicals than tap water due to the fact that chlorine and most other contaminants vaporize much faster and at a lower temperature than water. Inhalation is a much more harmful means of exposure since the chlorine gas we inhale goes directly into our blood stream. When we drink contaminated water the toxins are partially filtered out by our kidneys and digestive system.

Asthma and Bronchitis

Chlorine vapors are known to be a strong irritant to the sensitive tissue and bronchial passages inside our lungs, it was used as a chemical weapon in World War II. The inhalation of chlorine is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children… which has increased 300% in the last two decades. “Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly every home because of chlorine in the water.” Dr Lance Wallace, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Skin Health

Chlorine in shower water also has a very negative cosmetic effect, robbing our skin and hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in a less vibrant and youthful appearance. Everyone knows what a chlorinated pool can do to the skin and hair. Did you know the chlorine in our tap water is often higher than the recommended levels in swimming pools?

Candida Overgrowth

Chlorinated water destroys much of the intestinal flora, the friendly bacteria that help in the digestion of food and which protects the body from harmful pathogens. The killing of the good bacteria allows pathogenic bacteria and yeast to overgrow even in the absence of taking antibiotics. These normal bacteria in our GI tract are also responsible for the manufacture of several important vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K. It is not uncommon for chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, seborrhea and eczema to clear up or to be significantly improved by switching to unchlorinated drinking water and supplementing the diet with lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus.

Recommendations

Never drink tap water: quality spring water, reverse osmosis or filtered water are alternatives. We use Mountain Valley Spring Water at the Hotze Health and Wellness Center. They also and have household units for removing chlorine. You can reach them at 713-937-8630 or www.amacwater.com

Filter you bathing water: you can order filters at www.aehf.com. If you live in the Houston area, you can order filters from Environmental Progress at 281-347-4811, or e-mail them at enviroprogress@prodigy.net. For more information, read my posting on Chlorine at www.hotzehwc.com.

10-Dec-08 2:00 PM

Read what Suzanne Somers says about Dr. Hotze!

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Dr. Steven F. Hotze
By Suzanne Somers
Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness

Read what Suzanne Somers says about Dr. Hotze and the Hotze Health and Wellness Center in her new book, “Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness.” Dr. Hotze has an entire chapter dedicated to him and the Center. Click here to order your copy today!

“This Texan doctor is going to steal your heart. He has so much energy he can’t wait to get to his office each day. He has built up a practice that is the envy of doctors everywhere. The reason it works is that he gets people well and rarely, if ever, resorts to pharmaceutical drugs.”

“Dr. Hotze is an honorable guy and a renegade. He learned as he went and saw that bioidentical hormones made men and women alike feel good again. You are going to love him. He is a pioneer and he is fearless. He is the founder of the Hotze Health & Wellness Center in Houston, where he works finding the underlying causes for the conditions that plague people from middle age on. He can be heard regularly on his radio show “Health and Wellness Solutions,” on Houston’s KSEV 700, and has been on the air for six and a half years. I loved talking to this guy.”

Suzanne Somers
“Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness”

22-Oct-08 4:00 PM

FDA Bans Hormone Produced by Human Body as 'Unapproved Drug"

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Click on the link below to read the ad placed in the New York Times by Jonathan V. Wright, M.D.:

FDA Bans Hormone Produced by Human Body as 'Unapproved Drug"

18-Jun-08 2:00 PM

Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

"Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones"

17-Jun-08 11:00 AM

URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS TO USE BIOIDENTICAL HORMONES!

Wed, 21 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!

H.CON.RES. 342
May 08, 2008

CALL YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT H.CON.RES. 342:

FDA’s POLICY ON ESTRIOL NOT SERVING PUBLIC INTEREST

H. Con. Res. 342: Expressing the sense of Congress that the Food and Drug Administration’s(FDA) new policy restricting women’s access to medications containing estriol does not serve the public interest.

May 6, 2008: U.S. House Representatives Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) introduced a bipartisan resolution today to counter the efforts of the FDA and Wyeth against compounded bio-identical hormones that contain estriol. H. Con. Res. 342 raises concern over FDA's policy to ban estriol. Reps. Ross and Emerson were joined by Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Burgess (R-Texas), John Carter (R-Texas), Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

The resolution asks the FDA to “respect the physician-patient relationship” and recognizes that doctors “determine which medications are appropriate for their patients.” It also points out that the “FDA has acknowledged that it is unaware of any adverse events” associated with the use of estriol over the past three decades.

The FDA's actions would prevent physicians from choosing a medication which they have found to be most effective in treating the hormonal disorders of menopause.

Estriol is one of three female estrogen hormones produced by women's ovaries. It has been widely used for over 20 years as a prescription medication for the treatment of hormonal disorders which afflict women in midlife and in menopause. Hundreds of thousands of women across America use this product every day.

Today: Call or email your members of Congress and ask them to support H. Con. Res. 342! You need to act immediately to protect your rights!

If your representative is already supporting this resolution, thank them for their support and let them know you will be following the progress of this resolution.

Click here to see a copy of the resolution.

Click here to see Senator Tom A. Coburn's Letter to the FDA.

Sample Letter

Dear Representative ________:

Because of your concern for protecting patients' rights, I wanted to bring to your attention my concern over the FDA's attack on estriol, a human (bio-identical) hormone replacement therapy, and compounding pharmacies.

My physician has prescribed bio-identical hormones to treat my health conditions and I am feeling so much better than I did on the drugs which I had previous taken. The hormones that he prescribed can only be purchased from a compounding pharmacy.

Drug companies, particularly Wyeth, the maker of Premarin, have been using the FDA to try to stop compounding pharmacies from filling physicians' prescriptions for alternatives to Premarin, such as estriol.

The FDA has sent warning letters to compounding pharmacies across the country threatening to “take enforcement action to halt your compounding of drugs containing estriol,” thus denying my access to vital compounded medications which my doctor has determined that I need.

In response to this, H. Con. Res. 342 states the FDA's new policy restricting women’s access to medications containing estriol does not serve the public interest.

Compounding pharmacies are licensed and regulated by the states and it should stay that way. We don't need big government telling my doctor or me that we cannot use bio-identical hormones.

Please protect my right to choose bio-identical hormones and other compounded medications. Please support Resolution 342!

Sincerely yours,

(Your Name)

21-May-08 3:00 PM

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Natural Option for Perimenopause and Beyond

Carolyn Walker, NP — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Natural Option for Perimenopause and Beyond

1-May-08 0:00 AM

Local Allergy Levels - Check Yours Today!

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Check your local allergy levels and get lots of great information at www.pollen.com.

17-Apr-08 11:00 AM

Daisy's Yeast Free Brownies

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:00:00 GMT

¾ cups unflavored coconut oil, in solid form, not liquid

1 1/8 cups Sweet-n-Natural

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate

3 eggs, room temperature

2 TBS hot water*

1 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder or instant coffee*

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup oat flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ - ¾ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream the coconut oil until no lumps remain. Add Sweet-n-Natural and continue creaming until no lumps remain. Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute intervals at 50% power until chocolate melts. Be sure to stir after each minute—you do not want your chocolate to burn. Add the melted chocolate to the creamed coconut oil and mix well. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition. Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water and add to the egg mixture along with the vanilla. Mix well until incorporated. Set aside.

In a small bowl using a whisk, combine the oat flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture in three parts, mixing well after each addition. Batter will be thick. Fold in pumpkin seeds. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper or foil so you have a 2 inch overhang on either side of the pan to ensure easy removal.

Bake the brownies for 20-25 minutes. The edges will be firm, but the middle will look and feel undercooked. You need this to ensure a fudgy texture. Over-baking results in dryer/crumbly brownies. Let brownies cool completely before cutting. Small puddles of oil are ok—they will be reabsorbed as the brownies cool.

*Note: you may substitute the water and instant espresso/coffee with 2 TBS of strong brewed coffee.

18-Jan-08 10:00 AM