Where does peace come from? A word that comes to my mind is sacrifice. Today marks the day we especially remember those who have served to bring peace and freedom. Over 2.3 million Canadians have served in our military. About 120,000 bright and capable Canadians, usually young, have departed earthly life too early in defense of freedom and peace. But not all were the young recruits. One was my wife’s maternal grand-father, Captain Kenneth Bearman West of the Governor General's Foot Guards, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.  Ken West died at age 37, a husband and dad, in Normandy August 11, 1944, only weeks after the June 6th D-Day invasion to liberate Europe.   

Twelve years ago my wife and three of our sons travelled to Normandy and visited the Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery where Ken is buried (that's me pictured above with my youngest son). It was truly sobering to be there, in the midst of row upon row of crosses and other grave markers of Canadians who paid the ultimate price.  I was happy to see how well maintained the cemetery was, and the regard to which the citizens of Normandy still held for their liberators.  Yet I was also reminded of the poem In Flanders Field. Written in 1915 in a WW1 bunker in the Ypres Salient region of Belgium, John McCrae, a Canadian physician, surgeon and soldier wrote these familiar words:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing fly,

Scarce heard among the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you and from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields. 

This Remembrance Day, as all Remembrance Days, please consider attending a Remembrance Day service at a Cenotaph or elsewhere or take a moment to quietly honour all those who have sacrificed for our peace and freedom.  Thank you Capt. Ken West and thousands of others. Lest we never forget.

Michael Bentley, SierraSil® Health Inc

New treatments for arthritis may unlock pain-free living

When lifestyle measures are not enough, this natural health product may provide help for Canadians living with arthritis.

By Sonya Friesen

Thu., Sept. 22, 2022

______________________________________________

As the famous phrase notes, “...nothing is certain except death and taxes” …and joint pain. Soreness is a part of everyday life, a near guarantee for many Canadians. It’s become one of life’s rare daily realities. What we may find began as muscle tenderness from overuse soon lingered. 

One in every five Canadians experiences a form of arthritis, the most common being osteoarthritis. Joint complaints are the most cited reason for visiting the doctor. For hospitals, people experiencing inflammatory arthritis, like gout, represent most outpatients. Pain is now an epidemic of sorts, but new treatments are offering Canadians a glimmer of hope when it comes to long-lasting relief.

“Arthritis poses a huge cost to us as individuals and families, but it also affects us as a society,” says Dr. Kamran Shojania, Chief of Rheumatology at Vancouver General Hospital. “Systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases — like rheumatoid arthritis — often start with milder, non-specific symptoms. There are excellent new treatments for these conditions, but early detection is key. If caught early, we can often put them into remission.” 

The key to maintaining joint health is making healthy lifestyle choices. Staying active each day, integrating exercises that include cardio and muscle strengthening, and maintaining a healthy weight all play an important role in preventing pain. However, once aches have begun, many of us turn to over-the-counter assistance, including anti-inflammatory medications or even prescription-based treatment. 

However, “there are no medications or supplements that have been shown to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis,” says Dr. Shojania. “When pain is an issue, exercise and weight management continue to be the most important ways to reduce pain and improve function.”  

New discoveries provide a dose of optimism, and one such discovery has life-changing results for those suffering from chronic pain. Found on the slopes of the Sierra Mountains in the United States, a unique mineral deposit has been shown to provide incredible benefits for those suffering joint discomfort. The mineral deposit — known by the trade name SierraSil — has unique healing properties that effectively support joint health and calm inflammation, earning it two U.S. patents. 

Most natural health products, like glucosamine and collagen, include ingredients that build human cartilage and joint structure, supplementing the body’s natural regenerative process. SierraSil works by calming the underlying inflammation, reducing cartilage breakdown, and down-regulating enzymes that lead to inflammation, both of which are factors causing arthritis symptoms.  

As an all-natural alternative to pharmaceutical pain relievers, SierraSil is backed by clinical trials and is reliably effective in treating sore, stiff joints. Recommended for adults — from athletes seeking reduced delayed-onset soreness to those looking to reduce overall discomfort — SierraSil users report noticeable improvements in joint pain and flexibility within two weeks. 

Diagnosed with Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) at age six, professional golfer Sadiq Jiwa’s childhood involved regular visits to the hospital, testing various treatments to help manage his arthritis. “It wasn’t until I was older that I decided to take a more proactive approach to my arthritis - looking into lifestyle changes: diet, nutrition, and natural supplements.” One such natural supplement was SierraSil. “I saw quantitative and qualitative benefits to my day-to-day health. It [SierraSil] noticeably helped improve the overall way I was feeling.”

Ongoing research and exciting discoveries are providing Canadians with hope, realizing the chance to live each day pain-free isn’t just within reach but a reality. “No one solution is best for everyone. Consider with your physician what works best for you,” says Dr. Shojania. “And keep active!”

Speak to your doctor about whether SierraSil is right for you. Visit www.sierrasil.com to learn more and join the thousands of Canadians who have experienced the guaranteed results firsthand.

https://www.thestar.com/sponsored_sections/2022/09/22/new-treatments-for-arthritis-may-unlock-pain-free-living.html

We've done something new this month! A video interview with guest Neurosurgeon Dr. Honey - with no retakes!

Dr. Chris Honey, MD, Neurosurgeon is a husband, dad, athlete and now author, talked to me about his new book, The Tenth Nerve. Its a medical book, but it’s so much more as we meet patients and join Dr. Honey as he investigates a newly identified disease. Listen to the end (or read the transcript) to find out how you could win your own copy of the Tenth Nerve signed for you by Dr. Honey! Full disclosure, Dr. Honey was a SierraSil® customer "I tried it and it was fabulous" but he isn't anymore. Watch or read, and you'll find out why!

Video: https://youtu.be/C7Sys9TkOVc

Thank you for watching – and you are always welcome to contact us at info@sierrasil.com We welcome feedback whether on the blog, our products, how you heard about us, basically anything that can help inform us and help us enable more people to be healthier and more active naturally (with our minerals)

Michael Bentley

PS from the news Green-medi diet associated with lower brain atrophy https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/grocery/news-grocery/green-medi-dit-associated-with-lower-brain-atrophy-in-18-month-mri-study/

Interview with Dr. Chris Honey, MD Neurosurgeon

Michael: Hello I'm Michael Bentley and president of SierraSil. I'm joined today by Chris Honey, neurosurgeon, Olympian, and author of the just released book, The Tenth Nerve. Chris joins me for a brief chat about his book and I might add that Chris Is a husband, a dad, and a genuinely fine gentleman. First of all, Chris, how many neurosurgeons have been Olympians and competed in the world master games?

Chris: Yeah not too many. I know Sir Roger Banister was an Olympian, but he was a neurologist, not a neurosurgeon very close. There's one other, Sir Ludwig Gutman was an English neurosurgeon who went on to find the Paralympic games.

Michael: You're not only competing In the Olympic games, you also competed in the world's master games and different sports, soccer.

Chris: So, soccer Is my passion right now. I used to be a diver, a springboard diver that was my whole life for a number of years and now I play soccer. I was just In Victoria for a tournament on the weekend with the team.

Michael: Really that's great and you've represented different countries in those sports too.

Chris: I was born In Barbados and so I grew up In Barbados and moved to Canada as uh in primary school and so I represented actually Barbados when I was In the Sol Olympics

Michael: Well that's great um in the book you reveal that you want to become a neurosurgeon in grade six but given the athlete that you are why not professional sports.

Chris: yeah I never really thought of sports as a career uh the only thing that really Interested me was the brain for a variety of reasons through my life, but I was always fascinated by Its beauty but also Its complexity and I thought that over a lifetime It would be Impossible to get bored of studying the brain and there were so many things we didn’t know about It I thought that there was quite a strong possibility that I might be able to discover something new about the brain.

Michael: That's really cool. So now I want to turn my attention to your exceptionally well written book, The Tenth Nerve. Yes, it’s a medical book but It's so much more as we meet patients and join you as you Investigate a newly Identified disease. Chris what Inspired you to write this book uh which Is kind really engaging?

Chris: the book Is really an homage to uh a small group of patients over my lifetime I've met thousands of patients and there Is a tendency and we are even trained as surgeons to keep

your patients at arm's length and not bond emotionally with them because of the danger of suicide and depression when you fail them, but over the course of my lifetime there have definitely been a few patients who made an Indelible mark on my soul and they taught me about medicine more than my medical school or lectures and they taught me about myself and

this book Is a compilation of seven patients who really changed me in terms of my understanding of medicine and my understanding of myself and one of the patients in particular had a condition that had never been described before and so in medicine when a patient

describes something to you and you don't recognize It and all the tests are negative the

knee-jerk reaction Is to say you know what It's all in your head you're just making this up and this lady refused to be dismissed and   she shook me and made me

believe her that there was something physically wrong with her not just It's In your head uh and It took a while to figure It out, but we figured It out and It turned out to be a blood vessel

In her brain pressing on the Vagus nerve causing these symptoms of choking in her throat

and a tickling sensation in her lungs. She couldn't stop coughing and so we eventually did. After discussions with her, she allowed me to explore that part of her brain and decompress the nerve. There was a blood vessel that was just pounding on her Vagus nerve I'm firing

It went off and when I lifted the blood vessel off that part of her nerve. Her symptoms went away and so we published that in the medical literature and that Information Is sort of slowly being spread around the world for other patients. Because of her who are no longer being dismissed as you know you're making this choking thing up um no It's a physical Illness It has a name It's hemi laryngopharyngeal spasm or HELPS  syndrome and that concept of that a blood vessel could press on your Vagus nerve and cause pathology led to possibly two other diseases. One we found which we're calling It Vancouver syndrome, as an homage to the city but It's a Vagus associated neurogenic cough occurring due to unilateral vascular encroachment of the root. So again the Vagus nerve Innervates the lung and If  you press on It, like If you bang your elbow you get tingling In your fingers If you press on the Vagus nerve you get a tickling sensation In your lung and you can't stop coughing and every leprologist In the world can't find a problem because there's nothing wrong with your lungs. The problem is the Vagus nerve and so we've found that disease and there's probably and we're working on It there's probably one more coming and love to come back and tell you about that In a couple years but It's fascinating to have this picture Into you know how the brain works so I just love it.

Michael: well in the book you describe the brain pulsating and It reminds me of a friend describing the challenges of landing a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier gyrating in the sea. So, when you're working in fractions of a millimeter during surgery, how do you accommodate maybe that's not the right word, for brain pulsating?

Chris: Yeah, so the surgeries that I specialize on are typically Inside the skull but outside the brain. So the brain Is pulsating at you and It's a rhythm It's like a dance you join the brain In that rhythm um you wait for It to bring the vessel up to you take the vessel If you miss it, it will come back to you wait for It to go and then you just you synchronize your surgery with the dance of the brain. Oh, that's quite poetic I might have yeah

Michael: I'm reminded of athletes who try and take their shots…

Chris: Yes. I think It's between breaths and yes breathing out they actually slow their heart rate down too yeah and they're using the Vagus nerve to slow their heart rate down.

Michael: That's really Interesting well as a full-time medical doctor, a top gun surgeon. If you will and part-time exceptional athlete, how did you become such a great writer because the book really is in my opinion, extremely well written.

Chris: That's very kind of you to say so I have been writing my whole life but more in medical peer-reviewed publications. So I have over a hundred peer-reviewed medical publications In a variety of medical journals and so writing Is part of my life as a professor and head of neurosurgery here at UBC, but I was um I had hip surgery a number of years ago and I was lying In bed with absolutely nothing to do and so I started writing and uh the writing

is easy because you're just telling the stories right they came out a chapter a day and the slow thing was the editing the you know back and forth with the publisher no I don't like this, and the editing was like two years. So, the writing was maybe a month and the editing was like two years so that was interesting.

Michael: Well Chris, you've told me that you postponed hip surgery for many years.

Chris: Yes.

Michael: But you only wanted one replacement in your normal expected lifespan.

Chris: well I can tell you a little bit about that because you'll be particularly pleased to hear that but I as an as a diver, I wore out my left hip because that's the hip you do that deep knee bend before you jump up to the end of the board and It wore It out and I remember at 26 I really heard it. I had to switch hurdle legs for six months and it loosened. I tore the labrum and so over the course of my lifetime wear and tear um you know got rid of the cartilage and bone on bone and I couldn't really enjoy soccer. So, I would play soccer on a Sunday and I would load up on Advil and by Wednesday I could walk without a without a limp and I didn’t like loading up on the anti-inflammatories because of my stomach. So the truth Is I tried sacral and It was fabulous and so I could play soccer on Sunday and I would take uh two SierraSil um after the game and I would just take one a day during the week and I was walking uh on Monday back to normal. So, it seemed to me in my little experiment and of one that It was more powerful than the anti-inflammatories and had none of the side effects and I liked conceptually the Idea that It was natural being a west coast surgeon. I really enjoyed the concept that It was more natural than the pharmaceuticals and so I was able to postpone. I continue to play soccer and I postpone my surgery. I wanted to postpone It as light as possible but the surgeon who I wanted to do my hip I was going to retire and so I pressed the button and got my hip. So, I had my hip done. And you won't be pleased to hear this, but I have no pain and I don't take SierraSil anymore because I have no pain but for those years that uh on between It was fabulous

Michael: Well we're actually really glad that you have no pain and my attitude Is If you have no pain you don't need our products.

Chris: Yeah exactly.

Michael: So, uh I think that's awesome and you got the results even not taking It at our recommended uh serving size of three capsules a day yeah.

Chris: Well I tested It out and uh and you know went up came back down went too low found I needed two right after surgery and then one maintenance It was exactly what I needed.

Michael: That's great and I think Its great advice for people If they are listening to us Is to think about finding the right dose of whatever it is that's working for them subject to their doctor's advice of course. So, I’m thrilled that you have no pain. now that's awesome and I also want to thank you for writing The Tenth Nerve, It's as I said earlier It's an immensely Interesting book It's extremely well written very readable and I also want to thank you because you've agreed to sign a couple of copies of It to share with customers who purchased SierraSil Sold this month directly from us and so we'll do a random draw and select a couple of customers and you'll personally sign It for them and I really want to thank you for doing that and I really want to thank you for your time and also for uh sharing your wisdom and your knowledge In such a lovely way In this wonderful book, The Tenth Nerve and folks I recommend you pick this up from your local bookstore or If necessary online because It really Is a good read. It's really Interesting and It might get sold out pretty soon because It's been pretty popular I've heard. Don't wait get your copy and Chris thank you so much what a pleasure.

Chris: What a pleasure. Thank you for speaking with me today Michael.

Michael: Take care.

Chris: Cheers now.