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Fast Fact

Contrary to popular opinion, bed-wetting is a very common problem. It affects somewhere between five and six million children.
Bed-wetting, or nocturnal enuresis, can be divided into two types: primary nocturnal enuresis and secondary nocturnal enuresis. These two types are very different in their causes and treatments.
In primary nocturnal enuresis, children have never achieved complete nighttime control - always wetting at least two times a month.
Secondary nocturnal enuretics are completely dry at night for a period of at least six months and then begin wetting again.
In secondary enuresis, the key is finding out exactly what has changed. There might be a new psychological stress such as a divorce, a move, or a death in the family. It might be something physical: the onset of a urinary tract infection or diabetes, for example. It might be a situational change - perhaps altered eating, drinking, or sleeping habits.
The great majority of bed-wetting children are primary enuretics. For primary enuretics, the cause is decidedly NOT stress or behavioral concerns.
In a survey of 9,000 parents of kids ages 6 - 17, 22% stated that they thought the reason their child wet the bed was laziness (survey conducted by ICR Survey Group from July 10 1996, through August 6, 1996). I am happy to tell you that this could not be further from the truth!
Research has shown that primary nocturnal enuresis is often inherited. If both parents were bed-wetters, 77% of their children will be. If only one parent was, 44% of their offspring will. If neither parent wet the bed, only about 15% of their children will wet the bed.
With primary nocturnal enuresis one almost always finds another relative who was a bed wetter. This corresponds to what is called an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.
In recent years, researchers have identified an association with bedwetting and two genes named ENUR1 and ENUR2. In studying certain families with primary nocturnal enuresis, researchers discovered that members who wet the bed were more likely to have the ENUR1 or ENUR2 gene than those who did not. More recently, the possibility of a third primary nocturnal enuresis-related gene (ENUR3) on chromosome 22 has also been uncovered. Presumably these genes affect either whether children will need to urinate at night or how easily they can wake up when their bladders are full.

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Dr. Greene's Organic Rx -- Item #10

3.07.2007 Add new comment Send to friend Print this article

#10 Corn

Corn fattens up America's beef cattle, accounting for 90% of U.S. feed grains⁶¹. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) fattens up America's human population. More land (more than 80 million acres) is planted in corn than any other crop. More pesticides⁶² and more chemical fertilizer⁶³ are used to grow corn in the US than any other crop. Most of the corn, almost 50 million acres of it, is GM corn⁶⁴. Less than 0.016% of corn production is organic⁶⁵. If we change corn production, we change agriculture.

Off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico is a dead zone about the size of New Jersey where aquatic life cannot survive. It doubled in size between 1985 and 1999. According to the Congressional Research Service, the main cause of this dead zone is fertilizer runoff - from corn production - that ends up first in the Mississippi River, and then dumps into the Gulf. It's a powerful picture of the cost of industrial corn production⁶⁶.

Changing this tenth item on the prescription is the toughest one, only intended for those most committed to change. To adopt organic corn means looking at every ingredient label. If there is corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn sweetener, dextrose, glucose, cornstarch, modified cornstarch, vegetable starch, corn solids, or corn oil - choose organic. It means skipping most sodas and many baked goods. More than 4000 US products contain corn as an ingredient⁶⁷. And this doesn't count all the corn used in livestock production. To select organic corn means selecting organic meat, poultry and dairy.

The industrial production of conventional corn has a devastating impact on the American landscape: our soil, our air, our livestock, and our waters. Switching from conventional to organic corn is extremely difficult, but it could do wonders for the health of your family. And no other change would improve the health of so many acres of cropland.

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