With thousands of flavonoid types, nobelitine is just the latest. It seems every other day another phytonutrient is found to have some curative properties… whether it’s a carotenoid, indoles, terpenes, or a polyphenol (flavonoid or non flavonoid (color)). Resveratrol (stilbenes) and blueberries (ellagic acid -> (ellagi)tannins), are example of non-flavonoids types that are still popular these days.

Also, we often hear about a flavonoid’s ANTIOXIDANT super-powers, yet some citrus fruits, like tangerines have PRO-OXIDANT flavonoids (Chalconaringenin, Naringenin, etc)… which haven’t been nearly as well studied or understood.

What’s even more interesting to me is that I’m sure there’s many other plant based compounds and synergism that we have no idea about, and which wouldn’t fit neatly into our current classifications.

For example, what’s behind the mechanism at work in the extract found in African mango seeds ( Irvingia Gabonensis – IGOB131 )? Studies suggest that it can lower cholesterol and reduce body fat.
http://www.lipidworld.com/content/pdf/1476-511X-4-12.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2651880/?tool=pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18377661?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

And since there is always more than one side, this is a great 2-part post by Stephan Guyenet, for more food for thought!
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/02/polyphenols-hormesis-and-disease-part-i.html
http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/could-free-radicals-be-good-for-you.aspx
http://www.dynamicchiropractic.ca/pdf_out/DynamicChiropractic.ca-Super-Fruits-The-Power-of-Polyphenols-1300870114.pdf

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/radiation-dosage-chart/

There was a great Ted Talk a few years back that anyone, even remotely interested in the subject, should watch!

http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/02/05/us-alzheimers-risk-idUSTRE5146ZI20090205

I live and work in a community that is educated and mostly insured. They tend to use all the resources available before coming to the ER. And it is the wait you mentioned, closer to 4 hours on average in the US, that motivates the careful planning. Many hospitals are learning to game the system on wait times. Put a doctor in the reception window and your wait time becomes almost zero. But did you really go through the system faster? That’s why length-of-stay is another important number to know.

But I stand by the fact, if you are looking to save the financially failed American Health Care system by limiting access or payments to the emergency department, you are barking up the wrong tree. If you could drop emergency utilization by 30%, you’d save the health system 1%. And if you discourage timely access, I believe the cost on the back-end would go up. Even in our educated population, my partners and I regularly recognize disease in early stages that would have cost much more to treat if the patient waited until the following day to be seen in the office. Of course, if the person dies waiting, that’s the most cost effective, but clearly not the goal. And that is where the difficulty lies. What is the best value for our limited resources.

I agree with your original statement… money is not the only measure to judge value.

**IF** medical care were an unlimited resource, then people should throw caution to the wind, and use it just because their healthcare/taxpayer will pick up the tab… Since it is limited, having an emergency room full of people that are there to play it safe, are taking away services / time from those that truly need it.

I wasn’t able to find recent data on the average emergency care waiting time… but according to 2006 data, it was over an hour. I can’t imagine it’s better today..

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr007.pdf

As far as magnets… at this stage it would be a little like opening up your iPod and randomly connecting a few extra wires thinking it will make it sound better. You might help, but then again you might not.

This is where many medical treatments start. But you need some rationale for why you think it might work… a hypothesis. In the case of magnets, the hypothesis involves realignment of “energy pathways” that have never been proven to exist. That doesn’t mean they are not there. Just means you are that much further out on a thinly supported limb.

We do know documented trends. Peak bone mass is reached in late adolescence or early adulthood. After that, it is a downward decline. Our strategies to reduce osteoporosis address both aspects. The goal is to reach peak bone mass with as much calcium deposited in the “bank” as possible. Then, reduce the “rate of withdrawal” if possible. Only recently have drugs been developed that claim to reverse the trend of mineral loss.

When know that certain disease states or drugs used in childhood reduce bone mineralization with calcium and those kids go on the have a higher rate of osteoporosis. People with an adequate intake of calcium in their diet will likely not benefit from additional supplementation. So the question remains, have you looked at your calcium intake? Is it enough? Prevention starts here.

Other preventative steps include: weight bearing exercise, avoiding tobacco or excess alcohol, adequate vitamin-D intake.

Osteoporosis is not on the health radar for most people until older years. At that stage, like retirement, the days of deposits are over. Now all you can do is slow the withdrawal rate or use medications to add calcium to the depleted bone.