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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Signs & Symptoms of Dangerous Headaches

What makes a headache dangerous

DALLAS, June 30 (UPI) -- Intensity is not necessarily a sign of how serious headache pain is but there are red flags to watch out for, a U.S. neurologist says.
Dr. Ahmed Jafri of the University of Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas says anyone who frequently uses pain medication to self-treat chronic headaches should seek medical help.
"A headache may stem from a harmless problem, or it might be a sign of a life-threatening disorder," Jafri says in a statement. "There are certain red flags that should send a person to the doctor, or even an emergency room."
Jafri says any of the following symptoms warrants immediate emergency attention:
  • -- A change in the character or pattern of existing headaches.
  • -- Explosive headaches.
  • -- Headache pain that increases in intensity.
  • -- New headaches in children or seniors.
  • -- "The worst headache of my life."
  • -- Headache with exertion, coughing or sex.
In addition, Jafri says a headache accompanied by fever and stiff neck, visual impairment, fainting, paralysis anywhere on the body, or bloodshot eyes with tearing and a runny nose requires medical care.

Headache

"Blood Pressure Care Naturally"

Donate to keep Natural Health News bringing you the cutting edge on health and get your copy of our newsletter on beets for health from 2008

Why beetroot juice lowers blood pressure


LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- Nitrate content appears to be the reason why beetroot juice lowers blood pressure, researchers in Britain said.

Study author Amrita Ahluwalia, a professor of vascular biology at Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute, at Queen Mary University of London, said the study demonstrated that the nitrate found in beetroot juice was the cause of its beneficial effects on cardiovascular health by increasing the levels of the gas nitric oxide in the circulation.

The study, published online in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, found blood pressure lowered within 24 hours in people who took nitrate tablets and in people who drank beetroot juice.

"We gave inorganic nitrate capsules or beetroot juice to healthy volunteers and compared their blood pressure responses and the biochemical changes occurring in the circulation," Ahluwalia said in a statement. "We showed that beetroot and nitrate capsules are equally effective in lowering blood pressure indicating that it is the nitrate content of beetroot juice that underlies its potential to reduce blood pressure."
 
© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children

Françoise Berthoud, MD [medical doctor, paediatrician]

June 25, 2010
Once upon a time, in April 2009 to be exact, I was invited to give a speech at a conference on vaccination.I was to talk after two of the best speakers France has to offer on the subject had their turn, journalist Sylvie Simon and biologist Michel Georget. At hearing them speak in the past, it was absolutely clear to me that the best option is to stay as far away from vaccines as possible. I just did not know what to do instead to best assure staying alive and well. As a paediatrician and homeopath qualified to speak on the subject, I decided to setup a conference called The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children along with my friends, Sylvie and Michel. This work would later evolve into a book that analyses various life choices often made by families that do not vaccinate, including home birth, breastfeeding, simple therapies, good food (often vegetarian), a tranquil living environment and trust in the capacity of the body to heal itself.

In my life as a paediatrician, I had spent lots of time in dialogue with the parents who often needed to voice their fears about both disease and vaccines. We worked out together the best route for their children. Some chose not to vaccinate at all. Others held onto fear of disease, especially tetanus. In those cases, we postponed vaccination as much as possible and used a homeopathic protection and "cleansing" called nosode.

I worked in Switzerland where there is no real legal obligation to vaccinate, only great social pressure. In France, just a few kilometres from my office, there were four compulsory vaccinations at the time (BCG was fortunately removed in 2007, and three remain: Di Te Pol).

Some of the basis of my ability to speak on the marvellous health of unvaccinated children comes from my personal experience as a medical doctor, having collected years of feedback.
  • “My child began coughing immediately after the vaccination.”
  • “He has had constant ear aches since he was vaccinated.”
  • “My 16 years old daughter is completely unvaccinated. She is almost never sick. If she does get sick, it’s two days at the most.”
  • “The neighbour's kids followed normal vaccination guidelines. They are constantly sick and on antibiotics.”
That was not enough upon which to write a book; however. As it would turn out, I found these observations were paralleled over and over again all over the world. Follow me around the planet.

EUROPE

In England, Michel Odent, MD showed in two studies that children having received no Pertussis vaccine had 5-6 times less asthma than those who were vaccinated for it. The first study was on 450 babies from La Leche League; the second one on 125 children in a Steiner school. (1)

Throughout Europe, a group of mostly paediatricians studied 14,893 children in Steiner schools in Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland and found that children living in "anthroposophist culture" (where vaccination is largely shunned) were in better health than the controls. (2)

In Germany, one of the European Steiner schools study researchers wrote, “In the eastern part of Berlin before the fall of the wall, we saw less allergies than in the west. This population was poorer, nearer nature and less vaccinated.” Too much hygiene is not always good. As UK researcher and originator of the “hygiene hypothesis” David Strachan might say, "give us this day our daily germs".


In Spain, Xavier Uriarte, MD and J. Manuel Marín, MD published a study in 1999 on 314 children they followed between 1975 to 2000. (3) This group of children is characterized by a majority of homebirth or natural births, prolonged breastfeeding, no vaccinations, holistic health education and no allopathic medicine. There were no serious diseases, few hospitalisations (mostly for traumas), and 3.3% asthma compared to the 20% in the general population. And of course, a lot of money was spared!

USA

The rate of autism in the U.S. is now an unthinkable 1 in 100. Those who are unvaccinated boast numbers that run in shocking contrast to the nation’s statistics. As this article is directed to the American people, I will not go on at length here. Most of you know the work of your very own journalist Dan Olmsted showing the incredible absence of autism in the unvaccinated Amish communities of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Further impressive is Chicago-based Homefirst Medical Clinic run by a group of doctors including medical director Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH. They have no known autism and super-scarce allergies in their children, many of whom were home deliveries, and most of whom have had no vaccinations. In 1985, I translated to French U.S. paediatrician Robert Mendelssohn, MD's How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. Now I find concrete result in the marvellous health of kids whose doctors are his pupils! I like these synchronicities in my life.

AUSTRALIA

In 1942, Leslie Owen Bailey, founder of the Natural Health Society of Australia, accepted guardianship of 85 children whose mothers were unable to care for them. Among these 85 children, no vaccinations were ever given, no drugs were ever taken or used, and no operations were ever performed. The only malady that occurred was when 34 of the children developed chicken pox. They were immediately put to bed and given only pure water or fresh fruit juice. They all recovered quickly without after-effects. Investigations revealed that these children whilst at school had been swapping their healthy lunches for unhealthy conventional foods, so this outbreak was not altogether surprising.

Many of these children inherited poor health due to a history of illness and malnourishment in their mothers. Despite this, and the fact that they were never breastfed nor could enjoy the normal bonding of mother to child, they were able to grow into sturdy, self-reliant children.

NEW ZEALAND

Two studies done in New Zealand in 1992 and 1995 show that the unvaccinated children clearly have less allergies, less otitis (ear aches), less tonsillitis, less running noses, less epilepsies and less ADHD. (4)

JAPAN

An interesting period in Japan was 1975-1980, when a decision was made to begin the first vaccinations at two years of age instead of at two months. The reason was that more and more was discovered linking vaccines and cot-death (SIDS). A study was published in Pediatrics showing that from 1970 to January 1975, there were 57 cases of serious vaccine reactions, including 37 deaths. From February 1975 to August 1981 there were eight cases of serious vaccine reactions, including three deaths. Unfortunately for kids and their parents, the Japanese vaccination plan is now "normalized" again. The study shows well that the immune system is stronger at two years than at two months. How well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

We find the same observation in a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology study. Of 11,531 children studied at age seven, here are the results: vaccinated at two months, 13.8% are asthmatic, vaccinated between two and four months, 10.3%, vaccinated after four months, 5.9 %. Again, how well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

THE LESSON LEARNED ON VACCINATION

As a concerned, compassionate and considerate paediatrician, I can only arrive at one conclusion.Unvaccinated children have by far the best chance of enjoying marvellous health. Any vaccination at all works to cripple the chances of this end.

2) Allergic diseases and atopic sensitization in children related to farming and anthroposophic lifestyle - Persifal study. Allergy 2006, 61 (4) : 414-421.

 

Health-Insurance Caps to Fail

Once again collusion in Big Insurance raises an ugly head -
Trying to rein in health spending by limiting on insurance rates is like trying to hold down the lid on a pot of boiling water. Aside from the fact that insurance costs partly reflect ever-increasing medical costs over which insurers have little control, the legal justification for saying “no more” has never been clear. This has become apparent in Massachusetts, where an administrative court has ruled against a state-imposed insurance cap, and in California, where insurers have retreated temporarily from big rate hikes but are expected to return with new demands. Complete story
While cost control is often helpful, restraining trade and reducing income for health professionals is against sound economics.

Americans are treated, and overtreated, and overtreated...

I have reached the place where I almost can't read the news, and more specifically health news, because little seems to have changed over decades or reading, and working.

Take the problem of medical professionals not knowing when to stop, and not knowing when too much is too much.

Perhaps the real issue is controlling health care to the Nth degree via Big Insurance and Big PhRMA.

And then there is the mental-emotional-spiritual concern that seems far more left out of care that in the 1970s.

Overtreating

Investors Hungry for Hospitals, Doctors Difficult to Manage


Electronic Medical Records: Hundreds of files lost daily

NHS LOSES 800 PATIENTS' PRIVATE FILES EVERY DAY"

D. Mail 25.6.10  Over 800 patient records are lost by the NHS every day. The missing info includes personal health records, diagnoses & details of treatments. Often electronic data is carelessly left unencryted & without proper password protection. Documents have been left in skips or stolen from unlocked cars & offices.

Critics say this raises questions over the new NHS online database of medical records. When complete next year, any doctor, nurse or health worker in UK will be able to look at our files.  

Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch said "The level of incompetence revealed by these data breaches is staggering. The NHS is clearly incapable of treating our private data with the necessary respect."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-504355/Now-theyve-managed-lose-health-records-hundreds-thousands-NHS-patients.html

Seed Store Set for Destruction

"VITAL SEED STORE SET FOR DESTRUCTION"

New Scientist 26.6.10  The world's largest scientific repository of fruits & berries near St. Petersbury in Russia could be bulldozed later this year to make way for housing.
 
Cary Fowler director of Global Crop Diversity Trust in Rome called for scientific intervention to prevent "The largest intentional preventable loss of crop diversity in my lifetime."

The Pavlovsk storage has 4,000 varieties of fruit & berry seeds.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Your Eyes and Cell Phone Damage

Many years ago, perhaps in the mid 90s, an attorney I know, and a HAM radio operator, was talking with me about EMF. He pointed out that for a very long time the FCC has had on its licensing exam a question regarding the fact that EMF (radio waves) are a known cause of cataract.

This article looks at the issue again and also points out the importance of keeping the cell phone as far away from you as possible.

This is the same concern in regard to cell phone effect on your thyroid gland and function.

Cell phones can damage eyes: Study
Prashant Rupera, TNN, Jun 23, 2010

VADODARA/ANAND: While scientists across the globe are still debating whether usage of cell phones results in heart diseases, a new study carried out by scientists at Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT) has revealed that mobile phones also affect eyes.

The scientists, who have studied the impact of electromagnetic waves on human eye, say that usage of mobile can also lead to early cataract in lens apart from affecting retina, cornea and other ocular systems of the eye.

"We are in ocean of electromagnetic signals and hundreds of signals are hitting human body every moment. It is affecting all our body parts, but we are not realising it," says professor Ved Vyas Dwivedi, head of department of ECE at CHARUSAT, who along with dean of the faculty of engineering and technology Y P Kosta and lecturer Dhara Patel carried out the study based on a mathematical model.

"The wavelength of wireless signals (which is about 2 to 2.5 cm) used for mobile phones and other wireless terminals matches with that received by the human eye. The dielectric constant (absorption capacity) of eye tissues is around 70 which is greater than unity (above 50). This means that the eye can absorb electromagnetic energy very quickly," explains Dwivedi.

During the study, scientists computed the specific absorption rate (SAR) and maximum temperature increase in the eye because of electromagnetic radio frequency fields generated by wireless terminals such as a mobile phones. SAR and temperature rise depend on the distance between eye and radio frequency transceiver (the mobile phone) and the angle between the line of sight and shortest normal path.

"The problem is not that the eye absorbs the energy, but that the heat absorbed by the eye does not get transmitted or radiated out of the body," says Dwivedi, adding that prolonged usage of mobile phones can affect retina, sclera, lens, cornea as well as vitreous humour which are parts of the human eye.

These scientists have also recommended that a mobile handset should be kept as far as possible from the eye. "It should not be used more than is necessary. A user should avoid use of mobile in rural areas or a car where the cell phone uses more power and the SAR value can be ten or hundred times higher than the normal," they suggest. This group of scientists is also planning to approach the government in collaboration with a hospital to get license to conduct tests on human to further study mobiles affect on human eye.

prashant.rupera@timesgroup.com
THE TIMES OF INDIA

Friday, June 25, 2010

FTC - Hands Off on Your Supplements

The FTC will not get the authorization to control supplements. Thanks to everyone who contacted their member of Congress to oppose the Draconian addition to the finance bill.


from Natural Health News

House and Senate Ramming Through Secret Bill Add-Ons to Block ...

Apr 27, 2010
This language would give unelected FTC bureaucrats arbitrary authority to impose crippling requirements that will drive up the costs of supplements or remove them from the market entirely. More from LEF, 3 April - Here is a link to the ...

Contact Congress Now to Save Supplements

May 21, 2010
3217) passed the Senate without a controversial provision expanding the powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The bill now moves to a conference committee, where the House and Senate negotiate over the differences in their bills ...

TB for Allergies?

Just the other day Andy Weil mentioned that people with asthma usually are low in magnesium resources.  Many of us in natural health care have known this too and for a very long time.

People with asthma also have a number of other nutritional deficiencies and this can be combined with food allergy as well.

Another factor is low adrenal function and suppressed immunity associated with the 30 some vaccines children are pushed to accept from birth to teen years.  Allergy often pops up after vaccination and it also seems to increase with environmental exposure to pollutants of many kinds.

In my case I think the childhood asthma I suffered with came from the fact that both my parents were constant smokers.

If you read Natural Health News often you are aware that we do not favor vaccination.

Keeping that in mind, I have to wonder just how the idea came about to utilize TB bacteria as the base for an allergy/asthma vaccine.

I also wonder, since no longterm studies have been completed just how these developers know that if you were to take this jab, how high is your risk of contracting TB.

If you look at flu vaccine or others such as measles, meningitis, pertussis, etc., you do too frequently find outbreaks of the disease in those who have taken the jab.

Just some things to think about...

'One size fits all' allergy jab for hay fever, asthma and eczema on the way

A jab that could provide a "one size fits all" approach to tackling hay fever, asthma and eczema could be available within a few years, a conference heard. 

Swiss researchers claimed allergies that blight the lives of 10 million British sufferers could be largely eradicated with a single vaccine. 
An allergy conference in London heard the “one size fits all” injection that wards off asthma, eczema, hay fever and even peanut allergies could be on the shelves within four to five years. 
Experts say if the jab, known only as CYT003-Qbg10 which has been tested on humans, is properly developed it become the “hail grail” of vaccines due to it helping ward off multiple allergies.

It would be welcome news to the estimated one in five Britons, or 10 million people, who suffer from hay fever.
 
A trial, conducted by scientists from Cytos Biotechnology, a firm based in Zurich, concluded that a course of the vaccine was almost as good as steroids at keeping asthma under control.

At the jab’s heart are pieces of synthetic DNA similar to those found in the bug that causes tuberculosis or TB.

The DNA fools the body into thinking it is under attack from a dangerous bug, kick-starting a multi-pronged immune response.

A total of 63 asthmatic patients were given the course of the jab or a series of injections of a dummy drug over two or three months.

Researchers found it cut asthma attacks or symptoms by a third.

In another trial, an injection every week over a month and half, cut the amount of runny noses and weepy eyes by almost 39 per cent.

Quality of life was boosted by 42 per cent, they added.

Dr Wolfgang Renner, the chief executive of Cytos, told the Daily Mail the results were exciting.

“We think it is a one-size-fits all mechanism,” he said.

“We are very excited about it.”

Dr Renner suggested the first large-scale human trial could start next year and a vaccine within a few years.

A spokesman for Allergy UK said: “It does sound a very promising treatment, giving hope for those with severe asthma/allergy symptoms for whom the usual treatments aren’t enough, but there is still a long way to go before it will be available.”

Leanne Metcalf, director of Research at Asthma UK, added: “Over three quarters of people with asthma also have an allergy, which can often trigger their asthma symptoms.
“We are, therefore, excited about the potential of this vaccine to make a real difference to people with asthma and allergies, especially as it has been shown in clinical trials to have relatively few side effects.”

Tuesday is thought to be the worst day of the year for hay fever.

The NHS currently estimates around ten million people suffer symptoms of hay fever – such as sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes – in the spring and summer as grasses and trees release their pollen into the air.

But that number could reach 30 million within 20 years as city living, pollution and climate change exacerbate symptoms, experts warned earlier this year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7845325/One-size-fits-all-allergy-jab-for-hay-fever-asthma-and-eczema-on-the-way.html

New Pact: Pepsico & Senomyx

If you've been reading up on business and food news you'd have noticed by now that Pepsico has started a new program to develop "healthier" products.


Perhaps their corporate idea of "healthier" is to used chemical ingredients to make you think you are tasting sweet, salt, or who knows what other flavor.


Now we know that just like Campbell ("m,m, Bev") Soup and others, Pepsi has now officially hopped on the Senomyx bandwagon.


Boycott any company using Senomyx. Below this article is one that tells what Senomyx is and how its made. It's not labeled and is under "artificial flavors".


Here's the new news -
http://www.flex-news-food.com Product Innovations & Scientific Developments

Pepsi from the financial pages: PepsiCo hopes to revive Quaker with new products.
Senomyx & PepsiCo Enter Pact to Develop New Artificial Sweet Enhancers
Source: Senomyx, Inc. 24/06/2010
June 24 - Senomyx, Inc. , a leading company focused on using proprietary technologies to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, announced today that it and PepsiCo, the world's second-largest food and beverage company, have signed a letter agreement and entered into an exclusive 60-day negotiation period regarding the completion of a definitive agreement for a new collaboration related to Senomyx's sweet taste technology.


The letter agreement includes key commercial and financial terms for a potential multi-year collaborative research program focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new artificial sweet enhancers, natural sweet enhancers, and natural high potency sweeteners for the non-alcoholic beverage category. Under the letter agreement, Senomyx will receive a payment of $7.5 million from PepsiCo. The payment, which is non-refundable except under limited circumstances, will be paid immediately and later applied to an upfront license fee if Senomyx and PepsiCo enter into a final definitive agreement.


"Senomyx shares PepsiCo's commitment to providing consumers with healthier, great-tasting products," stated Kent Snyder, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "We are looking forward to finalizing our agreement and using our unique technology to help PepsiCo expand its product portfolio. We believe that our potential new collaboration would include a commercialization timeframe and other terms that are beneficial for both companies."
_______________________________________________________________________


SENOMYX, SWEETER THAN SWEET; SALTIER THAN SALT; MORE SOUR...
By Robert Cohen


We are witnessing the dawning of a sci-fi food revolution. A new technology. A new food group. Amazingly, my research uncovered something nobody has ever revealed before in a column, newspaper article, or magazine expose. The next time you read "artificial flavor" on a food label, you should be aware that a component of that new genetically engineered food additive may be embryonic kidney cells from aborted human fetuses.


The new high-tech artificial flavors are not flavors at all. Instead, they contain chemicals which have been engineered to fool human taste buds. Future foods will need no salt, sugar, MSG, or artificial sweeteners. Instead, sensory perceptions will become warped by modern science. Brains will taste things that are not really there. Illusions. Deceptions. Memories of taste which are now artificially induced.


The Abstract:
J Biol Chem. 2008 May 2;283(18):11981-94.
Small molecule activator of the human epithelial sodium
channel.Lu M, Echeverri F, Kalabat D, Laita B, Dahan DS, Smith RD, Xu H, Staszewski L, Yamamoto J, Ling J, Hwang N, Kimmich R, Li P, Patron E, Keung W, Patron A, Moyer BD.
Senomyx, Inc., San Diego, California 92121.


The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), a heterotrimeric complex composed of alpha, beta, and gamma subunits, belongs to the ENaC/degenerin family of ion channels and forms the principal route for apical Na(+) entry in many reabsorbing epithelia.


Although high affinity ENaC blockers, including amiloride and derivatives, have been described, potent and specific small molecule ENaC activators have not been reported. Here we describe compound S3969 that fully and reversibly activates human ENaC (hENaC) in an amiloride-sensitive and dose-dependent manner in heterologous cells. Mechanistically, S3969 increases hENaC open probability through interactions requiring the extracellular domain of the beta subunit. hENaC activation by S3969 did not require cleavage by the furin protease, indicating that nonproteolyzed channels can be opened. Function of alphabetaG37Sgamma hENaC, a channel defective in gating that leads to the salt-wasting disease pseudohypoaldosteronism type I, was rescued by S3969. Small molecule activation of hENaC may find application in alleviating human disease, including pseudohypoaldosteronism type I, hypotension, and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, when improved Na(+) flux across epithelial membranes is clinically desirable.


From the Senomyx website:  http://www.senomyx.com
Senomyx is re-inventing food and flavor by genetically engineering taste bud receptor cell triggers. Foods of the future will contain "flavor enhancers" which fool human taste buds into perceiving the sensations of sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness.


Remember the artificial sweetener controversies? Chemical sugar-replicating compounds are listed on food labels. The new chemicals made by biotech companies will require no such labels. Although they are not actual flavors, they will be called "artificial flavors."


How did Senomyx accomplish the task? A (multi-hour) review of their patents reveals that it all began with the cloning of human embryonic kidney cells. Step two was a recombinant process involving the combination of genetic material from embryonic kidney cells and human adeno-virus. If I had the ability to recall ten thousand abbreviations for the amino acid sequence, plus hundreds of complex combinations of ACTG (adeneine, cytosine, thymine, guanine) I'd describe the structure to you. For those curious scientists, do a google search with the keywords 'Senomyx and patents' and the third link (bioportfolio.com) will provide more info than you need to know. See: United States Patent #5,993,778.


How far into the future will these new biotech wonders appear in our food supply? The future is now. The next time you read "artificial flavor" on a food label, pause to consider what you've read here today. Content labels should read: Embryonic kidney cells from aborted human fetuses.


Senomyx is presently developing new products with many of the world's largest food manufacturers including Campbell's and Coca Cola. In fact, if you eat Nestle's foods, your taste buds are being artificially stimulated by biotech products developed by Senomyx.
from Natural Health News -
Feb 09, 2010
If you haven't heard about Senomyx think of a flavor enhancer like MSG. The bad news doesn't stop there, but the FDA says they don't have to label it. It comes under artificial flavors. Of course, we've told all consumers never use ...
Jan 11, 2010
Campbell's is one of the biggest sodium, MSG, and Senomyx users; they aren't required to list Senomyx on the label either. Watch Your Salt And some other good information you may want to know so you understand why you need natural salt, ...
May 19, 2008
We also warn against synthetic flavorings like Senomyx that is used in place of salt. They make a similar product for sweet tastes as well. This is not required to be on labels, and may lead to damage to your taste buds. ...
Oct 21, 2009
... salt and fat (as trans-fats), as well as the addition - not mentioned by Kessler - of artificial coloring, flavorings, HFCS, aspartame and sucralose, flavor enhancers such as MSG and Senomyx all add to the problem. ...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Health Concerns for Gulf Coast Residents

6/24/10   More now on the oil spill and health
Photo by: David Rencher


5/26 UPDATE: Louisiana Shrimp Association has spill updates
Heat Stroke reported as a health risk to cleanup workers.  Heat Stoke can impact kidney function and cause other serious health problems.
Clint Guidry, of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, has accused BP of threatening to sack workers who turn up wearing respirators. The oil firm said it was not aware of any workers being turned away, but noted that it was the responsibility of the Obama administration to decide whether such protective gear was warranted.
EPA tests indicate that the combined effect of dispersants and crude oil are even more toxic than individually. "There are dispersants being applied by aeroplane and by boat, and these people on the water are being sprayed over and over again...read more
Original post -

With the issue of toxic exposure to the oil dispersant and oil from the explosion, it would be timely to consider the use of vitamin C, at least 3000 mg a day, and milk thistle to help keep your liver functioning in its important work of detoxification.

If you would like more information about proper detoxification please contact us. Anyone working on the clean-up will also benefit from this information.

OIL CLEAN UP OPTION

Prince William Sound 21 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster -
20,000 gallons of oil still remains along 20,000 miles of shoreline in Alaska.

Corexit was utilized.  More than 19 months after treatment the toxins still were evident in the area. 

Congenital heart disease was found in subsequent generations of animal life following the use of Corexit. 

In the Gulf, a major impact will be on Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna as well as other marine life (read more about shrimp, link above).

Seed Fruits for Health

Identifying Peach and Plum Polyphenols with Chemopreventive Potential 

Giuliana Noratto, Weston Porter, David Byrne and Luis Cisneros-Zevallos*
Department of Horticultural Sciences and Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center
Veterinary Integrative Biosciences
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
J. Agric. Food Chem., 2009, 57 (12), pp 5219–5226
DOI: 10.1021/jf900259m
Publication Date (Web): May 28, 2009
Copyright © 2009 American Chemical Society
ABSTRACT: Our objective was to evaluate the cancer suppression activity of extracts from a commercial variety of yellow-fleshed peach ‘Rich Lady’ (RL) and a red-fleshed plum ‘Black Splendor’ (BS) and identify the phenolic fractions that may possess potential as chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic natural compounds. The peach RL extract effectively inhibited the proliferation of the estrogen-independent MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cell line. The concentration to inhibit 50% of cell proliferation (IC50) was 42 mg/L for this cell line compared to an IC50 of 130 and 515 mg/L for the noncancerous breast cell line MCF-10A and the estrogen-dependent breast cancer cell line MCF-7, respectively. Similarly, BS extracts showed greater effects on MDA-MB-435 cells as compared to the other breast cancer or the normal breast cell lines. In general, BS extracts were less effective than RL extracts. Within all RL and BS fractions, fraction 3 (F3, flavonoids) and fraction 4 (F4, procyanidins) were more potent than fraction 1 (F1, phenolic acids) and fraction 2 (F2, anthocyanins) against the three cell lines. The order of potency of RL fractions against MDA-MB-435 was F3 F4 > F1 > F2. The antiproliferative activity of pure compounds identified in F3 and F1 confirmed that quercetin 3β-glucoside is the bioactive compound in F3, with the same level of toxicity on the estrogen-independent MDA-MB-435 breast cancer and breast epithelial MCF-10A cells (IC50 = 1.9 ± 0.2 and 1.8 ± 0.3, respectively). However, we confirmed that phenolic acids present in F1: chlorogenic and neo-chlorogenic acids have potential as chemopreventive dietary compounds because of the relatively high growth inhibition exerted on the estrogen-independent MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cell line and low toxicity exerted in the normal MCF-10A cells.

More About GMO in Your Food

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21101.cfm

Which Federal Politicians Oppose GMO Labeling?Monsanto's Minions in Congress 

Monsanto is a major corrupting force in the political arena. Each year Monsanto contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to elected officials, while their powerful allies, Food Inc. and the Farm Bureau, contribute millions more. We characterize these indentured Congress members as "Monsanto's Minions," to call attention to the fact that they would rather deny consumers the right to know whether their foods are genetically engineered or not (90% of their constituents want labels on GMOs), rather than standing up to Monsanto and the other Gene Giants: Syngenta, Dow, BASF, Dupont, and Bayer.

Is your US Representative one of Monsanto's Minions?

Fight Monsanto! Ask Your Representatives to Co-Sponsor Kucinich's Bill to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

On June 21, 2010, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced he would introduce three bills to comprehensively regulate all genetically engineered products, including a bill that would require all foods containing genetically modified ingredients to be labeled.
Most Americans simply do not understand that 80% of non-organic supermarket processed foods (basically every product containing soy, corn, canola, cottonseed oil, sugar beet derivatives or ingredients from animals fed soy or corn) are contaminated with genetically modified organisms. While nearly everyone in North America has eaten genetically modified foods, only 26% believe that they have.
People don't think they're eating genetically modified foods because they have no way of knowing whether they are or not. Genetically modified foods aren't labeled.
If we're going to save this generation from reproductive dysfunction and save our farmland from the ravages of RoundUp, we need to stop Monsanto.
The first step is to protect consumers' right to know whether their food is genetically modified. Please ask your representatives in the US Congress to cosponsor Rep. Kucinich's legislation.

New Cell Tower Report in Error: Don't Get Closer Than 1500 Feet

This new report is a great dis-service to you and your health.  The main error is that the study is too short.  The time frame is legitimate studies are well know to me much longer.  And if you review the existing science on this subject you will see that  the standard distance to a tower where you have continual exposure is not less than 325 yards or better, 1500 feet (500 yds).

Of course you are free to decide what risk you really want to take.

LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- British researchers say living near a cellphone base station does increase a woman's likelihood of having a child with cancer.


Researchers at the Imperial College London analyzed radio frequency exposure from nearby mobile phone base stations during the nine months of pregnancy for mothers of 1,397 children who developed leukemia or nervous system brain cancer in their first four years of life.


Exposures were also calculated for the mothers of controls -- four children for each cancer child who share gender and birth date.


The study, published in the British Medical Journal, concluded children developing cancer were no more likely to have a birth address near a cellphone base station than those in the control group.


"People are worried that living near a mobile phone mast might affect their children's health," study corresponding author Paul Elliott says in a statement. "We found no pattern to suggest that the children of mums living near a base station during pregnancy had a greater risk of developing cancer than those who lived elsewhere."


Elliott and colleagues analyzed total power output and power density for base stations near the birth address of almost 7,000 children.  © 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
And on a healthier cell phone note 

San Francisco has become the first city in the US to require mobile phone retailers to post radiation levels next to the handsets they sell.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Health Insurance Rewards More for Procedures Than Real Care

Are you wondering why Congress blocked Medicare reimbursements?

I thought this was quite a good report on the current state of health care.  The problem as I see it is that this mentality has been the mainstay of Medicare and Big Insurance since the "managed care" movement moved in with gusto in the 80s.

I just hop my readers will take heed and realize this is what you are up against in regard to REAL health care reform.
It was a case study in what primary-care doctors have long bemoaned: that Medicare rewards doctors far better for doing procedures than for assessing whether they should be done at all. The incentives for overtreatment continue, said Dr. Ted Epperly, the board chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, because those who profit from them — specialists, hospitals, drug companies and the medical-device manufacturers — spend money lobbying Congress and the public to keep it that way.

Last year, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, medical-equipment manufacturers and other medical professionals spent $545 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This may help explain why researchers estimate that 20 to 30 percent of Medicare’s $510 billion budget goes for unnecessary tests and treatment. Why cost-containment received short shrift in health care reform. Why physicians like Fales net an average of $173,000 a year, while noninvasive cardiologists like Rogan net about $419,000.

The system rewarded nobody for saying “no” or even “wait” — not even my frugal, intelligent, Consumer-Reports-reading mother. Medicare and supplemental insurance covered almost every penny of my father’s pacemaker. My mother was given more government-mandated consumer information when she bought a new Camry a year later.

And so my father’s electronically managed heart — now requiring frequent monitoring, paid by Medicare — became part of the $24 billion worldwide cardiac-device industry and an indirect subsidizer of the fiscal health of American hospitals. The profit margins that manufacturers earn on cardiac devices is close to 30 percent. Cardiac procedures and diagnostics generate about 20 percent of hospital revenues and 30 percent of profits.

According to an analysis by the Dartmouth Atlas medical-research group, patients are far more likely than their doctors to reject aggressive treatments when fully informed of pros, cons and alternatives — information, one study suggests, that nearly half of patients say they don’t get. And although many doctors assume that people want to extend their lives, many do not. In a 1997 study in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 30 percent of seriously ill people surveyed in a hospital said they would “rather die” than live permanently in a nursing home. In a 2008 study in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 28 percent of patients with advanced heart failure said they would trade one day of excellent health for another two years in their current state.

Complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html

Monday, June 21, 2010

Know Your GMO

UPDATE, JUNE 21: High Court Delivers Ruling that Leaves Ban on Planting of Roundup Ready Alfalfa in Place in First-Ever Case on a Genetically-Engineered Crop
The United States Supreme Court announced its decision today in Monsanto v. Geerston Farms, the first genetically modified crop case ever brought before the Supreme Court.  Although the High Court decision reverses parts of the lower courts’ rulings, the judgment holds that the ban on planting Roundup Ready Alfalfa still stands until and unless future deregulation by the Agency occurs.  This is a major victory for the Center for Food Safety and the Farmers and Consumers it represents!
In the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held: “In sum…the vacatur of APHIS’s deregulation decision means that virtually no RRA (Roundup Ready Alfalfa) can be grown or sold until such time as a new deregulation decision is in place, and we also know that any party aggrieved by a hypothetical future deregulation decision will have ample opportunity to challenge it, and to seek appropriate preliminary relief, if and when such a decision is made.” (Opinion at p. 22).
The Court also held that:
  • Any further attempt to commercialize RRA even in part may require an EIS subject to legal challenge. 
  • The Court further recognized that the threat of transgenic contamination is harmful and onerous to organic and conventional farmers and that the injury allows them to challenge future biotech crop commercializations in court.
USDA indicated at the Supreme Court argument that full deregulation is about a year away and that they will not pursue a partial deregulation in the interim.  Any new attempt at deregulation in full or part will still be subject to legal challenge.
Many of you may have read press this morning reporting that the 7-1 decision announced by the Supreme Court today went entirely in Monsanto's favor. Not to our surprise, Monsanto’s PR machine is working hard to overpower the truth in today's decision in the first-ever Supreme Court case on genetically engineered crops (Monsanto Co. v.  Geertson Seed Farms). While the decision is complicated, this Court opinion is in many ways a victory for CFS and a defeat against Monsantoespecially given that it is still illegal to sell or plant GMO alfalfa.
CFS’s Executive Director, Andrew Kimbrell authored an article in today's Huffington Post to help clarify the legal ramifications of the decision. Grist also has a good piece outlining the decision, as does Eco Centric.
Despite what Monsanto is claiming—and what many mainstream media outlets reported earlier this morning—today’s ruling isn’t even close to the victory they were hoping for. Generally speaking, Monsanto asked the Supreme Court to rule on three main issues: (1) to lift the injunction on GMO alfalfa; (2) to allow the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa; (3) to rule that contamination from GMO crops not be considered irreparable harm.
In fact, the court only ruled on the first request which it did affirm by stating that the injunction was overly broad and should be overturned. However, the Court ruled in CFS's favor on the other two issues, which in many ways are more important as the fact remains that the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa remains illegal. The Supreme Court ruled that an injunction against planting was simply unnecessary since, under lower courts’ rulings, Roundup Ready Alfalfa became a regulated item and illegal to plant.  In other words, the injunction was “overkill’ because our victory in lower federal court determined that USDA violated the National Environmental Protection Act and other environmental laws when it approved Roundup Ready alfalfa.  The court felt that voiding the USDA’s decision to make the crop legally available for sale was enough.
The Center is victorious in this case in several other ways: most importantly, the High Court did not rule on several arguments presented by Monsanto about the application of federal environmental law.  As a result, the Court did not make any ruling that could have been hurtful to National Environmental Policy Act or any other environmental laws.  In addition, the Court opinion supported the Center’s argument that gene flow is a serious environmental and economic threat.  This means that genetic contamination from GMOs can still be considered harm under the law, both from an environmental and economic perspective, another huge victory for CFS. 
We could not have gone all the way to the Supreme Court without your support—thank you! Your letters, phone calls and donations have been invaluable in the efforts to ban GE alfalfa. We will keep you updated on any Agency attempts to deregulate GE alfalfa and on the ongoing EIS process. In the meantime, if you have not already done so, please take a moment to contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter circulating in the U.S. House and Senate urging USDA to ban GE alfalfa.

Further background information on the history of this case and scientific studies are available at http://truefoodnow.org/publications/supreme-court-briefs/. Today’s press release can be found here: http://truefoodnow.org/2010/06/21/supreme-court-ruling-in-monsanto-case-is-victory-for-center-for-food-safety-farmers/#more-1217, and The Supreme Court decision can be viewed here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-475.pdf 


UPDATE: 28 May - 
Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality
"This study was just routine," said Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the understatement of this century. Surov and his colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-billion dollar industry.
After feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.
And if this isn't shocking enough, some in the third generation even had hair growing inside their mouths—a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.
Tom Vilsack was well known to be a great Monsanto cheerleader before Obama selected him for AG Secretary -

Now here's another chance to let him and Health Secretary Sebelius know how dangerous GMO's are to health and why labelling MUST be required on food.  


You Do Have the Right to Know

Action Alert – Protect Your Right to Know Which Foods Contain GMOs

Please send this URGENT message to U.S. Government leaders to protect your right to know which foods are made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Click and send an email today to the Secretaries of State (Clinton), Agriculture (Vilsack), and Health and Human Services (Sebelius). Please try to do this before Wednesday, May 5th, but don’t stop until they come around.

They must stop U.S. negotiators at an international (Codex) conference from May 3-7, from pushing an agenda that could make it difficult for anyone, anywhere in the world to label foods as genetically modified (GM) – or even make non-GMO claims on their product’s label.

The U.S. is taking the ridiculous and unscientific position that GMOs are not different from conventional foods, claiming labels that say GMO or non-GMO are misleading.

If they succeed at the meeting, the U.S. may then file lawsuits through the World Trade Organization against any country that implements mandatory labeling of GMOs, or even allows non-GMO claims on packages.

This Is a Grave Threat to the Non-GMO Tipping Point – We Must Push Back Now!

The growing evidence and concern about health dangers of GMOs is making waves. A renowned US Medical organization (American Academy of Environmental Medicine) called on doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients. Consumers are seeking non-GMO brands, and the fastest growing claim among store brands in 2009 was “GMO-Free” (Neilson Survey). The trade journal Supermarket News predicts GMO concerns will erupt this year, specifically because consumers are now given choices by the new Non-GMO Shopping Guide website and the Non-GMO Project’s third-party verified standard for making non-GMO claims.

Most Americans (53%) say they would avoid GMOs if they were labeled. But even 5% would likely be enough to create a tipping point of consumer rejection, forcing all GM ingredients out of our food supply.

We can see the tipping point just over the horizon, but it is now threatened by the US position at Codex.

Tell our government leaders that you will not stand for this outrageous obstruction of our democracy and human rights. Demand that the U.S. support the right for countries everywhere to label GMOs. And remind them that 9 out of 10 Americans want mandatory GMO labeling, and that President Obama actually made a campaign pledge to implement it—which are all waiting for.

Send an email today

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This email was sent by The Institute for Responsible Technology, located at PO Box 469 - Fairfield, IA 52556 -

Kagan goes to bat for Monsanto
U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, is the most recent in a long line of pro-biotech Obama appointees.
As Solicitor General, Kagan submitted a friend of the court brief to the Supreme Court in favor of Monsanto's appeal in Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms.
Monsanto is trying to get the Supreme Court to force genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa onto the market, despite passionate opposition from organic consumers and farmers, and despite the fact the USDA never did a proper Environmental Impact Statement. Geerston Seed Farms made the case that GE alfalfa would permanently contaminate their GE-free alfalfa seed, prompting a California US District Court to effectively ban Monsanto's GE alfalfa.
As Solicitor General, Kagan is supposed to represent the interests of the American people in matters that come before the Supreme Court. Instead, she went to bat for Monsanto Co.

ORIGINAL POST DATE 5/4/10