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Life in a post-antibiotic age

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It is coming; indeed, it is already here. It is a lethal strain of bacteria beyond the ability of modern antibiotics to treat. We see news stories of untreatable bacteria in hospitals, schools, cruise ships, hotels, and in our daily lives. We can do nothing about this, but we can devise new methods of treatment if we are to survive. We must rethink modern medicine if we are to live through the post-antibiotic age we now are living in.

Antibiotics themselves are a new treatment first begun with the creation of Penicillin in the 1940s from bread mold. The theory of bacteria only dates back to Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister in the 1860s. The concept of antiseptic technique, is even newer. The simple idea of medical providers washing their hands; creating a sterile atmosphere is one of the great medicinal advances of all time. Aseptic technique has saved more lives than all the drugs and modern medical treatments combined.

If you think back to an 1860 American Civil War scene, with filthy surgeon, unwashed hands, unwashed surgical tools, and a not germ-free operating room, you get my idea. Fortunately, whatever collapse comes our way we need not lose the knowledge of sterile techniques and medical practices. What we will lose is the ability to treat bacteria with antibiotics.

Smoking

Mandatory 'smokers license' under consideration

WASHINGTON DC - A public health proposal suggests that tobacco smokers should be required to apply and pay for a "smoker's license" in order to continue buying cigarettes.

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© Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesA recent public health proposal looks at the pros and cons of enforced “smoker’s licenses” to curb international tobacco use.
In this week's PLOS Medicine medical journal, two leading tobacco control advocates debate the merits of the smoker's license. Simon Chapman, a professor at the University of Sydney, proposes that users would have to apply and pay for a mandatory license in the form of a smartcard that would be shown when buying cigarettes.

Dr. Chapman wrote that it could discourage young people from picking up the habit.

In a controversial move, the smartcard would allow the government to limit how many cigarettes a smoker could buy. Professor Chapman suggests 50 per day averaged over two weeks to accommodate heavy smokers. The anti-smoking activist told the Daily Mail that the sale of tobacco is currently subject to trivial controls compared to other dangerous products that threaten both public and personal safety.

A 2009 study from the Pew Research Center found that for the period of January through June 2008, the share of current smokers in the American adult population was 20.8 percent. According to statistics on the PLOS journal's website, tobacco continues to kill millions of people around the world each year and usage is even increasing in some countries.

Health

Cholesterol lowering statins found to damage peripheral nerves

Statins
© GreenMedInfo
Have the nerve-damaging properties of statin drugs now been confirmed? There are over 300 adverse health effects associated with the use of this chemical class of cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins, with myotoxicity (muscle-damaging) and neurotoxicity (nerve-damaging) top on the list. When will the FDA step in and warn the public, as proof of the problem in the biomedical literature reaches an alarming level of clarity?

The neurotoxicity of statin drugs are back in the news. Following on the heels of the FDA decision earlier this year to require statin drugs manufacturers to add "memory loss" as a side effect of this chemical class, a new study in published in the Journal of Diabetes reveals a clear association between statin use and peripheral neuropathy in a US population 40 years of age and older.

The study found "The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was significantly higher among those who used statins compared to those who did not (23.5% vs. 13.5%; p < 0.01)," which is a 75% increase in relative risk.

Case reports of statin-induced peripheral neuropathy have existed in the medical literature for over 15 years.[i] Now, larger human studies are confirming that statin drugs do damage to the peripheral nerves. Moreover, much of the damage is occurring below the threshold of clinical surveillance, silently causing harm in unsuspecting patients.

2 + 2 = 4

Mutation of immune system has possible links to Alzheimer's

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© New York TimesAmyloid plaques build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's researchers and drug companies have for years concentrated on one hallmark of Alzheimer's disease: the production of toxic shards of a protein that accumulate in plaques on the brain.

But now, in a surprising coincidence, two groups of researchers working from entirely different starting points have converged on a mutated gene involved in another aspect of Alzheimer's disease: the immune system's role in protecting against the disease. The mutation is suspected of interfering with the brain's ability to prevent the buildup of plaque.

The discovery, researchers say, provides clues to how and why the disease progresses. The gene, known as TREM2, is only the second found to increase Alzheimer's risk substantially in older people.

Red Flag

Gardasil genetic fingerprints found in postmortem samples of girls given vaccine

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A recent study published in the open-access journal Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs provides shocking new evidence that viral components contained in the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and triggering cerebral vasculitis, a severe form of blood vessel inflammation in the brain that can lead to severe autoimmune disorders and even death.

A postmortem assessment of two young girls from opposite ends of the world who died recently after being given the Gardasil vaccine revealed fragments of the HPV-16L1 antigen, which is added to both Gardasil (Merck & Co.) and Cervarix (GlaxoSmithKline), inside the girls' brain tissue. According to the study's authors, these particles represent a genetic fingerprint of the Gardasil vaccine, which is now clearly exposed as causing serious, adverse events in at least some of the girls that receive it.

For their research, Dr. Chris Shaw from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada and Dr. Lucija Tomljenovic from the Neural Dynamics Research Group in Vancouver examined samples of brain tissue taken from both girls, one 19 years old and the other 14 years old. Their analysis focused specifically on the potential presence of both HPV-16L1 and HPV-18L1, two specific antigens used in HPV vaccines.

Comment: Read the following articles about the serious health concerns regarding the Gardasil Vaccine:

Time for the Truth about Gardasil
Gardasil Researcher Speaks Out
New Worries About Gardasil Safety
The HPV Vaccine: Herd Immunity or Human Sacrifice?
Uncovered FDA Documents Reveal 26 More Gardasil Deaths
Gardasil HPV vaccines found contaminated with recombinant DNA that persists in human blood


Bad Guys

Study blames pregnant mothers giving children autism by contracting the flu

pregnant women
© Unknown
A propaganda study recently published claims that Danish researchers are citing pregnant women who suffer from flu or a fever lasting more than 7 days were more likely to give birth to children who developed an autistic disorder.

The study asserts that children of mothers who had two or more instances of flu had a doubled-risk of being diagnosed with autism prior to the age of 3; as well as simply having a fever. Also attributed to the development of autism in children were the uses of a pharmaceutical grade anti-biotic during pregnancy.

This study gives governmental agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) an excuse to disregard scientific data correlating autism to the use of mercury-based preservatives like Thimerosal to the onset of autism. Other alarmist researchers claim these findings are "noteworthy" because of the extensive range of mother and children interviewed. The fact that the conclusions are bogus does not register with these so-called experts.

There were no differentiation between the wide range of possible infections that a pregnant woman could contract, nor the pharmacological drugs that would be prescribed to the pregnant woman by her doctor; yet there is an association between the contraction of flu and development of infantile autism.


Heart - Black

Woman 'denied a termination' dies in hospital

Savita Halappanavar
© UnknownSavita Halappanavar, who was found to be miscarrying when admitted, died of septicaemia at University Hospital Galway
Two investigations are under way into the death of a woman who was 17 weeks pregnant, at University Hospital Galway last month.

Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st, was found to be miscarrying, and died of septicaemia a week later.

Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar (34), an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, says she asked several times over a three-day period that the pregnancy be terminated. He says that, having been told she was miscarrying, and after one day in severe pain, Ms Halappanavar asked for a medical termination.

This was refused, he says, because the foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told, "this is a Catholic country".

She spent a further 2½ days "in agony" until the foetal heartbeat stopped.

Bacon

People Power! Denmark to scrap ineffective and unpopular fat tax

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Denmark said Saturday it would scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first, saying the measure was costly and failed to change Danes' eating habits.

"The fat tax and the extension of the chocolate tax - the so-called sugar tax - has been criticised for increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies' administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk," the Danish tax ministry said in a statement.

"At the same time it is believed that the fat tax has, to a lesser extent, contributed to Danes travelling across the border to make purchases," it added.

"Against this background, the government and the (far-left) Red Green Party have agreed to abolish the fat tax and cancel the planned sugar tax," the ministry said.

Clipboard

Food, toxics and ADHD: Old fears, ever stronger science

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Image copyright - Caryn Talty/Healthy-Family.org
A Harvard study just published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine journal, associates a mother's low level exposure to mercury while pregnant with greater risk of her child later developing ADHD-related behavior.

The research coincides with another study earlier this year that correlated the increased prevalence of ADHD in the U.S. -- along with other developmental disorders, including autism -- with the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to the American food supply. The link is that until quite recently, it was common for HFCS to be manufactured using mercury-contaminated caustic soda.

Together the findings are leading to closer examination of the myriad toxins that fetuses are exposed to such as lead, nicotine, pesticides, and mercury; science consistently shows such exposures early in life contribute to the development of brain and behavior disorders later in life.

Comment: ADHD: It's The Food, Stupid:
Over five million children ages four to 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States and close to 3 million of those children take medication for their symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But a new study reported in The Lancet last month found that with a restricted diet alone, many children experienced a significant reduction in symptoms. The study's lead author, Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Centre in the Netherlands, said in an interview with NPR,
"The teachers thought it was so strange that the diet would change the behavior of the child as thoroughly as they saw it. It was a miracle, the teachers said."



Attention

Antibiotics Overuse: Health experts seek action to curb rise of drug-resistant superbugs

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a coalition of 25 healthcare organizations are joining forces to fight the overuse of antibiotics in people and livestock in a bid to curb the rise of drug-resistant "super bugs."

Without action, patients could soon face a time when antibiotics are powerless to treat many of the most common infections, said CDC experts and the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, a public health research group.

"How we use and protect these precious drugs must fundamentally change," Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director for healthcare-associated infection prevention programs at the CDC, said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

Dr. David Relman, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which is part of the effort, said doctors are already seeing patients with bacterial infections resistant to "every antibiotic we have left."

"It will take all of us - consumers, health care providers, researchers, policymakers, industry, and others - to tackle this problem," he said.

Comment: For more information about deadly Superbugs read the following articles:

Resistant Superbugs Pose Serious Risks
The Truth About Deadly 'Superbugs'
Widespread Antibiotic Use in 1960s sparked MRSA
Hospital Superbugs Kill 48,000 Patients a Year
Why are 48,000 Hospital-Stays per Year in the US Ending in Death?
New Superbugs Resist Most Powerful Antibiotics
As MRSA Gets Worse, the FDA Discovers Antibiotic Abuse on Factory Farms
FDA Report: Alarming Amounts of "Superbugs" in Supermarkets
Scientists Fear Antibiotics are Perpetuating Diseases Impossible to Treat
Common Infections Will Be 'Untreatable' If Antibiotic Misuse Continues