Health & WellnessS


Health

Gentle stroll 'can help boost intelligence'


Telegraph
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:09 UTC
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© CorbisScientists say moderate walking enhances connections between the brain's circuits
A gentle stroll several times a week not only boosts fitness levels - it also makes you brighter. New research has shown that walking "at one's own pace" for 40 minutes, three times a week can improve intelligence.

Scientists say moderate walking enhances connections between the brain's circuits, combats a drop in brain function linked to ageing and even improves performance in reasoning tasks.

Psychologists at Illinois University found brain function levels among nearly 100 self-confessed couch potatoes improved dramatically after a year in which they walked a few times a week. All the volunteers, aged between 18 and 35 and 59 to 80, led a sedentary lifestyle before the study, with less than two bouts of physical activity of 30 minutes or more during the previous six months.
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Attention

60 Million People in the U.S. Negatively Affected By Someone Else's Pathology

Martha Stout
Psychology Today
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:45 UTC
What happens because of pathology affects us all

Do you believe someone else's pathology is none of your business? Or it's simply an 'unfortunate turn of events' for the person in a Pathological Love Relationship? Or that what happens to someone else doesn't affect you? What happens because of pathology affects us all.

An astute student asked "How many people does pathology negatively affect?" We did a little math....

304 million people live in the U.S.

One in 25 people will have the disorders associated with 'no conscience' which include antisocial personality disorder, sociopath, and psychopath.

304 million divided by 25 = 12.16 million have no conscience.

Each antisocial/psychopath will negatively affect approximately 5 partners with their pathology.

12.16 million x 5 = 60.8 million people!
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Sherlock

Is Your Local Water Supply Safe?

Bill Davenhall
Huffington Post
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:45 UTC
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© wesa.ca
I would wager that there is not much water quality information in your medical record unless, of course, you have been treated for water borne disease. Most of us who live in the U.S. don't give water quality a second thought - but you might be surprised to learn how water quality varies from city to city.

The University of Cincinnati has a very useful and easy to use application that shows the water quality for metropolitan areas across the U.S. The site allows the visitor to identify metropolitan areas in the U.S. and discover concentrations of selected chemicals, as well as the presence of biological pathogens occurring in the drinking water of these communities. The site contains excellent reference information. In many parts of the U.S. you can see that specific harmful chemicals may dominate a region's drinking water supplies, and thus a physician would be expected to understand what these differences in water quality could actually mean for diagnosing a particular health problem.
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Health

Grapefruit's Bitter Taste Holds a Sweet Promise for Diabetes Therapy


Science Daily
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:06 UTC
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© iStockphotoNaringenin, an antioxidant derived from the bitter flavor of grapefruits and other citrus fruits, may cause the liver to break down fat while increasing insulin sensitivity, a process that naturally occurs during long periods of fasting.
Naringenin, an antioxidant derived from the bitter flavor of grapefruits and other citrus fruits, may cause the liver to break down fat while increasing insulin sensitivity, a process that naturally occurs during long periods of fasting.

A team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that naringenin activates a family of small proteins, called nuclear receptors, causing the liver to break down fatty acids. In fact, the compound seems to mimic the actions of other drugs, such as the lipid-lowering Fenofibrate and the anti-diabetic Rosiglitazone, offering the advantages of both. If the results of this study extend to human patients, this dietary supplement could become a staple in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, type-2 diabetes, and perhaps metabolic syndrome. The report appears in this week issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
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Syringe

Best of the Web: America's Mental Illness Epidemic: It Turns Out That the Drugs Are the Problem

Gary G. Kohls, MD
Online Journal
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:19 UTC
Prozac, Paxil, etc.
© NA
Tens of millions of innocent, unsuspecting Americans, who are mired deeply in the mental "health" system, have actually been made crazy by the use of or the withdrawal from commonly-prescribed, brain-altering, brain-disabling, indeed brain-damaging psychiatric drugs that have been, for many decades, cavalierly handed out like candy -- often in untested and therefore unapproved combinations of drugs -- to trusting and unaware patients by equally unaware but well-intentioned physicians who have been under the mesmerizing influence of slick and obscenely profitable psychopharmaceutical drug companies, a.k.a. BigPharma.

That is the conclusion of two books by investigative journalist and health science writer Robert Whitaker. His first book, entitled Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill noted that there has been a 600 percent increase (since Thorazine was introduced in the US in the mid-1950s) in the total and permanent disabilities of millions of psychiatric drug-takers. This uniquely First World mental ill health epidemic has resulted in the life-long taxpayer-supported disabilities of rapidly increasing numbers of psychiatric patients who are now unable to be happy, productive, taxpaying members of society.

Whitaker has done a powerful, albeit unwelcome job of presenting previously hidden, but very convincing evidence to support his thesis, that it is the drugs and not the diagnosis that is causing the epidemic of mental illness disability. Many open-minded physicians and many aware psychiatric patients are now motivated to be wary of any and all synthetic chemicals that can cross the blood/brain barrier because all of them are capable of altering the brain in ways totally unknown to medical science, especially when the patients are taking the drugs long-term. .
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Magnify

Genetic Code of Wheat Mapped Out

Heidi Blake
The Telegraph, UK
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:00 UTC
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© Getty ImagesThe genetic code of wheat has been mapped out for the first time
The genetic code of wheat, which is five times larger than the human genome, has been mapped out by scientists for the first time.

The genome sequence is expected to help scientists develop new wheat strains which are more resilient to harsh conditions and disease and deliver higher yields.

Scientists hope the breakthrough will ease pressure on the world's food supply and help stabilize rising food prices.

Wheat is one of the world's most important food crops, with an annual global harvest of more than 550 million tonnes. The cereal is worth more than £2 billion to Britain's agricultural industry each year.

The new genome data will give breeders and scientists access to 95 per cent of all wheat genes.

Comment: For more information on Wheat and Gluten intolerance, read the following articles on SoTT:

The Dark Side of Wheat - New Perspectives on Celiac Disease and Wheat Intolerance

Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease

Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You

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Info

Is Black Rice the New Brown?

Carina Storrs
Health.com
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:39 UTC
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Black rice is full of the same antioxidants found in blueberries, grapes and acai.
According to ancient Chinese legend, black rice was so rare, tasty, and nutritious that only the emperors were allowed to eat it.

Times have changed. Although black rice is still relatively rare, researchers are trying to bring its distinctive flavor and mix of antioxidants to the masses - or at least to a grocery store near you.

If you've never heard of black rice, much less seen it, the dark-hued grain is now available at supermarkets such as Whole Foods and appears to be gaining a foothold in kitchens and restaurants in the U.S.

Like brown rice, black rice is full of antioxidant-rich bran, which is found in the outer layer that gets removed during the milling process to make white rice. But only black-rice bran contains the antioxidants known as anthocyanins, purple and reddish pigments - also found in blueberries, grapes, and acai - that have been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, improvements in memory, and other health benefits.
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Attention

Atrazine Threat to Male Sexual Development Revealed


Environmental News Science
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:00 UTC
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© unknownAtrazine is sprayed on an Iowa cornfield
Research Triangle Park North Carolina, - Male rats exposed before birth to low doses of the weedkiller atrazine are more likely to develop prostate inflammation and to go through puberty later than non-exposed animals, finds a new study conducted by federal government scientists.

One of the most common agricultural herbicides in the United States, some 80 million pounds of atrazine are applied across the country every year to control broadleaf and grassy weeds in crops such as corn and sugar cane. It is the main ingredient in about 40 name-brand herbicides.

"Atrazine is a staple product for producers, who use it as a critical tool for weed control in growing the vast majority of corn, sorghum and sugarcane in the United States. Use of atrazine fights weed resistance, reduces soil erosion and increases crop yield," according to the Triazine Network, an association of growers and researchers.

But atrazine and its byproducts are known to be endocrine disrupters that are persistent in the environment, making their way into both surface water and groundwater supplies.

Comment: For more information about the detrimental health effects of the chemical herbicide atrazine read the following articles:

Atrazine Pesticide Causes Birth Defects
Serious Birth Defects Linked to the Agricultural Chemical Atrazine
More Stark Evidence of the Hazards of Atrazine
Herbicide Chemical in Drinking Water Could Pose Much Greater Danger to Health Than Previously Thought
EPA Fails To Inform Public About Weed-Killer In Drinking Water
Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass
An End to Atrazine

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Magnify

Cancer's Favorite Food - Found in Everything You Eat?


Dr. Mercola
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:38 UTC
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Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.

Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.

According to MSNBC:
"Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
Sources:

MSNBC August 2, 2010

Cancer Research August 1, 2010; 70: 6368

Reuters August 2, 2010
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Pills

Against holism


The Intention Experiment
Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:08 UTC
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© Unknown
Just occasionally, I come across a medical hero, a doctor willing to break the conspiracy of silence that exists among doctors about the damage caused by their tools.

My hero of the hour is an American psychiatrist called Grace E. Jackson. Dr. Jackson is utterly, refreshingly horrified by psychiatric medicine. In fact, she is horrified by most forms of pharmaceutical medicine, period. She spends her life lecturing and writing about the dangers of drugs and their ability to cause mental illness.

So incensed is she about the current state of affairs that she felt compelled to self-publish a whistle-blower, entitled Drug-induced Dementia, which painstakingly catalogues a vast amount of scientific evidence showing that modern medicine is the primary culprit behind all forms of dementia, one of the most rampant epidemics of our time.
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