Health & WellnessS


People

Smoke, Drink, Eat the Wrong Food and Live to 100...If You've Inherited the Right Genes

Fiona Macrae
The Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:53 UTC
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© InternetMust have good genes: Scientists discover centenarians can indulge their vices if they have good genes
Smoking, drinking and eating fast food will not stop you living to a ripe old age - if you have the right genes.

A study of hundreds of centenarians revealed they were just as likely to have vices as other people - and in some cases they indulged in them more.

Some of them had smoked for 85 years, others got through more than two packets of cigarettes a day. They also exercised less than their shorter-lived counterparts but were less likely to become obese.

The bad news is it is almost impossible to be sure if you are one of the lucky few blessed with the longevity genes.

This means, say the American researchers, that there is no excuse for not taking care of your health.
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Family

Study links asthma to magnetic-field exposure of pregnant moms

Carly Weeks
Globe and Mail
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:08 UTC
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© Unknown
Can magnetic fields from power lines, computers and even common household appliances lead to health problems down the road?

A new study suggests that pregnant women with the highest levels of exposure to magnetic fields are more likely to have a child who develops asthma, compared to pregnant women with low exposure levels.

The study was conducted by the same researcher who made waves in 2002 with a study that suggested magnetic fields could boost a woman's chances of miscarriage.

But many experts aren't convinced the risks are real and the medical field remains sharply divided over the presence of a link between health problems and exposure to electromagnetic fields.
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Pills

Are You Taking Pills You Don't Need?

Martha Rosenberg
Epoch Times
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 06:51 UTC
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© Martha Rosenberg
Some reasons why

Most people blame direct-to-consumer advertising, especially on TV, for elevating everyday anxiety to depression, depression to bipolar disorder, childhood behavior problems to psychiatric illnesses, lack of sleep to excessive sleepiness, migraines to epilepsy-drug deficiencies, and old age to hormone deficiency.

Ghostwriting also helps promote the national malaise: people suffering from and treating diseases that didn't exist earlier and ballooning public and private health-plan costs.

There are 200 U.S. medical education and communication companies (MECCs) that ghostwrite medical journal articles for pharma for $20,000 to $40,000 per article. Companies like Complete Healthcare Communications (CHC), whose phalanx of 50 medical writers, editors, and medical directors promise an "84.5 percent acceptance rate for first-time manuscript submissions."
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Info

Acne, Mental Health, and Diet

Emily Deans
Psychology Today
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:45 UTC
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© flickr.com
Are acne and mental health related to what we eat?

In 2008 some folks from a Beverly Hills skin clinic wrote up a short paper in Lipids in Health and Disease called Acne vulgaris, mental health and omega-3 fatty acids: a report of cases (free full text). The experiment itself was an open-label trial of a mineral/omega-3 supplement on five patients, so useful only as a reason get us thinking and to give us pointers for further research. But a lot of interesting science tidbits on acne, omega-3s, and minerals are noted in the article, so it's worth a peek.

Acne is a disease of civilization which, like depression, has increased the last half century, especially in women. As was discussed in my blog post, Acne and Suicide, patients with acne are more likely to be depressed, angry, and suicidal. In fact, patients with acne struggle more with mental health issues than even patients with epilepsy or diabetes, according to a study comparing questionnaires between sufferers of acne and other general medical conditions.
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Magnify

How Did These Babies Die? Question Unites Grieving Families

Jeremy Deutsch
Citizens Comission on Human Rights International
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:37 UTC
Matthew Schultz was only 2.5 hours old when he died on Feb. 21, 2009. A coroner's report stated there was no anatomical or toxicological cause of death, which was deemed "natural". Another baby, Greyson Rawkins, was only two months old when he died on March 23 of this year. A coroner's report found Greyson died of sudden unexplained death in infancy and his death was ruled undetermined. However, the mothers of both babies were taking Effexor while carrying and believe the antidepressant drug may be connected to the deaths of their children. And, as KTW learned, there are widespread medical warnings about pregnant women taking antidepressants.

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© cchrint.orgMatthew Schultz was only 2.5 hours old when he died on Feb. 21, 2009.
Two hours is not a lot of time, but for little Matthew Schultz, it was his entire life.

One moment, Amery Schultz held Matthew in his arms. The next moment, his child was dead.

As the Merritt family struggled to deal with their grief, two years later and 45 minutes away in Kamloops, another family would be shattered by the sudden loss of a newborn.

Greyson Maxwell Rawkins was found one morning by his mother, cold and unresponsive.

The two-month old was dead.

Unlike most sudden-infant deaths, which go largely unexplained, both families believe they know exactly what killed their sons - an antidepressant called Effexor.
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Alarm Clock

DSM 5 Will Further Inflate The ADD Bubble

Allen J. Frances, M.D
Psychology Today
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:04 UTC
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© n/a
The Child Work Group Fails Again To Learn From Its Experience

Martin Whiteley is an MP who represents Perth in the Australian parliament. He has been actively involved in mental health issues and succeeded in a crusade to curb what had been Perth's alarming overdiagnosis and overmedication of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Mr Whiteley has become expert in the intricacies of ADD and is alarmed that the changes suggested for DSM 5 will greatly exacerbate the ADD fad he worked so hard to tame. Read Mr Whiteley's careful item by item review and you will be alarmed too: Speed Up & Sit Still: The Controversies of ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment

We are already in the midst of a false epidemic of ADD. Rates in kids that were 3-5% when DSM IV was published in 1994 have now jumped to 10%. In part this came from changes in DSM IV, but most of the inflation was caused by a marketing blitz to practitioners that accompanied new on-patent drugs amplified by new regulations that also allowed direct to consumer advertising to parents and teachers. In a sensible world, DSM 5 would now offer much tighter criteria for ADD and much clearer advice on the steps needed in its differential diagnosis. This would push back, however feebly, against the skilled and well financed drug company sell. DSM 5 should work hard to improve its text, not play carelessly with the ADD criteria in a way that may unleash a whole set of dreadful unintended consequences- unneeded medication, stigma, lowered expectations, misallocation of resources, and contribution to the illegal secondary market peddling stimulants for recreation or performance enhancement.
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Info

Suicide Victims Found to Have Abnormal Brain Cells

Rachael Rettner
My Health News Daily
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:45 UTC
brain
© unknown

Changes to some of the star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes may play a role in depression, a new study finds.

The findings are based on the postmortem examination of brains of depressed individuals who committed suicide.

The researchers focused on a part of the brain involved in mood regulation and decision making, called the anterior cingulate cortex. In depressed people, some astrocytes were larger and more branched than those of people with no history of psychiatric illness who died suddenly, the researchers said.

These differences showed up only in the brains' white matter, not gray matter. White matter, found deep inside the brain, consists mostly of "cables" that allow different brain areas to communicate.

The study adds to a growing body of research linking changes in white matter to depression. It is the first study to "zoom in" and observe changes occurring at a cellular level, said study researcher Naguib Mechawar of McGill University in Quebec.

The researchers said they don't know whether these alterations are a cause or effect of depression and can only speculate on how the changes would contribute to the mood disorder. It's likely they would affect communication between the anterior cingulate cortex and other parts of the brain, Mechawar added.
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Sherlock

Clues to Gluten Sensitivity


The Wall Street Journal
Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:50 UTC
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© Wall Street Journal
Lisa Rayburn felt dizzy, bloated and exhausted. Wynn Avocette suffered migraines and body aches. Stephanie Meade's 4-year-old daughter had constipation and threw temper tantrums.

All three tested negative for celiac disease, a severe intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. But after their doctors ruled out other causes, all three adults did their own research and cut gluten - and saw the symptoms subside.

A new study in the journal BMC Medicine may shed some light on why. It shows gluten can set off a distinct reaction in the intestines and the immune system, even in people who don't have celiac disease.

"For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease," says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research.
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Question

Gluten Sensitivity: Why is FDA Dragging Its Feet?


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:58 UTC
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© Alliance for Natural Health
Nearly 20 million Americans experience dire health problems from eating foods that contain gluten. Congress told FDA to define the term "gluten-free" for food manufacturers by 2008. Why are they still "studying the matter"?

Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which dietary gluten, causes damage to the small intestine, which keeps nutrients from being properly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods such as wheat, rye, barley, and other products, can lead to serious health problems, ranging from gastrointestinal distress and infertility to an increased risk of osteoporosis and certain cancers, particularly colon cancer.

As we reported recently, gluten-related conditions greatly increase the risk for diabetes. A recent large study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and "latent" celiac disease or gluten sensitivity had a higher risk of death, mostly from heart disease and cancer.

Comment: For more information about the negative health effects of gluten read the following articles:

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
Is gluten from grains making you sick?
Facts you might not know about gluten
Sensitivity To Gluten May Result In Neurological Dysfunction; Independent Of Symptoms
Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You
Book Review: Gluten Toxicity - The Mysterious Symptoms of Celiac Disease, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

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Health

It's Official: America Has A Drinking Problem


redOrbit
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:30 UTC
Drinking Porblems
© redOrbit

According to a US government report, more than half of Americans over the age of 12 drink alcohol, with a quarter of them binge-drinking within the last month.

The report, released last month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), says that about 52 percent of the 137,436 Americans surveyed between 2008 and 2009 said they drank in the past month. The report also found that one in 14 teens has also used marijuana.

New Hampshire led all 50 states in the prevalence of drinking by 18 to 25 year olds. Almost 75 percent of young adults in the Granite State said they had used alcohol in the past month, according to the report.

The legal drinking age is 21 years old in all 50 states, however, some states have exceptions where under-age drinking is permitted in certain circumstances.

The report found that 23.5 percent of Americans binge-drank in the past month. Binge-drinking is defined as having four or more drinks for women or girls and five or more for men and boys. The highest rate of binge-drinking was in North Dakota, where nearly one in three residents binge-drank.

Under-age binge drinking went down overall in the US, dropping from 19.2 percent in 2002-2003 to 17.7 percent in 2008-2009, according to the SAMHSA report.
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