Health & WellnessS


Sherlock

Things You Need to Know About the Carcinogen Discovered in Drinking Water

Image
© Alternet
When you see news reports about a cancer-causing chemical in drinking water everywhere you turn, you probably have a few questions. Of course you can read Environmental Working Groups's full report, but on the off chance you're pressed for time and just want to know the basics, we put together these 11 questions and answers.

What is hexavalent chromium?

Hexavalent chromium (or chromium-6) is a highly toxic form of the naturally occurring metal chromium. It is a well-known human carcinogen when inhaled, and recent evidence indicates it can cause stomach or gastrointestinal cancer when ingested in drinking water. However, a different form, trivalent chromium, is an essential nutrient.

People typically are exposed to chromium-6 by consuming contaminated water or food, and in some workplaces by breathing contaminated air. That's a concern especially for those working in metallurgy or leather-tanning facilities. Ingesting or inhaling contaminated soil particles may also be a source of exposure. Widespread industrial use has led to detections of hexavalent chromium in two-thirds of current or former Superfund toxic waste sites.

Pills

Study: Newborns With Low Vitamin D Levels at Increased Risk for Respiratory Infections

Vitamin D
© UnknownVitamin D

The vitamin D levels of newborn babies appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections during infancy and the occurrence of wheezing during early childhood, but not the risk of developing asthma. Results of a study in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics support the theory that widespread vitamin D deficiency contributes to risk of infections.

"Our data suggest that the association between vitamin D and wheezing, which can be a symptom of many respiratory diseases and not just asthma, is largely due to respiratory infections," says Carlos Camargo, MD, DrPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), who led the study. "Acute respiratory infections are a major health problem in children. For example, bronchiolitis - a viral illness that affects small airway passages in the lungs - is the leading cause of hospitalization in U.S. infants."

Although vitamin D is commonly associated with its role in developing and maintaining strong bones, recent evidence suggests that it is also critical to the immune system. Vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sunlight, and achieving adequate levels in winter can be challenging, especially in regions with significant seasonal variation in sunlight. Previous studies by Camargo's team found that children of women who took vitamin D supplements during pregnancy were less likely to develop wheezing during childhood. The current study was designed to examine the relationship between the actual blood levels of vitamin D of newborns and the risk of respiratory infection, wheezing and asthma.

Magic Wand

A Panacea Called Tulsi

Image
© medguru.com
Tulsi has been an object of great veneration in India. Its time we recognized the health benefits of this ubiquitous herb and not limit its use as offerings to Gods alone.

The numerous benefits of tulsi have been explicitly mentioned in our Vedas. Unfortunately, this knowledge remains unused, while the books continue to be revered and smeared with vermilion and turmeric.

Tulsi or the Holy basil, is empowered with antioxidants [compounds that protect against cell damage inflicted by molecules called oxygen-free radicals, which are a major cause of disease and aging.] capable of battling with all probable sources of infections - viruses, bacteria, fungi and even protozoa. It is also known to aid the process of stalling the growth of carcinogenic cells. It is due to these natural properties that the herb is answer to curing a host of diseases.

Info

Spicy Alternatives to Preventive Medicine

Image
© n/a
Being healthy is not always about deprivation and working out. Simpler ways exist, and among the easiest path to health is the spice route. British researchers are the latest to add to growing scientific evidence that popular Indian spices and tubers such as garlic, turmeric, onions and ginger protect against a clutch of diseases.

The newest scientific validation came on Friday from researchers at King's College London, who report that garlic, onions and leeks protect against osteoarthritis, or age-related degeneration of the joints. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal Musculoskeletal Disorders Journal, said a compound called diallyl disulphide found in smelly bulbs lowered cartilage-damaging enzymes in the body. So effective was it that they recommend diallyl disulphide be made part of the treatments to manage osteoarthritis, which is so far managed with pain relief or joint replacement, when all else fails.

Bug

Alert: New MRSA Strain Found on Isle of Man

perti dish
© Unknown

Scientists are reporting that a new strain of the superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that predominately affects young, fit and healthy people has been detected on the Isle of Man.

The island's Department of Health confirmed a small number of cases of a bacterium called MRSA USA 300.

The department added it was mainly transmitted at sports centres, gyms, swimming pools and spas, was resistant to many antibiotics and could cause serious infection.

"Bacteria are particularly good at adapting to their environment and through mutations in their DNA, which they are able to share with other bacteria, they can become resistant to antibiotics that are being utilised in healthcare environments," the Telegraph quoted Katie Laird of the Leicester's De Montfort University, as saying.

"The new antibiotic resistant strain of MRSA USA 300 that has been isolated in the Isle of Man is unusual in that it affects the young, fit and healthy and is associated with sporting facilities rather than the hospital environment," said Laird.

Syringe

Poison Alert: Vaccine to Prevent Anal Cancer Approved in U.S.

Image
© Harry Cabluck/Associated PressGardasil is now approved in the U.S. to prevent cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal cancer.
The Gardasil vaccine has received the regulatory green light in the U.S. to prevent anal cancer.

Merck & Co. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval for people aged nine to 26.

"Treatment for anal cancer is challenging; the use of Gardasil as a method of prevention is important as it may result in fewer diagnoses and the subsequent surgery, radiation or chemotherapy that individuals need to endure," said Karen Midthun, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Anal cancer is uncommon in the general population but the incidence is increasing, the FDA said.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 5,300 people are diagnosed with anal cancer each year in the United States, with more women diagnosed than men.

Red Flag

Pharmaceutical Scare Tactics: Herbal Medicines May be Risky for Kids

Image
© The Associated PressA girl opens her mouth for a spray of herbal medicine to prevent a hand-foot-mouth disease in Fuyang, in central China's Anhui province, in March 2009. Complementary medicine experts warn that serious harm may occur when effective therapies are replaced by ineffective alternative therapies for children.
Giving alternative treatments such as homeopathic remedies instead of conventional medicines to children may have deadly side-effects in rare instances, a new analysis says.

Australian researchers monitored reports from pediatricians in Australia from 2001 to 2003 looking for suspected side-effects from alternative medicines like herbal treatments, vitamin supplements or naturopathic pills. They found 39 reports of side-effects including four deaths.

The study was published online Thursday in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, a specialist publication of the medical journal BMJ.

Unlike conventional medicines, whose side-effects are tracked by national surveillance systems, there are no such systems in place for alternative therapies.

Comment: The information below contains just some examples of how alternative medicine, such as homeopathy does more good than harm and why pharmaceutical companies are so against alternative medicine.

Could This 'Forbidden Medicine' Eliminate the Need for Drugs?

Homeopathy Heals in Africa

Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918

What "Skeptics" Really Believe about Vaccines, Medicine, Consciousness and the Universe


Attention

Fluoride in Water Linked to Lower IQ in Children

Image
Is this the end of water fluoridation?

Exposure to fluoride may lower children's intelligence says a study pre-published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Fluoride is added to 70% of U.S. public drinking water supplies.

According to Paul Connett, Ph.D., director of the Fluoride Action Network, "This is the 24th study that has found this association, but this study is stronger than the rest because the authors have controlled for key confounding variables and in addition to correlating lowered IQ with levels of fluoride in the water, the authors found a correlation between lowered IQ and fluoride levels in children's blood. This brings us closer to a cause and effect relationship between fluoride exposure and brain damage in children."

Pills

The Year in Pills

Image
2010 will go down as the year the diet pill Meridia and pain pill Darvon were withdrawn from the market and the heart-attack associated diabetes drug Avandia was severely restricted.

But it was also the year the Justice Department filed the first criminal, not civil, charges against a drug company executive. Lauren Stevens, a former VP and assistant general counsel at GlaxoSmithKline, hid some 1,000 instances of GSK-paid doctors illegally promoting Wellbutrin to other doctors, say authorities.

It was also the year prominent psychiatrists Charles Nemeroff and Alan Schatzberg were accused of writing an entire book for GSK called Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care.

Nuke

Did the Atom Bomb Test Fallout Cause Cancer?

Image
The huge mushroom clouds from atom bomb tests of the 1950s and 1960s are an unforgettable part of the American saga. The tests were cloaked in rhetoric typical of the Cold War, i.e. they were needed to achieve "superiority" over the Soviets in the event of a nuclear war.

But all the patriotic nuclear talk couldn't prevent widespread concern that nuclear war would kill tens of millions. But many were also troubled by fallout in the mushroom clouds, which contained huge amounts of over 100 deadly radioactive chemicals that traveled through the air across the continental U.S. Precipitation brought this fallout back to earth - and into the food chain and human bodies.

Concerns became so great that scientists and citizens began calling for studies of how much fallout was entering people's bodies, and how much harm it was causing - especially to the highly-sensitive fetuses, infants, and children. Dr. Herman Kalckar of the National Institutes of Health published an article in August 1958, calling for a baby tooth "census" - a program of collecting teeth and testing them in laboratories for fallout levels. In particular, Kalckar suggested that Strontium-90 be measured.