Health & WellnessS


Blackbox

Nuclear nation? French sperm count 'falls by a third'


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:09 UTC
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The sperm count of French men fell by a third between 1989 and 2005, a study suggests. The semen of more than 26,600 French men was tested in the study, reported in the journal Human Reproduction. The number of millions of spermatozoa per milliliter fell by 32.3%, a rate of about 1.9% a year. And the percentage of normally shaped sperm fell by 33.4%. The average sperm count remained within the fertile range, but experts want to see more research into possible causes. One of the paper's authors, Dr Joelle Le Moal, an environmental health epidemiologist, said: "To our knowledge, this is the first study concluding a severe and general decrease in sperm concentration and morphology at the scale of a whole country over a substantial period.

This constitutes a serious public health warning." But Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The change in sperm concentration described, 73.6 to 49.9 million per milliliter [on average for a 35-year-old], is still well within the normal range and above the lower threshold of concern used by doctors which is suggestive of male infertility, 15 million per milliliter." There has much been much debate in the past 20 years over whether sperm quality has decreased, with research supporting both sides of the controversy. This latest research adds weight to the numerous European studies that suggest one in five young men has a sperm count low enough to impair fertility.
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Alarm Clock

If this is what fracking is doing to animals - what is it doing to people?


RT
Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:41 UTC

Elizabeth Royte, The Nation Magazine, Author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash joins Thom Hartmann. Sticking to environmental horrors...Is fracking responsible for killing off an alarming number of livestock around the nation? Authors of a new report looked into 24 different case studies in six different states where hydraulic fracking is taking place, to find out why livestock is getting sick and dying. Their conclusion: it's the fracking chemicals! For example in Louisiana, the study found 17 cows that died after being exposed to spilled fracking chemicals for only one hour. In central Pennsylvania, after 140 cattle were exposed to fracking chemicals, half died. And in western Pennsylvania, after a nearby pond used by pregnant cows was contaminated with fracking chemicals, half the calves born were dead. And if this is what fracking is doing to animals, what might it be doing to people?
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Info

Nanoparticles in your food? You're already eating them

Twilight Greenaway
Grist
Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:46 UTC
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I've been keeping my eye on the role of nanotechnology in food for a few years now, so I was interested to see a feature-length investigation called "Eating Nano" in this month's E Magazine. In it, E editor Brita Belli takes a deep dive into the growing role of nanotechnology in food and agriculture, the current lack of oversight and regulations, and the growing consensus that more information and transparency are both sorely needed in relation to this growing field.

Nanotechnology involves the engineering and manipulation of particles at a nano scale. Nanoparticles, as they're called, are measured in nanometers or billionths of one meter. Another way to put it: If a nanoparticle were the size of a football, a red blood cell would be the size of the field. Although some nanoparticles have been found to exist in nature (carbon nanoparticles exist in caramelized foods, for instance, and silverware has been shown to shed nano-sized silver particles), it's the nanoparticles that are engineered in laboratories that have environmental health advocates concerned.
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Magnify

'Junk DNA' drives embryonic development


ScienceDaily
Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:51 UTC
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© Sanford-Burnham Medical Research InstituteDifferentiating mouse embryonic stem cells (green = mesoderm progenitor cells, red = endoderm progenitor cells). The microRNAs identified in this study block endoderm formation, while enhancing mesoderm formation.
An embryo is an amazing thing. From just one initial cell, an entire living, breathing body emerges, full of working cells and organs. It comes as no surprise that embryonic development is a very carefully orchestrated process -- everything has to fall into the right place at the right time. Developmental and cell biologists study this very thing, unraveling the molecular cues that determine how we become human.

"One of the first, and arguably most important, steps in development is the allocation of cells into three germ layers -- ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm -- that give rise to all tissues and organs in the body," explains Mark Mercola, Ph.D., professor and director of Sanford-Burnham's Muscle Development and Regeneration Program in the Sanford Children's Health Research Center.

In a study published November 14 in the journal Genes & Development, Mercola and his team, including postdoctoral researcher Alexandre Colas, Ph.D., and Wesley McKeithan, discovered that microRNAs play an important role in this cell- and germ layer-directing process during development.
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Health

High-fructose corn syrup & the pervasiveness of type 2 diabetes

Ian Wrightman
Activist Post
Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:19 UTC
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© foodaries.com
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a highly-processed chemical sweetener used in many processed foods, including breads, cookies, candy, condiments, and soft drinks. HFCS extends the shelf life of products, and it is often cheaper than sugar, which are the main reasons why manufacturers like it.

There has been much research over the last year into the effects that HFCS has on our body. Scientific research has already revealed a potential link between HFCS and the rise in autism. Now, a new study identifies that a connection may also exist between the use of HFCS in our foods and the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes.

Research conducted by Michael I. Goran, a professor of preventive medicine and director of the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the University of Southern California, and colleagues from the University of Oxford, evaluated published information in 43 countries to examine associations between the types of food products available in each country and the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.

Comment: SOTT.NET has carried numerous articles about the negative heath risks associated with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS); read the following for more information:

High-Fructose Corn Syrup is Evil: 7 Key Findings
Four Reasons to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup
How High Fructose Corn Syrup Damages Your Body
The Dirty Truth About High Fructose Corn Syrup...
Why High-Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Insulin Resistance
High Fructose Corn Syrup - The Poison that Promotes Obesity and Liver Damage
How Sweet It Isn't! Cutting Through the Hype and Deception of High Fructose Corn Syrup
Soda and Food Warning! High-fructose Corn Syrup Linked To Diabetes, New Study Suggests

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Red Flag

Yuck: Our seafood is loaded with unspeakably gross pollutants

Jill Richardson
Alternet
Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:08 UTC
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© © AJP/Shutterstock.com
Some of our most popular seafood treats come to us from filthy operations in other countries.

When you tuck into a delicious seafood dish, is it possible that the fish you are eating once ate human poop? Surprisingly, that might be the case. A look at the U.S. seafood supply reveals that some of our most popular seafood treats might come to us from unsanitary and disgusting operations in other countries. And the federal government does not necessarily stop it from making its way to your dinner plate, either.

These days, 91 percent of U.S. seafood is imported, and half of that is farmed (the other half is wild-caught). Our top suppliers include China, Thailand, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Ecuador, and Vietnam. And the production systems some of these countries use would make your stomach turn.
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Ambulance

Let's end the prescription drug death epidemic

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:36 UTC
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Deaths from prescription drug overdoses have been called the "silent epidemic" for years, and now, with one American dying every 19 minutes from an accidental prescription drug overdose,1 it's being described as "the biggest man-made epidemic in the United States."2
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital and CNN's chief medical correspondent, recently highlighted the gravity of this issue, as many Americans don't think twice about taking powerful pain-relieving drugs like morphine and Oxycontin.
But if you thought there was a chance they might kill you... the situation would most certainly change, and that's why getting the word out about this leading cause of death is more important now than ever before.
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Beaker

Chlorine in tap water linked to increase in number of people developing food allergies

Nick Mcdermott
Daily Mail
Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:32 UTC
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Much of the water supply in Britain is chlorinated to kill germs, although experts say it is at much lower levels than in the U.S.
Chlorine in tap water has been linked to the rising number of people developing food allergies, a study has revealed.

The chemical, which is used to treat drinking water and is also present in commonly-available pesticides and household items, may weaken food tolerance in some individuals.

Researchers found adults with high levels of dichlorophenol - a chemical by-product of chlorine - in their urine, were up to 80 per cent more likely to have a food allergy.

Britain has seen a rise in food allergies in recent years, with up to ten million adults claiming to be unable to eat a variety of foods from milk to mustard - although scientists believe the figure may be exaggerated by the 'worried well'.

Studies also estimate that four per cent of children have a food allergy. A rising number are diagnosed with gut allergies linked to common foods such as cow's milk, wheat, soya, eggs, celery, kiwi fruit and other fruit and vegetables.

Food allergy can take the form of a sudden life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis, as well as eczema or an itchy rash. Much of the water supply in Britain is chlorinated to kill germs, although experts say it is at much lower levels than in the US.
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Eggs Fried

High cholesterol levels predict higher survival rates in patients with acute coronary syndromes

David Evans
Healthy Diets and Science
Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:00 UTC
This study was published in Clinical Cardiology 2009 Sep;32(9):E22-8

Study title and authors:
Hypercholesterolemia paradox in relation to mortality in acute coronary syndrome.
Wang TY, Newby LK, Chen AY, Mulgund J, Roe MT, Sonel AF, Bhatt DL, DeLong ER, Ohman EM, Gibler WB, Peterson ED.
Division of Cardiology, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA. wang0085@mc.duke.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19645040

This study investigated the association of cholesterol levels with in-hospital death rates in patients with acute coronary syndromes. (Acute coronary syndromes is an umbrella term for situations where the blood supplied to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked). The study included 84,429 patients with acute coronary syndromes and examined data regarding patients with (i) a history of existing high cholesterol and (ii) newly in-hospital diagnosed high cholesterol.
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Bomb

Mycotoxins: The hidden hormone danger in our food supply

Sayer Ji
Activist Post
Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:59 UTC
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© farmweeknow.com
Over 30 years ago, scientists observed mycotoxin contaminated animal feed (grains) interfering with normal sexual development in young female pigs, resulting in estrogenic syndromes and precocious puberty. Recent human research in the U.S. is now confirming that the contamination of our food supply with fungal toxins is adversely affecting the sexual development of young girls.

Grains, once considered the foundation of the USDA's food pyramid, have recently come under scrutiny due to their purported evolutionary incompatibility (e.g. Paleodiet), their co-option by biotech and agricultural corporations (e.g. Monsanto's Franken-Corn), as well as the fact that they convert to "sugar" within the body, to name but a few of a growing list of concerns. But there may be a more underlying problem affecting all grains, including both organic and conventional varieties, that Nature herself produces, and it goes by the name of Mycotoxins.

Comment: Sayer Ji has done an excellent job pointing out the connection between Mycotoxins and precocious puberty. Read the following articles for a deeper look at 'the contamination of our food supply with fungal toxins; adversely affecting the sexual development of young girls.'

Girls Hit Puberty Earlier than Ever, and Doctors Aren't Sure Why
Puberty in Girls Hastened by Harmful Chemicals
Puberty Before Age 10: A New 'Normal'?
Study: More U.S. Girls Starting Puberty Earlier Than Ever
The Alarming Reason Why More Girls are Starting Puberty Early

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