Health & WellnessS


Health

Ozone - It's good and bad

Tara Hastings
WDTN
Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:35 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A stagnant air mass is going to bring heat and humidity to the Miami Valley. Not only will it be hot and humid but with little wind we are going to have pollution problems. The Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (RAPCA) has issued an Air Pollution Advisory for the Dayton metro area.

You may have heard about 'ozone action days' and the ozone layer. One is bad the other is good. Confusing because how can something be good and bad at the same time? Well it all depends on WHERE the ozone is in our atmosphere.

First the GOOD ozone -
Image
© NASA

In the stratosphere (about 10-30miles above the earth's surface) sits a gas called ozone. It's made up of three oxygen molecules (yes I know - chemistry 101 is coming back to haunt you and me). Ozone blocks about 99% of the sun's harmful ultraviolet light radiation. So high in our atmosphere ozone is a good thing because it keeps us safe from the sun's UV radiation. So we want lots of ozone above us.
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Health

Scientists find first superbug strain of gonorrhea


Reuters
Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:10 UTC
London - Scientists have found a "superbug" strain of gonorrhea in Japan that is resistant to all recommended antibiotics and say it could transform a once easily treatable infection into a global public health threat.

The new strain of the sexually transmitted disease -- called H041 -- cannot be killed by any currently recommended treatments for gonorrhea, leaving doctors with no other option than to try medicines so far untested against the disease.

Magnus Unemo of the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, who discovered the strain with colleagues from Japan in samples from Kyoto, described it as both "alarming" and "predictable."
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Cheeseburger

'A Ticking Timebomb': Teenage Girls' Junk Food Diet Leaves Them Starved of Vitamins

Fiona Macrae
Daily Mail
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:27 UTC
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© dailymail.co.uk'Ticking timebomb': Teenage girls' junk food diets are harmful.
A typical teenager probably thinks nothing of a diet packed with pizza, sweets and sugary drinks.

But by that age what they eat is already taking a severe toll on their health, research shows.

Millions of teenagers are dangerously low in key vitamins and minerals, experts have warned - with girls faring worst.

An appetite for junk food is feeding a 'ticking timebomb' of disease and ill health, researchers have concluded.

They found teenagers of both sexes were among the biggest guzzlers of salt, alcohol and sugar-laden soft drinks.
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Info

U.S. Bill Would Let Federal Health Researchers Ban Certain Chemicals

William Hudson
CNN
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:01 UTC
Image
© CNN HealthEach generation of children is exposed to more chemicals in the womb.
A new bill could alter the landscape of chemical regulation in the United States by empowering researchers to take swift action against the most potentially harmful chemicals in use today.

The bill, to be introduced later this month, would give the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and a panel of experts selected by the director, the power to ban up to 10 chemicals from commerce each year by categorizing them as being of high concern.

Those chemicals would become unlawful to use 24 months after receiving that designation.

Among the chemicals that could be subject to a ban is bisphenol A, or BPA, a hormone-disrupting substance widely used in plastics that has been the target of controversy in recent months.
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Magnify

Do the Chemicals That Turn Soda Brown Also Cause Cancer?


Dr. Mercola
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:15 UTC
Image
© istock
Soda is bad for your health. But it may be even worse than you'd thought. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the "caramel coloring" used in Coke, Pepsi and other sodas is carcinogenic.

The artificial brown coloring is made by reacting corn sugar with ammonia and sulfites under high pressures and at high temperatures. This produces the chemicals 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, which have been found to cause lung, liver and thyroid cancer in lab rats and mice.

Time Magazine reports:
"According to California's regulators, a level of more than 16 micrograms per day would pose a significant risk - meaning it could result in at least one excess case of cancer per 100,000 exposed people.

Given that there are roughly 130 micrograms of 4-MI per 12-ounce can of soda - and given that the average American drinks 14 ounces of soda a day, with young men drinking far more - that would mean that most of us would be at some risk."
The FDA responded to the charge by saying:
"4-MI is not a threat to human health. There is no evidence that 4-MI causes cancer in humans. No health regulatory agency around the globe, including the Food and Drug Administration, has said that 4-MI is a human carcinogen. This petition is nothing more than another attempt to scare consumers by an advocacy group long-dedicated to attacking the food and beverage industry."
Sources

Time Magazine February 17, 2011

NIH Study January 2007

CSPI Petition to FDA February 16, 2011
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Pills

Ritalin for children is "quick fix" and should be reviewed, demand educational psychologists

Angela Hussain
phsychminded.co.uk
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:09 UTC
Ritalin
© Sean O’CarrolA image from Sean O'Carroll's exhibition entitled 'Ritalin'
Ritalin and other psychotropic medication for children are a "quick fix" and the government should urgently review their use, psychologists have urged.

The Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) fears there is insufficient data on the effects such drugs have on child development. Further research is urgently needed, it says.

The AEP's demand is despite the fact that a European Medicines Agency (EMA) investigation into methylphenidate drugs, which include psychotropics Ritalin, Concerta, Equasym, Medikinet and Rubifen - had previously stated that the benefits of such drugs outweigh any negative effects for children diagnosed with ADHD and other conduct disorders..

Plus, UK doctors have been advised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence not to prescribe methylphenidate as a first-line treatment for children diagnosed with ADHD.

But the AEP - which represents UK educational psychologists - fears there will be an increase of methylphenidate prescribing because the number of official psychological disorders for children is set to increase.
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Arrow Up

Canada, British Columbia: Hogweed: A Toxic Invader


Global News
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:04 UTC
Giant hogweed that can burn or even blind you is spreading fast due to the cool, wet, spring.
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Syringe

Type 2 diabetes set to overtake coronary heart disease and depression

Brigid O'Connell
Sunday Herald Sun
Sat, 09 Jul 2011 21:21 UTC
diabetic lifestyle changes
© Tony Gough Herald Sun Melita Blackney lost 18kg after taking part in the Life! Taking Action on Diabetes program.
Lifestyle-related diabetes has become the fastest-growing disease in the country, with more than 275 Australians diagnosed with some form of diabetes each day.

And alarming projections show type 2 - or "lifestyle" - diabetes will overtake coronary heart disease, anxiety and depression as having the most severe impact on public health within just eight years.

Diabetes Australia Victoria chief Greg Johnson said with 243,000 Victorians now registered with some type of the disease, the highest growth had been among young adults.

There has been a 15 per cent rise in 21 to 29-year-olds diagnosed and an 11 per cent increase for those aged in their 30s over the past 24 years.

"It's a myth that diabetes only affects the older population, as we're now even seeing adolescents being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes," Prof Johnson said.

"It's the epidemic of the 21st century and the forecasts show it's only going to become a bigger burden of disease."

Type 2 diabetes is often triggered by a person gaining significant weight and not getting enough exercise.

Comment: The treatment for Type II diabetes is diet, but not the way mainstream medicine thinks.

Why High-Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Insulin Resistance

How Coconut Oil Could Help Reduce the Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Vitamin D Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Helps Prevent Diabetes

Cutting edge research has shown that the Paleo Diet (high fat, low carbohydrate) is the best defense against developing the insulin resistance characteristic of Type II diabetes.

Leptin resistance and impaired fat metabolism precede type 2 diabetes

Saturated Fat is Good for You

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Info

Sharks Fin Soup Bans Don't Stop Strong Demand

Benjamin Radford
Live Science
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:05 UTC
Finned Shark
© WCSA "finned" shark that was caught recently in Delaware Bay.

Shark fin soup has been served as a delicacy for centuries in China and elsewhere. But it's more than just an expensive bowl of soup; it's considered to have special medicinal properties and is used in Chinese medicine. It's one of many folk remedies and alternative medicine cures threatening endangered species around the world.

The shark fin industry has come under mounting pressure in recent months. Shark populations have declined dramatically in recent years, fueled in part by the demand for shark fins. Scientists estimate as many as 73 million sharks are killed annually for their fins. The sharks are often thrown back into the ocean to die after their fins have been cut off.

Some shark species populations have dropped by 90 percent, studies find.

Despite public pleas for a ban from celebrities including Jackie Chan, Scarlett Johansson, Leonard DiCaprio, basketball star Yao Ming and others, shark fins remain in demand, defended by some Chinese Americans and restaurateurs.
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2 + 2 = 4

It's Time to End the War on Salt

Melinda Wenner Moyer
Scientificamerican.com
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:46 UTC
Image
© TooFarNorth/Flickr
The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science

For decades, policy makers have tried and failed to get Americans to eat less salt. In April 2010 the Institute of Medicine urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of salt that food manufacturers put into products; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already convinced 16 companies to do so voluntarily. But if the U.S. does conquer salt, what will we gain? Bland french fries, for sure. But a healthy nation? Not necessarily.

This week a meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects in the American Journal of Hypertension found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure. In May European researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the less sodium that study subjects excreted in their urine - an excellent measure of prior consumption - the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease. These findings call into question the common wisdom that excess salt is bad for you, but the evidence linking salt to heart disease has always been tenuous.

Comment: For more information on the health benefits of salt, see these Sott links:

Why Salt Doesn't Deserve its Bad Rap

High salt consumption not dangerous, new European study finds, but U.S. experts disagree

Why Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt is So Much Better for your Health than Processed Table Salt

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