Health & WellnessS


Family

Low-carb diet again trumps low-fat on weight loss and other things


DrBriffa
Tue, 31 May 2011 06:21 UTC
Image
Meat is good for you, particularly meat with lots of fat
While some see body weight as simply a function of the balance of the calories going into and out of the body, there is little doubt in my mind that this stance is becoming increasingly untenable. It is clear that body fat regulation is influenced by many factors, including levels of key hormones. A central player here is insulin - which encourages fat deposition. But other hormones worthy of mention include what are termed 'adipokines' (secreted by fat cells). One important adipokine is leptin. In March, I wrote a blog post dedicated to this substance which was inspired by the work of Dr Stephan Guyenet who writes the blog Whole Health Source.

Another adipokine that has received increasing attention in recent years is adiponectin. Like leptin, adiponectin has generally beneficial effects in the body. It, for instance, has anti-inflammatory effects and helps maintain 'insulin sensitivity'. Both of these effects would be expected to translate into a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The actions of adiponectin in the body are believed to offer protection again these conditions, as well as others including obesity, 'fatty liver' and metabolic syndrome. In short: adiponectin is a good thing.
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Bulb

Back pain relief linked to anatomical changes in brain

Christian Torres
Washington Post
Mon, 30 May 2011 22:57 UTC
When you're in constant pain, it can be hard to think of anything else. The pain clouds your thoughts like a fog, wearing away at your patience and your attention. New research, however, suggests that when relief does finally come, your brain can recover all the way down to a cellular level.

A report in the May 18 Journal of Neuroscience finds that relieving chronic lower back pain correlates with a return to normal brain function. Fourteen patients performed a cognitive task before and after one of two treatments, either spinal surgery or an injection of anesthesia between spinal joints. The cognitive task, which tested patients' ability to focus, involved picking out which of three numbers or letters didn't belong in a group.
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Nuke

Magnesium and Radiation Protection

Mark Sircus
Dr Sircus' Blog
Mon, 30 May 2011 18:34 UTC
magnesium
© unknownIt is in a list of medicinals that prevent and treat cancer that we find helpful substances that treat and strengthen us against radiation contamination.
"In the years leading up to Chernobyl, some dairy farmers in Austria were using remineralization as a part of their operations. They added rock dust to liquid manure as well as combining it with compost, thereby removing odors and greatly increasing soil biota. As a result, cows had twice the normal lifespan and produced much more milk. Amazingly enough, after Chernobyl, the cheeses that were remineralized (as well as biodynamic cheeses) measured no radioactivity whatsoever. Austrians would stand in long lines in order to buy these safe, remineralized products," writes Joanna Campe.

Iodine is obviously not the only substance that we should run to in the face of increasing radiation threats. Magnesium is a vital mineral whose lack leaves us open to not only radioactive damages but also those from heavy metals and thousands of chemicals, which we are commonly exposed to. Mercury and now a long list of radioactive particles are floating in the environment like invisible clouds that have spread out everywhere. They are raining down on us, damaging and damning our future. We can no longer be passive about building our defenses against the toxic onslaught.

Without sufficient magnesium, the body accumulates toxins and acid residues, degenerates rapidly, and ages prematurely.
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Attention

EU Disease Center Says Killer Bacterium Worst of its Kind


AGI News
Sun, 29 May 2011 16:31 UTC
The epidemic of the killer-bacterium Escherichia Coli (EHEC) is among the worst of its kind. It has already infected 270 persons and killed 10 and has revealed to be the worst ever recorded in Germany. The statement was made by the Health experts of the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
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Family

Women Going Gray Younger Than Ever, Study Finds

Emily Gyben
Fashion Etc
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:21 UTC
Lady Gaga
© Getty ImagesThe Gray Lady: Gaga and her silver strands at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Lady Gaga's gone gray, Kate Moss has dabbled with ashy highlights, and Kelly Osbourne has sported an entirely silver coif in the past. But for about a third of women under 30, a trip to the salon isn't necessary to jump on the gray-hair bandwagon.

A new survey commissioned by hair-care company John Frieda - which recently tapped chestnut-topped Katie Holmes as a spokesperson - found that 32 percent of women are going gray before they hit 30 years old - a 14 percent rise from 20 years ago.
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Health

Energy Drinks Not for Kids, Pediatricians Warn

Joseph Brownstein
LiveScience
Mon, 30 May 2011 09:53 UTC
Energy drinks - sweet drinks containing caffeine and often herbal supplements - have been drawing scrutiny over their nutritional value. Now the nation's largest group of pediatricians is strongly recommending that they not be consumed by children.

"Rigorous review and analysis of the literature reveal that caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents," wrote Marcie Schneider and Holly Benjamin of American Academy of Pediatrics in a review of both energy drinks, which include brand names such as Red Bull and Monster, and sports drinks.

The authors said parents and physicians need to know more about the distinctions between energy drinks and sports drinks (sweet drinks, including Powerade and Gatorade, that contain electrolytes). Sports drinks are all right for young athletes, they said.

They also called for industry improvement.

Benjamin, a pediatric sports medicine specialist at the University of Chicago, told MyHealthNewsDaily, "We certainly think in the interest of our children, improvements can be done in the labeling of these types of beverages."
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Sun

Is Your Sunscreen More Harmful Than Being in the Sun?

Martha Rosenberg
AlterNet
Thu, 26 May 2011 13:18 UTC
sunbathers
© n/a
Most people have enough fear of skin cancer and photo-aging to give tanning salons wide berth, pun intended. But how safe are sunscreens themselves? Weeks after the New York Times exposed the caprice in assignment of sun protection factors (SPF) last year, Sen. Charles Schumer (D- New York) called on the FDA to investigate reports that an ingredient in most sunscreens - retinyl palmitate - actually causes cancer.

In one FDA study on animals, dismissed by a dermatologist consultant to sunscreen companies as "very premature to even cast doubt about the safety of this chemical," retinyl palmitate accelerated tumors and lesions in the sun by 21 percent! (Similar studies on humans not animals would be "unethical" say scientists)

And there are other sunscreen doubts. Many people don't apply the needed amount of sunscreen to protect themselves from UVA and UVB sunrays because the products are expensive (and no one wants to be a goo monster). But when they do, they still may not be safe since ingredients like oxybenzone - which is an endocrine-disrupter, as are most fragrances - and titanium dioxide are now thought to penetrate the skin and enter the bloodstream. THAT wasn't in the brochure.
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Nuke

Fairewinds' Gundersen Gives Testimony to US Nuclear Watchdog


Fairewinds Associates
Mon, 30 May 2011 13:12 UTC

Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) held a special ACRS meeting Thursday May 26, 2011 on the current status of Fukushima. Arnie Gundersen was invited to speak for 5 minutes concerning the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident as it pertains to the 23 Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR's) in the US and containment integrity. Mr. Gundersen was the first engineer to brief the NRC on the implication of Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) Leakage in 1974, and he has been studying containment integrity since 1972. The NRC has constantly maintained in all of its calculations and reviews that there is zero probability of a containment leaking. For more than six years, in testimony and in correspondence with the NRC, Mr. Gundersen has disputed the NRC's stand that containment systems simply do not and cannot leak. The events at Fukushima have proven that Gundersen was correct. The explosions at Fukushima show that Mark 1 containments will lose their integrity and release huge amounts of radiation, as Mr. Gundersen has been telling the NRC for many years.
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Sheeple

McSheeple Food: McDonald's McNuggets made with 'Silly Putty' chemical


SFGate.com
Mon, 30 May 2011 11:31 UTC
mcnuggets
© Unknown

What kid doesn't love McDonald's Chicken McNuggets? The white meat chunks are tasty and perfect for little mouths and hands. And while most parents are aware that McNuggets aren't perfectly healthy, they probably don't know exactly what goes into making them.

CNN has revealed that the fast-food chain makes this popular menu item with the chemical preservative tBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleum-based product. Mcnuggets also contain dimethylpolysiloxane, "an anti-foaming agent" also used in Silly Putty.

Across the Atlantic in Britain, McNuggets don't contain these chemicals and they're less fattening.
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Magic Wand

Acupuncture of Benefit to Those with Unexplained Symptoms


The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Attending frequently with medically unexplained symptoms is distressing for both patient and doctor and effective treatment or management options are limited: one in five patients have symptoms that remain unexplained by conventional medicine. Studies have shown that the cost to the NHS of managing the treatment of a patient with medically unexplained symptoms can be twice that of a patient with a diagnosis.

A research team from the Institute of Health Services Research, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, has carried out a randomised control trial and a linked interview study regarding 80 such patients from GP practices across London, to investigate their experiences of having five-element acupuncture added to their usual care. This is the first trial of traditional acupuncture for people with unexplained symptoms.

The results of the research are published in the British Journal of General Practice. They reveal that acupuncture had a significant and sustained benefit for these patients and consequently acupuncture could be safely added to the therapies used by practitioners when treating frequently attending patients with medically unexplained symptoms.

The patient group was made up of 80 adults, 80 per cent female with an average age of 50 years and from a variety of ethnic backgrounds who had consulted their GP at least eight times in the past year. Nearly 60 per cent reported musculoskeletal health problems, of which almost two-thirds had been present for a year.
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