Health & WellnessS


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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Health

What Happens in Crohn's Disease?


Health.com
Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:33 UTC
Crohns disease
© Healthwise, Inc.Crohn's disease can affect any part of the digestive tract (which goes from the mouth to the anus). Most common is Crohn's disease that affects the ileum (the part of the small intestine that joins the large intestine). But Crohn's disease can be in multiple places in the digestive tract at the same time.

This picture shows Crohn's disease that is affecting the ileum and parts of the large intestine (colon), including the rectum. This kind of disease pattern is called ileocolitis.
Crohn's Disease is an ongoing (chronic) condition that may flare up throughout your life. The course of the disease varies greatly from one person to another. Some people may have only mild symptoms, while others may have severe symptoms or complications that, in unusual cases, may be life-threatening.

Crohn's disease may be mild, moderate, severe, or not active (in remission). It may be defined by the part of the digestive tract involved, such as the rectum and anus (perianal disease) or the area where the small intestine joins the large intestine (ileocecal disease). Some people may have features of both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the other major type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Crohn's disease can cause symptoms outside the digestive tract, such as joint pain, eye problems, a skin rash, or liver disease.

Comment: For more information see:

Healing Your Gastrointestinal Tract

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Arrow Down

Lethal 'Cucumber Bug' Spreads to UK


News.com
Sun, 29 May 2011 05:05 UTC
Image
© Agence France-PresseCucumbers from Spain are one of the sources responsible for an outbreak in Germany of E.Coli.
  • E.Coli strain has killed nine in Germany
  • 300 people hospitalised with the deadly bug
  • Warning not to eat cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes
A German in Britain has been diagnosed with a potentially lethal strain of E.coli, believed to originate in organic cucumbers.

The bacteria have killed nine people in Germany, and almost 300 people have been admitted to the hospital there. Cases have also been reported in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The outbreak is believed to have originated in organic cucumbers grown in Spain, although there also are suggestions the bacteria have been found in cucumbers grown in the Netherlands.

The UK Food Standards Agency has confirmed that the offending cucumbers have not been on sale at any outlets in the UK.

The advice now to people travelling to Germany is not to eat cucumbers, raw tomatoes or lettuce.

The British Health Protection Authority (HPA) confirmed that three German nationals currently in Britain have fallen ill and one is confirmed to have the infection behind the outbreak.

A spokeswoman for the HPA said the outbreak in Germany was "very, very serious" and although the bug was infectious, there had been no reports of secondary infection yet in the UK.

Dr. Dilys Morgan, head of the gastrointestinal, emerging and zoonotic infections department at the HPA, said, "The HPA is actively monitoring the situation very carefully and liaising with the authorities in Germany, the European Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organization as to the cause of the outbreak. E.coli bacteria like these are responsible for the outbreak across Europe."
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Attention

German E.coli Outbreak Death Toll Rises to 10

Annika Breidthardt
Reuters
Sun, 29 May 2011 09:34 UTC
Image
© ReutersA woman buys cucumbers at a market in El Alquian in southeastern Spain
A virulent form of E.coli bacteria blamed on infected cucumbers from Spain has killed 10 people in Germany and sickened 300, health officials said on Sunday while warning people not to eat suspect vegetables.

European health experts on Saturday said the outbreak of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which affects the blood, kidneys and, in severe cases, the nervous system, was the largest ever in Germany and the biggest of its kind worldwide.

An 86-year-old female patient died on Saturday, taking the toll of victims to 10, the University Hospital Luebeck said on Sunday.

The hospital in northern Germany said it was treating about 70 patients, including the dead woman's husband, for the infection and was expecting to receive 10 new cases a day.

Health officials have advised people in Germany to avoid eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce and some of these products have been removed from shop shelves.
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Smoking

Encroaching Fascism: New York Adds Parks and Beaches to Smoking Ban


The Telegraph, UK
Tue, 24 May 2011 08:52 UTC
Image
© Getty ImagesNew York's City Council voted in February to broaden the city's smoking prohibitions
New York City has added the city's parks and beaches to the list of places where smoking is banned.

The ban, which officials hope will prevent problems caused by second-hand smoke, adds to the city's 2003 ban on cigarettes in bars and restaurants.

The new law will not be enforced by police but by some 200 parks personnel who watch over the city's 29,000 acres of park land and beaches. Violators face a $50 fine but officials say the ban is meant to be largely self-enforcing.

"We don't think that people should be exposed to those chemicals when they go to a park to enjoy the fresh air," city Health Commissioner Thomas Farley told Reuters.


Comment: Oh yeah, like the air in New York City is just pure and toxin-free!

Saleswoman Polonia Jourdain, sitting on a park bench with her eight-month-old nephew, said she was happy with the ban.

"I don't want to smell smoke wherever I go," said Jourdain, 17. "The smell of cigarettes makes me nauseous and gives me headaches."

New York's City Council voted in February to broaden the city's smoking prohibitions to cover its 1,700 parks, beaches, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas, such as Times Square.

Comment: Lies, Damned Lies & 400,000 Smoking-related Deaths: Cooking the Data in the Fascists' Anti-Smoking Crusade

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Syringe

Warning to Parents: This Vaccine Linked to Sudden Infant Death...


Dr. Mercola
Thu, 19 May 2011 14:26 UTC
Image
© drmercola.com
The hepatitis B vaccine is given to U.S. infants at birth. But there is impressive evidence that for a preventive measure, hepatitis B vaccine is remarkable for the frequency, variety, and severity of complications from its use.

Hepatitis B vaccine has been shown in many peer-reviewed research papers to be associated with numerous infant deaths in the U.S. and Europe, multiple sclerosis and numerous chronic autoimmune disorders.

According to Child Health Safety, the U.S. government admitted as much when a Court found in favor of a plaintiff (deceased by the time the decision was made) who had developed systemic lupus erythematosus:
"Tambra Harris ... filed a petition for compensation alleging that she suffered certain injuries as a result of receiving a vaccination. Among the injuries petitioner alleged that she had suffered as a result of receiving a hepatitis B vaccination was systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) ... A lump sum of $475,000.00 in the form of a check payable to petitioner as Administratrix of the Estate of Tambra Harris."
Since parents' concerns about childhood vaccine safety have greatly increased during the past five years, a new report also suggests that pediatricians and family physicians should figure out ways to spend LESS time talking with them about it.
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