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India: Mystery fever diagnosed as encephalitis, toll climbs to 36

The mystery fever that has gripped children in Bihar's Muzzafarpur district has been diagnosed as encephalitis even as the virus claimed three more lives, taking the toll to 36.

Two children died at Kejriwal Hospital, while another died at Srikrishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH) here, official sources said.

Thirty-three children had died due to the fever in Muzaffarpur district , the sources said. A Central team, which had collected blood samples of the patients to ascertain the cause of the deaths, said that it was clinically diagnosed that the children were suffering from encephalitis.

"We can say the reason of the death of children is encephalitis but at this stage it is difficult to say what sort of encephalitis it is, whether it is viral one or Japanese", Dr I P Choudhary, member of the Central team, told reporters.

2 + 2 = 4

Fructose found to be more harmful than glucose

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© Unknown
Table sugar, the form of sugar individuals generally spoon into their tea or coffee or use when making, say, cakes and puddings, is comprised of sucrose. Sucrose is technically termed a 'disaccharide', a term used to describe sugars which are comprised of two individual sugar molecules joined together. Those two sugars, in the case of sucrose, are glucose and fructose, and when sucrose it is digested down to its constituent sugars prior to absorption into the bloodstream.

The glucose in sucrose undoubtedly contributes to the glycaemic load of the diet, and the more sugar someone eats, the greater the rise in blood sugar levels. More glucose in the bloodstream means more insulin, of course, which as we know can contribute to health issues such as insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and, of course, weight gain.

In contrast to glucose, fructose has traditionally enjoyed a healthy reputation, mainly on the basis that it does not raise blood sugar levels. Fructose is also the predominant sugar in many fruits - something which tends to bestow it with an image of healthiness.

In recent years, though, a steadily growing mound of research demonstrates that fructose, while it does not raise blood sugar levels directly, can nevertheless have some profoundly toxic effects on the body. Interest here has been sparked, at least in part, by the fact that increasing amounts of the sweetening agent 'high fructose corn syrup' (HFCS) are making their way into the diet. HFCS is made cheaply by the chemical treatment of the starch in corn, and contains fructose and glucose in roughly equal measure.

Health

Hong Kong scarlet fever outbreak recalls previous epidemics

Hong Kong authorities have declared an outbreak of scarlet fever following the second death of a child from the disease in the past month, and a record number of cases so far this year.

Of particular concern is that the bacterium responsible for scarlet fever appears to have mutated and become more resistant to antibiotics used to treat the disease.

The outbreak is troubling given Hong Kong's history of epidemics.

A 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, claimed several hundred lives.

Several outbreaks of swine flu have also occurred in the city.

Health

Hip Fractures Reaching "Epidemic" Proportions

Consultant Surgeon Tim Chesser and elderly care specialist Professor Cameron Swift warn the number of hip fracture cases in the UK are set to rise.


The warning comes as a Government watchdog revealed that the NHS is treating elderly patients with broken hips as a "low priority" by failing to give them prompt and high-quality treatment that could extend their lives.

Half of those with hip fractures currently have to wait 36 hours in hospital, in pain and in fear, before undergoing surgery and in many cases junior doctors carry out their operations rather than more experienced staff, it is claimed.

Health

Yale Researchers Find: 'Friendly' Bacteria Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes

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© ecologyhealthcenter.net
In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes.

The findings, reported in the journal Nature, support the so-called "hygiene hypothesis" - the theory that a lack of exposure to parasites, bacteria and viruses in the developed world may lead to increased risk of diseases like allergies, asthma, and other disorders of the immune system. The results also suggest that exposure to some forms of bacteria might actually help prevent onset of Type I diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the patient's immune system launches an attack on cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

The root causes of autoimmune disease have been the subject of intensive investigation by scientists around the world.

Health

Aid Worker Diaries - Cholera outbreak in Cameroon

The cholera outbreak in Cameroon is falling under the radar in the international news. With events in Syria and Libya dominating the World News and a more substantial epidemic in Haiti, the fight against cholera in Cameroon is one of those forgotten emergencies. Dualta Roughneen of Plan Ireland has spent the last month working with Plan's team in Cameroon who are working to stop the outbreak turning into an epidemic.

Bibemi is a rural health district in the North Region of Cameroon. It takes about 19 hours to drive there from the capital, Yaoundé, along many dirt roads. Bibemi has been particularly hard hit by this outbreak. With a population of 90,000, there have been over 800 cases of cholera resulting in 62 deaths in the district. Not only is the number of cases per population far higher than other areas, but the fatality rate is extremely high at 7%. Of the total reported cases since April, 10% have been in Bibemi.

Magnify

Should We Label GMO Foods?

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© unknown
A hundred years ago, pretty much all of the food Americans ate was essentially organic and local - and not surprisingly, much more nutritious. But with the advent of Big Agra and industrialized food production, we moved towards a food supply heavily modified for higher yields and higher profits. First came pesticides, which U.S. farmers began using just after World War II. Then came genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The first genetically modified food crop was introduced in 1994, and since then, the introduction of new GMO crops has accelerated at an alarming rate.

Throughout these changes, very little consideration has been given to food labeling, and by and large, consumers have had no idea to what extent the food they buy is contaminated with pesticides or genetically modified. Ironically enough, we now label normal food as "organic" to separate it from pesticide-laden, genetically modified food, which requires no labeling at all.

Magic Wand

A wise man's treatment for arthritis - frankincense?

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© UnknownBoswellia carteri
The answer to treating painful arthritis could lie in an age old herbal remedy - frankincense, according to Cardiff University scientists.

Cardiff scientists have been examining the potential benefits of frankincense to help relieve and alleviate the symptoms of the condition.

"The search for new ways of relieving the symptoms of inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis is a long and difficult one," according to Dr Emma Blain, who leads the research with her co-investigators Professor Vic Duance from Cardiff University's School of Biosciences and Dr Ahmed Ali of the Compton Group.

"The South West of England and Wales has a long standing connection with the Somali community who have used extracts of frankincense as a traditional herbal remedy for arthritic conditions.

Cow

Best of the Web: Does Meat Rot In Your Colon? No. What Does? Beans, Grains, and Vegetables!

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© gnolls.org

How many times have we all heard this bunk myth repeated?
"Humans can't actually digest meat: it rots in the colon."

And its variant: "Meat takes 4-7 days to digest, because it has to rot in your stomach first."
(Some variations on this myth claim it takes up to two months!)
Like most vegetarian propaganda, it's not just false, it's an inversion of truth. As the proverb says, "When you point your finger, your other three fingers point back at you." Let's take a short trip through the digestive system to see why!

A Trip Through The Human Digestive System (abridged)

Briefly, the function of digestion is to break food down as far as possible - hopefully into individual fats, amino acids (the building blocks of protein), and sugars (the building blocks of carbohydrates) which can be absorbed through the intestinal wall and used by our bodies.

Bizarro Earth

Why eating 'light' crisps could make you gain MORE weight than opting for full-fat varieties

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© AlamyTucking in: Opting for 'light' crisps can encourage you to eat more than if you stick with the full-fat variety, a study has found.
Dieters who try to cut their calorie consumption by picking low-fat versions of their favourite snacks should be wary, scientists say.

They found that opting for 'light' crisps could encourage you to gain more weight by increasing hunger pangs.

Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana studied the effect of synthetic fat substitutes by comparing high-calorie Pringles crisps with low-calorie Pringles Light crisps.

They said their surprising results challenged the conventional wisdom that foods made with fat substitutes aided weight loss.

Lead author Dr Susan E. Swithers, said: 'Our research showed that fat substitutes can interfere with the body's ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of calories and weight gain.'

The team put two groups of rats on separate high and low-fat diets. They then fed half of each group normal Pringles and offered the other half a mix of normal and low-fat crisps.

The Pringles Light chips, which are available in the U.S but not the UK, are made with olestra - a synthetic fat substitute that has zero calories and passes through the body undigested.

The team found that those on the high-fat diet gained more weight and developed more fatty tissue if they ate the low-fat crisps.

Comment: To learn more about the role of healthy fats in diet, see these Sott links:

Why high fat diets are not fattening

Your Brain On Ketones: How a High-fat Diet Can Help the Brain Work Better