Health & WellnessS


Question

Best of the Web: So How's the Food Patriot Act Working Out So Far?

Rady Ananda
foodfreedom.wordpress.com
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:49 UTC
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© foodfreedom.wordpress.com
Another armed food raid - this time on a company that provides nutritional supplements primarily for autism spectrum disorders and Alzheimer's disease - another day under the Food Safety Modernization Act. As predicted, the FSMA is turning out to be a deliberate plan to wipe out small (under a million dollars a year in sales) and medium-sized (under $10 million a year) producers of natural, wholesome food and supplements. This is what happens when corporations run governments.

The concept of "food safety" in corpogov-speak is really just food fascism, according to Vandana Shiva:
"Risk Assessment in the hands of centralized corruptible agencies is no protection for consumers as the disease and health epidemic in the U.S. linked to over processed, industrial foods show. Even while the U.S. is at the epicenter of the food related public health crises, the U.S. government is trying to export its Food laws which deregulate the industry and over regulate ordinary citizens and small enterprise. This deregulation of the big and toxic and over regulation of the small and ecological is at the core of Food Fascism." [emphasis added]
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Attention

Armadillos Give Leprosy to Humans in Southern U.S.: Study

Serena Gordon
US News. Health
Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:15 UTC
The prehistoric-looking armadillo, already the state animal of Texas, now has a new claim to fame: leprosy.

A new study finds that armadillos carry the bacterium that causes leprosy, and have somehow passed the disease to several dozen humans in the southern United States.

"We've confirmed a long-suspected link between leprosy in humans and armadillos," said the study's lead author, Richard Truman, from the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration's National Hansen's Disease Program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Truman said it's important to realize that the risk of contracting leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) from armadillos "is still infinitesimally small."
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Cheeseburger

Pork that 'glows,' beans with cancer chems among China's latest poison foods


Raw Story
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:16 UTC
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Beijing - problems despite a government promise to clean up the food industry following a deadly 2008 milk scandal.

Tainted pork, toxic milk, dyed buns and other dodgy foods have surfaced in recent weeks, sickening consumers and highlighting the government's apparent inability to oversee China's huge and under-regulated food industry.

The litany of stomach-turning headlines has caused officials to scramble to contain the damage and sparked an anguished lament last week from Premier Wen Jiabao about unscrupulous food producers.
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Bulb

Brain regions can take short naps during wakefulness, leading to errors


University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:36 UTC
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© Unknown
If you've ever lost your keys or stuck the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the refrigerator, you may have been the victim of a tired brain region that was taking a quick nap.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have a new explanation. They've found that some nerve cells in a sleep-deprived yet awake brain can briefly go "off line," into a sleep-like state, while the rest of the brain appears awake.

"Even before you feel fatigued, there are signs in the brain that you should stop certain activities that may require alertness," says Dr. Chiara Cirelli, professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine and Public Health. "Specific groups of neurons may be falling asleep, with negative consequences on performance."

Until now, scientists thought that sleep deprivation generally affected the entire brain. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) show network brain-wave patterns typical of either being asleep or awake.

"We know that when we are sleepy, we make mistakes, our attention wanders and our vigilance goes down," says Cirelli. "We have seen with EEGs that even while we are awake, we can experience shorts periods of 'micro sleep.' "
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Smoking

Tobacco-derived compound prevents memory loss in Alzheimer's disease mice


University of South Florida
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:51 UTC
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© Bay Pines VA Healthcare System
Valentina Echeverria, a researcher at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida, was lead author of the cotinine study.

Cotinine, a compound derived from tobacco, reduced plaques associated with dementia and prevented memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a study led by researchers at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida found.

The findings are reported online in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in advance of print publication.

"We found a compound that protects neurons, prevents the progression of Alzheimer's disease pathology, enhances memory and has been shown to be safe," said Valentina Echeverria, PhD, a scientist at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and an assistant professor of Molecular Medicine at USF Health. "It looks like cotinine acts on several aspects of Alzheimer's pathology in the mouse model. That, combined with the drug's good safety profile in humans, makes it a very attractive potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease."
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Syringe

Vaccine Mania


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:24 UTC
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© Alliance for Natural Health
The vaccination question is a hotly debated topic, even in the natural health community. It doesn't help when vaccine companies have blatant conflicts of interest and the studies supporting their safety may be fraudulent!

What we all can agree upon is the need to keep crony capitalism out of it, to keep information clear, unambiguous, and uncensored, and to allow people to make informed choices for themselves and their families. As we noted last year, there is an increasing tendency for immunization mandates to become a financial joint venture of the vaccine manufacturer and the government. The government is providing much of the funding manufacturers need to build facilities. So the government, which is supposed to regulate vaccine makers, becomes a full financial and operating partner with the companies they're regulating! The government then turns around and orders us to be vaccinated or be ineligible for school - or in some cases go to jail!

As it stands now, the government gives patent protection and FDA approvals to pharmaceutical companies and thus creates medical monopolies. The government also exempts vaccine makers from legal liability. But when in addition the government invests in the business itself and partners with private companies, then adds the threat of jail for consumer non-compliance, we have a completely out-of-control situation.
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Bug

UK malaria cases rise by 30% in past two years


Daily Mail
Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:20 UTC
Holidaymakers are being urged to pack anti-malaria pills if they go abroad after figures showed cases of the disease have jumped by almost 30 per cent in two years.

There were 1,761 reports of malaria in the UK in 2010, up on the 1,495 in 2009 and 1,370 in 2008.

The data, from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), was released to mark World Malaria Day and includes Britons and visitors who fell ill in the UK.

cheryl cole
Illness: Cheryl Cole collapsed during the filming of X-Factor after she contracted malaria on a holiday to Tanzania. She spent two hours in intensive care.
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Arrow Up

Peppermint Earns Respect in Mainstream Medicine


Newswise
Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:08 UTC
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© Hajnalka Ardai, iStock PhotosPeppermint is now clinically proven to be an effective pain reliever for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
University of Adelaide researchers have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

In a paper published this week in the international journal Pain, researchers from the University's Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory explain how peppermint activates an "anti-pain" channel in the colon, soothing inflammatory pain in the gastrointestinal tract.

Dr. Stuart Brierley says while peppermint has been commonly prescribed by naturopaths for many years, there has been no clinical evidence until now to demonstrate why it is so effective in relieving pain.

"Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain sensing fibers, particularly those activated by mustard and chilli. This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)," he says.
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Nuke

Health risks numerous near nuclear plant


UPI
Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:01 UTC
bird, japan,nuclear
© UPI/Keizo MoriDestruction is seen as the sun rises in Iwanuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on April 15, 2011. A massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 destroyed homes, killed thousands and caused a nuclear disaster.

Tokyo-- Radiation leaks remain a health threat for areas around Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, officials said.

The crisis at the plant resulted from an earthquake and tsunami March 11.

Some experts believe the Fukushima crisis is more serious than that resulting from an explosion at Ukraine's Chernobyl power plant 25 years ago, the Mainichi Daily News reported Monday.
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Health

Europe, Especially France, Hit by Measles Outbreak

John Heilprin
CNS News
Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:57 UTC
Geneva - Europe, especially France, has been hit by a major outbreak of measles, which the U.N. health agency is blaming on the failure to vaccinate all children.

The World Health Organization said Thursday that France had 4,937 reported cases of measles between January and March -- compared with 5,090 cases during all of 2010. In all, more than 6,500 cases have been reported in 33 European nations.

"This is a lot of cases, to put it mildly. In past years we've had very few cases," said Rebecca Martin, head of WHO's office in Copenhagen for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization.
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