Health & WellnessS


Eye 2

What is gluten intolerance?

Dr. Peter Osborne
GlutenFreeSociety.org
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:06 UTC
Lecture by Dr. Peter Osborne entitled 'Gluten Sensitivity, a Laymen's Primer'

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Frog

New Antibiotics Developed from Frog Skin

Richard Alleyne
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:00 UTC
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© The TelegraphScientists have known for years that the skin of frogs is a rich source of chemicals capable of killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi
The fight against Superbugs has taken a leap forward thanks to the discovery that powerful new antibiotics could come from frogs.

Scientists have long known that the skin of frogs contains plenty of powerful germ-fighting substances because of the hostile environments they exist in.

But the substances are also often poisonous to humans.

Now a team at the United Aran Emirates University have worked out a way of modifying the chemicals to remove their harmful side-effects.

They have already identified 100 new antibiotics including one that could fight the hospital Superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.
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Cell Phone

Teens & Text Addiction


cbs3.com
Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:43 UTC
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Teenagers are becoming addicted to texting, according to a new study. In fact experts are saying being hooked on texting can be like being addicted to drugs.

Walking, sitting, it doesn't matter where it happens, teenagers seem to need to text. Statistics show 80 percent of all 15 to 18-year-olds own a cell phone. And the rate of texting has sky rocketed 600 percent in three years. The average teen sends 3,000 texts a month.

"I think that it's just like a drug, once you get hooked on to it, you can't let go. It's like whenever I open my eyes the first thing I look at is my phone," said Hermine Vardanian, a texter.
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Alarm Clock

The Alarming Reason Why More Girls are Starting Puberty Early


Dr. Mercola
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:08 UTC
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U.S. girls are entering puberty at a younger age than in the past. More than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls have breast changes that signal the start of puberty, according to a study conducted in the mid-2000s. This is up from just 5 percent in the early 1990s.

The average age of a girl's first period also declined, from an average of 14 or 15 years in the past to about 12 years today.

CNN reported:
"Experts aren't sure what's behind the increase in earlier puberty, but it's likely due to a combination of factors, including the childhood obesity epidemic and substances in the environment.

Early puberty in girls is a growing public health concern because studies have shown that girls who start puberty earlier are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later in life ...

Early development in girls has been linked with poor self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity."
As for what's causing the increasing in early puberty, chemicals in the environment, obesity, and above-average weight gain during infancy are all being considered as possible factors.

Sources:

CNN.com August 10, 2010

Time August 9, 2010

Pediatrics August 9, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]

Comment: For a more in depth look at the environmental and health related causes of early puberty in young girls read the following articles:

Study: More U.S. Girls Starting Puberty Earlier Than Ever
Average Age of Girls Starting Puberty Falls Below 10
Puberty in Girls Hastened by Harmful Chemicals
Girls entering puberty by the age of six - but are drugs the answer?
The teen gene: Switching on puberty
Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old
Vaccine Exposures to Thimerosal (Mercury) & Premature Puberty

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Arrow Up

Broccoli "Boosts" Healthy Gut

Helen Briggs
BBC News
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:01 UTC
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© SPLBroccoli is high in vitamins and minerals
Extracts of broccoli and banana may help in fighting stomach problems, research suggests.

Laboratory studies show fibers from the vegetables may boost the body's natural defenses against stomach infections.

Trials are under way to see if they could be used as a medical food for patients with Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.

It affects about 1 in 1,000 people, and is thought to be caused by a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.
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Health

Video: Living Proof? - Vitamin C vs. Swine Flu

60 Minutes
Health Smart Santa Fe
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:49 UTC
The amazing story of a King Country dairy farmer who caught swine flu and very nearly died (he had hairy cell leukemia). Intensive care specialists were all set to pull him off life support, saying there was no hope. But his family refused to give up. They demanded the doctors try high doses of Vitamin C, a radical treatment well outside mainstream medicine. The hospital told them it wouldn't work but the family insisted. It turned into a fight, the family even hired a top lawyer. But in the end, as Melanie Reid will show you, the farmer is now very much alive. So was it a one-off miracle? Or has the family stumbled on a miracle cure?




Watch the original video on 3news.co.nz
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Evil Rays

Is This Common Kitchen Appliance Harming Your Health?

Dr. Mercola
Huffington Post
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:47 UTC
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© smecc.org
By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The mantra, "You are what you eat" is really true.

But you need to consider not only WHAT you buy, but how you cook it.

Eating much of your food raw is ideal. But most of us are not going to be able to accomplish a completely raw diet, and we'll end up cooking some percentage of our food.

Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods and food preparation and that means saying sayonara to your microwave oven. Need to sterilize a dishcloth? Use your microwave. But zapping your casserole is a BAD idea if you are interested in preparing healthy food.

Why the no nukes policy?

When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is to compromise your health. In this article, I will review what we know about the effects microwaves on your food and on your body.
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Ambulance

Cold Weather Could Increase Risk of Heart Attacks


Red Orbit
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:25 UTC
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© Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
Colder weather caused by global climate change could lead to more heart attacks than ever before, according to a new study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), found that a 1 degree Celsius drop in temperature in a single 24 hour period is associated with an extra 200 heart attacks daily.

"Our study shows a convincing short term increase in risk of myocardial infarction associated with lower ambient temperature, predominantly operating in the two weeks after exposure," the researchers wrote in their paper.

"International studies with consistent methods will be required to clarify the dependence of these effects on local climate, whereas individual level studies collecting demographic, clinical, and behavioral data may shed light on the role of adaptive measures such as clothing and home heating, and further clarify which subgroups are likely to be the most vulnerable," they added.
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Sherlock

Wide Range of Diseases Linked to Pesticides

Kagan Owens & Jay Feldman & John Kepner
Beyond Pesticides
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:25 UTC
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Database supports policy shift from risk to alternatives assessment

The common diseases affecting the public's health are all too well-known in the 21st century: asthma and learning disabilities, autism, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and several types of cancer. Their connection to pesticide exposure continues to strengthen despite efforts to restrict individual chemical exposure, or mitigate chemical risks, using risk assessment-based policy.

The Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, launched by Beyond Pesticides, facilitates access to epidemiologic and laboratory studies based on real world exposure scenarios that link public health effects to pesticides. The scientific literature documents elevated rates of chronic diseases among people exposed to pesticides, with increasing numbers of studies associated with both specific illnesses and a range of illnesses. With some of these diseases at very high and, perhaps, epidemic proportions, there is an urgent need for public policy at all levels -local, state, and national-to end dependency on toxic pesticides, replacing them with carefully defined green strategies.
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Control Panel

Leptin resistance and impaired fat metabolism precede type 2 diabetes

Ned Kock
Health Correlator
Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00 UTC
The term “diabetes” is used to describe a wide range of diseases of glucose metabolism; diseases with a wide range of causes. The diseases include type 1 and type 2 diabetes, type 2 ketosis-prone diabetes (which I know exists thanks to Michael Barker’s blog), gestational diabetes, various MODY types, and various pancreatic disorders. The possible causes include genetic defects (or adaptations to very different past environments), autoimmune responses, exposure to environmental toxins, as well as viral and bacterial infections; in addition to obesity, and various other apparently unrelated factors, such as excessive growth hormone production.

Type 2 diabetes and the “tired pancreas” theory

Type 2 diabetes is the one most commonly associated with the metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by middle-age central obesity, and the “diseases of civilization” brought up by Neolithic inventions. Evidence is mounting that a Neolithic diet and lifestyle play a key role in the development of the metabolic syndrome. In terms of diet, major suspects are engineered foods rich in refined carbohydrates and refined sugars. In this context, one widely touted idea is that the constant insulin spikes caused by consumption of those foods lead the pancreas (figure below from Wikipedia) to get “tired” over time, losing its ability to produce insulin. The onset of insulin resistance mediates this effect.

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