Health & WellnessS


Info

Suicide Victims Found to Have Abnormal Brain Cells

Rachael Rettner
My Health News Daily
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:45 UTC
brain
© unknown

Changes to some of the star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes may play a role in depression, a new study finds.

The findings are based on the postmortem examination of brains of depressed individuals who committed suicide.

The researchers focused on a part of the brain involved in mood regulation and decision making, called the anterior cingulate cortex. In depressed people, some astrocytes were larger and more branched than those of people with no history of psychiatric illness who died suddenly, the researchers said.

These differences showed up only in the brains' white matter, not gray matter. White matter, found deep inside the brain, consists mostly of "cables" that allow different brain areas to communicate.

The study adds to a growing body of research linking changes in white matter to depression. It is the first study to "zoom in" and observe changes occurring at a cellular level, said study researcher Naguib Mechawar of McGill University in Quebec.

The researchers said they don't know whether these alterations are a cause or effect of depression and can only speculate on how the changes would contribute to the mood disorder. It's likely they would affect communication between the anterior cingulate cortex and other parts of the brain, Mechawar added.
Read More...
Sherlock

Clues to Gluten Sensitivity


The Wall Street Journal
Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:50 UTC
Image
© Wall Street Journal
Lisa Rayburn felt dizzy, bloated and exhausted. Wynn Avocette suffered migraines and body aches. Stephanie Meade's 4-year-old daughter had constipation and threw temper tantrums.

All three tested negative for celiac disease, a severe intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. But after their doctors ruled out other causes, all three adults did their own research and cut gluten - and saw the symptoms subside.

A new study in the journal BMC Medicine may shed some light on why. It shows gluten can set off a distinct reaction in the intestines and the immune system, even in people who don't have celiac disease.

"For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease," says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research.
Read More...
Question

Gluten Sensitivity: Why is FDA Dragging Its Feet?


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:58 UTC
Image
© Alliance for Natural Health
Nearly 20 million Americans experience dire health problems from eating foods that contain gluten. Congress told FDA to define the term "gluten-free" for food manufacturers by 2008. Why are they still "studying the matter"?

Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which dietary gluten, causes damage to the small intestine, which keeps nutrients from being properly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods such as wheat, rye, barley, and other products, can lead to serious health problems, ranging from gastrointestinal distress and infertility to an increased risk of osteoporosis and certain cancers, particularly colon cancer.

As we reported recently, gluten-related conditions greatly increase the risk for diabetes. A recent large study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and "latent" celiac disease or gluten sensitivity had a higher risk of death, mostly from heart disease and cancer.

Comment: For more information about the negative health effects of gluten read the following articles:

The Dark Side of Wheat - New Perspectives on Celiac Disease and Wheat Intolerance
Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease
Is gluten from grains making you sick?
Facts you might not know about gluten
Sensitivity To Gluten May Result In Neurological Dysfunction; Independent Of Symptoms
Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You
Book Review: Gluten Toxicity - The Mysterious Symptoms of Celiac Disease, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

Read More...
Health

It's Official: America Has A Drinking Problem


redOrbit
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:30 UTC
Drinking Porblems
© redOrbit

According to a US government report, more than half of Americans over the age of 12 drink alcohol, with a quarter of them binge-drinking within the last month.

The report, released last month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), says that about 52 percent of the 137,436 Americans surveyed between 2008 and 2009 said they drank in the past month. The report also found that one in 14 teens has also used marijuana.

New Hampshire led all 50 states in the prevalence of drinking by 18 to 25 year olds. Almost 75 percent of young adults in the Granite State said they had used alcohol in the past month, according to the report.

The legal drinking age is 21 years old in all 50 states, however, some states have exceptions where under-age drinking is permitted in certain circumstances.

The report found that 23.5 percent of Americans binge-drank in the past month. Binge-drinking is defined as having four or more drinks for women or girls and five or more for men and boys. The highest rate of binge-drinking was in North Dakota, where nearly one in three residents binge-drank.

Under-age binge drinking went down overall in the US, dropping from 19.2 percent in 2002-2003 to 17.7 percent in 2008-2009, according to the SAMHSA report.
Read More...
Sherlock

Air Pollution Leads to Breast Cancer


Times of India
Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:26 UTC
Image
© alternityhealthcare.com
Researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown that exposure to air pollution early in life and when a woman gives birth to her first child may alter her DNA and may be associated with premenopausal breast cancer later in life.

The findings indicated that higher air pollution exposure at birth may alter DNA methylation, which may increase levels of E-cadherin, a protein important to the adhesion of cells, a function that plays an essential role in maintaining a stable cellular environment and assuring healthy tissues.

Methylation is a chemical process that has been implicated in determining which genes in a cell are active, a process essential to normal cellular function.
Read More...
Health

Flashback Multiple Sclerosis Stem-cell Treatment 'Success'


BBC News
Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:16 UTC
Image
© BBCMS causes damage to nerve cells
Stem-cell transplants may control and even reverse multiple sclerosis symptoms if done early enough, a small study has suggested.

Not one of 21 adults with relapsing-remitting MS who had stem cells transplanted from their own bone marrow deteriorated over three years.

And 81% improved by at least one point on a scale of neurological disability, The Lancet Neurology reported.

Further tests are now planned, and a UK expert called the work "encouraging".

MS is an autoimmune disease which affects about 85,000 people in the UK.

It is caused by a defect in the body's immune system, which turns in on itself, causing damage to the nerves which can lead to symptoms including blurred vision, loss of balance and paralysis.
Read More...
Pills

Britain a Nation of Pill Poppers: NHS Prescriptions have Soared 70% in the Past Decade

Jenny Hope
Daily Mail
Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:04 UTC
Image
© dailymail.co.ukIncrease: For every person an average of 17.8 prescription items were dispensed, compared to just 11.2 ten years ago.
  • 927million prescriptions given out last year alone
  • Average 17.8 prescriptions for every person in England
  • Cost to NHS estimated at £9BILLION every 12 months
More prescription drugs than ever are being given out, with the annual bill soaring to nearly £9billion.

The amount of medicine dispensed has jumped almost 70 per cent over the last decade.

Last night fears were expressed that doctors were taking the easy way out when reaching for the prescription pad instead of considering other treatments.

There were also concerns about the huge amount of medicine which is simply wasted by patients.

But experts denied that Britain is over-dependent on drugs, saying an ageing population and more emphasis on preventing disease inevitably pushes up prescribing rates.
Read More...
Info

EPA Program on Children's Toxic Exposure "Flawed"

Sheila Kaplan
The Investigative Fund
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:53 UTC
Image
© davegranlund.com
According to a new report released yesterday, efforts to protect children's health have been fatally blocked by American industry's refusal to submit information on the commercial use of chemicals.

In a scathing critique of a voluntary reporting strategy launched with great fanfare under the Clinton administration - and quietly killed in recent years - the EPA's Inspector General wrote that the Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program was a bust.

According to the Inspector General, the much-hyped program was "hampered by industry partners who chose not to voluntarily collect and submit information, and EPA's decision not to exercise its regulatory authorities under the Toxic Substances Control Act to compel data collection. EPA has not demonstrated that it can achieve children's health goals with a voluntary program."

This is not news to anyone who has followed EPA's uphill battle to regulate toxic chemicals in the environment and in consumer goods. Nor is it news to anyone who has watched the agency's various voluntary programs fail to win industry cooperation - despite endless "stakeholder meetings" in which companies repeatedly promise to pony up the details about their products' potential health risks.
Read More...
Syringe

Vaccine Propaganda failing in Washington as State leads nation in parents opting out of vaccines


SeattlePI.com
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:36 UTC
vaccine
© unknown

Washington is experiencing an epidemic of worry over vaccine safety. The state leads the nation in the percentage of parents opting out of vaccinations for their kindergarten-age children, but a new state law could be poised to change that distinction.


Comment: An "epidemic of worry" is quite justified given current and past claims of vaccine contamination such as this recent story below:

FDA Faults Merck Plant For Charred Shrink Wrap In Vaccine Vials


More than 6 percent of Washington kindergarteners were missing one or more immunizations in the 2009-2010 school year. The most commonly skipped vaccine was the chicken pox vaccine, The Daily Herald reported in Sunday's newspaper.

Since 1997, there's been a steady, statewide decline in the number of school children who are fully vaccinated.

A new state law that went into effect in July seeks to close a loophole that parents used to avoid providing proof of vaccinations to schools. Now, parents must meet with a medical provider, get a signed letter confirming that the consultation took place, and provide the note to child-care centers or schools.
Read More...
Magnify

EPA Considers New Call for Toxicity Testing of BPA

Janet Raloff
Science News
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:23 UTC
Image
© American Chemical SocietyOn the money. Currencies from around the world-certainly all 21 seen here-host BPA that can rub off, new data show.
Turning up in and on everything from food to money, BPA's ubiquity is raising concerns.

The Environmental Protection Agency solicited public comment, July 26, about whether to require new toxicity testing and environmental sampling of bisphenol A, an ingredient in many plastics and food-contact resins.

"A number of concerns have been raised about the potential human health and environmental effects of BPA," said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Data from the proposed new tests, he said, "would help EPA better understand and address the potential environmental impacts of BPA."

Moreover, the agency observes on its BPA Action Plan website, because this high-volume commercial chemical "is a reproductive, developmental, and systemic toxicant in animal studies and is weakly estrogenic, there are questions about its potential impact, particularly on children's health and the environment."
Read More...