Energy-saving light bulbs are so dangerous that everyone must leave the room for at least 15 minutes if one falls to the floor and breaks, a Government department warned yesterday.

The startling alert came as health experts also warned that toxic mercury inside the bulbs can aggravate a range of problems including migraines and dizziness.

And a leading dermatologist said tens of thousands of people with skin complaints will find it hard to tolerate being near the bulbs as they cause conditions such as eczema to flare up.

The Department for Environment warned shards of glass from broken bulbs should not be vacuumed up but instead swept away by someone wearing rubber gloves to protect them from the bulb's mercury content.

In addition, it said care should be taken not to inhale any dust and the broken pieces should be put in a sealed plastic bag for disposal at a council dump, not a normal household bin.

None of this advice, however, is printed on the packaging the new-style bulbs are sold in. There are also worries over how the bulbs will be disposed of.

A new study connects food and mood, finding that a diet high in processed foods makes depression more likely.

A new study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry makes a strong case that processed junk food can trigger or contribute to depression, while eating whole and healthy food seems protective.

The Details:

British and French epidemiologists analyzed food and mood data from 3,486 men and women (average age 55) in the Whitehall II study on London-based office staff. Each participant answered a food frequency questionnaire in which they were asked how often they had eaten a designated portion size of a food during the previous year (set responses ranged from "never" to "six or more times per day"). That data was then converted to a daily intake and two dietary patterns were identified: the "whole food pattern" (defined by a high daily intake of vegetables, fruits, and fish) and the "processed food pattern" (characterized by high consumption of sweetened desserts, chocolates, fried food, processed meat, pies, refined grains, high-fat dairy products, and condiments). Five years later, all the participants answered a short questionnaire designed to measure symptoms of depression in the general population.

After adjusting for variables such as age and sex, the scientists found that high consumption of processed food was associated with increased likelihood of depression, whereas those who had the highest consumption of whole foods were least likely to be depressed, and even less likely than those in the whole food pattern who ate fewer whole foods.

In February, the Minister of Environment of India, Jairam Ramesh, put a moratorium on Bt. Brinjal. He is now pushing trials of GM rubber on Kerala which is a GMO free State. The Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Kerala Agriculture Minister, Mullakkara Ratnakaran have both reiterated their commitment to keep Kerala GMO free.

Mr. Jairam Ramesh has stated that GM rubber is not transgenic i.e., it does not have genes from unrelated species. This is totally false. While the gene MnSOD comes from the rubber, the MnSOD construct is transgenic. It contains CaMV35S, a virus used as a promoter, an antibiotic resistance marker npt II (Kanamycin) and a CUS reporter gene from bacteria (E.Coli.). Putting viruses and bacteria into a plant is a transgenic transformation. The Environment Minister should not be misleading the nation on the issue of GMOs which has far reaching consequences.

The GM rubber is being developed to spread rubber cultivation to regions beyond Kerala by making it drought resistant. However, engineering drought resistance is linked to "pleiotropic effect". Pleiotropy is the ability of a single genetic change to cause unintended physiological effects throughout a plant.

For centuries green tea has held on strong to its reputation as an effective and trustworthy beverage packed with health benefits.

Now, NewCastle University researchers have found new evidence that green tea can shield the brain against Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

In addition, the golden liquid the Chinese drink in copious amounts has also been credited with lowering the risk of certain cancers.

Although previous studies suggest that chemicals found in green tea can prevent a wide variety of ailments, the new study focused on whether the protective properties were still active after the beverage was digested.

Doctor attributes widespread sickness to toxic chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe.

Despite BP having capped its well in the Gulf of Mexico in July, the health-related after-effects of the disaster subsist.

Gulf Coast residents and BP cleanup workers have linked the source of certain illnesses to chemicals present in BP's oil and the toxic dispersants used to sink it - illnesses that appear to be both spreading and worsening.

Dr. Rodney Soto, a medical doctor in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, has been testing and treating patients with high levels of oil-related chemicals in their blood stream. These are commonly referred to as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's). Anthropogenic VOC's from BP's oil disaster are toxic and have negative chronic health effects.

Dr. Soto is finding disconcertingly consistent and high levels of toxic chemicals in every one of the patients he is testing.

"I'm regularly finding between five and seven VOCs in my patients," Dr. Soto told Al Jazeera. "These patients include people not directly involved in the oil clean-up, as well as residents that do not live right on the coast. These are clearly related to the oil disaster."

In a preceding article, I opined that we have to look for alternatives in the fight against cancer considering the limitations of chemotherapy.

The overall success (or failure) rate with chemotherapy is summed up in a landmark study published in 2004.

Three oncologists co-authored a large-scale review of all studies done on the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments in Australia and the US.

They studied the number of cancer patients who survived more than five years following diagnosis and treatment and found that overall, chemotherapy contributed just over 2% to improved survival in the cancer patients.

The authors strongly questioned the continued use of chemotherapy [Clinical Oncology (2004)16:549-560].

Since evidence-based medicine shows that the success rate with chemotherapy is so poor, any nutritional or non-conventional (ie. not yet generally accepted by mainstream medical practice) or complementary therapies that can give 2% or better success rates should be considered, especially if they are safer and less expensive.

A few years ago, on a tour of a small village in Vietnam, we were taken to a small farm compound, where the residents manufactured rice paper wrappers for spring rolls and raised a few farm animals for food. There were chickens clucking around and a few friendly, waddling ducks. There was also an enormous pig housed in a small, concrete enclosure.

As our group approached, the pig rose up on her hind legs, placed her front legs on the ledge of her pen, and looked us all straight in the eyes with a completely charming mixture of intelligence and humor. Without a doubt, that pig was posing. The pen was small, but clean. The pig appeared to have plenty of freedom of movement. The pig was whole, no cropped tail, no sores, nothing amiss. I can't pretend to know if that pig was a happy pig. But from my limited human perspective, she looked contented.

Every time I think about how we raise animals for food, I think about that expressive pig. That pig represents both my deep ambivalence about eating animals and also what I think of as the ideal way to raise animals for food.

For those of us who do eat meat, who don't raise our own animals, one at a time, or who cannot afford to pay top dollar to buy direct from a very small farm, that ideal is pretty near unattainable.

For conscious omnivores, who eat meat sparingly and thoughtfully, who avoid meat raised under conditions that we call "factory farming," what is a reasonable level of animal welfare in farming? And how accurate are our perceptions of what constitutes "good farming"? Farming is a struggle for farmers. There is a delicate balance between the scale and methods that will allow the farmer to stay in business and earn a living, and letting the animals experience life as naturally as possible.

On November 12, the CDC reported that 10% of U.S. children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an increase of almost 25% in just four years. Between 2003 and 2007, a million children were given this diagnosis for the first time, raising the number of affected children to 5.54 million. Two-thirds of those children are being treated with drugs to enhance focus and concentration.

But research indicates that two drugs commonly prescribed to treat ADHD, Methylphenidate (Ritalin) and d-amphetamine (Dexedrine), may increase the rate of cigarette smoking. A study done at the University of Kentucky found that use of Methylphenidate increased the total number of cigarettes smoked, number of puffs, and carbon monoxide levels.


There is an effective alternative to drug therapy: Nutrition.

A body of scientific research supports the importance of nutritional factors in ADHD. I have treated hundreds of children with ADHD over the past thirty years. Almost all have improved without the need for drug therapy. To help them and their parents I have used a series of questions that searches for the causes of ADHD in each individual child.

Pharmacists being asked by parents about alternatives to Ritalin can use these questions as a guide:

(1) How nutritious is the child's diet?

Over 50% of children with ADHD crave sweets, often at the expense of nutritious food. About 70 percent of children who crave sweets have much more control over their behavior when their food is low in added sugar. My first line of advice to parents is, keep your children away from sugary cereals, pancakes or waffle's with syrup, soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and chocolate. Every ounce of sugar reduction helps. Sugar alone does not cause hyperactivity. It reduces the nutritional quality of the diet and may aggravate other food intolerances (see below).

Medical journal: Study linking autism, vaccines is 'elaborate fraud' ... A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines is an "elaborate fraud," according to a medical journal -- a charge the physician behind the study vigorously denies. The British medical journal BMJ, which published the results of its investigation, concluded Dr. Andrew Wakefield misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible. The journalist who wrote the BMJ articles said Thursday he believes Wakefield should face criminal charges. However, Wakefield said his work has been "grossly distorted." Speaking on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, he said Wednesday he is the target of "a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns." The medical publication says the study has done long-lasting damage to public health. - CNN

Dominant Social Theme: Vaccines are safe. Period. And those who deny it are criminals.

Free-Market Analysis: Dr. Wakefield's journey into medical purgatory continues. He initially co-authored a study back in 1998 that suggested that a link between autism and vaccines deserved further study. Since then his views have hardened. He has been outspoken about the dangers of giving children so many vaccines in early childhood - by some estimates up to 35 vaccines before a child is five years old. His arguments have found fertile soil, with both parents and Dr. Wakefield suggesting that children with compromised immune systems - or even children with a certain genetic profile - ought to forego an aggressive vaccination schedules.

The idea of bombarding the young body with so many faux-illnesses over such a short period of time is probably bound to generate certain side-effects in certain children - or at least this seems to be a reasonable perspective. Doctors in private may admit to this possibility, yet Big Pharma, behind the vaccine industry, seems unable to countenance the perspective that vaccines are in any way responsible for any side-effects at all. The idea that a single one-size-fits-all medical treatment has NO untoward effects EVER seems a somewhat doctrinaire view, but it is the one that some in the field, including the pharmaceutical industry itself, continue to advance.

A man who used to repair surgical instruments at the Health Sciences Centre is raising concerns about their cleanliness.

Lyn Delorme, a former senior surgical instrument technician, said he has tested instruments that are supposed to be sterile - and discovered they are contaminated with human blood, flesh or bone.

"It's not only stuff that's coming to me, it's stuff that I'm finding that's being used in clinical use," Delorme said.

"I would think the worst thing that could happen is an infection that could ultimately lead to death," he said.

Delorme provided photos to CTV that he said show dirty surgical instruments that he has come across over the 10 years he has worked at the Health Sciences Centre.

"I've been seeing this throughout the 10 years but it seems to be getting worse," Delorme said.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Heidi Graham, said the hospital conducts random testing of instruments and when it is discovered an instrument is contaminated with materials like blood or a strand of hair, it is labelled "difficult to clean."