Health & WellnessS


People

Toxoplasma gondii: Cat parasite may affect cultural traits in human populations

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© Unknown
A common parasite found in cats may be affecting human behavior on a mass scale, according to a scientist based at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

While little is known about the causes of cultural change, and biological explanations often stimulate social and scientific debate, a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey published in the August 2 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biology, indicates that behavioral manipulation of a common brain parasite may be among factors that play a role.

"In populations where this parasite is very common, mass personality modification could result in cultural change," said study author Kevin Lafferty, a USGS scientist at UC Santa Barbara. "The geographic variation in the latent prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii may explain a substantial proportion of human population differences we see in cultural aspects that relate to ego, money, material possessions, work and rules."

Although this sounds like science fiction, it is a logical outcome of how natural selection leads to effective strategies for parasites to get from host to host, said Lafferty. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite of cats, both domestic and wild. While modern humans are a dead-end host for the parasite, Toxoplasma appears to manipulate personality by the same adaptations that normally help it complete its life cycle. The typical journey of the parasite involves a cat and its prey, starting as eggs shed in an infected cat's feces, inadvertently eaten by a warm-blooded animal, such as a rat. The infected rat's behavior alters so that it becomes more active, less cautious and more likely to be eaten by a cat, where the parasite completes its life cycle. Many other warm-blooded vertebrates may be infected by this pathogen. After producing usually mild flu-like symptoms in humans, the parasite tends to remain in a dormant state in the brain and other tissues.

Bulb

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

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The modern prescription of high carbohydrate, low fat diets and eating snacks between meals has coincided with an increase in obesity, diabetes, and and increase in the incidence of many mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. In addition, many of these disorders are striking the population at younger ages. While most people would agree that diet has a lot to do with the development of obesity and diabetes, many would disagree that what we eat has much to do with our mental health and outlook. I believe that what we eat has a lot to do with the health of our brains, though of course mental illness (like physical illness) has multifactorial causes, and by no means should we diminish the importance of addressing all the causes in each individual. But let's examine the opposite of the modern high carbohydrate, low fat, constant snacking lifestyle and how that might affect the brain.

The opposite of a low fat, snacking lifestyle would be the lifestyle our ancestors lived for tens of thousands of generations, the lifestyle for which our brains are primarily evolved. It seems reasonable that we would have had extended periods without food, either because there was none available, or we were busy doing something else. Then we would follow that period with a filling meal of gathered plant and animal products, preferentially selecting the fat. During the day we might have eaten a piece of fruit, or greens, or a grub we dug up, but anything filling or high in calories (such as a starchy tuber) would have to be killed, butchered, and/or carefully prepared before eating. Fortunately, we have a terrific system of fuel for periods of fasting or low carbohydrate eating - our body (and brain) can readily shift from burning glucose to burning what are called ketone bodies.

Attention

Low Cholesterol and Suicide: Your Brain Needs Cholesterol

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Low serum cholesterol has been linked in numerous scientific papers to suicide, accidents, and violence (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)... there are a bunch more, but I'm a bit weary of linking! This is why I write a blog, and not a peer-reviewed journal. Anyway, no one knows to this day whether depression, violence, and suicidal risk have a metabolic byproduct of low cholesterol, or whether having low cholesterol will predispose you to suicide out of hand (here's a rather snarky editorial pointing out that fact (8)). Some trials of statins (with the resultant crackerjack drop in cholesterol) will show no effect on suicide (9). A statin skeptic's favorite study, the J-LIT trial, showed deaths by accidents/suicides increased threefold in the group with total cholesterol less than 160 (yes, the p was .09, but that means there is only a 91% chance that finding didn't happen by random happenstance (10)).

Now, why could serum cholesterol have anything to do with the brain and depression? Good question - and the first question to ask in any theory of the brain is do the peripheral levels of something have anything at all to do with the central nervous system amounts of the same thing - so do serum cholesterol levels match up to relative amounts of cholesterol in the brain? They do (11). And cholesterol is important in the brain. Synapses, where brain function goes live, have to have cholesterol to form. Brain signaling is all about membranes, and cell membranes are constructed from fat. Cholesterol and the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are the most important molecules in the synapse. If your brain fat is significantly different from so-called "normal" fat (which I'll go back to the hunter gatherer paradigm and say an HG's brain is going to have the approximate fat constituents for which we are evolved), the signaling in your brain could be very different too (12). Scientific papers will call this "alterations of membrane fluidity." (13).

People

Diet and Violence: Positive Effects of Nutritional Supplementation on Aggression

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Paul Whiteley*, I believe, originally posted to the comments concerning some very interesting studies on diets and violence. Over the past 10 years, several groups of researchers have done some decent work in this area, and (for once in the nutritional-type literature) I can actually look at a randomized controlled trial of good size and design that was actually replicated.

The modern era of good studies begins with Oxford nutrition and criminology researcher, Bernard Gesch (1). Back in 2002, he published a (full free text) study entitled "Influence of supplementary vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids on the antisocial behavior of young adult prisoners." In this study, 231 (young, male, adult, prisoner) volunteers agreed to receive a daily vitamin, mineral, and essential fatty acid supplementation or placebo. The average length of the supplementation was about 142 days, and a number of measures were taken before and during the active phase, including psychological testing, reports of violent acts, and reports of disciplinary action. Prisoners were randomized in part based on baseline disciplinary status and their progress in the "prison regime."

Here are the active ingredients of the multimineral, multivitamin, one of which the prisoners in the active arm received daily:

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Health

US: Human Case Of Bubonic Plague Reported in New Mexico

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Santa Fe - New Mexico and the country's first human plague case of 2011 has been confirmed in a Santa Fe County man, the state Department of Health reported Friday.

The victim of the bubonic plague is recovering in a hospital, the DOH said identifying him only as being 58 years old.

The department is alerting people who live in the same area or came in contact with the man, DOH Secretary Dr. Catherine Torres said.

"Whenever there is a human case of plague, the Department of Health takes several steps to ensure the safety of the immediate family, neighbors, and health care providers," Torres said in a statement released by her office. "We inform neighbors door-to-door about plague found in the area and educate them on reducing their risk.

"We determine whether individuals close to the patient may also have been exposed to the plague and recommend preventative treatment when necessary."

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents and is generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas but can also be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals including rodents, wildlife and pets.

Pills

Another Prescription Drug Abuse Problem: The Overmedication of Foster Kids

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© democratandchronicle.com
Recently the Obama administration announced that it is taking action to address the growing problem of prescription drug abuse. Of course this is good news, and more must be done to raise awareness of this issue and crack down on those who abuse the system. It reminded me of another problem related to prescription drug use: the inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs for children in foster care.

A recent study by the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute found that over that past decade the use of psychotropic medications - those used for the treatment of behavioral and mental health issues - for children between the ages of 2 and 21 has risen significantly. Moreover, while during the same period an estimated 4 percent of the general youth population was prescribed these medications, the figure for kids in foster care was much higher - anywhere from 13 to 52 percent. Recent studies in Texas and Georgia arrive at similar findings.

Comment: For more information about the The Over-Prescribing of Psychoactive Drugs to Children: A Scourge of Our Times, read the following articles:

American Kids are the Most Medicated in the World
Little Pharma: The Medication of U.S. Children
Poor Children More Likely To Be Put On Antipsychotic Drugs
Government is daring to keep kids on drugs
More Children on Drugs Than Ever: Chronic Prescriptions Increase Dramatically
Two-Year-Old Toddlers Being Dosed Up with Antipsychotic Drugs


Red Flag

Eight Foods You Should Almost Never, Ever Eat

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Most soybean, corn, cotton and canola crops in the U.S. are genetically altered. Some experts argue that these crops could pose serious health and environmental risks, but the scientific picture is currently incomplete - deliberately so.

Agricultural corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta have restricted independent research on the crops. They have refused to provide independent scientists with seeds, or else have set restrictive conditions that severely limit research. This is legal because under U.S. law, genetically engineered crops are patentable.

The Los Angeles Times reports:
"Agricultural companies defend their stonewalling by saying that unrestricted research could make them vulnerable to lawsuits if an experiment somehow leads to harm, or that it could give competitors unfair insight into their products. But it's likely that the companies fear something else as well: An experiment could reveal that a genetically engineered product is hazardous or doesn't perform as promised."
Even if you don't want to eat genetically engineered foods, you most likely already are doing so. Corn and soy are two of the most common food ingredients, especially in processed foods, and over 90 percent of both these crops in the US are now from GM seeds.

Organic food companies and consumer groups are stepping up their efforts to get the government to exercise more oversight of engineered foods. Critics of current policy argue that the genetically modified (GM) seeds are often contaminating the nearby non-GM crops.

Bacon

Best of the Web: High salt consumption not dangerous, new European study finds, but U.S. experts disagree

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Low levels of salt consumption are associated with a higher rate of cardiovascular disease and deaths, European researchers reported Tuesday, but U.S. experts promptly criticized the study, which contradicts the prevailing dietary wisdom. "This study might need to be taken with a grain of salt," Dr. Peter Briss of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the New York Times. Dr. Ralph Sacco of the University of Miami, president of the American Heart Assn., also criticized the study's design and conclusions, noting that the association would continue to stand by its guideline that Americans should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of salt per day, well below the current average of about 3,500 mg per day. He argued that a vast amount of literature supports the current recommendation and that one study is not sufficient to make any changes in the guidelines.

The level of salt in the diet has been a highly controversial topic for at least two decades. Opponents of salt argue, and several studies have shown, that higher levels of salt increase blood pressure and are associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and deaths from heart attacks. Proponents, however, argue that only a small proportion of the population, at best, is susceptible to the deleterious effects of salt and that the rest of the populace should not have to give up the flavor-enhancing effects of the food additive. In that group, some have even suggested, low salt intake might even be deleterious.

Bomb

How To Cure Autism and The Time Bomb Of Mercury Poisoning

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© healthwyze.org
Autism currently effects one in every ninety-one children, and that number is rapidly rising. Members of the mainstream medical establishment maintain that they cannot ascertain the cure for autism, and even more astounding; they pretend to not even know the cause. The only thing they claim to have discovered with certainty is that vaccinations cannot be the culprit. Vaccines have become exempt from all institutional criticisms, and they are paraded as a "miracle of modern science"; even though the Centers For Disease Control found that approximately half of the physicians refuse to take routine vaccinations, due to "safety" and "efficacy" reasons. Nevertheless, they uniformly preach in unison that vaccines are safe enough for you and your children.

After all, vaccines ended the polio and smallpox epidemics, right? Not exactly. The vaccines were conveniently released just after the epidemics began dying out naturally. The end of the epidemics were mirrored in countries which did not use any vaccines, and frequently at a faster rate. Not only was history rewritten to favor vaccines, but any evidence of their side-effects has been suppressed.

Nuke

Japanese Nuclear Emergency: Radiation Monitoring

Daily Data Summary

Due to the consistent decrease in radiation levels across the country associated with the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA will update the daily data summary page only when new data are posted. Historical daily data summaries will continue to be accessible from this webpage.

After a thorough data review showing declining radiation levels related to the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA has returned to the routine RadNet sampling and analysis process for precipitation, drinking water and milk.

As always, EPA's RadNet system of more than 100 stationary monitors will continue to provide EPA scientists near-real-time data on the slightest fluctuations in background radiation levels. Due to the consistently decreasing radiation levels, EPA is evaluating the need to continue operating the additional air monitors deployed in response to the Japan nuclear incident. EPA's will continue to analyze air filters and cartridges from all air monitors as they arrive at the laboratory and will post the data as available..

In accordance with normal RadNet protocol, EPA will be analyzing milk and drinking water samples on a quarterly basis and precipitation samples as part of a monthly composite. The next round of milk and drinking water sampling will take place in approximately three months.