Health & WellnessS


Life Preserver

Dying for reform: UK health situation worsens


RT.com
Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:24 UTC
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© Reuters / Toby MelvilleBritain's Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, in London February 12, 2013.
Money won't buy you health. This seems to be true for the UK, where substantial financial injections into the NHS do not prevent increasing death rates. A recent report on UK health performance exposed a worsening public health situation.

The report published in The Lancet, a recognized medical journal, revealed that despite a substantial increase in health expenditure, the UK only occupies 12th place in the list of 19 countries including France, the US, Canada and Australia.

"The UK performed significantly worse than the EU15+ for age-standardized death rates, age-standardized YLL rates, and life expectancy in 1990, and its relative position had worsened by 2010," the report from The Lancet magazine said.

The report was based on the data extracted from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, which analyzed health figures for the UK and 18 other nations.

According to the findings when it comes to premature mortality the worst rankings were for men and women aged 20-54 years.

Overall life expectancy has improved in the UK by 4.2 years, but other countries have improved faster, with Spain, Italy and Australia leading the list.
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2 + 2 = 4

Are the government's dietary guidelines making us obese?

Margie King
Activist Post
Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:49 UTC
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© modified from motivatethis.net
Since the early 1980s the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans have urged trusting Americans to eat a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet for their health and weight control. Since then, there has been an alarming increase in chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes. In addition, obesity rates have shot up to 30%, and more than 70% of Americans are overweight.

Can the dietary guidelines be to blame?

Many experts believe that the USDA and other government agencies have stubbornly disregarded the science and continued a 30-year long nutrition experiment on Americans that has had disastrous results.

Nutrition experts from The Healthy Nation Coalition, which includes the Weston A. Price Foundation, the Salt Institute, and the Nutrition and Metabolism Society, have voiced concerns about the current USDA Dietary Guidelines issued in 2010. They criticize the guidelines for perpetuating the wrong-headed advice to eat a low-fat diet, high in processed grains and cereals, which has contributed to the current obesity and health crisis.

Comment: The author is clearly stating (based on well researched data): Enjoy Saturated Fats, They're Good for You! Read more about the numerous benefits of saturated fats:

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Clipboard

Gluten and the autoimmune disease spectrum

Dr. Osborne
Glutenfreesociety.org
Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:35 UTC
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New Research Links Gluten Sensitivity to Multiple Autoimmune Diseases

Research continues to link the autoimmune spectrum of diseases to gluten sensitivity. In a recent study, gluten intolerance was found to be present in patients with multiple types of autoimmune conditions:
"Results of our studies revealed in the group of 110 patients with diagnosed gluten enteropathy, coexistence of autoimmune disease, such as diabetes mellitus type 1 in 7.2% cases, hyperthyreosis on 1.8% of cases, vitiligo in 0.9% of cases, primary biliary cirrhosis in 2% of cases and rheumatoidal arthritis in 0,9 of cases. In the group of 80 ulcerative colitis patients, coexistence of celiac disease basing on serological histopatological investigation was found in 4 patients (5%)."
A previous post on Gluten Free Society showed the connection between gluten induced liver disease (autoimmune hepatitis). Now another new study points more autoimmune disease overlap in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.
"A total of 111 patients (40%) were diagnosed with additional autoimmune diseases...autoimmune thyroiditis was the most common concurrent disease (28 patients, 10%). Other concurrent autoimmune diseases comprised vitiligo (5 patients), rheumatoid arthritis (5 patients), Sjogren syndrome (4 patients), ulcerative colitis (4 patients), conjunctivitis (4 patients), celiac disease (3 patients), systemic lupus erythematodes (2 patients), type I diabetes (2 patients), multiple sclerosis (2 patients), polymyalgia rheumatica (2 patients), and urticaria (2 patients). One patient each was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, autoimmune gastritis, collagenous colitis, hypophysitis, and sarcoidosis."
Sources

J Clin Gastroenterol. 2010 Jan 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Przegl Lek. 2009;66(7):370-2.
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Beaker

Manufacturers replace BPA with still highly toxic BPS

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:51 UTC
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© greenmedinfo.com
As we reported on back in June of last year, in an exposé titled, Consumer Alert: BPA-Free Goods Still Contain Toxin Bisphenol, the petrochemical bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous ingredient in thousands of consumer products and which has been linked to a wide range of serious adverse health effects,[i] has been removed by many ostensibly scrupulous manufacturers in favor of another equally toxic analog in the same chemical class, known as bisphenol S (BPS). This has enabled manufacturers of products as varied as thermal printer receipts to sippy cups to advertise their products as "BPA-free," while still exposing consumers to potentially harmful, and less regulated chemicals.

BPS is actually not only within the same range of toxicity of BPA, but is slower to degrade, and therefore will be more likely to remain a persistent toxin and environmental pollutant.[ii] It has already been found to be present in the urine of 81% of those tested from the United States and seven Asian countries.[iii]

Now, new concern is being raised by a study published this month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives showing that BPS has estrogenic activity comparable to estradiol, the most potent and therefore concerning human estrogen, and is even capable of enhancing estradiol-mediated cell signaling activity. These actions indicate it has great potential to disrupt normal endocrine processes. The study also found that BPS is capable of inducing cell death (apoptosis), as well as interfere with cellular prolactin (PRL) secretion. This latter effect has a broad range of indications, as the prolactin hormone regulates hundreds of biological functions, including metabolism, reproduction and lactation.[iv]
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Stop

Bumble Bee tuna recall

Stella Martin
imperfectparent.com
Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:38 UTC
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© Photo via Bumble Bee Food LLC.Bumble Tuna recall issued for some Bumble Bee products.
Bumble Bee Food, LLC announced on Wednesday that they are issuing a voluntarily recall of some of their 5 ounce cans of tuna.

The recall was issued after concerns of quality control issues were revealed.

Apparently some of the cans were not properly sealed or seamed in the manufacturing process, leaving the possibility open for contamination. Consuming tuna from one of these cans could potentially lead to illness from pathogens or organisms, although the company says they have not received any reports from consumers who have fallen ill.

The cans in question were sold between Jan. 17, 2013 and Feb. 28, 2013.
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Health

Nightmare superbug killing half of those who are infected says CDC

Annie Hart
The Examiner
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:56 UTC
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© Photo Illustration by Sean Gallup/Getty Images Pork cut into cubes and purchased at a local discount supermarket lies on a plate in this photo illustration on February 8, 2012 in Berlin, Germany.
A nightmare gut bacteria that can kill up to 50 percent of those infected, the extremely drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) - producing K. pneumoniae sequence type 258 (KpnST258) has emerged as an important pathogen worldwide. Hospitals are scrambling to get rid of this bacteria. Check out the video, "Hospitals scramble to kill 'superbug'"on NBCNews.com.

A deadly class of superbugs nearly impossible to treat with a fatality rate approaching 50 percent need to be stopped. But how do scientists stop the CRE outbreaks from reaching the general public? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified deadly 'nightmare' bacteria that's resistant to antibiotics and spreading through the nation's hospitals. There's the potential for CRE bacteria to spread to patients with common ailments such as diarrhea or more severe infections such as pneumonia. The doctors don't have any drug to treat CRE outbreaks because the bacteria is resistant to what's currently available.
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Donut

Mark Hyman: The dangers of sugar in all its forms


Greenmedtv.com
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:41 UTC

Comment: Additional information about the numerous dangers of sugar:Addicted to Sugar?
Sugar: The Bitter Truth
A Spoon Full of Sugar.... Is Toxic?
Sugar Addiction is Real
The Health Detriments of Sugar Revealed
Sugar High: The Dark History and Nasty Methods Used to Feed Our Sweet Tooth
Sweet Sabotage: The Harsh Reality of Sugar, Sugar Substitutes and "Natural Sweeteners"

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Attention

Warning: Major supplements openly contain GMO vitamin sources

Anthony Gucciardi
Natural Society
Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:26 UTC
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© permaculturenews.org
Genetically modified organisms have permeated much of the crop industry, absolutely infesting the processed food market, but are many 'health' supplements free from the presence of GMOs? As it turns out, major supplement producers actually will openly admit that they derive many of their formulas from GMO crops - consumers just aren't really paying attention!

If you know much about Monsanto or the prevalence of GMOs, you are likely aware that a large majority of corn (about 80-95% of the entire crop in the US, if not more, depending on what research you follow) is genetically modified. Being responsible for 90% of the US GM seed market, Monsanto has done its very best to create a genetically altered monopoly on the food supply. This is where the supplement factor comes in.

As you may or may not be aware, wildly popular substances like vitamin C are usually extracted from corn - one of the leading GMO crops in the US. It is from this that the question immediately comes into focus: could supplement makers be using GMO corn to create vitamin C supplements? What about the countless other formulas that can extract from GM foods as a source. And when you consider GMO-containing 'food' can legally be labeled as 'natural' under current regulations, what 'natural' supplements could be based on Monsanto's GMO crops?
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Bulb

Stomach cancer breath test trialled successfully

Sarah Boseley
Guardian
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:51 UTC
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© Christopher Thomond for the GuardianCancer patients receiving treatment in Harrogate: a breath test could be routinely used by a GP to rule out cancer.
Simple breath test to detect stomach cancer could lead to earlier detection of stomach cancer and save lives

Scientists have successfully trialled a simple breath test to detect stomach cancer, using a new type of sensor made of nanomaterials.

The first trial of the device is small, involving 130 patients with a range of different stomach complaints, but it proved to be more than 90% accurate in differentiating between cancer and other diseases. It was also over 90% accurate in detecting which were early-stage cancers and which were advanced.

It has been known for some time that cancers can give off odours that may not be detectable to the human nose. A study published by German researchers in 2010 described how dogs had been trained to sniff out lung cancers - although they accepted it was possible the dogs were picking up the smell of drugs used to treat patients rather than the disease.

The stomach cancer breath test takes the concept into more measurable and probably useful territory. Stomach cancer can be detected by an endoscopic examination, which involves inserting a flexible tube through the nose and into the digestive system, but this is not pleasant. A breath test could be routinely used by a GP to rule out cancer.
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Arrow Down

Lifespan for U. S. women declining


The Wall Street Journal
Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:45 UTC
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© ource: University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and EvaluationFemale life expectancy by county, 2007.
A new study offers more compelling evidence that life expectancy for some U.S. women is actually falling, a disturbing trend that experts can't explain.

The latest research found that women age 75 and younger are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation's counties - many of them rural and in the South and West. Curiously, for men, life expectancy has held steady or improved in nearly all counties.

A new survey from the American Psychological Association reveals troubling findings about stress in the American workplace. WSJ's Lauren Weber and the American Psychological Association's David Ballard join Lunch Break to discuss.

Two studies that looked at the effects of smoking over a lifetime found that both men and women who smoke were about three times as likely to die before reaching age 80 in one study, and 75 in the other study. WSJ's Ron Winslow reports.

The study is the latest to spot this pattern, especially among disadvantaged white women. Some leading theories blame higher smoking rates, obesity and less education, but several experts said they simply don't know why.

Comment: Smoking is always demonized when the real reasons are unknown. U.S. life expectancy has been declining for some time and likely has numerous causes, such as the broken health care system, the fact that citizens are perpetually stressed, undernourished and lacking in vital nutrients, which lands many in an endless cycle of prescription drug addiction and ever-worsening health.

5 Health Benefits of Smoking
Smoking is down, use of painkillers is up
US life expectancy continues to plummet, but not because of inadequate health care
Poor Mental Health Linked to Reduced Life Expectancy
How women suffer 'double-shift' of stress at home and work

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