Health & WellnessS


Health

Mysterious illnesses that perplex medical experts

Annie Hopper
Kelowna Capital News
Sat, 14 May 2011 02:00 UTC
Barb is 54 years old and had been chronically ill with various "mystery illnesses" for almost 28 years.

With endless prescriptions, along with visits to doctors and specialists, she had almost given up hope that some day she might recover.

Barb is not alone in her suffering.

According to the May issue of Readers Digest, there are millions of North Americans suffering from mysterious illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivity that leave both doctors and scientists perplexed and unable to help.

Barb had been given a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, post-traumatic stress disorder, restless leg syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome and depression.

But most of all, Barb suffered from lack of hope for recovery.

As it turns out, Barb had been exhibiting symptoms of illness for much longer than 28 years. They actually started when Barb was just a child.
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Cult

Criminal! Hundreds of herbal remedies now outlawed across Europe

M.K. Tyler
NaturalNews.com
Fri, 13 May 2011 20:31 UTC
herbal remedies
Live in Europe? Get your herbs while they last. New rules put forth by the European Union (EU) will ban the sale of certain herbal remedies that have been used for centuries.

Traditional herbs such a St. John's Wort or Echinacea must now meet strict licensing guidelines in order to be sold, while other lesser-known herbs that haven't been "traditionally" used in the last 30 years won't even make the cut to reach consumer shelves. Only those products that have been "assessed" by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will be available for purchase. The real kicker? Even approved products will only be recommended for minor ailments such as the common cold, which means that product labeling may no longer be allowed to convey the potent health benefits of widely-used herbal remedies.
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Newspaper

Digestive problems early in life may increase risk for depression, study suggests

Krista Conger
Stanford School of Medicine
Thu, 12 May 2011 18:10 UTC
Depression and anxiety may result from short-term digestive irritation early in life, according to a study of laboratory rats by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The findings suggest that some human psychological conditions may be the result, rather than the cause, of gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome.

"A lot of research has focused on understanding how the mind can influence the body," said Pankaj Pasricha, MD, professor and chief of gastroenterology and hepatology. "But this study suggests that it can be the other way around. Gastric irritation during the first few days of life may reset the brain into a permanently depressed state."

Clearly not all stomach upsets lead to lifelong psychological problems, however. The impact of the irritation may depend on when it occurs during development or the genetic makeup of the affected person, the researchers believe. In particular, the viscera, or internal organs, are particularly vulnerable early in development.
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Beaker

Best of the Web: Say What? A Chemical Can Damage Your Lungs, Liver and Kidneys and Still Be Labeled "Non-Toxic"?

Monona Rossol
Alternet
Mon, 09 May 2011 22:49 UTC
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© Jessica Carew KraftOn shelves, in studios, and at schools, art supplies containing toxic ingredients pose risks to human health and the environment.
You will be shocked at all the loop-holes given by the government to industrial chemicals to avoid safety regulation and accurate labeling.

Bisphenol A, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, and on and on. Do they expect us all to be chemists? I'm a chemist and even I don't want make every trip to the store a research project. Why not just provide a simple label like "nontoxic" that we can look for? Surely it is illegal to put a nontoxic label on products containing known toxic or carcinogenic substances - especially on children's products. Not so. And we all should know how we got into this mess.

Until the 1980s, even asbestos was a common ingredient in many products including children's art materials. For example, one product was a powdered papier-mâché product for children marketed by Milton Bradley. It contained about 50 percent asbestos powder. Called FibroClay, the asbestos-containing product had a nontoxic approved product (AP) seal on it from the organization known today as the Arts and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI).

Although the hazards of asbestos were known in the 1970s and the 1980s, the only required toxicity tests for consumer products at the time were acute animal tests. These tests involve a brief exposure to the test substance and observation of the animals two weeks later. Because asbestos didn't immediately poison the test animals, no law was broken by labeling this product "nontoxic."
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Heart

SOTT Focus: DMSO - The Real Miracle Solution

Gabriela Segura, M.D.
Sott.net
Thu, 12 May 2011 08:12 UTC
Image
In 1866, Russian scientist Alexander Saytzeff isolated a most curious and peculiar chemical compound. It was crystalline, odor-less, non-toxic and had a garlic-like taste when consumed. At the time, Saytzeff had no way to predict that his discovery was going to prove highly controversial throughout its entire medical history, that it was going to be tested in thousands of studies and provide miraculous relief for numerous patients.

I'm talking here about dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an organic sulfur compound which was used only as an industrial solvent, that is, until its medical properties were discovered in 1963 by a research team headed by Stanley W. Jacob, MD.

DMSO is a by-product of kraft pulping (the 'sulfate process') which converts wood into wood pulp leaving almost pure cellulose fibers. As industrial as it may sound, the process simply entails a treatment of wood chips with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, known as white liquor, breaking the bonds which link lignin (from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood) to the cellulose.

DMSO is useful as a pain reliever and also in burns, acne, arthritis, mental retardation, strokes, amyloidosis, head injury, scleroderma, it soothes toothaches, eases headaches, hemorroids, muscle strains, it prevents paralysis from spinal-chord injuries and softens scar tissues. In fact, it is useful in well over 300 ailments and is safe to use. You might think that a compound that has so many alleged uses and benefits should be automatically suspect, so let's have a close look at its properties and the data available and we'll shed some light in this miraculous chemical.
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Attention

South Korean study may lead to higher autism estimates

Miriam Falco
CNN Health
Wed, 11 May 2011 21:47 UTC
Researchers believe the number of children who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is much higher than previously believed, according to a new study published Monday in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

By looking at a total population sample in South Korea, the study authors estimate that 1 in 38 children in the country -- or 2.64% -- has some form of autism. The approach is a new one. Previously, researchers have examined only children known to have the neurological disorder or at high risk of developing it.

The study authors predicted that if similar studies were conducted in other countries, the prevalance estimates would also go up.

The research also led the study authors to believe that more girls than previously thought fall under the autism umbrella.
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Syringe

Somalis, Health Department at odds over autism, vaccines

Lorna Benson
Minnesota Public Radio News
Wed, 11 May 2011 21:40 UTC
Distrust of vaccines and the mystery behind autism's causes have created a public health problem in Minnesota.

Somali parents of children with autism and the Minnesota Department of Health are at a standoff over vaccines. The parents suspect vaccines have caused autism in their children, while the Health Department says there's no evidence of a link.

This dispute comes as fewer people overall are getting their children vaccinated and diseases once controlled by vaccines are making a comeback. Measles was once almost wiped out in Minnesota, but so far this year 23 cases have been reported -- a third of them among Somalis.

Somali parents say they understand that the Health Department wants to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases like measles. But they argue that it's not enough for them to be told that vaccines don't cause autism.
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Info

Fears Mount Over Mysterious Pneumonia-Linked Virus


The Chosunilbo
Wed, 11 May 2011 19:10 UTC
Fears are mounting over a mysterious virus that left seven pregnant women hospitalized with pneumonia and caused the death of one of them on Tuesday. Health officials say they have been unable to identify the pathogen that is causing the illness and are trying their best to trace the cause.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has mobilized epidemiologists and other experts to find the cause of the disease, saying the simultaneous onset of acute pneumonia in several pregnant women is unprecedented.
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Magnify

Bedbugs Can Carry Drug-Resistant Bacteria: Study

Katie Moisse
American Broadcasting Company
Wed, 11 May 2011 15:43 UTC
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© Agence France-Presse/Getty/Jewel SamadBedbugs in a container on display at the National Bedbug Conference in Washington, Feb. 2, 2011. A new report suggests that the hard-to-tackle pests can carry methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- better known as the "superbug" MRSA.
Bedbugs, the apple seed-sized critters checking in to mattresses nationwide, may be traveling with some risky baggage. A new report suggests that hard-to-tackle pests whose deep bites leave itchy welts can carry drug-resistant bacteria -- better known as "superbugs."

Canadian researchers found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) on bedbugs collected from three hospitalized patients, according to the report published today in Emerging Infectious Diseases -- the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's journal.

But whether the bugs can actually infect a person remains unclear.
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Family

Parents' Fighting Can Even Affect Infants: Study


HealthDay News
Wed, 11 May 2011 13:57 UTC
parents fighting
© Unknown
Infants whose parents had more relationship 'instability' slept more poorly at 18 months old

Infants' sleep patterns can be disrupted if their parents have severe relationship problems and are constantly arguing, a new study finds.

In addition, infants who heard regular blow-ups between parents when they were 9 months old continued to have troubled sleep patterns -- marked by problems getting to sleep and staying asleep -- even when they were 18-month-old toddlers.

The researchers found, however, that infants' sleep patterns had no effect on parents' relationships.

The findings were from a study by an international team of researchers, who analyzed data from more than 300 U.S. children and parents. All of the children were adopted at birth, which let researchers focus on how family relationships -- without the influence of genetics -- might affect the infants' sleep patterns.

"Regulated sleep is essential during infancy for healthy brain and physical development. Disrupted sleep patterns early in life have serious implications for children's long-term development," study co-author Gordon Harold, chair in behavioral genetics and developmental psychopathology at the University of Leicester, U.K., said in a university news release.
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