Health & WellnessS


Health

Stored blood may be ineffective when it is desperately needed

Jonathan Weiss
Medical Daily
Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:42 UTC
Blood
© Medical Daily
Blood transfusions are a revolutionary technology that has saved countless lives both in the operating room and on the battlefield. But longterm storage of blood may diminish its life saving properties, a new study says.

A report in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia from Johns Hopkins researchers indicated that storing blood for extended periods may reduce the flexibility that red blood cells have to fit into small capillaries. This would limit their ability to bring lifesaving oxygen to starved areas of the body such as vital organs and the brain when someone is in need of a transfusion.

The shelf life of blood, according to standard medical procedure is six weeks and is usually stored at a cold temperature.

"There's more and more information telling us that the shelf life of blood may not be six weeks, which is what the blood banks consider standard," said study leader Steven M. Frank, M.D., an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "If I were having surgery tomorrow, I'd want the freshest blood they could find."
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Rose

Herbal defluoridation of drinking water

Albert Ang
Inderscience Publishers
Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:39 UTC
Researchers in India have developed a filter system based on a medicinal herb, which they say can quickly and easily remove "fluoride" from drinking water. The technology described in the March issue of the International Journal of Environmental Engineering uses parts of the plant Tridax procumbens as a biocarbon filter for the ion.

Drinking water can contain natural fluoride or fluoride might be added as a protective agent for teeth by water companies. However, its presence is not without controversy while in some natural drinking water levels may be above those considered safe by the World Health Organisation. Chemist Malairajan Singanan of the Presidency College (Autonomous), in Chennai, points out that the WHO guidelines suggest that a safe level of fluoride is 1.5 milligrams per liter. He adds that various techniques to reduce fluoride content have been tried including coagulation, adsorption, precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis. However, metal ions with an affinity for fluoride in a biocarbon matrix represent a promising new approach.
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Arrow Down

Aspirin use linked to blindness in the elderly

Jonathan Weiss
Medical Daily
Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:05 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
An Australian study that looked at 2,389 patients over a period of 15 years showed that regular usage of Aspirin leads to an increase in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Macular degeneration occurs when the light sensitive cells in the back of the eye start dying either because the blood vessels in the back are leaking (wet Macular Degeneration) or when the retina starts to thin and the cells start dying (Dry Macular Degeneration). Smoking is a known factor that contributed to Macular Degeneration.

Aspirin is used in the elderly to thin the blood and is known to be good for the heart and possibly prevent heart attacks.
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Health

U.S. doctors cure child born with HIV

Ian Sample
Guardian
Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:56 UTC
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© Geostock/Getty ImagesUS doctors have managed the effective cure of a child born with the HIV virus.
Medical history made with first 'functional cure' of unnamed two-year-old born with the virus but now needing no medication

Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

Doctors did not release the name or sex of the child to protect the patient's identity, but said the infant was born, and lived, in Mississippi state. Details of the case were unveiled on Sunday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

Dr Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi medical centre, told the Guardian the case amounted to the first "functional cure" of an HIV-infected child. A patient is functionally cured of HIV when standard tests are negative for the virus, but it is likely that a tiny amount remains in their body.

"Now, after at least one year of taking no medicine, this child's blood remains free of virus even on the most sensitive tests available," Gay said.

"We expect that this baby has great chances for a long, healthy life. We are certainly hoping that this approach could lead to the same outcome in many other high-risk babies," she added.
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Easter Egg 2

Easter candy recall: Chocolate eggs may contain salmonella


Raw Story
Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:50 UTC
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© Food and Drug AdministrationOut of an abundance of caution, Zachary Confections is recalling lots of chocolate covered marshmallow Easter eggs because of possible salmonella contamination. The Easter candy recall applies to five states.
The FDA has announced an Easter candy recall of certain lots of Zachary Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs in five states that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The marshmallow eggs were manufactured by Zachary Confections, of Frankfurt, Ind., which makes chocolates, candy corn, and jelly beans, among other candies. So far, no illnesses have been reported as a result of the recall. No other Zachary products are affected.

The recall was initiated "in response to a test result indicating the potential for Salmonella contamination in a sample taken during routine post-production testing from one of the production lots of product that is the subject of this recall," a statement on the Food and Drug Administration's recalls page reads. "Out of an abundance of caution, Zachary Confections is recalling all lots of product that may have been affected."
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Health

Are we soon to see a relaxing in cholesterol guidelines?

John Briffa
briffa.com
Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:08 UTC
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What is deemed a desirable cholesterol level in the mind of many health professionals has a lot to do with the opinion of panels of 'experts' who, essentially, tell doctors what to think and how to manage their patients. One such endeavour in the US is known as the Adult Treatment Protocol (ATP), which itself is part of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The ATP has seen three versions, the last of which (ATP III) was published in 2002 and updated in 2004. The message from ATP III was loud and clear - individuals should strive to lower their cholesterol levels to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

ATP IV is due later this year. According to this report in the journal Nature, there may be relaxing of the rules on cholesterol management. The piece draws attention to some key deficiencies in current cholesterol policy.

Firstly, the idea that 'lower is better' has not been formally tested. It's actually based on assumptions. And these assumptions come from studies that were never able to determine whether getting cholesterol levels down to a certain level is better for patients than other levels. In fact, it's been previously noted in the scientific literature that the idea of treating people according to predetermined cholesterol levels is not founded in science at all [1].
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Bacon n Eggs

There is only one type of cholesterol: here's why

Heidi Stevenson
GreenMedInfo.com
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:53 UTC
We keep hearing about different types of cholesterol. It's all nonsense. There's only one cholesterol molecule, so there's only one type of cholesterol. What started this nonsense of types of cholesterol?

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© Morgue File
Just how many types of cholesterol are there? The more we're indoctrinated with the cholesterol-as-poison myth, the more types they seem to find. HDL. LDL. VLDL. And those pesky triglycerides: Are they a type of cholesterol? Here's the truth:

None of them are cholesterol, and there is only one type of cholesterol! That's right. HDL, LDL, and VLDL aren't cholesterol. And cholesterol isn't a fat.

All that nonsense bandied about to make you fearful that your cholesterol levels are too high ... well, unless they're the "right type" of cholesterol ... or maybe it's making sure they're at the right balance ... or whatever the latest fad among doctors happens to be ... It's all pure and utter nonsense. It's a cooked up jamboree of confusion, designed to put not only you, but also your doctor, off balance and disoriented so you'll buy into the idea that you really must take their poisons ... uh, drugs, or you could die tomorrow.
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Eggs Fried

Tax fat, get fat - and sick

Stanley A. Fishman
Tender Grassfed Meat
Sat, 02 Mar 2013 09:41 UTC
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Pastured butter is a great way to get healthy animal fat.
The proponents of a truly bad idea never give it up if it fails. Especially if they are in the medical profession. Even if totally fails. Especially if it totally fails.

A case in point is the fat tax. The idea is that you can make people thinner by heavily taxing the purchase of foods containing the "ultimate evil" - animal fat. This truly bad idea was tried in Denmark in 2011. A tax ranging as high as twenty percent was placed on foods containing saturated animal fat, like butter and cheese. The Danes did not reduce their consumption of these foods at all, often buying them from other countries. After a year of total failure, the Danish government admitted failure and abandoned this stupid, tyrannical tax.

Yet medical voices in the U.S., completely aware of the Danish failure, are still calling for a fat tax in America. A tax that would have to be high enough to stop people from buying foods containing animal fat.

Reducing the consumption of healthy animal fats will make people malnourished, not thinner

The basic idea behind the fat tax, that forcing people to eat less fat will make them thinner, is just not true. A huge campaign to reduce the eating of animal fats has been waged in the U.S. for over fifty years.

Americans eat much less saturated animal fat than they used to, which is the goal of the fat tax. And what is the result of this "success"?
  1. Americans are much fatter and sicker than ever before.
  2. Seventy five percent of young Americans who try to join the military are rejected as physically unable to serve.
  3. Chronic illness, especially among young people, has greatly increased.
  4. The U.S. spends far more money on medical costs per person than it did before fat restriction was advocated.
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Life Preserver

Kick your cholesterol panel in the butt!

Dr. Davis
Wheat Belly
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:33 UTC
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Take a look at what Wheat Belly Blog reader Allen posted about his cholesterol testing:

Just wanted to report that I had my first blood test since starting Wheat Belly back in July, 2012. I just got a note from my company doc:

"I just wanted to write as your medical consultant how impressed I was by your recent labs. You said you lost 20 pounds - congratulations. Your hemoglobin A1c was fine, not indicating pre-diabetes. And your lipid profile showed more improvement than I've ever seen from weight loss, exercise and diet - many find this just genetic and cannot get it down with just these measures, but your's has really improved.

Total cholesterol (in U.S. units) down from 264 to 197, LDL or bad cholesterol down from 203 to 138, HDL or good cholesterol from 21 way up to 47. Your triglycerides are normal now.

This is great - glad you were so successful!"

His doctor's comment that Allen's lipid profile "showed more improvement than I've ever seen from weight loss, exercise and diet" hints at the extravagant metabolic transformations that develop with elimination of all things wheat.

When you eliminate wheat, 2 + 2 = 11 . . . the total is greater than the sum of the parts. Beneath the surface of his markedly improved lipid values, Allen has also:
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Cow

Let them eat grass

Stanley A. Fishman
Tender Grassfed Meat
Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:27 UTC
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© Jeff PangGrassfed sheep thriving in rocky pastures.
Yet another arm of the United Nations is demanding that we stop eating meat, "to save the planet."

It is valid to be concerned about artificial fertilizers, which have caused great harm. But the UN solution, to stop eating meat, is, to be polite, nonsense.

The UN Scientists reason that eighty percent of artificial fertilizers are used to grow crops fed to meat animals. Thus, they think, if we stop eating meat, we will use less artificial fertilizers. But the truth is that if we stop eating animal foods, we will all suffer from severe malnutrition, and the myriad illnesses that come with the lack of vital nutrients. The research of Dr. Weston A. Price established that we need good animal foods to be well nourished and healthy.

My solution is practical, and will greatly increase the food supply. Stop feeding grains and other crops to meat animals. Let the animals eat the their natural food, the food that makes them healthy.

Let them eat grass.
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