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Heart

Plus Size Bodies, What Is Wrong With Them Anyway?

Madeline Figueroa-Jones
PLUS Model Magazine
Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC
Katya Zharkova
© www.plumodelmag.com
In the January 2012 issue of PLUS Model Magazine, plus-size model Katya Zharkova is featured in an explosive editorial where thought provoking statistics and statements are revealed.
  • Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less.
  • Ten years ago plus-size models averaged between size 12 and 18. Today the need for size diversity within the plus-size modeling
    • industry continues to be questioned. The majority of plus-size models on agency boards are between a size 6 and 14, while the customers continue to express their dissatisfaction.
  • Most runway models meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
  • 50% of women wear a size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.
If we continue to ignore and rely on others to decide what we want to see, change will never happen. We have to be vocal and proactive, patient and realistic.
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Health

US, New York: State health officials discuss outbreak of tics in Le Roy, but say they can't share the cause

Howard Owens
The Batavian
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC

In a community meeting Wednesday night to discuss an unusual outbreak of tics among female students at Le Roy High School, a state health official steadfastly refused to reveal the cause of the outbreak.

Citing not just HIPPA as a reason for keeping the diagnosis of 11 girls private, Dr. Gregory Young said that as a matter of principle he didn't want to see the girls "labeled" by what their doctor has found.

Young, from the NYS Department of Health, said the cause (or causes) isn't related to the environment; it isn't anything a person "catches"; it doesn't come from exposure to something, or from anything ingested. Nor does the cause stem from prescribed drugs or illicit drugs.

State health officials know what is behind the outbreak, but Young would not disclose it. Yet he tried to reassure parents that it's safe to send their children to school.

In all, according to Young -- though some in the audience disputed the number -- at least 11 girls have come down with the "tic manifestations" (Young cautioned against calling it a syndrome).
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Bizarro Earth

US: Students Exhibit Tourette-Like Illness


WGRZ.com
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:25 UTC
school desks
© AP Photo
Administrators in the Leroy Central School District updated parents and students about a mysterious disorder that's affected twelve female high school students, causing them to exhibit symptoms similar to Tourette Syndrome.

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder defined by involuntary motor and vocal tics.

Wednesday night, administrators said all 12 students have been diagnosed and are being treated. They are not releasing causes due to HIPAA laws. They said they found similarities among some cases but wouldn't elaborate.

"I can assure you these children have all been seen by professionals that have come up with answers and they are all being treated and they're actually doing pretty well," said Dr. Greg Young, with the NYS Department of Health. They have ruled out all environmental factors, infections and the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. NYS Health Department spokesman Jeff Hammond also says vaccines such as Gardasil were investigated as a cause and ruled out.
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Info

Implanted: The Myth Of The Cancer-Free Breast Implant

Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:15 UTC
Breast Silicon
© GreenMedInfo

While global media attention presently fixates on the increased risk for rupture within silicone-filled breast implants manufactured by the French company PIP, other less well known, but nonetheless serious health risks associated with implanting silicone-based capsules into the breast are not even being discussed.

According to conventional sources like Mayo Clinic, saline and silicone breast implants pose similar risks, including:
  • Breast pain
  • Potentially permanent changes in nipple or breast sensation
  • Infection
  • Scar tissue that distorts the shape of the breast implant
  • Implant leakage or rupture
  • Need for additional breast surgery
Mayo Clinic, however, neglects to mention some of the more serious and common health risks associated with breast augmentation, which include autoimmune diseases, cancer, and psychological disorders.

Regardless of whether saline or silicone filled, all breast implants on the global market today are composed of a silicone elastomer "capsule," which is the encasing membrane of the implant. The materials used to create the capsule are biologically alien to the body, are often coated in highly controversial nanoparticle silica, and result in rejection by the immune system in up to 11.4% of all cases. This is known as "capsular contracture," which is commonly defined as an "abnormal" immune response to foreign materials in the body, and is a reaction serious enough to require surgical intervention in the majority of cases. Capsular contracture may also indicate the commonality of low-grade bacterial infections that opportunistically emerge from the implant procedure or the implants themselves.
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Health

US: Twelve Persons Infected With New Swine Flu Strain

Jason Koebler
USNews
Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:14 UTC
virus microscopic
© n/a
The days of medical masks at airports and widespread panic may be coming back - that's because at least 12 humans are believed to have been infected with a new strain of swine flu that's not covered by this season's vaccine.

The new swine flu strain, H3N2v, has shown at least some potential for human-to-human transmission in those 12 individuals, which makes it especially dangerous. Between 2009 and mid-2010, more than 17,000 people died worldwide from the highly contagious H1N1 swine flu strain, leading the World Health Organization to call the strain a pandemic.

The 12 people with the new swine flu strain live in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Officials for the Centers for Disease Control say the sample size of H3N2 infections is too small to know whether it will pose a threat to the population at large.

"It's a very small sample and it's geographically spread, which makes it more difficult to get a handle on it," says Jeffrey Dimond, a CDC spokesman. "Most of the cases have come through direct contact with the animals, through the 4H Club and that sort of thing."
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Health

US: Epidemic Hazard in New York


RSOE EDIS
Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:26 UTC
Image
© steadyhealth.com
Doctors' offices across Central New York are packed with sick patients and 'What's Going Around' might surprise you. It's not influenza - at least not yet. More than 500 people were treated before 4 p.m. Monday and the phones were still ringing off the hook Tuesday at CNY Family Care in East Syracuse.

Amanda Carelli made a visit after coming down with a fever and sore throat. Turns out she's far from alone. "We are being inundated with phone calls for sinus infectious, bronchitis, infection of the stomach, bacterial infections, viral infections," Family Physician Dr. Louis Bonavita said. While the spread of the stomach bug and respiratory infections aren't anything new at this time of year, the sheer number of people getting sick is different. It may have to do with Central New York's mild winter, especially when it comes to sinus infections.

Snow and cold usually keep mold and fungus in check. "That may inflame people's sinuses via allergy symptoms. Then, you get a secondary viral or bacterial infection," Dr. Bonavita said. If you do get sick, follow Amanda's lead and take a day off. Other advice for preventing the spread of illnesses includes hand washing, using hand sanitizer and coughing into your arm, not your hand. CNY Family Care just had its first patient admitted to the hospital because of the flu. Doctors encourage flu shots, as they expects influenza to pick up over the next two weeks.

NewsChannel 9 also spoke with Dr. Robert Dracker Tuesday. He says it's hard to determine if the flu may be holding off because of the mild weather. He says it could also be due to the fact that more people are getting immunized. Dr. Dracker adds it's been the mildest flu season he's seen in a very long time and when that happens, people tend to see respiratory illnesses fill the void.

Comment: Flu vaccines have been shown to be ineffective and in some cases dangerous. There are far safer options:

Report Claims: Vitamin D Better than Vaccines at Preventing Flu

Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918

What the Inventor of the Flu Shot NOW Thinks of the Vaccine...

Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests

The Vaccine Firestorm

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Ambulance

New, Deadlier Form of Tuberculosis Hits India

Malathy Iyer
The India Times
Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:39 UTC
Image
© www.medindia.net
Tuberculosis, which kills around 1,000 people a day in India, has acquired a deadlier edge. A new entity-ominously called Totally Drug-Resistant TB (TDR-TB )-has been isolated in the fluid samples of 12 TB patients in the past three months alone at Hinduja Hospital at Mahim. The hospital's laboratory has been certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) to test TB patients for drug resistance.

While Iran first reported TDRTB cases three years ago, India seems to be only the second country to report this deadly form of the disease. TDR-TB is the result of the latest mutation of the bacilli after Multi-Drug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB ) and Extremely Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB ) were diagnozed earlier.

Even more worryingly for Mumbai, 10 of the 12 TDR-TB cases are from the city, while the other two are patients from Ratnagiri and UP. One of the 12 patients has since died. India sees around 3- 4 lakh deaths for all forms of TB each year, while the world saw 1.7 million deaths in 2009.
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Pills

4 Creepy Ways Big Pharma Peddles its Drugs

Martha Rosenberg
Alternet
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:25 UTC
Image
© Alternet
Big Pharma uses ads that sow hypochondria, raise health fears and sell diseases to adults and their children.

It's no secret that advertising works. Big Pharma wouldn't spend over $4 billion a year on direct-to-consumer advertising if it didn't mean massive profits.

What is more unknown is why drug ads that sow hypochondria, raise health fears and "sell" diseases are often the most common - and effective - even when the drugs themselves are of questionable safety.

The nation's fourth most frequent drug ads in 2009 for were Cymbalta, making Eli Lilly $3.1 billion in one year, despite the antidepressant's links to liver problems and suicide. Pfizer spent $157 million advertising Lyrica for fibromyalgia in 2009, despite the seizure pill's links to life-threatening allergic reactions. The same year, it spent $107 million advertising the antidepressant Pristiq, even though it also had links to liver problems.
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Attention

EPA Says: Toxic Releases Rose 16 Percent in 2010

Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post
Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:33 UTC
Image
© unknown
The amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment nationwide in 2010 increased 16 percent over the year before, reversing a downward trend in overall toxic releases since 2006, according to a report released Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The spike was driven largely by metal mining, but other sectors - including the chemical industry - also contributed to the rise in emissions, according to the new analysis from the annual federal Toxics Release Inventory.

Air releases of dioxin, which is linked to cancer as well as neurological and reproductive problems, rose 10 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to the report. Other releases, such as landfill disposal, increased 18 percent.
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Info

Environmental Chemicals, Soy, and Sleep Disruption Contributes to Weight Gain

Dr. Peter Osborne
towncenterwellness.com
Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:14 UTC
Image
© towncenterwellness.com
About 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, and their health-care costs are higher: $1500 more per year than a normal weight person. Much of the difference is contributed to obesity related disease like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and other conditions.

Recently, scientists in Japan found that low levels of certain compounds, such as bisphenol A - BPA for short, (the building block of plastics, including that in baby bottles), had surprising effects on fibroblast cells. These cells typically help form connective tissue, muscle, ligaments, bones, etc. Exposure to BPA and other chemical compounds caused the cells to turn into adipocytes (AKA - fat cells). The chemicals also stimulated the growth of existing fat cells.

Another study performed in 2006 by scientist, Bruce Blumberg of the University of California reported similar results using different chemicals. In 2006 he fed pregnant mice tributyltin, a disinfectant and fungicide used in marine paints, plastics production, and other products, which enters the food chain in seafood and drinking water.
"The offspring were born with more fat already stored, more fat cells, and became 5 to 20 percent fatter by adulthood."
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