Health & WellnessS


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Experts Report: Soil Crucial to Public Health

Anna Salleh
ABC Science
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:57 UTC
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© iStockphotoHealthy soil can kill introduced pathogens and keep groundwater clean, say experts
Soil should be safeguarded as a "savior" of public health, despite being the source of potentially dangerous bugs, say US experts.

Environmental microbiologist, Dr Ian Pepper, from the University of Arizona, will address the 19th World Congress of Soil Science in Brisbane next week.

"Much of the time people tend to associate soils with agriculture. I'm saying it has much more profound impacts than just that," says Pepper, who specializes in soils, water, and waste management and re-use.

Apart from providing food, soil provides life-saving medicines including antibiotics, anti-cancer agents and immunosuppressive drugs, says Pepper and colleague Dr Charles Rice of Kansas State University.
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Bisphenol A (BPA): The Fuss Just Won't Go Away

Marion Nestle
The Atlantic
Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:31 UTC
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© Wikimedia Commons
At current exposure levels, is BPA, the ubiquitous chemical found in plastic food packaging, toxic or not? The question turns out to be difficult to answer for two reasons: science and politics. Science does not have an easy way to determine the health effects of exposures to very low doses of chemicals, and the plastics industry does everything it can to minimize risks.

A recent study says that human exposure to BPA is much higher than previously estimated, not least because many of the sources of this estrogen-disrupting chemical have not yet been identified. The authors of the study, according to FoodQualityNews, want the chemical registered so that exposures can be assessed. They also call for immediate action to reduce exposures.

Comment: For more information about Bisphenol A (BPA) and the surrounding controversy read the following articles listed below:

The Real Story Behind Bisphenol A
Bisphenol A, Chemical Used to Make Plastic, Lingers in Body
BPA Report Details Chemical's Hazards
Scientists Believe BPA is Risky - it's Just a Matter of Agreeing on How Much
President's Cancer Panel Warns of Toxic Effects of BPA
Study: Human Exposure to BPA 'Grossly Underestimated'
BPA Should Be Avoided, Federal Official Says
FDA is Sued for Failing to Regulate Bisphenol A

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Syringe

Obese But Healthy? Gray Area Confounds Science

Stephanie Pappas
LiveScience
Sun, 03 Oct 2010 07:52 UTC
Is it possible to be fat and fit? Perhaps, researchers say, but losing weight may make you even better off.

A new study, published in the September issue of the journal Diabetes Care, finds that people who are obese but metabolically healthy (meaning they have healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels as well as normal blood pressure), can still improve their health profile by dropping a few pounds.

The study contradicts an earlier finding that people who are obese and yet healthy may actually be worse off if they lose weight. What the new study can't do is explain why some people manage to be both obese and healthy - or whether there's really such a thing.

"Right now, we are in a gray zone. Is it really protective to be metabolically healthy?" said Martin Brochu, an obesity researcher at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec. "There's a huge debate in the scientific literature right now."

Comment: Kind of gives a different spin on these archeological finds:

Venus statue reportedly found in Macedonia

Sexy "Venus" may be oldest figurine yet discovered

5,000-year-old Venus figure found in Çanakkale

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Laptop

No laps for warm laptops; skin damage is possible

Lindsey Tanner
The Associated Press
Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:48 UTC
laptop skin damage
© AP Photo/HO via Quincy Hearld-WhigIn this undated photo provided by the journal Pediatrics, a 12 year-old boy is pictured using a laptop on balanced on his bare legs. According to recent medical reports, exposing skin to the high temperatures created by laptops can lead to 'toasted skin syndrome,' an unusual-looking mottled skin condition caused by long-term heat exposure.
Have you ever worked on your laptop computer with it sitting on your lap, heating up your legs? If so, you might want to rethink that habit.

Doing it a lot can lead to "toasted skin syndrome," an unusual-looking mottled skin condition caused by long-term heat exposure, according to medical reports.

In one recent case, a 12-year-old boy developed a sponge-patterned skin discoloration on his left thigh after playing computer games a few hours every day for several months.

"He recognized that the laptop got hot on the left side; however, regardless of that, he did not change its position," Swiss researchers reported in an article published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Another case involved a Virginia law student who sought treatment for the mottled discoloration on her leg.

Dr. Kimberley Salkey, who treated the young woman, was stumped until she learned the student spent about six hours a day working with her computer propped on her lap. The temperature underneath registered 125 degrees.

That case, from 2007, is one of 10 laptop-related cases reported in medical journals in the past six years.
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Cow

rbGH Milk Ruled 'Compositionally Different' in Ohio

Jill Richardson
Civil Eats
Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:59 UTC
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© unknown
Remember way back when when several states tried to ban "rbGH-free" claims on dairy? This was a few years ago now. Monsanto, who owned rbGH at the time, helped found a group of rbGH-loving dairy farmers called AFACT. AFACT then pushed to ban any label claims telling consumers which milk came from cows that had not been treated with rbGH. Naturally, that sparked tons of consumer outrage, and ultimately AFACT was unsuccessful in most states where they tried this.

Save for Ohio. Ohio was the one last state where it looked like they might win. Ultimately the fight went to the courts. But yesterday brought BIG news of a court decision in Ohio. The less significant news out of the court is that milk in Ohio can still say "rbGH-free" but it must also contain an FDA disclaimer saying "[t]he FDA has determined that no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-supplemented and non-rbST-supplemented cows."

Comment: For more information about cows treated with rBGH read the following articles:

Your Milk on Drugs -- The Dangers of rBGH in Dairy Products
The Tale of rBGH, Milk, Monsanto and the Organic Backlash
[Video] How Fox News killed an investigative report about Monsanto milk

Dr. Samuel Epstein has written at length about the dangers of rBGH milk, below are several of his articles explaining the risks associated with genetically modified milk production and it's effect on human health and wellness:

The Dangers of Genetically Engineered Milk
Dr. Samuel Epstein's 20 Year Fight Against Biotech, Cancer-Causing Milk
An FDA Ban On Genetically-Engineered Milk Is 20 Years Overdue
Reckless Failure of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Protect Against Cancer From Toxics in Cosmetics and GE Milk
Cancer Expert Counters Reckless Claims That Hormonal Milk Is Safe

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Cookie

Kids Have Taste for Fats and Sugars

Kristina Fiore
Medpagetoday.com
Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:41 UTC
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© almightydad.com
For kids in the U.S., almost half of their daily energy intake comes from 'empty calories' - foods such as soda and pizza that have little nutritional value, researchers say.

Of an average 2,200 daily calories, around 800 are attributable to solid fats or added sugars, Jill Reedy, PhD, MPH, RD, and Susan M. Krebs-Smith, PhD, MPH, RD, of the National Cancer Institute, reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

"The landscape of choices available to children and adolescents must change to provide fewer unhealthy foods and more healthy foods with less energy," they wrote.

Mary Story, PhD, RD, of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study, called it "alarming."
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Book

Book Review: The Case Against Fluoride

Paul Connett, James Beck & Spedding Micklem
Chelseagreen.com
Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:16 UTC
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© Chelseagreen.com
How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There

Arvid Carlsson, Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology (2000) and Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, University of Gothenburg writes:
"Sweden rejected fluoridation in the 1970s and, in this excellent book, these three scientists have confirmed the wisdom of that decision. Our children have not suffered greater tooth decay, as World Health Organization figures attest, and in turn our citizens have not borne the other hazards fluoride may cause. In any case, since fluoride is readily available in toothpaste, you don't have to force it on people."
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Breast cancer awareness campaigns push women into treatment unnecessarily

Christie Aschwanden
Los Angeles Times
Sat, 02 Oct 2010 17:12 UTC
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© Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles TimesDespite the pink ribbon push, cancer deaths have dropped only slightly
As predictably as the leaves turn yellow in autumn, America turns pink each October with the arrival of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. From shopping malls to football stadiums, the campaign's signature pink ribbons seem to be everywhere. Yet some experts are questioning whether this awareness campaign is truly helping women with breast cancer.

The stark reality is that in the 26 years since the campaign began, deaths from breast cancer have dropped only slightly - about 2% per year, starting in 1990. According to the National Breast Cancer Coalition in Washington, D.C., 117 women in the U.S. died of breast cancer every day in 1991; today that number is 110.

"I don't think people understand the lack of progress," says Fran Visco, the coalition's president.
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Attention

GM Foods More Dangerous for Children than Adults


Dr. Mercola
Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:39 UTC
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© academicsreview.org
Excerpted from Jeffrey M. Smith's Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods

"Swapping genes between organisms can produce unknown toxic effects and allergies that are most likely to affect children." - Vyvyan Howard, expert in infant toxico-pathology at Liverpool University Hospital, United Kingdom

Changes in nutrition have a greater impact on the structure and functioning of young, fast-growing bodies. More of the food is converted to build organs and tissues, whereas adults convert more to energy and store this as fat.

The UK Royal Society said that genetic modification "could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods" and recommended that potential health effects of GM foods be rigorously researched before being fed to pregnant or breast-feeding women and babies." Epidemiologist Eric Brunner said that "small changes to the nutritional content might have effects on infant bowel function."
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Cheeseburger

Proof! Palmers Island bans junk food for two weeks: Immediate improvement seen

confoodnet
YouTube
Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:05 UTC
See what happens when a small school in Australia goes food additive free for just two weeks - kids, parents & teachers all see big improvements.

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