Health & WellnessS


Health

Australia: Royal Hobart Hospital Reporting Gastroenteritis Epidemic

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© unknown
The Royal Hobart Hospital had reported an epidemic of gastroenteritis in the Psychiatry Department while closed the admissions for the Department of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit. Although, the move has not affected the visits to the Department of Psychiatry rather visitors are urged to limit their trips.

The authorities were forced to bar the entries in order to curb the public exposure to the psychiatry department, intended to halt the spread of the illness. As per the reports, approximately 9 patients were observed with the highly contagious illness along with a few staff members. However, exact number of contaminated patients as well as staff is still behind the screen.

The Mental Health Services Chief Executive, Dr. John Crawshaw, verified the severe outbreak while assured that necessary measures had been taken as per the released instructions from the Infection Control Unit and Public Health.

Health

Childhood leukaemia linked to mosquito bites

Bites from mosquitoes carrying unidentified viruses might explain childhood leukaemia clusters around the town of Fallon in Nevada. And last week, a separate UK report found no link between nuclear power plants and childhood leukaemia.

The Nevada cluster is the largest in the US. Previous research failed to find a link between the cases and carcinogenic chemicals. The new study of the 14 Fallon cases that arose between 1997 and 2003 - a rate 12 times higher than normally expected in such a period - concludes that military personnel may have brought a virus to the area, which was then spread by mosquitoes. The cluster "fizzled out" once all vulnerable children had been infected.

Comment: More on protecting against carcinogenic chemicals and radiation, viruses and germs:

Detoxify or Die: Natural Radiation Protection Therapies for Coping With the Fallout of the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown

DMSO: The Antidote for Radiation Poisoning

The Day the Water Died: Detoxing after the Gulf Oil Spill

New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection


Laptop

Does Your Computer Stress You Out?


Comment: Stressed?. Want to have quick, easy way to bust it. Check it out Éiriú Eolas: An Amazing Stress Control, Healing & Rejuvenation Program.


Cow Skull

The Meat You Should Never, Ever Eat...

Is your meat made of scraps stuck together with "meat glue"? This exposé reveals how you may be being deceived about the meat you buy -- and why the dangerous practice makes food poisoning hundreds of times more likely.


Health

Mysterious illnesses that perplex medical experts

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.

Cult

Criminal! Hundreds of herbal remedies now outlawed across Europe

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.

Newspaper

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

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.

Beaker

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

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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."

Heart

SOTT Focus: DMSO - The Real Miracle Solution

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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.

Attention

South Korean study may lead to higher autism estimates

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.