Health & WellnessS


Attention

Atrazine Threat to Male Sexual Development Revealed


Environmental News Science
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:00 UTC
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© unknownAtrazine is sprayed on an Iowa cornfield
Research Triangle Park North Carolina, - Male rats exposed before birth to low doses of the weedkiller atrazine are more likely to develop prostate inflammation and to go through puberty later than non-exposed animals, finds a new study conducted by federal government scientists.

One of the most common agricultural herbicides in the United States, some 80 million pounds of atrazine are applied across the country every year to control broadleaf and grassy weeds in crops such as corn and sugar cane. It is the main ingredient in about 40 name-brand herbicides.

"Atrazine is a staple product for producers, who use it as a critical tool for weed control in growing the vast majority of corn, sorghum and sugarcane in the United States. Use of atrazine fights weed resistance, reduces soil erosion and increases crop yield," according to the Triazine Network, an association of growers and researchers.

But atrazine and its byproducts are known to be endocrine disrupters that are persistent in the environment, making their way into both surface water and groundwater supplies.

Comment: For more information about the detrimental health effects of the chemical herbicide atrazine read the following articles:

Atrazine Pesticide Causes Birth Defects
Serious Birth Defects Linked to the Agricultural Chemical Atrazine
More Stark Evidence of the Hazards of Atrazine
Herbicide Chemical in Drinking Water Could Pose Much Greater Danger to Health Than Previously Thought
EPA Fails To Inform Public About Weed-Killer In Drinking Water
Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass
An End to Atrazine

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Magnify

Cancer's Favorite Food - Found in Everything You Eat?


Dr. Mercola
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:38 UTC
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Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.

Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.

According to MSNBC:
"Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."
Sources:

MSNBC August 2, 2010

Cancer Research August 1, 2010; 70: 6368

Reuters August 2, 2010
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Pills

Against holism


The Intention Experiment
Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:08 UTC
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© Unknown
Just occasionally, I come across a medical hero, a doctor willing to break the conspiracy of silence that exists among doctors about the damage caused by their tools.

My hero of the hour is an American psychiatrist called Grace E. Jackson. Dr. Jackson is utterly, refreshingly horrified by psychiatric medicine. In fact, she is horrified by most forms of pharmaceutical medicine, period. She spends her life lecturing and writing about the dangers of drugs and their ability to cause mental illness.

So incensed is she about the current state of affairs that she felt compelled to self-publish a whistle-blower, entitled Drug-induced Dementia, which painstakingly catalogues a vast amount of scientific evidence showing that modern medicine is the primary culprit behind all forms of dementia, one of the most rampant epidemics of our time.
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Eye 2

What is gluten intolerance?

Dr. Peter Osborne
GlutenFreeSociety.org
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:06 UTC
Lecture by Dr. Peter Osborne entitled 'Gluten Sensitivity, a Laymen's Primer'

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Frog

New Antibiotics Developed from Frog Skin

Richard Alleyne
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:00 UTC
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© The TelegraphScientists have known for years that the skin of frogs is a rich source of chemicals capable of killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi
The fight against Superbugs has taken a leap forward thanks to the discovery that powerful new antibiotics could come from frogs.

Scientists have long known that the skin of frogs contains plenty of powerful germ-fighting substances because of the hostile environments they exist in.

But the substances are also often poisonous to humans.

Now a team at the United Aran Emirates University have worked out a way of modifying the chemicals to remove their harmful side-effects.

They have already identified 100 new antibiotics including one that could fight the hospital Superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.
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Cell Phone

Teens & Text Addiction


cbs3.com
Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:43 UTC
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Teenagers are becoming addicted to texting, according to a new study. In fact experts are saying being hooked on texting can be like being addicted to drugs.

Walking, sitting, it doesn't matter where it happens, teenagers seem to need to text. Statistics show 80 percent of all 15 to 18-year-olds own a cell phone. And the rate of texting has sky rocketed 600 percent in three years. The average teen sends 3,000 texts a month.

"I think that it's just like a drug, once you get hooked on to it, you can't let go. It's like whenever I open my eyes the first thing I look at is my phone," said Hermine Vardanian, a texter.
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Alarm Clock

The Alarming Reason Why More Girls are Starting Puberty Early


Dr. Mercola
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:08 UTC
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U.S. girls are entering puberty at a younger age than in the past. More than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls have breast changes that signal the start of puberty, according to a study conducted in the mid-2000s. This is up from just 5 percent in the early 1990s.

The average age of a girl's first period also declined, from an average of 14 or 15 years in the past to about 12 years today.

CNN reported:
"Experts aren't sure what's behind the increase in earlier puberty, but it's likely due to a combination of factors, including the childhood obesity epidemic and substances in the environment.

Early puberty in girls is a growing public health concern because studies have shown that girls who start puberty earlier are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later in life ...

Early development in girls has been linked with poor self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity."
As for what's causing the increasing in early puberty, chemicals in the environment, obesity, and above-average weight gain during infancy are all being considered as possible factors.

Sources:

CNN.com August 10, 2010

Time August 9, 2010

Pediatrics August 9, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]

Comment: For a more in depth look at the environmental and health related causes of early puberty in young girls read the following articles:

Study: More U.S. Girls Starting Puberty Earlier Than Ever
Average Age of Girls Starting Puberty Falls Below 10
Puberty in Girls Hastened by Harmful Chemicals
Girls entering puberty by the age of six - but are drugs the answer?
The teen gene: Switching on puberty
Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old
Vaccine Exposures to Thimerosal (Mercury) & Premature Puberty

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Arrow Up

Broccoli "Boosts" Healthy Gut

Helen Briggs
BBC News
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:01 UTC
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© SPLBroccoli is high in vitamins and minerals
Extracts of broccoli and banana may help in fighting stomach problems, research suggests.

Laboratory studies show fibers from the vegetables may boost the body's natural defenses against stomach infections.

Trials are under way to see if they could be used as a medical food for patients with Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.

It affects about 1 in 1,000 people, and is thought to be caused by a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.
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Health

Video: Living Proof? - Vitamin C vs. Swine Flu

60 Minutes
Health Smart Santa Fe
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:49 UTC
The amazing story of a King Country dairy farmer who caught swine flu and very nearly died (he had hairy cell leukemia). Intensive care specialists were all set to pull him off life support, saying there was no hope. But his family refused to give up. They demanded the doctors try high doses of Vitamin C, a radical treatment well outside mainstream medicine. The hospital told them it wouldn't work but the family insisted. It turned into a fight, the family even hired a top lawyer. But in the end, as Melanie Reid will show you, the farmer is now very much alive. So was it a one-off miracle? Or has the family stumbled on a miracle cure?




Watch the original video on 3news.co.nz
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Evil Rays

Is This Common Kitchen Appliance Harming Your Health?

Dr. Mercola
Huffington Post
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:47 UTC
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© smecc.org
By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The mantra, "You are what you eat" is really true.

But you need to consider not only WHAT you buy, but how you cook it.

Eating much of your food raw is ideal. But most of us are not going to be able to accomplish a completely raw diet, and we'll end up cooking some percentage of our food.

Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods and food preparation and that means saying sayonara to your microwave oven. Need to sterilize a dishcloth? Use your microwave. But zapping your casserole is a BAD idea if you are interested in preparing healthy food.

Why the no nukes policy?

When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is to compromise your health. In this article, I will review what we know about the effects microwaves on your food and on your body.
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