Health & WellnessS


Nuke

14,000 U.S. Deaths Tied to Fukushima Reactor Disaster Fallout

rad symbol graphic
© clickpopmedia
Impact Seen As Roughly Comparable to Radiation-Related Deaths After Chernobyl; Infants Are Hardest Hit, With Continuing Research Showing Even Higher Possible Death Count.

An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.

Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.The IJHS article will be published Tuesday and will be available online as of 11 a.m. EST here.

Bacon

Saturated Fat Can Help to Lower The Rates of Heart Disease

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This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine 2011 Dec 6;155(11):742-50

Study title and authors:
Association of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with incident cardiovascular events in women, by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein b100 levels: a cohort study.

Mora S, Buring JE, Ridker PM, Cui Y.
The Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and Merck & Co., North Wales, Pennsylvania.

This study can be accessed here.

26,861 initially healthy women, aged 45 years or older at the start of the study, were followed for approximately 11 years to determine the association between high density lipoprotein-cholesterol or apolipoprotein A-I levels and cardiovascular disease across a range of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels.

Magnify

The Age of Autism: The Amish Anomaly

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© cbsnews.com
Where are the autistic Amish? Here in Lancaster County, heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, there should be well over 100 with some form of the disorder.

I have come here to find them, but so far my mission has failed, and the very few I have identified raise some very interesting questions about some widely held views on autism.

The mainstream scientific consensus says autism is a complex genetic disorder, one that has been around for millennia at roughly the same prevalence. That prevalence is now considered to be 1 in every 166 children born in the United States.

Applying that model to Lancaster County, there ought to be 130 Amish men, women and children here with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Well over 100, in rough terms.

Comment: For more information about the Amish and Autism read the following article:

The Amish Don't Get Autism But They Do Get Bio-Terrorism

The following article provides important information about the connection between mercury poisoning and autism:

How To Cure Autism and The Time Bomb Of Mercury Poisoning
The Cover-Up

If there were a preventative for autism, which was grounded in the realization that vaccines were the primary cause, would it ever be made known by the very media powerhouses that are funded by Big Pharma more than any other industry? The vaccine industry is expected to grow to a 34 billion dollar industry by 2012. People who have never researched Big Pharma cannot grasp the corruption of this industry, its regulators in government, or its Big Media partners.

Despite studies showing an unquestionable link between ethyl mercury and autism, the mainstream media tends to favor studies which have shown the opposite. What is interesting is that all studies used to deny the autism link to mercury poisoning were funded by pharmaceutical companies, doctors who have vaccine patents, or governmental agencies promoting vaccines. All of them. We shall let that speak for itself. Of course, mainstream media sources are also funded by pharmaceutical companies as their main source of advertising. Commercial sponsors have a massive impact on what the news media reveals, and pharmaceutical companies are their most lucrative advertising partners.



Beaker

US: Two deaths from brain-eating amoeba linked to sinus remedy for colds

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© ALAMYA model holds a neti pot: It is used to relieve nasal congestion of cold and allergy sufferers
A sinus-flushing device used to relieve colds and allergies has been linked to a deadly brain-eating amoeba.

Louisiana's state health department issued a warning about neti pots - which look like mini watering cans, that are used by pouring salty water through one nostril.

It follows two recent deaths - a 51-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man from the 'brain-eating amoeba' Naegleria fowleri.

It is thought the amoeba entered their brains when they used the devices.

Both victims are thought to have used tap water, instead of distilled or sterilised water as recommended by the manufacturers.

Dr Raoult Ratard, Louisiana State Epidemiologist, said: 'If you are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses, for example, by using a neti pot, use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution.

Comment: Tap water would be safe for drinking if Fluoride and other industrial pollutants were not present.


Syringe

Vaccination's Vexed Link to Autism

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© Sydney Morning HeraldEnvironmental factors ... vaccination may have a role in the development of some types of autism.

Vaccines and autism: why this curious case is not closed

For many parents, childhood vaccinations are this century's abortion debate - highly divisive and driving a wedge between friends and neighbors. In the red corner are those banging the 'vaccinate at any cost' drum, and in the blue corner a collection of concerned parents and carers who say they're dealing with the damage done.

For people in the pro-vaccination camp, the fact that there is even a debate to be had is vexing. "What's wrong with these irresponsible parents?" they say. "So educated and yet so stupid! Don't they know that MMR study was discredited? And how can you take a Playboy Bunny seriously?" But there are reasons why the case of the curious link between vaccinations and autism is not closed, and Andrew Wakefield and Jenny McCarthy are not necessarily two of them.

Beaker

Hormone-Mimics In Plastic Water Bottles

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© treehugger.comBisphenol A (BPA) — a chemical commonly found in hard plastics.
Plastic packaging is not without its downsides, and if you thought mineral water was 'clean', it may be time to think again. According to Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann from the Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, plastic mineral water bottles contaminate drinking water with estrogenic chemicals.

In an analysis of commercially available mineral waters, the researchers found evidence of estrogenic compounds leaching out of the plastic packaging into the water. What's more, these chemicals are potent in vivo and result in an increased development of embryos in the New Zealand mud snail. These findings, which show for the first time that substances leaching out of plastic food packaging materials act as functional estrogens, are published in Springer's journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Comment: For more information about the correlation between BPA and health concerns read the following articles:

President's Cancer Panel Warns of Toxic Effects of BPA
Study: Human Exposure to BPA 'Grossly Underestimated'
BPA Report Details Chemical's Hazards
Human Placenta Cells Die After BPA Exposure
BPA Should Be Avoided, Federal Official Says
The Real Story Behind Bisphenol A


Attention

Consumer Concerns About Hormones in Food

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© blog.mysanantonio.com
What are hormones?

Hormones are chemicals that are produced naturally in the bodies of all animals, including humans. They are chemical messages released into the blood by hormone-producing organs that travel to and affect different parts of the body. Hormones may be produced in small amounts, but they control important body functions such as growth, development and reproduction.

Hormones can have different chemistry. They can be steroids or proteins. Steroid hormones are active in the body when eaten. For example, birth control pills are steroid hormones and can be taken orally. In contrast, protein hormones are broken down in the stomach, and lose their ability to act in the body when eaten. Therefore, ordinarily, protein hormones need to be injected into the body to have an effect. For example, insulin is a protein hormone. Diabetic patients need to be injected with insulin for treatment.

Why are hormones used in food production?

Certain hormones can make young animals gain weight faster. They help reduce the waiting time and the amount of feed eaten by an animal before slaughter in meat industries. In dairy cows, hormones can be used to increase milk production. Thus, hormones can increase the profitability of the meat and dairy industries.

Attention

Highly Toxic Mercury Present in Processed Foods, Yet FDA Does Nothing

FDA Mercury Poisoning
© Natural Society

Why has the FDA ignored the fact that mercury, an element that is highly toxic in all forms, was found in a large number of brand-name processed foods? Specifically, the mercury content was found to be contained in high-fructose corn syrup, which also reportedly contains genetically modified ingredients. Instead of addressing this major public health concern, the FDA is focusing their time on crushing beneficial supplements through ridiculous NDI regulations that threaten the entire infrastructure of the nutraceuticals industry.

Researchers from two U.S. studies reported that about half of tested samples of high-fructose corn syrup contained mercury. Mercury was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products which listed high-fructose corn syrup as the first-or-second-highest labeled ingredient.

Following the report, organizations like the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy called on the FDA for immediate action:
"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

Extinguisher

There's Flame Retardant in Mountain Dew and Other Sodas

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© treehugger.com
Mountain Dew. The oh so sweet is it yellow? is it green? nectar of the geek gods and fuel for gamers has flame retardant in it. Yup. Mountain Dew, along with 10 percent of sodas in the US, contains brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a flame retardant chemical banned in Europe and Japan.

The flame retardant, BVO, is currently listed as an ingredient in various citrus soft drinks such as: Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, Gatorade Thirst Quencher Orange, Powerade Strawberry Lemonade and Fresca Original Citrus.

But why and what for? According to the Environmental Health News, BVO contains "bromine atoms which weigh down the citrus flavoring so it mixes with sugar water" instead of floating to the top. Basically, BVO gives soda more consistent flavoring. That sounds good! But BVO is also added to polystyrene foam cushions in furniture and plastics in electronics because BVO can slow down the chemical reactions that cause a fire. Yuck. Is that what we want to be drinking?

Arrow Up

Is Being Healthy a Revolutionary Act?

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REVOLUTIONS BUBBLE OUT OF INJUSTICE. Social, political, economic, spiritual, and physical oppression drives people to rise up against violations of basic human rights. Working with Partners in Health this year, after the earthquake in Haiti, I learned from Dr. Paul Farmer that health is among the most neglected of human rights.

The injustices that violate our health as a human right occur not just in impoverished countries like Haiti, but are embedded in 21st century America. And we are exporting disease across the globe, where the overweight - now 1.7 billion large - outnumber the malnourished.

I would argue not only that health is a neglected human right, but that it is a right that has been taken from us.

Our health has been hijacked - slowly, quietly and often deliberately over the past century.

Our social, political and economic conditions support obesity and disease. Habits and the default choices in our society are built into the fabric of every segment of our society - families, homes, schools, workplaces, and places of worship, our government institutions and health care centers.

Our current food, social, and community environments make it hard for us to make healthy choices. In fact, staying healthy has become almost impossible, which is why almost three quarters of Americans are overweight and one in two Americans have one or more chronic diseases.

If you are healthy today, you are increasingly in the minority. But we can get healthy and reclaim our lives and wellbeing.