Health & WellnessS


Syringe

Tons of released drugs taint US water

Jeff Donn, Marths Mendoza & Justin Pritchard
Associated Press
Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:56 UTC
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© Associated PressIn this photo taken on Feb. 26, 2009, aeration basins are seen in operation at the Wilmington Wastewater Treatment Plant in Wilmington, Del. Scientists took samples from the Delaware River nearby and found elevated concentrations of the painkiller codeine that are prompting them to try and track the source of the drug; this treatment plant handles sewage from a nearby pharmaceutical factory that makes codeine
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.

Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.

Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them - as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
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Blackbox

Choice blindness: You don't know what you want

Lars Hall and Petter Johansson
New Scientist
Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:29 UTC

We have all heard of experts who fail basic tests of sensory discrimination in their own field: wine snobs who can't tell red from white wine (albeit in blackened cups), or art critics who see deep meaning in random lines drawn by a computer. We delight in such stories since anyone with pretensions to authority is fair game. But what if we shine the spotlight on choices we make about everyday things? Experts might be forgiven for being wrong about the limits of their skills as experts, but could we be forgiven for being wrong about the limits of our skills as experts on ourselves?
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Health

Chiropractic Care treats inconsolable crying (Colic)

Sheryl Walters
NaturalNews.com
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:31 UTC
Colic is defined as inconsolable crying in an infant for as least three hours a day, at least three days a week, for at least three weeks. A colicky baby typically presents with a loud piercing cry, flexed legs, tensed abdominal muscles, and clenched fingers. It typically starts around three weeks of age and lasts until around three months but sometimes lasts for as long as six months. Approximately 10-20% of babies are affected by colic. Doctors diagnose colic based on the previously mentioned "Rule of 3" and after ruling out diseases that may make a baby cry uncontrollably. Parents of infants with colic report significantly higher stress levels than parents whose babies don't have colic. The stress and frustration of trying to soothe a colicky baby may interfere with mother-baby bonding and can increase the risk of postpartum depression. In addition, colicky babies are more likely to be victims of child abuse and shaken baby syndrome. Despite the research done on colic there is no known cause, which can make treatment difficult. Chiropractic care has shown some of the best results, with 94% of colicky babies demonstrating improvement with chiropractic adjustments.
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Pills

Recommended daily vitamin D intake doubled

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews.com
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:21 UTC
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has doubled its recommended daily vitamin D intake for children and adolescents, citing concern over rising levels of rickets as well as new evidence that higher vitamin D intake may help prevent against a wide variety of diseases.

Vitamin D plays a critical role in bone health. Deficiency in children can lead to the bone-softening disease rickets, which can cause permanent deformity.

"New evidence [also] supports a potential role for vitamin D in maintaining innate immunity and preventing diseases such as diabetes and cancer," the new policy reads.
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Health

Beliefs don't have to be proven to 'light up' the brain


USA Today
Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:48 UTC
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See this pretty picture of a brain lit up by singing gospel songs? What if I told you those same pathways would light up for a Madonna fan at a karaoke bar yelping along with the rocker's lyrics.

Dr. Alasdair Coles, a lecturer in neurology at University of Cambridge, and an Anglican priests as well, takes a very acerbic look at brain imaging studies of the faithful, particular those that make claims of unique brain findings for people who have religious or mystical experiences.

His lecture at our seminar today was titled "Neurotheology" and he had a definition: "the scientific study of the mechanisms of brain function which underlie human religious behavior, belief and experience." Then he debunked his own title.
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Propaganda

Anti Smoking Propaganda - Fruit and vegetables may be harmful to smokers


NineMSN
Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:21 UTC
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© Unknown
Smokers may increase their chances of contracting colon cancer by eating fruit and vegetables, according to a new Europe-wide scientific study says.

A high intake of fruit and vegetables appeared to reduce the risk among non-smokers but seemed to have the reverse effect on smokers, findings by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) showed on Wednesday.

"People who eat 600 grams or more vegetables and fruit a day appear to have a 20 to 25 per cent lower chance of developing colon cancer than people who eat 220 grams or less," said the statement.

"For smokers, the consumption of vegetables and fruit appears, on the contrary, to increase the chances of colon cancer. Protection against colon cancer through the consumption of vegetables and fruit therefore appears to depend on smoking habits."

Comment: Considering this was supposedly a large study taken over many years, the authors are surprisingly uncertain about their results, casting aspersions on the effects of fruit and vegetables for smokers without actually making any definite claims. Note the use of "appears" and "may".

We also wonder if this fruit problem described in relation to smokers might have anything to do with this other fruit problem?

Rising number of children allergic to fruits and vegetables

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Bandaid

Health advocates plug new female condom


NineMSN
Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:29 UTC
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© UnknownWoman holding female condom
Advocates of the female condom are promoting a less costly, more user-friendly version that they hope will vastly expand its role in the global fight against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

An early version of the female condom was introduced in 1993, and it remains the only available woman-initiated form of protection against both STDs and unintended pregnancy. Yet despite global promotion by the United Nations and other organisations, its usage is still minuscule, even as women bear an ever-growing share of the AIDS epidemic.

Advocates hope the dynamics will change following last month's approval by the Food and Drug Administration of the FC2, a new version of the female condom produced by the Chicago-based Female Health Co.

About 35 million female condoms were distributed worldwide last year, but that compares to more than 10 billion male condoms, which are far cheaper and, at least initially, easier to use. However, in some nations with high HIV rates, many men refuse to wear condoms, putting women at risk.
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Eye 2

Do You Have TRD? Does Your Child Have Schizophrenia? Pharma Hopes So

Martha Rosenberg
OpEd News
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:26 UTC
Like Wall Street trying to replace the credit default swap/ high risk mortgage gravy train, pharma is cooking up new diseases to sell.

While the "disease" of menopause and aging filled pharma coffers for forty years--Over 35? You Might Be At Risk for Menopause!--hormone replacement therapy was found to cause not prevent the host of symptoms women feared.

Pharma tried to replace HRT dollars with a thinning bones fear campaign until its bone wonder drugs, bisphosphonates like Fosamax, Boniva and Actonal, were found to cause not prevent fractures and osteonecrosis of the jaw bone at times. Nor did it help that Boniva czar Sally Field allegedly broke a bone. Oops.
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Heart

Bowen Therapy is Holistic, Non-Invasive and Effective

Cathy Sherman
Natural News
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:15 UTC
The therapist touches and lightly squeezes the migraine patient in a few places and then leaves the room for two minutes. He repeats this procedure for the entire 45-minute appointment. After several weeks of such sessions, the patient reports that the migraines have diminished in frequency. How could anything so simple do so much?

This technique, which isn't quite chiropractic, not quite massage, and not quite acupuncture, was introduced to the energy healing scene in the 1950's by Australian Tom Bowen. Though untrained, he had learned from watching trainers and therapists. Sensing vibrations and tension in muscles and other soft tissues, he figured out what to manipulate to help the sufferer. Bowen saw thousands of patients a year and claimed an 88% success rate.
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Wine

Taste of wine influenced by cosmic forces

Julie Henry
The Telegraph
Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:32 UTC
The taste of wine changes with the lunar calendar, according to experts at leading supermarkets.

Tesco and Marks and Spencer, which sell about a third of all wine drunk in Britain, now invite critics to taste their ranges only at times when the biodynamic calendar suggest they will be at their best.

Marks and Spencer has even gone a step further and is advising customers to avoid disappointment from the best bottles by making sure not to open them on "root" days.

The cosmic calendar has been published for the last 47 years by a gardening great-grandmother called Maria Thun, who lives in rural Germany. She categories days as "fruit", "flower", "leaf" or "root", according to the moon and stars.

Comment: Just a little note that Marks & Spencer is a company linked to Zionism.

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