Health & WellnessS


Bullseye

UK: NHS 'will test all children who believe they are trans for autism'

Ciaran Foreman
The Daily Mail
Sun, 27 Apr 2025 19:12 UTC
Pediatrician Dr Hilary Cass tavistock gender dysphoria
© Yui Mok/PA WirePediatrician Dr Hilary Cass holds a copy of her report on the failings of gender dysphoria treatment in the UK
The NHS will test all children who believe they are transgender for autism, it emerged last night.

Following Baroness Cass's review into gender identity for young people last year, NHS England has made revisions that could see every child referred to a gender clinic 'holistically assessed for neurodevelopmental conditions'.

The move comes after the review by Cass found mental health conditions were significantly more likely to appear in children who say they have gender dysphoria.

And now the plans, which were first reported by The Telegraph, will allegedly see medics evaluate each child's mental health, their relationship with family and their sexual development.

Comment: From The Telegraph:
The new NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service will explore eight key areas of a child's life.

To assess "development", doctors will take a "detailed history" of the child's social, cognitive and physical growth, particularly because of the "substantial" changes that take place during puberty.

They will screen children for autism and learning disabilities and look into whether further "cognitive assessments" are necessary.

The specification says: "Given the high prevalence of neurodiversity identified within this population, all those attending the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service should receive screening for neurodevelopmental conditions."

The "multidisciplinary team" of experts, including a consultant specialising in neurodevelopmental disorders, will create a treatment plan for each individual depending on their diagnosis.

If screening "identifies the presence of neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a referral should be considered to the Paediatric Neurodevelopmental Service or Paediatric ASD Service," the guidance states.

In such cases, the team of doctors will have to determine if the child's symptoms are caused by autism or whether they also need separate treatment for gender dysphoria.

They could also be kept under review every six months while getting help for their autism or discharged from the service.
Is the UK finally making a slow return to sanity?

Baroness Hilary Cass, author of the Cass Review, deserves whatever Britain's equivalent of the Medal of Freedom is for her brave, principled work on behalf of vulnerable children

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X

The health effects of cousin marriage in British Pakistanis

Noah Carl
The Daily Sceptic
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
united kingdom
In most of Europe and the Americas, cousin marriage is extremely rare — only a few percent of people are married to their first or second cousins. But in other societies — mostly in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia — it's much more common. By some estimates, more than 50% of Pakistanis are married to their first or second cousins.

A major problem with cousin marriage is that the children of such unions are more likely to have mental and physical health problems. Why? It has to do with rare recessives.

These are genes that exist at low frequency in the population and whose effects are only observed when you have two copies (recall that you inherit one copy of each gene from your mother and one from your father). They are usually non-functional versions of genes that have some important biological function, so their effects tend to be deleterious.
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Sun

Study identifies link between body clock disruption and metabolic disease

Melissa Rohman, Northwestern University
Medical Xpress
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
woman sleeping
© Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered how disruptions in the circadian rhythm in our muscles combined with poor diet can contribute to the development of diabetes, according to a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"When we mess up our circadian rhythms through environmental circadian disruption like shift work, jet lag or sleep deprivation, it's possible that it's impacting our muscle clocks and metabolism. If that's happening and we are combining this with an unhealthy diet, this might make it more likely for us to develop glucose intolerance and diabetes," said Clara Peek, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, who was senior author of the study.

The body's natural circadian clock is comprised of proteins called transcription factors that are present throughout the body, including muscle tissue. The clock synchronizes physical and behavioral changes to the external environment during the 24-hour light cycle.

Comment: See also:

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Brain

America's autism 'hotspots' revealed as new data lays bare 'rampant epidemic'

Emily Joshu Sterne
The Daily Mail
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:24 UTC
Robert F Kennedy Jr autism report
© Associated PressFollowing the release of the newest CDC data, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said Americans 'have to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it.' He is pictured above at a press conference on Wednesday, April 16
Government officials have revealed which states are autism hotspots as the US faces a 'relentless epidemic' of cases.

A CDC report released earlier this week revealed rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased to one in 31 children in the US, a staggering increase from one in 150 just two decades ago.

Experts also suggested the true rate nationwide could be even higher due to patchy screening and limited access in rural areas.

Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr abruptly called a press conference Wednesday claiming Americans 'have to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it.'

He also announced a series of studies looking into 'environmental toxins' he believes could be fueling the surge and promised 'there will be an answer for the American people' by September.

Comment: RFK jr is struggling to expose the elephant in the room:




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Syringe

RFK Jr says upcoming study will reveal the cause of autism epidemic


Yahoo News
Thu, 10 Apr 2025 15:12 UTC
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK
© MARIO TAMAUS Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long promoted a debunked theory linking childhood vaccines to autism.
US authorities are conducting a large-scale study into the cause of the autism "epidemic," Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday.

"We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world," Kennedy said at a televised cabinet meeting chaired by President Donald Trump.

"By September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic. And we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."
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Bacon n Eggs

Study recommends a new food pyramid for a metabolically unwell nation

Sheramy Tsai
ZeroHedge
Sat, 12 Apr 2025 18:18 UTC
ne food pyramid meat meal family
© Alexander Raths/Shutterstock
With chronic illnesses soaring across the United States, a group of doctors and nutrition researchers say it's time to reconsider the foundation of American dietary advice — starting from the bottom up.

In a peer-reviewed paper published in Nutrients, the authors contend that the traditional carb-heavy diet has not only failed to safeguard public health but may be contributing to rising rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. They propose a new low-carbohydrate food pyramid designed for the vast majority of American adults showing signs of metabolic dysfunction.

Their model — built on protein, full-fat dairy, and healthy fats — challenges decades of federal guidance and reignites a long-simmering debate about dietary fat's role in chronic disease.
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Attention

'Parents have waited for 30 years': NIH to study causes of autism

Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
Children's Health Defense
Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
children's Health Defense
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will launch a new research program to study what causes autism and why autism diagnoses are on the rise, The Washington Post reported last week. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed the report.

According to the Post, the NIH is still finalizing plans for the new multimillion-dollar research program. The agency is considering launching a public competition to "jump-start" research, pursuing "a more traditional approach of awarding grants" and buying "additional data compiled by outside researchers."

An HHS spokesperson said:
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Biohazard

RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water

Hannah Schoenbaum and Mike Stobbe
Associated Press
Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
rfk jr
© AP/ Melissa Majchrzak
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide, adding that he's assembling a task force to focus on the issue.

Also on Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing "new scientific information" on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference in Salt Lake City.
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Health

Woman becomes first UK womb transplant recipient to give birth

Andrew Gregory
The Guardian
Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
womb transplant
© Womb Transplant UK/PAGrace and Angus Davidson with the hospital team at the birth of baby Amy.
Surgeons are hailing an "astonishing" medical breakthrough as a woman became the first in the UK to give birth after a womb transplant.

Grace Davidson, 36, who was a teenager when diagnosed with a rare condition that meant she did not have a uterus, said she and her husband, Angus, 37, had been given "the greatest gift we could ever have asked for".

They named their five-week-old girl Amy Isabel - after Grace's sister, Amy Purdie, who donated her own womb during an eight-hour operation in 2023, and Isabel Quiroga, a surgeon who helped perfect the transplant technique.

Comment: Sky News reports:
A successful birth following a womb transplant involves three major operations. The first to receive the transplanted womb, a caesarean section to deliver the baby, then a hysterectomy to remove the womb once the recipient mother decides to have no more children.

Given a womb transplant isn't "life-saving", ethics guidelines require the procedure to be temporary. The long-term risks of organ rejection, and the drugs needed to prevent it, are considered too great once the womb has served its miraculous function.

Some medical ethicists still question the procedure as a whole, arguing it is unnecessarily risky for both the mother and baby, especially if babies are born seriously pre-term and at low birth weight.

However, this latest success, and the increasing number of healthy babies born via the procedure worldwide may change that.

Womb transplantation is on the way to becoming an acceptable, life-giving procedure for women who previously had no hope of carrying a baby of their own.
See also: UK carries out first-ever womb transplant as sister donates uterus

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Cow

Austria to shut border crossings to Hungary, Slovakia over foot and mouth, thousands of animals culled

Francois Murphy
Reuters
Thu, 03 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
Slovakia borders
© GettySlovakia borders
Austria will close two smaller crossings at its border with Slovakia and 21 at its border with Hungary from Saturday, in a bid to prevent foot-and-mouth disease from entering the country, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The first outbreak of the highly infectious disease in 50 years in Hungary led the country on Wednesday to deploy soldiers and launch disinfection measures to contain it in an area bordering Slovakia and Austria.

The disease, which poses no danger to humans, mostly affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals like swine, sheep and goats, causing fever and mouth blisters. Outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions and culls of some livestock.

Comment: The Express reported further:
The highly infectious disease was found in a Hungarian dairy farm in Kisbajcs, close to the Slovakian border, with 1,372 animals at risk. Authorities deployed soldiers and implemented immediate health control measures, including the culling of livestock and introducing a restricted zone. Slovakia confirmed outbreaks on March 21 in farms close to the Hungarian border, a region important for Slovakian livestock production, and the EU Veterinary Emergency Team was deployed immediately.

[...]

At the few open border crossings with Hungary and Slovakia, cars must cross over an epidemic mat to prevent the virus from spreading, which also applies to pedestrians crossing the border on foot.
Several countries have banned imports of cattle, pigs, meat, dairy, and animal by-products from Hungary and Slovakia. Swinehealth.org described the measures taken to limit the spread.
The entire infected first herd (1,400 cattle) was culled. Hungary established a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone, extending into Slovakia. For the second outbreak, culling of infected cattle is anticipated to be completed soon, mandatory culling of pigs in the affected areas by March 31 due to their potential role in virus transmission, and grazing restrictions enforced along a 10 km strip near the border to prevent further spread.
Reportedly, "locals organised several protests, asking authorities to allow the quarantine and testing of healthy animals within the protection zone."

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