Like most Americans, throughout most of my life I have occasionally been down with a virus. But for a long time, a simple cold for me started as a headache, sore throat and congestion in my nasal passages, and typically progressed to prolonged infection in my lungs, and a terrible cough. The whole experience took up to two weeks for recovery from the virus, and several more weeks for my lungs to recover.
In his book Vitamin C and the Common Cold (1), Linus Pauling explained that vitamin C, taken at the proper dose, can prevent a virus from taking hold in the body. This pioneering book, written back in 1970, was ignored by many doctors but was well-received by the public. One chemistry professor told me that he had heard of Pauling's book and the vitamin C therapy but didn't think taking a big dose of an acid, even a mild one like ascorbic acid, would be good for the body. As for me, I imagined Pauling was probably correct about the details he had researched, because he was a renowned scientist and knew much more than most about biochemistry. Perhaps, I thought, he had simply gotten some of the medical details wrong or had missed some of the important studies about the effects of vitamins. But I started taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C every day and kept this up for several decades.
Health & Wellness
Despite President Bush's claims that we have "the best health care system in the world," nearly one of every three children in the United States struggles with some form of chronic disease. To those unfamiliar with the near-crisis situation faced by the country's youth, the roll call reads like a report from a Third World nation: with 2.5 million born with birth defects; 310,000 poisoned by lead; 6 million with asthma, and 12 million with developmental disorders like autism or attention deficit hyperactivity. Perhaps most disconcerting, childhood cancer has increased more than 67 percent from 1950 to 2001.
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Afraid is better
Afraid is better
According to a new study, poor fear conditioning at the tender age of 3 can predispose that person to break the law as an adult. Yet other factors, such as education of the parents, large family size, nutrition, physical activity, configuration of the household and other elements also play a role, the researchers concluded.
"There's no 100 percent correspondence between conditioning deficits and crime: Not all poor conditioners will become criminals and not all criminals have the early fear conditioning deficits," explained study author Yu Gao, a research associate in the department of criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. His findings are published in the Nov. 16 online issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Foodborne illness is under reported, has inadequate follow-up and a lack of research making its impact difficult to assess, a U.S. non-profit group says.
The report by the The Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention documents what is known about the long-term health outcomes associated with several foodborne illnesses.
"Foodborne illness is a serious public health issue in the 21st century," report author Tanya Roberts, chairwoman of the center's board of directors, said in a statement.
The report by the The Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention documents what is known about the long-term health outcomes associated with several foodborne illnesses.
"Foodborne illness is a serious public health issue in the 21st century," report author Tanya Roberts, chairwoman of the center's board of directors, said in a statement.
"But the vast majority of these illnesses are never reported to public health agencies, leaving us with many unanswered questions about the impact that foodborne illness is having on different populations, particularly young children and the elderly."
Atlanta -- More than 400,000 U.S. teen girls ages 15-19 were infected with the sexually transmitted diseases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in 2008, health officials say.
The annual report on sexually transmitted diseases released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta Monday found more than 1.5 million cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported last year.
The annual report on sexually transmitted diseases released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta Monday found more than 1.5 million cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported last year.
In a bombshell finding that has far-reaching implications for society and culture, scientists at the University of Rochester have found that phthalates -- the chemical found in many vinyl and plastic products -- tends to "feminize" boys, altering their brains to express more feminine characteristics. The study has been published in the Journal of Andrology.
Phthalates are found in vinyl products (including vinyl flooring), PVC shower curtains, plastic furniture and even in the plastic coating of the insides of dishwashing machines.
The feminization process happens during pregnancy when phthalate exposure causes hormone disruptions in the unborn baby. This chemical feminizes males by disrupting the action of the hormone testosterone.
In this recent study, researchers found a strong correlation between the types of toys that male children play with and the level of phthalates found in their mothers when they were pregnant. Researchers discovered that boys exposed to high levels of phthalates in the womb tend to avoid playing with cars, trains or toy guns. They also avoided rough play, instead preferring more feminine toys and activities. (Barbie?)
Phthalates are found in vinyl products (including vinyl flooring), PVC shower curtains, plastic furniture and even in the plastic coating of the insides of dishwashing machines.
The feminization process happens during pregnancy when phthalate exposure causes hormone disruptions in the unborn baby. This chemical feminizes males by disrupting the action of the hormone testosterone.
In this recent study, researchers found a strong correlation between the types of toys that male children play with and the level of phthalates found in their mothers when they were pregnant. Researchers discovered that boys exposed to high levels of phthalates in the womb tend to avoid playing with cars, trains or toy guns. They also avoided rough play, instead preferring more feminine toys and activities. (Barbie?)
Cancer experts are expressing increasing concern over the explosion of campaigns urging people to get regularly screened for a wide variety of cancers, warning that such programs may do more harm than good.
"It is a real problem," said Otis W. Brawley of the American Cancer Society. "They are doing things that might actually harm the people they want to help."
Brawley made his comments about supporters of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz's bill that would mandate an education program to promote breast cancer self-screening among young women. But the comments could just as easily apply to supporters of the American Urological Association's ad campaign urging prostate cancer screening, or the Light of Life Foundation's ads promoting screening for thyroid cancer.
There are now campaigns to promote regular screening for nearly every variety of cancer, based on the widespread popular belief that early detection of cancer is important in saving lives. Yet experts note that for the vast majority of cancers, there is little support for this belief.
"It is a real problem," said Otis W. Brawley of the American Cancer Society. "They are doing things that might actually harm the people they want to help."
Brawley made his comments about supporters of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz's bill that would mandate an education program to promote breast cancer self-screening among young women. But the comments could just as easily apply to supporters of the American Urological Association's ad campaign urging prostate cancer screening, or the Light of Life Foundation's ads promoting screening for thyroid cancer.
There are now campaigns to promote regular screening for nearly every variety of cancer, based on the widespread popular belief that early detection of cancer is important in saving lives. Yet experts note that for the vast majority of cancers, there is little support for this belief.
From an internet forum:
Here's another report:
"I got both vaccines [seasonal and swine flu] on Thursday. I was 9 weeks pregnant. I miscarried on Sunday. I was told by several doctors to get these vaccines. Now I wish I followed my gut feeling and not get them at ALL!"This is not an isolated case.
Here's another report:
"I feel like I had a healthy baby and I caused this by getting the H1N1 vaccine. My doctors pushed it. I researched online and there have been many miscarriages after the H1N1 vaccine but they haven't been reported since it is hard to say what caused the miscarriages."She researched online, the only source reporting vaccination tragedies throughout the world.
© iStockphoto/Andrey Prokhorov
A genetic variation may contribute to how empathetic a human is, and how that person reacts to stress.
A genetic variation may contribute to how empathetic a human is, and how that person reacts to stress.
Interestingly, this same genetic variation also related to stress reactivity. These findings could have a significant impact in adding to the body of knowledge about the importance of oxytocin, and its link to conditions such as autism and unhealthy levels of stress.
Sarina Rodrigues, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University, and Laura Saslow, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, published their findings in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Parents have long suspected that the brains of their teenagers function differently from those of adults. With the advent of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, we have begun to appreciate how the brain continues to develop structurally through adolescence and on into adulthood.
High emotionality is a characteristic of adolescents and researchers are trying to understand how 'emotional areas' of the brain differ between adults and adolescents. Scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, publishing in the November 15th issue of Elsevier's Biological Psychiatry, have helped to advance our understanding. They studied the amygdala, the major emotional center in the brain, which undergoes structural reorganization during adolescence. To do so, they examined emotional learning in both juvenile and adult mice.
"Our work on the amygdala revealed that the neuronal pathways that carry sensory information to the amygdala directly, bypassing cortex, are more plastic in the juvenile than in adult mice," explained senior author Alexei Morozov, PhD.
High emotionality is a characteristic of adolescents and researchers are trying to understand how 'emotional areas' of the brain differ between adults and adolescents. Scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, publishing in the November 15th issue of Elsevier's Biological Psychiatry, have helped to advance our understanding. They studied the amygdala, the major emotional center in the brain, which undergoes structural reorganization during adolescence. To do so, they examined emotional learning in both juvenile and adult mice.
"Our work on the amygdala revealed that the neuronal pathways that carry sensory information to the amygdala directly, bypassing cortex, are more plastic in the juvenile than in adult mice," explained senior author Alexei Morozov, PhD.
