Cholesterol lowering drugs called Statins generated $34 billion in sales in 2007 and have raked in over a quarter of a trillion dollars since they were introduced two decades ago. A new study reported in the NY Times links the use of statins with a higher risk of developing diabetes. This is just the latest in a seemingly endless list of side-effects that continue to be discovered from the long term use of these drugs.

Here's a small sample of the risks of statins: acute kidney failure, liver dysfunction, cataracts, muscle weakness, rhabdomyolysis (a breakdown of muscle fibers into the blood stream), acidosis, sexual dysfunction, immune system depression, neuropathy, frequent fevers, increased risk of cancer, anemia, pancreatic dysfunction, and increased risk of stroke. [For additional research GreenMedInfo contains an archive of studies on 300+ adverse health effects associated with their use]

Part of the problem is that people fail to realize that statins (like almost all prescription drugs) are not meant to be taken long term - they are a short term temporary "band-aid" while you make lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, nutritional supplements) to return your cholesterol levels to an optimal range.

There is also the possibility that your cholesterol levels can drop too low, which is dangerous because your body needs cholesterol - it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function.

Insecticidal Bt toxins such as those produced in genetically engineered plants can be detrimental to human cells. This is a result of recent research led by researchers at the University of Caen (France). Their experiments showed that toxins produced in, for example, the genetically engineered maize MON810, can significantly impact the viability of human cells. The effects were observed with relatively high concentrations of the toxins, nevertheless there is cause for concern. For the first time, experiments have now shown that they can have an toxic effect to human cells. According to companies like Monsanto, which produces genetically engineered maize with these toxins, the toxins are supposed to be active only against particular insects and should have no effect on mammals and humans at all. The investigation of effects of Bt toxins on human cells is not a requirement for risk assessment in Europe or in any other region.

Another finding of the researchers concerns a herbicide formulation sold under the brand name Roundup. Massive amounts of this herbicide are sprayed on genetically engineered soybean crops and its residues can be found in food and feed. According to the new publication, even extremely low dosages of Roundup (glyphosate formulations) can damage human cells. These findings are in accordance with several other investigations highlighting unexpected health risks associated with glyphosate preparations.

The full details of recent experiments that made a deadly flu virus more contagious will be published, probably within a few months, despite recommendations by the United States that some information be kept secret for fear that terrorists could use it to start epidemics.

The announcement, made on Friday by the World Health Organization, follows two months of heated debate about the flu research. The recommendation to publish the work in full came from a meeting of 22 experts in flu and public health from various countries who met on Thursday and Friday in Geneva at the organization's headquarters to discuss "urgent issues" raised by the research.

Most of the group felt that any theoretical risk of the virus's being used by terrorists was far outweighed by the "real and present danger" of similar flu viruses in the wild, and by the need to study them and freely share information that could help identify the exact changes that might signal that a virus is developing the ability to cause a pandemic, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who represented the United States at the meeting.

The natural form of the virus being studied has infected millions of birds, mostly in poor countries in Asia, and although it does not often infect people, it has a high death rate when it does. If the virus were to develop the ability to infect humans more easily, and to spread from person to person - which it almost never does now - it could kill millions of people.

Modern industrial medicine treats disease with medication or surgery. That's what it is designed to do, and when it comes to emergency interventions it is still the best medicine in the world. When someone comes into the emergency room with a severed leg, conventional medicine treats the problem with incredible efficacy.

But when it comes to chronic illness, this approach simply doesn't work.

Here's why conventional medicine tends to break down in the face of chronic illnesses like diabesity ...

Most medicine today is based on clear-cut, on-or-off, yes-or-no diagnoses that often miss the underlying causes and more subtle manifestations of illness. Most conventional doctors are taught that you have a disease or you don't; you have diabetes or you don't. There are no gray areas.

Practicing medicine this way is extremely misguided because it misses one of the most fundamental laws of physiology, biology, and disease: The continuum concept. There is a continuum from optimal health to hidden imbalance to serious dysfunction to disease. Anywhere along that continuum, we can intervene and reverse the process. The sooner we address it, the better.

For example, when it comes to diabesity most doctors just follow blood sugar, which actually rises very late in the disease process. If your blood sugar is 90 or 110, you don't have diabetes. If it's over 126, you do have diabetes. But these distinctions are completely arbitrary, and they do nothing to help treat impending problems. I remember one patient, Daren, who came to see me with mildly elevated blood sugar. I asked Daren if he had seen his doctor about this. He said yes. I then asked, "What did your doctor say?" Daren's doctor had told him, "We are going to wait and watch until your blood sugar is more elevated, and then we are going to treat you with medication for diabetes."

Most people only think about drinking water when they are thirsty; but by then it may already be too late.

Even mild dehydration can alter a person's mood, energy level, and ability to think clearly, according to two studies recently conducted at the University of Connecticut's Human Performance Laboratory.

The tests showed that it didn't matter if a person had just walked for 40 minutes on a treadmill or was sitting at rest - the adverse effects from mild dehydration were the same. Mild dehydration is defined as an approximately 1.5 percent loss in normal water volume in the body.

The test results affirm the importance of staying properly hydrated at all times and not just during exercise, extreme heat, or exertion, says Lawrence E. Armstrong, one of the studies' lead scientists and a professor of physiology in UConn's Department of Kinesiology in the Neag School of Education.

"Our thirst sensation doesn't really appear until we are 1 [percent] or 2 percent dehydrated. By then dehydration is already setting in and starting to impact how our mind and body perform," says Armstrong, an international expert on hydration who has conducted research in the field for more than 20 years. "Dehydration affects all people, and staying properly hydrated is just as important for those who work all day at a computer as it is for marathon runners, who can lose up to 8 percent of their body weight as water when they compete."

Sports science expert Professor Tim Noakes has caused a stir in health circles by refuting his own nutritional advice, widely espoused as athletics gospel.

In an about-turn, Noakes is blaming food containing carbohydrates for the rise in obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The sports physician, affiliated to the University of Cape Town and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, won worldwide acclaim for his book Lore of Running, described as the "Runner's Bible" and first published in 2003.

Parts of the book, which advocates the benefits of "carbo-loading" and a high-carbohydrate diet, will now be rewritten.

"I used to say 'carbo-load every day, as much as you can'. Yes, this is a turnaround. Absolutely," he said, smiling.

By age 10, most people are exposed to enough radiation to be at risk, but the science is so complicated that exposure could even have benefits.

Meet Reference Man, a kind of hypothetical Ken Doll: a 20-something white male, fit and hearty, out in the park doing a hundred one-armed pushups every morning at 5:30. He's the guy most radiation exposure standards are designed to protect. But as a stand-in, he's passé.

Reference Man was born when most of the evidence about the health effects of radiation came from high-dose exposures such as nuclear bombs. But the landscape has changed. Exposure now comes from low and often chronic levels of radiation such as medical technologies, which are the fastest-growing source of radiation exposure. Emerging science is eroding central assumptions about radiobiology. Effects at repeated low doses are different and subtler than those from episodic high doses. And mysterious, intertwining, and sometimes contradictory phenomena hint at both serious health risks and surprising benefits: cells communicate extensively about exposures, taking radiation's influence far beyond the genome; cancer may not be the only harmful consequence; low-level exposure may enable organisms to build up a tolerance that would protect them from high doses; and healthy cells can give radiation-damaged cells the equivalent of a death sentence to stop the threat of disease.

Vegans Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou fed their 11-month-old daughter Louise only mother's milk, and she died suffering from a vitamin deficiency. The two are currently on trial in northern France, charged with neglect.

The pair called the emergency services in March 2008 after becoming worried about their baby's listlessness. When the ambulance arrived, the baby was already dead.

According to Yahoo Health:

"An autopsy showed that Louise was suffering from a vitamin A and B12 deficiency which experts say increases a child's sensitivity to infection and can be due to an unbalanced diet ... The couple did not follow the doctor's advice to hospitalize the baby who was suffering from bronchitis and was losing weight when they went for the nine-month check-up."

Breast milk is a near perfect food that is hands-down the best nourishment you can give to your baby. But it does have one downfall: its nutritional value is influenced by the mother's diet, and in extreme cases this can result in important nutrients missing from the breast milk.

In the tragic case reported above, it appears 11-month-old Louise lost her life because her mom's vegan diet created vitamin deficiencies in the breast milk she was exclusively fed on. Sadly, there were warning signs that the milk was not providing proper nutrition months before her death, as the baby was sickly and losing weight, but they were ignored.

People following a strict vegan diet are often convinced that it is the healthiest way of eating possible, and this was most likely the case with Louise's parents. But this tragic case can serve as a powerful warning for those who choose to avoid all animal foods when breastfeeding.

The widely reported Paleo message is that if you follow a strict Paleo diet, you will effortlessly lose weight. I'm reading more and more comments on Paleo forums from disappointed people, reporting that they have not lost weight - and in some cases have even put on weight. This was my experience too, until I finally understood the missing piece to the Paleo weight loss puzzle.

When I initially changed my diet, at that time to more of a Primal diet, I very quickly lost a lot of weight and several dress sizes, effortlessly. Looking back, I think a large part of this was due to replacing high calorie, refined foods, with more satiating whole (Paleo) foods. However, without apparent reason the weight loss reached a plateau after a few months. I remained strictly Paleo, I reduced my fruit intake and stopped eating nuts. I continued to work-out. Yet my weight would not budge; very frustrating.

Salt has long been a treasured staple for humans across the globe.

In ancient times, salt was literally worth its weight in gold, as African and European explorers would trade an ounce of salt for an ounce of gold.

Roman soldiers were also paid in salt, hence the modern word "salary" (sal is the Latin word for salt) and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt."

Far from being harmful, high-quality salt is actually essential for life, but in the United States and many other developed countries salt has been vilified as a primary cause of high blood pressure and heart disease.

These latter claims have failed to be proven conclusively, as have the purported benefits of a low-salt diet.

Now the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is trying to set the record straight, and has warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that further plans for salt restriction pose a serious threat to human health.