Welcome to Sott.net
Wed, 13 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Health & Wellness
Map

Ambulance

Hard Choice for a Comfortable Death: Sedation

Anemona Hartocollis
The New York Times
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:03 UTC
Image
© Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Frank Foster, sleeping under sedation to relieve pain and other effects of liver cancer, at a Long Island hospice unit.
In almost every room people were sleeping, but not like babies. This was not the carefree sleep that would restore them to rise and shine for another day. It was the sleep before - and sometimes until - death.

In some of the rooms in the hospice unit at Franklin Hospital, in Valley Stream on Long Island, the patients were sleeping because their organs were shutting down, the natural process of death by disease. But at least one patient had been rendered unconscious by strong drugs.

The patient, Leo Oltzik, an 88-year-old man with dementia, congestive heart failure and kidney problems, was brought from home by his wife and son, who were distressed to see him agitated, jumping out of bed and ripping off his clothes. Now he was sleeping soundly with his mouth wide open.
      Read More...
Family

Couples Are Better Able to Cope With Health Shocks Than Singles, Study Finds


ScienceDaily
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:00 UTC
Marital status plays a significant role in how individuals cope economically with disability and health shocks, according to a working paper by University of British Columbia economists Giovanni Gallipoli and Laura Turner.

In their study, titled "Household Responses to Individual Shocks: Disability and Labour Supply," the researchers examined data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) and found that in marriages, "main-earners" (typically husbands) tend to transfer income and compensate "second-earners" (typically wives). The second-earners, in turn, provide conditional time and care in periods of need (such as illness and disability of main-earner).

The insurance the second-earner provides to the main-earner in the marital contract serves as an important mechanism to help smooth out household income in periods of health and disability shocks to the main-earner; and as a way to support the future earning potential of the main-earner, according to Gallipoli, a UBC economics professor and Turner, now an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Both Gallipoli and Turner are members of the Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network.
      Read More...
Bulb

Cancer mum recovers after using mistletoe instead of chemotherapy

Stephen White
Daily Record
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:58 UTC
Image
A mum is recovering from cancer after she turned down chemotherapy and used mistletoe instead.

Joan van Holsteijn, 53, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma after tumours were discovered in her leg.

But she opted not to have conventional treatment after hearing injections of medicine from the Christmas kiss plant had healing properties.

After 18 months, the tumours have gone and Joan is clear of the disease.

She said: "I owe my life to mistletoe. I feel so grateful and well and healthy.

"I have never had it in the house before but this year I've got a sprig of mistletoe at my front door."
      Read More...
Target

Nestle Rebuked by the FDA for Misleading Nutritional Labeling

Amina Khan
Los Angeles Times
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:25 UTC
The Food and Drug Administration came down on Nestle earlier this month for marketing its childrens' juice boxes as "medical" foods.

In a December 3 letter, the FDA said the company mislabeled its Boost drink, which comes in flavors like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, "as a medical food for the medical condition of 'failure to thrive' and also for 'pre/post surgery, injury or trauma, chronic illnesses.'" According to federal guidelines, the letter explains, "medical foods must be for the dietary management of a specific disorder, disease, or condition for which there are distinctive nutritional requirements and must be intended to be used under medical supervision."

Not sure "failure to thrive" really counts as a disease.
      Read More...
Health

Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCg) in Green Tea Confirmed to Prevent Infection by New Type of H1N1 Flu Virus in Vitro


Ito En, Ltd.
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:42 UTC
Joint research with University of Shizuoka also suggests efficacy in preventing infections by flu virus subtypes other than H1N1-

Tokyo -- Joint research conducted by the Central Research Institute of ITO EN, Ltd. and Professor Takashi Suzuki of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, showed that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a kind of catechin contained in green tea, had an inhibitory effect against three types of influenza viruses, including the swine-origin H1N1 virus that caused pandemic flu in 2009, and that its effect did not depend on the type of virus. These findings once again suggest that green tea is effective in preventing flu.

Comment: This research is provided by one of the largest tea distributors in Japan.

      Read More...
Info

Acute Pharmaceutical Toxicity Killed Brittany Murphy - Could It Be Killing Millions More?

Mike Adams
Natural News
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:43 UTC
The entire pharmaceutical industry is based on the idea that for whatever's wrong with you, there's a patented chemical pill that can make it better. Feeling some anxiety? There's a pill for that. Have high blood pressure? There's a pill for that, too. Suffering from sleepless nights? There's yet another pill for that, too.

Importantly, modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry both believe there is no limit to how many prescription medications you can simultaneously take. If you have ten health problems, they've got ten different pills for you. And when those pills cause twenty different dangerous side effects, they're ready for twenty more prescriptions for you to dutifully swallow.

This idea that health is achieved by taking prescription chemicals is ludicrous from the start. And yet it's the foundation of the pharmaceutical industry. Take as many pills as you "need", they insist. Don't worry: They're all FDA approved!
      Read More...
Magnify

Microbes Help Mothers Protect Kids from Allergies


Science Daily
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:19 UTC
A pregnant woman's exposure to microbes may protect her child from developing allergies later in life. Researchers in Marburg, Germany find that exposure to environmental bacteria triggers a mild inflammatory response in pregnant mice that renders their offspring resistant to allergies.
      Read More...
Key

Children's Imagination Important for Cognitive Development

Shirley S. Wang
Wall Street Journal
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:33 UTC
Image
Is the Tooth Fairy real? How about the garbage man? Those questions may seem trivial, but how young children answer them is an important indicator of cognitive development.

For years, imagination was thought of as a way for children to escape from reality, and once they reached a certain age, it was believed they would push fantasy aside and deal with the real world. But, increasingly, child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Imagination is necessary for learning about people and events we don't directly experience, such as history or events on the other side of the world. For young kids, it allows them to ponder the future, such as what they want to do when they grow up.

"Whenever you think about the Civil War or the Roman Empire or possibly God, you're using your imagination," says Paul Harris, a development psychologist and professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who studies imagination. "The imagination is absolutely vital for contemplating reality, not just those things we take to be mere fantasy."
      Read More...
Bug

Disinfectants May Promote Growth of Superbugs

Laura Udakis
Society for General Microbiology
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:00 UTC
Using disinfectants could cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics as well as the disinfectant itself, according to research published in the January issue of Microbiology. The findings could have important implications for how the spread of infection is managed in hospital settings.

Researchers from the National University of Ireland in Galway found that by adding increasing amounts of disinfectant to laboratory cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria could adapt to survive not only the disinfectant but also ciprofloxacin - a commonly-prescribed antibiotic - even without being exposed to it. The researchers showed that the bacteria had adapted to more efficiently pump out antimicrobial agents (disinfectant and antibiotic) from the bacterial cell. The adapted bacteria also had a mutation in their DNA that allowed them to resist ciprofloxacin-type antibiotics specifically.

P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterium that can cause a wide range of infections in people with weak immune systems and those with diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) and diabetes. P. aeruginosa is an important cause of hospital-acquired infections. Disinfectants are used to kill bacteria on surfaces to prevent their spread. If the bacteria manage to survive and go on to infect patients, antibiotics are used to treat them. Bacteria that can resist both these control points may be a serious threat to hospital patients.
      Read More...
Magnify

New Clues Emerge for Understanding Morphine Addiction


ScienceDaily
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:00 UTC
Scientists are adding additional brush strokes to the revolutionary new image now emerging for star-shaped cells called astrocytes in the brain and spinal cord. Their report, which suggests a key role for astrocytes in morphine's ability to relieve pain and cause addiction, appears online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication.

In the study, Piotr Suder and colleagues point out that nearly everyone viewed astrocytes -- the most abundant cells in the brain -- as supporting actors in the drama of brain activity. Scientists thought astrocytes simply propped up neurons, nerve cells that transmit signals, and kept them in proper position. Studies during the last several years, however, suggest that these cells are just as their Greek name suggests -- stars.

The scientists added morphine to a group of astrocytes in cell culture for several days. They found that the morphine-exposed cells showed increased levels of nine proteins that appear to play a role in maintaining the normal function of nerve cells.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts