We're constantly reminded that having a 'raised' cholesterol level puts us in mortal danger of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke. Several times I have covered evidence which strongly suggests that cholesterol is not the killer it's made out to be.
One major line of evidence here is the fact that reducing cholesterol does not appear to have broad benefits for health. A review some years ago found that while statins (the most commonly prescribed cholesterol reducing drugs) have the capacity to reduce overall risk of death, other fat-modifying drugs such as fibrates and resins do not [1]. And neither does taking dietary steps to reduce cholesterol. And neither does taking a newer cholesterol-reducing drug by the name of ezetimibe.
Could it be, then, that the way statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has nothing to do with cholesterol? Actually, apart from their cholesterol-reducing effects, statins are known to have several different actions that could, theoretically, reduce risk of cardiovascular disease. In other words, the beneficial effects of statins might have nothing to do with the fact that they reduce cholesterol.
Health & Wellness
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Depression: Women are more likely to have the debilitating condition than men, according to the NHS.
Depression: Women are more likely to have the debilitating condition than men, according to the NHS.
The study by women's campaign group Platform 51 found that 48 per cent of women currently using the drugs have taken them for at least five years, while 24 per cent have taken them for 10 years or more.
Meanwhile, 24 per cent of women on anti-depressants have waited a year or more for a review, the research found.
The charity, which commissioned a survey of more than 2,000 adults in England and Wales, said the figures pose 'worrying questions' about the appropriateness of prescriptions.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine may be closer to knowing why.
Bulimia nervosa is a severe eating disorder associated with episodic binge eating followed by extreme behaviors to avoid weight gain such as self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives or excessive exercise. It is poorly understood how brain function may be involved in bulimia. A new study led by Guido Frank, MD, assistant professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Director, Developmental Brain Research Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, studied the brain response to a dopamine related reward-learning task in bulimic and healthy women. Dopamine is an important brain chemical or neurotransmitter that helps regulate behavior such as learning and motivation. Frank found that bulimic women had weakened response in brain regions that are part of the reward circuitry.
Bulimia nervosa is a severe eating disorder associated with episodic binge eating followed by extreme behaviors to avoid weight gain such as self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives or excessive exercise. It is poorly understood how brain function may be involved in bulimia. A new study led by Guido Frank, MD, assistant professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Director, Developmental Brain Research Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, studied the brain response to a dopamine related reward-learning task in bulimic and healthy women. Dopamine is an important brain chemical or neurotransmitter that helps regulate behavior such as learning and motivation. Frank found that bulimic women had weakened response in brain regions that are part of the reward circuitry.
© Unknown
Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, suggests that people can become dependent on highly palatable foods and engage in a compulsive pattern of consumption, similar to the behaviors we observe in drug addicts and those with alcoholism.
Using a questionnaire originally developed by researchers at Yale University, a group of obese men and women were assessed according to the 7 symptoms recommended by the American Psychiatric Association to diagnose substance dependence (e.g., withdrawal, tolerance, continued use despite problems), with questions modified by replacing the word food for drugs within the questions. Based on their responses, individuals were classified as 'food addicts' or non-addicts, and then the two groups were compared in three areas relevant to conventional addiction disorders: clinical co-morbidities, psychological risk factors, and abnormal motivation for the addictive substance.
Comment: SOTT has been saying it for years. But as usual, the devil is in the details. Psychological well-being is closely tied to brain chemistry. And in order to break the vicious circle, there is a need to provide our body and mind with proper nourishment.
Gluten and dairy contain extremely harmful addictive opioids that lead to depression, nerve damage, seizures, migraines, etc., and promote or enhance addictive and damaging behavior. More so, one other big lie that has been propagated in our society for far too long, is that saturated or animal fat and high cholesterol cause heart attacks or other medical scares, while in reality it helps to stabilize the mood, decrease inflammation and protect the cells from damage or viruses. Low-carb high-fat diet not only brings the desired equilibrium to the body and brain chemistry, it reduces cravings and the resulting addictive behavior.
Dr. Peter Osborne gives an easy-to-follow guide to the importance of magnesium levels in maintaining optimal health.
Signs & Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency:
Signs & Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency:
- Poor immune function
- Bone Loss
- Muscle pain and muscle twitching
- Depression
- High Blood Pressure
- Increase cholesterol
- Hypoglycemia or other blood sugar problems
- Fatigue
- Thyroid Disease
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Nine of the ten states in the South have the highest obesity rates in America, while those in the West and Northeast have the lowest. For seven years running, Mississippi is in first place. The only state with an obesity rate of less than 20% is Colorado.
Comment: For more information regarding some causes of obesity, see these Sott links:
Common Chemicals May be Feeding Obesity Epidemic
Eliminating Junk Foods at Schools May Help Prevent Childhood Obesity
This article outlines what types of fats are healthy versus what helps to cause obesity:
Everything About Fat
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In the case of genetically modified organisms we have not been made aware of the risks. In fact, the GMO industry has deliberately hidden the real dangers behind the seeds and herbicides they peddle.
The Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America has defined informed consent in the following bureaucratic jargon:
Except as provided in 50.23 and 50.24, no investigator may involve a human being as a subject in research covered by these regulations unless the investigator has obtained the legally effective informed consent of the subject or the subject's legally authorized representative. An investigator shall seek such consent only under circumstances that provide the prospective subject or the representative sufficient opportunity to consider whether or not to participate and that minimize the possibility of coercion or undue influence. The information that is given to the subject or the representative shall be in language understandable to the subject or the representative. No informed consent, whether oral or written, may include any exculpatory language through which the subject or the representative is made to waive or appear to waive any of the subject's legal rights, or releases or appears to release the investigator, the sponsor, the institution, or its agents from liability for negligence.Under all of these definitions, including the exceptions which you can peruse at the above linked official website, what Monsanto is doing with GM crops and their Roundup products are ethically wrong and illegal.
A study presented at the British Psychological Society in Glasgow found that when smokers were shown scenes where no smoking signs were visible they were subconsciously drawn to having a cigarette because the idea of smoking had been put in their head. Researchers said was ironic.
The researchers recruited a group of smokers who were shown 25 pictures of everyday scenes on the street and in cafés and bars. In around seven of the images, no smoking signs were included in their usual locations.
© Getty Images
An electron micrograph of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae -- the cause of the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhoea. A new strain has emerged that is resistance to antibiotics.
An electron micrograph of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae -- the cause of the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhoea. A new strain has emerged that is resistance to antibiotics.
For the first time, international researchers have identified a strain of gonorrhea that is resistant to treatment with antibiotics, scientists announced at a sex disease research conference Monday.
The common bacterial infection, often called the "clap," has until now been easily treatable with antibiotics but if left alone can cause infertility in women and painful urination and a pus-oozing infection in men.
"This is both an alarming and a predictable discovery," said Magnus Unemo of the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria.
"Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it."
Details of the discovery were to be released by Unemo and colleagues at the 19th conference of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research, on from July 10-13 in Quebec City, Canada.
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You may have heard about 'ozone action days' and the ozone layer. One is bad the other is good. Confusing because how can something be good and bad at the same time? Well it all depends on WHERE the ozone is in our atmosphere.
First the GOOD ozone -
© NASA
In the stratosphere (about 10-30miles above the earth's surface) sits a gas called ozone. It's made up of three oxygen molecules (yes I know - chemistry 101 is coming back to haunt you and me). Ozone blocks about 99% of the sun's harmful ultraviolet light radiation. So high in our atmosphere ozone is a good thing because it keeps us safe from the sun's UV radiation. So we want lots of ozone above us.
Comment: Dr. Mark Hyman explains Why Antidepressants Don't Work for Treating Depression: Irving Kirsch professor of psychology explains the placebo effect in the following articles and how 'Information about the best way to treat patients was being hidden from doctors, and so billions of pounds were being wasted and patients were being exposed to dangerous chemicals for no real benefit.'
Antidepressants: The Emperor's New Drugs?
Why antidepressants are simply a confidence trick: A leading psychologist claims taking sugar pills would work just as well To learn more about the over prescribing of antidepressants and the risky side effects read the folllowing articles:
'Manufacturing Depression': Are Doctors Overprescribing Antidepressants?
Why Antidepressants Don't Live Up to the Hype
Many Get Antidepressants for No Psychiatric Reason
Antidepressants once seen as miracle drugs: now risks are becoming evident