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Black Cat 2

Cat allergy research offers new clues

Helen Briggs
BBC News
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:06 UTC
Image
© SPL
Cats are common culprits for pet allergies
Scientists have discovered how allergic reactions to cats are triggered, raising hopes of preventative medicine.

A University of Cambridge team has identified how the body's immune system detects cat allergen, leading to symptoms such as coughing and sneezing.

New treatments to block this pathway raise hopes of developing medicines to protect sufferers, they say.

Allergy UK says the research is "a big step forward" in understanding how cat allergen causes allergic reactions.

Researchers led by Dr Clare Bryant of the University of Cambridge studied proteins found in particles of cat skin, known as cat dander, which is the most common cause of cat allergy.

They found that cat allergen activates a specific pathway in the body, once in the presence of a common bacterial toxin.

This triggers a large immune response in allergy sufferers, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, sneezing and a runny nose.
      Read More...
Red Flag

Another win for Monsanto: US raises allowable levels of company's pesticide in crops


RT.com
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 17:33 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo / Karen Bleier
Biotech giant Monsanto has been awarded yet another victory by the federal government thanks to a recent Environmental Protection Agency decision to allow larger traces of the herbicide glyphosate in farm-grown foods.

Despite a number of studies linking exposure to the chemical with diseases including types of cancer, the EPA is increasing the amount of glyphosate allowed in oilseed and food crops.

The EPA announced their plans on May 1 and allowed critics two months to weigh in and object to the ruling. Following little opposition, though, the EPA is on path to soon approve of levels of glyphosate being found in crops several times over the current concentration.

Glyphosate, a weed-killing chemical developed by Monsanto in 1970, is the key ingredient in the company's "Roundup" label of herbicides. In the decades since, Monsanto has created and patented a number of genetically-modified organisms and genetically-engineered crops resisted to glyphosate that are sold worldwide under the company's "Roundup Ready" brand. Those GMO products are then planted in fields where glyphosate, namely Roundup, is used en masse to eliminate weeds from taking over harvest. With scientists linking that chemical to cancerous diseases, though, critics decry the EPA decision and caution it could do more harm than good.

Comment: Monsanto's executive vice president of sustainability is correct in his statements, that 'glyphosate has a long track record and has been extensively studied' the results of extensive study however are not what Monsanto wants to hear or share with the wider public! Read more about the serious health concerns associated with glyphosate (RoundUp):

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Health

Research confirms sweating detoxifies dangerous metals, petrochemicals

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 16:56 UTC
Image
New research is revealing something remarkable about why the body sweats. Beyond its obvious role in regulating body temperature, sweating has been found to facilitate the elimination of accumulated heavy metals and petrochemicals, indicating that if we want to be healthy we should put regular effort into doing more sweating.

Sweating has long been known as a source of bodily, if not also spiritual "cleansing." But until recently, very little 'scientific' confirmation existed proving that using heat and/or exercise to facilitate perspiration-induced detoxification actually works the way that many natural health advocates claim.

With the Rise of Biomedicine and its so-called 'evidence-based' model of determining what is true and thereby legal to practice, this conspicuous lack of clinical proof has resulted in a veritable inquisition against those who claim that bodily detoxification through sweating is anything more than a form of 'quackery.'
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Magic Wand

Putting the brakes on inflammation

Daniel Stolte
University of Arizona
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 14:45 UTC
Image
© Lidia Bosurgi
In this microscopic image, three cells of the innate immune response (red with blue cell nuclei) are seen next to two T-cells. T-cells appear blue when they're not active. Only when they make contact with and are activated by the innate cells do the T-cells turn on Protein S, causing them to glow green.
Researchers have uncovered a signal that prevents the immune system from spinning out of control. The findings could help develop more effective therapies for autoimmune disorders, allergies, chronic inflammation and cancer.

A team led by a University of Arizona researcher has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that prevents the immune system from going into overdrive, shedding light not only on how our body controls its response to pathogens but on conditions such as autoimmune diseases, allergies and chronic inflammation as well.

The group found a protein previously believed to only play a role in blood clotting acts as a negative feedback signal, telling defense cells to calm down, thereby preventing an immune reaction from spiraling out of control. The results, which could lead to new therapeutics for a variety of disorders caused by a faulty immune response, are published in the scientific journal Immunity.

When pathogens such as viruses or bacteria invade our body, the immune system reacts by producing a flurry of chemical signals, known as chemokines that act as a bugle call recruiting specialized defender cells to the scene, such as macrophages, which devour the intruders. This first line of defense is known as inflammation.

"Inflammation is a necessary defense mechanism - you can't live without it," said Sourav Ghosh, assistant professor in the department of cellular and molecular medicine at the UA College of Medicine and lead author of the study. "On the flip side, if you can't regulate the inflammation, it can damage the body."
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Info

Natural pest control protein effective against hookworm: A billion could benefit

Jim Sliwa
American Society for Microbiology
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 14:39 UTC
A benign crystal protein, produced naturally by bacteria and used as an organic pesticide, could be a safe, inexpensive treatment for parasitic worms in humans and provide effective relief to over a billion people around the world. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, report on this potentially promising solution in a study published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Hookworms, and other intestinal parasites known as helminths infect more than 1 billion people in poverty-stricken, tropical nations, sucking the vitality from the body, and leaving hundreds of millions of children physically and mentally stunted. Current drugs are insufficiently effective, and resistance is rising, but little effort has been made to develop better drugs because the relevant populations do not represent a profitable market for drug companies.

"The challenge is that any cure must be very cheap, it must have the ability to be mass produced in tremendous quantities, safe, and able to withstand rough conditions, including lack of refrigeration, extreme heat, and remote locations," says Raffi Aroian, a researcher on the study.
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Arrow Up

Little girl's high fat, ketogenic diet helps her speak first words


Daily News
Thu, 18 Jul 2013 16:40 UTC
Ketogenic Diet
© Andy Baker/Caters News Agency
Fields’ mom said the toddler now shouts for the dog and says bigger words like “dinosaur.”
A toddler with a rare condition has finally spoken her first words after eating four tubs of Cream Cheese a week.

Little Fields Taylor, from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, suffers from a rare genetic disorder which affects her ability to speak.

But miraculously, after starting a new diet just three months ago, which includes almost a kilo of Philadelphia a week, the adorable three year old has finally spoken her first words.

Delighted Mum, Stevie, 34, said: "The first time I heard Fields say Mum it was just wonderful.

"I didn't really believe that something so simple as changing her diet could make such a big different.

"The amount of Philadelphia she goes through is a bit mad but the effect it's had is amazing.

"It's just fabulous to know that she does have a voice inside her and we can finally communicate."

The toddler has been diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called Glut1 Deficiency - it means her brain is starved of energy because her body cannot transport enough glucose.

There is no cure for Glut1, which affects just 25 people in the UK, but children can be helped with a special diet called the Ketogenic Diet.

Her new diet is high in fat, and forces her brain to use this as its energy source - rather than glucose.
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Ambulance

Drowning does not look like drowning: Adults often have no idea when a child is dying

Mario Vittone
Slate
Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:18 UTC
Image
© Mario Tama/Getty Images
A lifeguard keeps watch on opening day of the newly renovated McCarren Park Pool on June 28, 2012, in Brooklyn, New York.
In many child drownings, adults are nearby but have no idea the victim is dying. Here's what to look for.

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. "I think he thinks you're drowning," the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. "We're fine; what is he doing?" she asked, a little annoyed. "We're fine!" the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. "Move!" he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, "Daddy!"

How did this captain know - from 50 feet away - what the father couldn't recognize from just 10? Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that's all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew know what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, "Daddy," she hadn't made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn't surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for is rarely seen in real life.
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USA

Why is the United States so sick?

Laudan Aron
slate.com
Sun, 21 Jul 2013 17:16 UTC
Image
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
Americans die younger and experience more illness than people in other rich nations.
In the wake of a startling report highlighting the United States' poor health compared with other wealthy nations, the report's director searches for answers.

Americans die younger and experience more injury and illness than people in other rich nations, despite spending almost twice as much per person on health care. That was the startling conclusion of a major report released earlier this year by the U.S. National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine.

It received widespread attention. The New York Times concluded:
"It is now shockingly clear that poor health is a much broader and deeper problem than past studies have suggested."
What it revealed was the extent of the United States' large and growing "health disadvantage," which shows up as higher rates of disease and injury from birth to age 75 for men and women, rich and poor, across all races and ethnicities. The comparison countries - Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom - generally do much better, although the United Kingdom isn't far behind the United States.
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Monkey Wrench

Extreme toxicity of Roundup destroys GMO/Non-GMO 'substantial equivalence' argument

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:51 UTC
Image
© politicalfilm.wordpress.com
If Monsanto's Roundup herbicide were actually 'safer than table salt' as they once advertised, the consumption of GM food wouldn't be nearly as controversial. The truth, however, is that virtually all GM food today contains residues of this toxic chemical, which disproves that GM and non-GM foods are 'substantially equivalent," which is the primary doctrinal justification behind why GM foods are not properly safety tested and millions in this country eating them are living and breathing guinea pigs.

There was a time when Monsanto claimed their patented herbicide Roundup was "safer than table salt" and "practically nontoxic," and aggressively marketed this message until 1996, when they were ordered by Dennis C. Vacco, the Attorney General of New York, to pull the ads.[1]

Fast forward 15 years, after millions of farmers around the world bought into the false advertising and who, as a result, are now driving the production and use of several hundred million pounds of the chemical annually, Roundup herbicide is beginning to look eerily like Monsanto's Agent Orange 2.0.

Indeed, within the scientific community and educated public alike, there is a growing awareness that Roundup herbicide, and its primary ingredient glyphosate, is actually a broad spectrum biocide, in the etymological sense of the word: "bio" (life) and "cide" (kill) - that is, it broadly, without discrimination kills living things, not just plants. Moreover, it does not rapidly biodegrade as widely claimed, and exceedingly small amounts of this chemical - in concentration ranges found in recently sampled rain, air, groundwater, and human urine samples - have DNA-damaging and cancer cell proliferation stimulating effects.
      Read More...
Magnify

Scientists finally discover the function of the human appendix - but go into damage control and minimize the findings

Barbara Miller
Political Blind Spot
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
It has long been regarded as a potentially troublesome, redundant organ, but American researchers say they have discovered the true function of the appendix.
appendix,blinddarm
The researchers say it acts as a safe house for good bacteria, which can be used to effectively reboot the gut following a bout of dysentery or cholera.

The conventional wisdom is that the small pouch protruding from the first part of the large intestine is redundant and many people have their appendix removed and appear none the worse for it.

Scientists from the Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina say following a severe bout of cholera or dysentery, which can purge the gut of bacteria essential for digestion, the reserve good bacteria emerge from the appendix to take up the role.
      Read More...
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