Health & WellnessS


Health

Every minute, one woman dies in labour


Press TV
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:39 UTC
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© Unknown
The number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth is increasing in some nations, the health ministers from around the world say at the UN Population Fund meeting.

According to the findings of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) meeting held this week in Addis Ababa, every minute, a woman dies in childbirth.

In the high-level meeting of over 150 health ministers, childbirth was reported to be responsible for a greater number of female deaths when compared to events such as war.

Lack of properly trained midwives and the long distance between certain rural areas and health centers are among the main reasons contributing to serious complications and even death in pregnant women.
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Magic Wand

Swine flu vaccine shots eliminate wrinkles, bad breath and varicose veins, too

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:49 UTC
The propaganda push for flu vaccines has reached a level of absurdity that's just begging to be made fun of. Today, a flu vaccine story appearing in Reuters claimed that injecting pregnant women with flu shots would increase the birth weight of their babies by half a pound. That same story claimed flu shots are so healthy for pregnant women that they also prevent premature births.

It even quotes a team of experts who claim that injecting an expectant mother with a flu shot would reduce the hospitalization of her infants, explaining: "Flu vaccine given to women during pregnancy is 85 percent effective in preventing hospitalization in their infants under 6 months of age."
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Pumpkin

Study: Pumpkin Skin May Repel Germs


United Press International
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:20 UTC
Pumpkin
© UPI/Terry SchmittGrowers thump a competing gourd at the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay.
Kwangju, South Korea - South Korean scientists say they've determined a substance in pumpkin skin can repel germs that cause millions of cases of yeast infections annually.

Chosun University researchers say some disease-causing microbes are becoming resistant to existing antibiotics, causing scientists to search for new bacterial treatments.

In the study, Kyung-Soo Hahm, Yoonkyung Park and colleagues noted pumpkins have long been used as folk medicine in some countries. So the scientists said they extracted proteins from pumpkin rinds to see if the proteins inhibit the growth of microbes, including Candida albicans, a fungus that causes vaginal yeast infections, diaper rash in infants and other health problems.
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Bizarro Earth

Beware: Genetically Modified Omega 3 Oils to Appear in Foods

James Williams
Atlanta Wellness Examiner
Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:00 UTC
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Evidence: journals, pharmaceutical companies, GM-food and processed food producers work together
Monsanto, the company which spent an astounding eight million dollars last year on lobbying, is planning to flood the food market with poor quality omega 3 oils from its genetically modified (GM) soy beans.

Monsanto, which is trying to control the world's farming market and infect nature with its genetically modified seeds, plans to sell its omega 3 frankenfood to processed food companies. The food companies will then claim that their frozen dinners and microwave meals are healthy because they contain omega 3 oils.

Yet you can bet your bottom dollar that the packaging on these TV dinners won't reveal that the omega 3 oils are from GM soy. If you've missed the headlines, you can learn why GM-food has a suspicious history and why these food ingredients are considered unhealthy.

More astoundingly, is the timing of this press release from Monsanto. Just last week, a poorly designed study doubting the benefits of omega 3 oils from fish somehow passed the peer review process and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. What's the connection?
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Magnify

Stress-Induced Changes in Brain Circuitry Linked to Cocaine Relapse


ScienceDaily
Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:00 UTC
Stress-evoked changes in circuits that regulate serotonin in certain parts of the brain can precipitate a low mood and a relapse in cocaine-seeking, based on mouse studies published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The impetus for this research was our interest in how stress alters the brain's cell receptors and protein signals in ways that lead to mood changes, depression, anxiety, and drug seeking," said Dr. Michael Bruchas, acting instructor of pharmacology at the University of Washington (UW), who with Dr. Benjamin Land, a former UW doctoral student now in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, co-led the recent study of the adverse effects of stress-activated brain pathways. The senior author was Dr. Charles Chavkin, the Allan and Phyllis Treuer Professor of Pharmacology and director of the UW Center for Drug Addiction Research

A common belief is that drug seeking is regulated by dopamine, a chemical nerve signal associated with motivating and rewarding behavior. Dopamine may still have a key role, the researchers noted, which is why they were surprised to find harmful effects of stress converging in a brain region- the dorsal raphe nucleus --where nerve cells that use serotonin are abundant. These nerve cells also project to other structures found on either side of the brain -- the nucleus accumbens -- which are thought to play roles in feeding and drug addiction. Serotonin is a chemical nerve signal that has been associated with wake and sleep cycles, mood, anger, status and aggression.
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Magnify

This is Your Brain on Fatty Acids: Scientists Discover Lipid may be Vital to Learning


AScribe Newswire
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:28 UTC
Saturated fats have a deservedly bad reputation, but Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in the brain may help us memorize grandma's recipe for cinnamon buns, as well as recall how, decades ago, she served them up steaming from the oven.

The Hopkins team, reporting Oct. 29 in Neuron, reveals how palmitate, a fatty acid, marks certain brain proteins - NMDA receptors - that need to be activated for long-term memory and learning to take place. The fatty substance directs the receptors to specific locations in the outer membrane of brain cells, which continually strengthen and weaken their connections with each other, sculpting and resculpting new memory circuits.

Moreover, the researchers report, this fatty modification is a reversible process, with some sort of on-off switch, offering possibilities for manipulating it to enhance or even, perhaps, erase memory.

"Before now, no one knew that NMDA receptors change in response to the addition of palmitate," says Richard Huganir, Ph.D., professor and director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins.
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Magnify

What You See is Not Always What You Do


ScienceDaily
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:00 UTC
Imagine: during lunch your colleague throws an apple to you. You catch it (of course) without difficulty. No problem. But what actually happened? Did you consciously decide to catch the apple with two hands? And how did your hands know where they had to be to catch the apple? According to Dutch researcher Hemke van Doorn you can catch an apple like this thanks to the close cooperation between two separate visual systems. He has now established for the first time how these areas cooperate.

Van Doorn allowed a large number of study subjects to carry out different tests. He wanted to know if we do indeed work with two systems: one system that ensures conscious observation and one visual system that takes care of the movement. In order to demonstrate that the two visual areas are clearly separated, Van Doorn showed the study subjects rods with arrows at the ends. These arrows 'trick' our observation by making the rods seem longer or shorter.

When the study subjects had to say how long the rod was, they were tricked by the arrows. They estimated the length incorrectly. However, as soon as the study subjects were asked to pick up the rod, the size of their hand opening was found to be accurately adjusted to the actual length of the rod. The system for conscious observation and the visual system that guides movement are therefore clearly separated from each other. After all, one system made an error and the other did not.
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Magnify

"Culture of We" Buffers Genetic Tendency to Depression


ScienceDaily
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:00 UTC
A genetic tendency to depression is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values, according to a new Northwestern University study.

In other words, a genetic vulnerability to depression is much more likely to be realized in a Western culture than an East Asian culture that is more about we than me-me-me.

The study coming out of the growing field of cultural neuroscience takes a global look at mental health across social groups and nations.

Depression, research overwhelmingly shows, results from genes, environment and the interplay between the two. One of the most profound ways that people across cultural groups differ markedly, cultural psychology demonstrates, is in how they think of themselves.
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Roses

Study shows hormone replacement therapy decreases mortality in younger postmenopausal woman


EurekAlert
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:17 UTC
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat menopausal estrogen deficiency has been in widespread use for over 60 years. Several observational studies over the years showed that HRT use by younger postmenopausal women was associated with a significant reduction in total mortality; available evidence supported the routine use of HRT to increase longevity in postmenopausal women. However, the 2002 publication of a major study, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), indicated increased risk for certain outcomes in older women, without increasing mortality. This sparked debate regarding potential benefits or harm of HRT. In an article published in the November 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of the available data using Bayesian methods and concluded that HRT almost certainly decreases mortality in younger postmenopausal women.

Comment: Just note that Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) mainly involves synthetic hormones. There is however the option available, of using natural plant progesterone transdermal therapy which has shown to deal with a variety of problems.

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Document

Study: depression can lead to inflated reports of physical symptoms


University of Iowa
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:08 UTC
New research shows people who feel depressed tend to recall having more physical symptoms than they actually experienced. The study indicates that depression -- not neuroticism -- is the cause of such over-reporting.

Psychologist Jerry Suls, professor and collegiate fellow in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, attributes the findings to depressed individuals recalling experiences differently, tending to ruminate over and exaggerate the bad.

Published electronically this month in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the study was conducted by investigators in the UI Department of Psychology, the Center for Research in the Implementation of Innovative Strategies in Practice (CRIISP) at the Iowa City VA Medical Center, and the UI College of Nursing.
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