Health & WellnessS


Bizarro Earth

Hell on earth: The 10 most polluted places on the planet

Lethal Pollution from old mines, radioactivity and chemicals threaten the lives of millions of people.

©CNN

Magnify

Marijuana Ingredient May Prevent Mad Cow Disease

According to basic research of scientists of the National Centre for Scientific Research in Valbonne, France, cannabidiol (CBD) may prevent the development of prion diseases, the most known being BSE (bovine spongiforme enzephalopathy), which is often called mad cow disease. It is believed that the BSE may be transmitted to human beings. In humans, it is known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Attention

Elderly at Highest Risk for Suicide

Not long after 72-year-old Anne Beale Golsan had retired on disability from her job as a librarian, she put a stack of paid bills out for the mail, hung up a freshly pressed outfit and taped a note to the front of the house. "Don't come in by yourself. Get somebody to come with you. Sorry, Love Beale."

Her niece arrived at the house they shared in Baton Rouge, La., to find police already there. Golsan had killed herself with a gunshot to the head.

©Unknown
Graphic shows elderly suicide rates by state for 1999-2004

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Blame your genes if your anti-smoking drug won't work: study

If you're a smoker trying to quit, your genes may determine how effectively a common smoking cessation drug will work, a new study suggests.

Attention

Effectiveness of drugs 'overstated because of biased testing'

Pharmaceutical companies are overstating the effectiveness of their drugs, and may be placing patients at greater risk, because animal laboratory studies they fund are biased, it was claimed yesterday.

A survey of nearly 300 animal-test studies involving six different experimental drugs suggested that such flawed methodology is rampant in the drug-testing industry.

Health

Canada records worst year for West Nile

New numbers show Canada is experiencing its worst year for West Nile virus, and as strange as it sounds, one reason could be the lack of a certain type of mosquito.

So far this summer, 1,790 people are known to have become infected with West Nile, compared with the previous record of 1,481 cases in 2003.

©CBC
A wet spring and hot summer in the Prairies provided the perfect breeding ground for the type of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus to humans.

Syringe

Soldier faces threats from military after refusing anthrax vaccine

A soldier serving in Iraq who is stationed in Baghdad says he has faced "threats" and "intimidation" from his Army superiors - including the possibility of forced inoculations - after he refused to take the military's controversial anthrax vaccine.

Recycle

"Experts" Debate Giving Cervical Cancer Vaccine to Choir Boys

Amid the controversy around mandated vaccination of young girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV), some experts are beginning to wonder whether the shot should also be given to boys.

Comment: The lengths the vaccine industry will got to push this absurdity is truly breathtaking. Not only is the HPV virus not contagious like measles, it's already been shown that simply taking Vitamin D supplements and getting enough sun exposure can ward off most cancers and prevent the flu.


Red Flag

Vaccine Tied to 'Superbug' Ear Infection

CHICAGO - A vaccine that has dramatically curbed pneumonia and other serious illnesses in children is also having an unfortunate effect: promoting new superbugs that cause ear infections.

Bizarro Earth

China finds suspected H5N1 outbreak among ducks

China has discovered a suspected outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus among ducks in an outlying district of the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, the Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry said on its Web site that by Thursday, 9,830 ducks had died of the outbreak in Guangzhou's Panyu District.