Welcome to Sott.net
Thu, 04 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Health & Wellness
Map

Holly

Is your air freshener making you sick?

Kelly Brogan MD Team
Kelly Brogan
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:36 UTC
car air freshener
I opened the window to the 27 degree NYC air. My driver asked if I wanted him to turn the heat off, and I said, "no it's the air freshener. It's really too much."

"Too much?! You're supposed to like it!" he exclaimed with exasperation in his thick Greek accent.

Thus ensued a discussion about the little known risks to both drivers, passengers, and other unwitting air breathers in today's service industries.

He unclipped his noxious Glade stink bomb and put it in his glove box. He said that I was "sweet" so he would do it for me.

I'm hoping that more drivers will do it for other reasons - the very reasons we are here to uncover today so that we can secure truly fresh air in public spaces...

VOC Nation

We are being exposed to air fresheners more and more in our shared-ride economy. It's almost like we've gotten used to fake coverups and now feel that, no matter what the world looks like, or what a car smells like, we can create an illusion of ok-ness.

Many people are connecting the dots, recognizing that that air "fresheners" give them headaches, itchiness, and coughs. But what exactly are in air fresheners?
      Read More...
Pills

The Big Pharma business model wants people sick

Martha Rosenberg
Alternet
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 14:49 UTC
Big Pharma
© Activist Post
Pharma-funded "patient" groups keep drug prices astronomical.

It happens with regularity during citizen open-mike sessions at FDA drug advisory committee hearings. A queue of "patients" materializes out of nowhere to testify, often in tears, about the crucial need for a new drug or new use approval. Some are flown in by Pharma. It can't be a generic drug, the "patients" cry, because they are just not the same. It has to be the $1000-a-month drug or even the $1000-a-pill drug, so that taxpayers and the privately insured prop up Pharma's cred on Wall Street.

More than 80 percent of patient groups are Pharma-funded, the New York Times reported this week, including the National Hemophilia Foundation, the American Diabetes Association and the National Psoriasis Foundation. But the most insidious are the mental health front groups like the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) and Mental Health America.

Not only do psychiatric drugs represent four digit outlays per month per patient, and sometimes much more, patients are kept on them for decades or for life, with few medical attempts to determine if patients still need them or ever needed them. Side effects of the drug cocktails are viewed, thanks to Pharma spin, as confirmation of the "mental illness," not the side effects they almost always are. The use of such drugs in the elderly, despite their links to death in those with dementia, has become epidemic and is an underreported cause of falls.
      Read More...
Health

How fingernail lines can give clues to health

Hilary Lebow
The Alternative Daily
Sat, 11 Mar 2017 14:49 UTC
fingernails
When something is amiss, sometimes our bodies will let us know in an obvious way, like a headache or upset stomach. But all too often we forget that our bodies give us more subtle signs, too — like the lines on our fingernails. Read on and take a good look at your nails to find out what the lines say about your health.

Vertical fingernail lines

Vertical lines are fairly common and usually nothing to worry about, according to Mayo Clinic. They tend to become more pronounced with age. You can think of vertical lines as wrinkles on your nails. They have to do with the body's increasing inability to retain moisture as you get older. "There are many reasons for ridged nails but the most common is aging," said Dr. Phoebe Rich to Huffington Post. "As we age, the nail matrix becomes atrophied in areas resulting in longitudinal ridging of nails."

If the lines are evenly spaced, chances are they are harmless. However, on occasion, they can signify a vitamin deficiency or chronic disease, like rheumatoid arthritis. When you look at your nails, be sure to note how many lines there are. If there's one streak, perhaps it's just the result of a mild injury or biting your nails too hard. However, if there's one very pronounced line and you don't recall hitting your nail on anything, it could be a sign that a tumor is growing at the root of the nail, says Dr. Jessica Krant. Yikes! If this is the case, go see your doctor.
      Read More...
Magnify

UK Supermarkets: 'Feed me the Truth' about GMOs in our food chain!

Liz O'Neill
The Ecologist
Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:17 UTC
GMO food
UK supermarkets led the world in saying 'no!' to GM foods and ingredients, writes Liz O'Neill. But they faltered on GM feeds for pigs, cattle, poultry and fish, with GM soy and corn dominating the UK's non-organic market. Now campaigners are putting the pressure on supermarkets to make their entire supply chains GMO-free for the sake of animal, human and ecological health.

When genetically modified (GM) crops first emerged, campaigners donned decontamination suits and took to the fields.

These days, the most important battleground may actually be the 'contact us' page on the supermarket websites.

Consumer rejection took GM products off the shelves very soon after they first appeared in the UK. But that's only part of the battle.

Showing supermarkets that their customers don't want GM anywhere in the food chain is vitally important to creating a responsible, fair and sustainable food system.
      Read More...
Cow

Companies respond to calls for antibiotic-free meat


Medical Xpress
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 14:15 UTC
crowded chickens
© Bethany Hahn
If you lived like this you'd catch the flu too.
Facing pressure from environmentalists and shareholder activists, major US food companies and restaurant chains are moving to limit antibiotics in farm animals raised for meat.

Last month, Tyson Foods announced a "no antibiotics ever" pledge for all Tyson-branded chicken products, building on an earlier promise to restrict drug use on broiler chickens.

Analysts see the latest Tyson announcement as further evidence of a trend of large companies limiting pharmaceuticals that scientists believe increases drug-resistance for treating pneumonia, infections and other illnesses in humans.

The wave started in 2014 with Perdue Chicken and chicken-based fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, followed by McDonald's, Wal-Mart Stores, Pilgrim's Pride and others. The announcements vary in scope, with some companies, for example, still permitting use of ionophores, antibiotics not used in human medicine.

The shift follows warnings about antibiotic resistance from health officials and a September 2016 United Nations General Assembly resolution that pledged coordinated action to address overuse.

"We're seeing a cry from consumers for meat that's responsibly raised," said Lena Brook, a food policy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
      Read More...
Health

Highly drug-resistant candida infections being reported in US hospitals

Bruce B. Vanderburg
Reliawire
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 21:48 UTC
Candida auris
A highly drug-resistant deadly fungal infection, first warned against by U.S. health officials last summer, has been cropping up in hospitals around the country. Over 30 patients have been diagnosed with the emerging pathogen Candida auris since that time, with 28 of the 35 documented U.S. cases located in New York state., according to the CDC.

It is difficult to know just how dangerous the fungus is, since thus far it has mostly infected patients who were already seriously ill, but the majority of people diagnosed with Candida auris have died.

First reported in 2009, the fungus has been linked to invasive infections in nine countries, including the United States. It has caused at least two hospital outbreaks involving more than 30 patients each.

Invasive Infections

In a recent study, microbiologists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine provided new details pertaining to C. auris drug resistance and growth patterns. Based on specimens collected from around the globe, the comprehensive study also provides evidence that a new investigational drug (SCY-078) may help to cure these infections.

Comment: Learn more about Candida and what you can do to heal it naturally:

      Read More...
Pills

Johnson & Johnson lawsuits spike from men who 'grew breasts' using the antipsychotic drug Risperdal


International Business Times
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 17:00 UTC
Tablets of the generic antipsychotic drug Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia

Tablets of the generic antipsychotic drug Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia
More than 100,000 patients are suing US group Johnson & Johnson, alleging that some of its products have caused them harm. They are claiming an antipsychotic medicine has resulted in 18,500 men developing a condition known as gynecomastia, or breast swelling after taking the drugs as children.

Between 2016 and 2017, the number of lawsuits disclosed by J&J dramatically increased from 28,300 to 104,700, and along with it, the company's legal costs, the Financial Times reports.

However, the troubles of J&J with Risperdal are not new. The company has been accused before of wrongly marketing the drug between 1999 and 2005, promoting it for uses not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration - including for the treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In 2013, this led to the company paying more than $2.2bn to settle investigations into its marketing of the drug and other products.

To date however, only a minority of lawsuits have been settled or gone to trial, although some plaintiffs have already been awarded important compensations.

Comment: Additional information about how Johnson & Johnson, circumvented the FDA by cynically and successfully pushing Risperdal's use for very different maladies, notably in the treatment of children and the elderly:

      Read More...
Health

Fighting deadly C. Difficile infections? Exotic honey comes to the rescue

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 16:31 UTC
honey
Today, an alarming number of patients are falling victim to antibiotic-resistant infections, including those like C. difficile which aren't just resistant to conventional antibiotics but actually caused by them. Thankfully, even when antibiotics fail to produce positive outcomes, ancient medicinal foods like honey may come to the rescue.

A recent report published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents reveals that an exotic honey may provide a powerful alternative to conventional antibiotics in treating one of the most common and deadly forms of infection in the United States today.

In a letter to the editor of the journal titled, "Successful treatment of persistent Clostridium difficile infection with manuka honey," two scientists from the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, Netherlends, discuss the therapeutic potential of a honey indigneous to Australia and New Zealand known as Manuka for treating Clostridium difficile infections.

Most serious Clostridicum difficile infections are caused by antibiotic-associated depopulation of the gut flora, leading to the overgrowth of what would otherwise be harmless bacteria in most cases. For instance, about 60-70% of newborns are assymptomatically colonized by Clostridium difficle. 1 It is only when the microbiome is assaulted with broad spectrum antibiotics that this spore-forming, Gram positive bacteria can grow out of its natural bounds to cause serious problems. We've also reported previously about the role of the herbicide glyphosate (aka Roundup) in contributing to deadly Clostridium infections.
      Read More...
Nuke

Dr. Helen Caldicott: The sixth anniversary of the start of the Fukushima crisis

Helen Dr. Helen Caldicott
Global Research
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:37 UTC
nuclear
Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear educator and former nuclear industry senior vice president, has referred to it as "the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind." [1]

Six years ago this week, a tsunami, triggered by a category 9.0 earthquake, slammed into the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility on the north east coast of the Japanese island of Honshu. The natural disaster resulted in the failure of systems keeping the reactor cores and spent fuel rods cool, leading to core meltdowns in three of the plant's reactors, as well as damage from consequent hydrogen explosions. [2]

Enormous quantities of radioactive particles were released into the atmosphere and the water table leading to the Pacific Ocean. Approximately 170,000 people in the vicinity of the plant were immediately evacuated.

The World Health Organization downplayed the health risks from the catastrophe, concluding in their 2013 Health Risk Assessment from the nuclear accident that the risks of contracting certain cancers in certain sex and age groups were only "somewhat elevated." The report also concluded "no discernable increase in health risks from the Fukushima event is expected outside Japan." [3]

Nevertheless, a health management survey examining 38,000 children in Fukushima found three children diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The natural incidence is one in one million. [4]

Further, a December 2011 peer-reviewed report in the International Journal of Health Sciences found that in the 14 weeks immediately following the event, there were 14,000 excess deaths in the United States connected with radio-active fall-out from the Fukushima meltdowns. [5]

Comment: Dr. Helen Caldicott: Hiroshima, Fukushima & beyond

      Read More...
Syringe

USA! Highest vaccination rates in the world, worst overall health

Paul Fassa
Real Farmacy
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:42 UTC
Childhood vaccinations
© Twitter
That "worst health" label includes a ranking of 34th in the world with infant mortality. In other words, the USA has the 34th worst infant survival with its highest rate of vaccinations. Some are directly from multiple vaccinations administered.

But the USA leads the world in infant vaccinations, those administered during the first year after their births - 26 vaccinations during that time.

The only vaccination I recall receiving during early childhood, circa 1948, was the smallpox vaccine, the one that left a circle of shallow pockmarks on the upper arm, a non-ink tattoo that proved you had received that vaccine. Months later there was the booster shot which gave me a vacation of several days away from my first grade teacher while sitting out the chicken pox.

During Naval training the mass vaccination high pressure hand held gun that replaced syringes and needles was tried on us with the polio shot. I wound up with a vacation in the base infirmary with an extended period of the flu. Between those two, there may have been a tetanus shot or two.


Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts