Health & WellnessS


Magnify

Something's fishy about macular degeneration fish oil studies

Bill Sardi
OMNS
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 09:12 UTC
Image
Just seven months ago National Eye Institute researchers claimed fish oil "doesn't seem to help macular degeneration," (1) a sight-robbing eye disease that plagues adults in their senior years.

So how could another newly published study produce exactly opposite results? In fact, fish oil didn't just slow down the insidious progression of this eye disease, it restored vision to every patient placed on high-dose fish oil. It was therapeutic and curative, not just preventive.

The study I'm referring to is likely to be dismissed. The study group was small - only 25 patients. There was no inactive placebo pill given to another group of patients for comparison, a requirement for scientific validity. And it's also possible (but not plausible) that all the patients in the study were abjectly deficient in omega-3 fish oils, producing an atypical effect. But the study group was based in the Mediterranean where fish consumption is high. And it's not likely any placebo effect was involved.

The study is so convincing, especially when combined with all of the positive fish oil studies conducted over the last decade (see chart below), eye physicians would now be derelict in their duty not to recommend every long-living senior adult to consume more fish, or better yet - take concentrated fish oil capsules, if they want to maintain their sight throughout their retirement years.

Comment: Macular degeneration is also associated with low stomach acidity. See our forum discussion thread for more information.

Read More...
Rainbow

Free from fibromyalgia pain, and living life to the fullest!

Sarah Tobias
RobbWolf.com
Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:03 UTC
Image
It has been a year since I started the Paleo diet. I'm amazed by all the wonderful changes that have taken place. The first two weeks were the hardest. I went through some withdrawal symptoms. My regular headaches got pretty extreme, and felt like I was coming down with the flu. I had made a commitment to give it 30 days and I stuck with it, saying that I could give it all up if I didn't start to feel better.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 5 years ago after trying to figure out what was wrong with me for about five years. I remember the first pain so clearly. My thighs would feel like they were burning. Squatting was no longer possible for more than a few seconds. That can make for some awkward moments when you are doing photography of plants on the ground, or picking things up off the floor. When I took the dogs for a ½ mile or less walk, I would be exhausted. I remember making a promise to my Border Collie puppy that I would never give up taking her out. She got bigger, but the walks didn't get longer.

I gained weight; 60 pounds at the worst of it. I was just turning 40 and I felt like I was 70. Being a librarian, I did research, and then I tried everything. I had my fillings replaced to get the lead out of my body, and I tried so many types of supplements that did nothing but make companies richer. I was addicted to Advil to help me get through a day, and relieve the pain to a point where I was just getting by. I was exhausted all the time, and my body hurt to be touched. My husband would put his hand on my hip, and I would cry out in pain.

Comment: See our forum discussion "Life Without Bread" for more testimonials like this one.

Read More...
Cow

U.S. butter consumption reaches highest level in 40 years

Joe Taschler
Milwaulkee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
Sun, 01 Dec 2013 00:01 UTC
Butter factory line worker
© Mark HoffmanJoe Ortner performs maintenance on a robotic palletizer at Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, the largest family-owned butter producer in the nation.
Butter is back.

Driven by the movement toward food that contains natural ingredients as well as the foodie and gourmet cooking trends, butter consumption in the United States has reached its highest level in 40 years, dairy industry leaders say.

Where margarine and other spreads were once hailed as healthier alternatives to butter, the pendulum may have swung back in butter's favor. That matters in Wisconsin, where nearly 12,000 dairy farms and their 1.3 million cows annually produce 3.2 billion gallons of milk, the raw material for butter.

In the middle of the trend is Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, whose plants make about a third of the nation's butter. Grassland is the largest family-owned butter company in the United States.

"We're busy," said Trevor Wuethrich, a vice president at Grassland and the fourth generation of the Wuethrich family to work at the company, which was founded by John Wuethrich in 1904. "We're definitely seeing butter consumption go up."
Read More...
Pills

Doctors boycotting California's Obamacare exchange

Richard Pollock
The Washington Examiner
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 19:27 UTC
Doctors
© unknownAn estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange and won't participate, the head of the state's largest doctors' association said.
An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange and won't participate, the head of the state's largest medical association said.

"It doesn't surprise me that there's a high rate of nonparticipation," said Dr. Richard Thorp, president of the California Medical Association.

Thorp has been a primary care doctor for 38 years in a small town 90 miles north of Sacramento. The CMA represents 38,000 of the roughly 104,000 doctors in California.

"We need some recognition that we're doing a service to the community. But we can't do it for free. And we can't do it at a loss. No other business would do that," he said.
Read More...
Cell Phone

New Study: 30 minutes exposure to 4G cell phone radiation affects brain activity

Lloyd Burrell
Greenmedinfo.com
Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:53 UTC
Image
The peer-reviewed journal Clinical Neurophysiology has just published research showing that 30 minutes of exposure to LTE cellphone radiation affects brain activity on both sides of the brain.1

Researchers exposed the right ear of 18 participants to LTE radio frequency radiation for 30 minutes. The absorbed amount of radiation in the brain was well within international (ICNIRP) cell phone legal limits and the source of the radiation was kept 1 cm from the ear. To eliminate study biases the researchers employed a double blind, crossover, randomized design, exposing participants to real and sham exposures.

The resting state brain activity of each participant was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) twice, once after exposure to LTE radio frequency radiation, and then again after a sham exposure.

The results demonstrate that radio frequency radiation from LTE 4G technology affects brain neural activity in both the closer brain region and in the remote region, including the left hemisphere of the brain.

Comment: "The long-term effects of these exposures have yet to be studied but there is already considerable evidence linking these exposures to a myriad of adverse biological effects" Read the following articles to learn more about the serious concerns regarding cell phones:

The Hidden Dangers of Cell Phone Radiation
Study Finds: Cell Phone Use May Weaken Bones
Cell Phones, EMF Negatively Altering Important Regions of the Brain
Researchers Find Stunning Evidence of Cell Phone Dangers
WHO Warns of Possible Link Between Cell Phone Use, Brain Cancer Risk
Approaching Epidemic: Brain Damage from Mobile Phone Radiation
Neurosurgeon Shows How Low Levels of Radiation Such As Wi-Fi, Smart Meters And Cell Phones Cause The Blood Brain Barrier To Leak
Cell Phones and Cancer: Assessment Classifies Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans

Read More...
Arrow Up

An Ohio hospital is dropping fight to force Amish girl, 11, to have chemotherapy after family fled their home to avoid treatment


Daily Mail
Fri, 06 Dec 2013 15:22 UTC
Image
© dailymail.comTraditions: Sarah Hershberger (not pictured) and her family are Amish, and their beliefs force them to shun technology and in turn, some forms of modern medicine.
A court-appointed guardian is dropping her attempt to force an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after she and her parents fled their home to avoid treatment.

The move filed in court Friday will likely bring an end to a month's-long fight between Sarah Hershberger's family and a hospital that began when her parents decided to halt the treatments because they were making the girl sick.

The guardian, an attorney who's also a registered nurse, was given the power to make medical decisions for Sarah after an appeals court ruling in October said the beliefs and convictions of the girl's parents can't outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child.

But the guardian, Maria Schimer, decided to drop the effort because she doesn't know where Sarah is now and it has become impossible to monitor her health or make any medical decisions, said Clair Dickinson, an attorney for Schimer.

'It didn't make sense to drag this on any longer,' he said.


Comment: Read more about the disturbing court battle regarding forced medical treatment, parents rights and the protection of an ill child:

Family flees US to evade State-Enforced Chemotherapy on their 10 year old child
Amish girl and parents flee United States to avoid court-mandated chemotherapy

Read More...
Family

You are what your father eats: Father's diet before conception plays crucial role in offspring's health, study suggests


Science Daily
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 15:14 UTC
Image
© michaeljung / FotoliaResearch shows for the first time that the father's folate levels may be just as important to the development and health of their offspring as are those of the mother. The study suggests that fathers should pay as much attention to their lifestyle and diet before they set out to conceive a child as mothers do.
Mothers get all the attention. But a study led by McGill researcher Sarah Kimmins suggests that the father's diet before conception may play an equally important role in the health of their offspring. It also raises concerns about the long-term effects of current Western diets and of food insecurity.

The research focused on vitamin B9, also called folate, which is found in a range of green leafy vegetables, cereals, fruit and meats. It is well known that in order to prevent miscarriages and birth defects mothers need to get adequate amounts of folate in their diet. But the way that a father's diet can influence the health and development of their offspring has received almost no attention. Now research from the Kimmins group shows for the first time that the father's folate levels may be just as important to the development and health of their offspring as are those of the mother. Indeed, the study suggests that fathers should pay as much attention to their lifestyle and diet before they set out to conceive a child as mothers do.

"Despite the fact that folic acid is now added to a variety of foods, fathers who are eating high-fat, fast food diets or who are obese may not be able to use or metabolize folate in the same way as those with adequate levels of the vitamin," says Kimmins. "People who live in the Canadian North or in other parts of the world where there is food insecurity may also be particularly at risk for folate deficiency. And we now know that this information will be passed on from the father to the embryo with consequences that may be quite serious."
Read More...
Book 2

Introducing Death by Food Pyramid

Mark Sisson
Mark's Daily Apple
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 14:57 UTC
death by food pyramid
Today marks the release of the book for which you've all been waiting patiently or impatiently (I've got the emails to prove it!), and with it a very special limited-time offer. But first, let me tell you how we got to this point.

About three years ago, Denise Minger - a statistics-savvy English major in her early 20s - set the nutrition world ablaze with her careful, methodical parsing of the data behind The China Study. As your probably know, The China Study is that "authoritative" tome that vegans and vegetarians carry around as an instant comeback to any omnivore who dares assert the healthfulness of consuming things with faces. I was very impressed with her ability to take otherwise overwhelming data sets and pull out conclusions that were equally - if not more - valid than what the research scientists were culling from their own studies. Her China Study takedown was the capper. We met for lunch and I pitched her this idea of a book that would inform and educate the general public as to how we have been misled by the "authorities" (public policy makers and researchers) and which would deconstruct the precise history and point out the failed logic, so that anyone could see what a disaster the pyramid was. I wanted it to appeal to everyone - not just Primal/Paleo - as an empowering tool. Death by Food Pyramid is the long-awaited result, and it more than succeeds in achieving its goals.
Read More...
Health

Low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet fuels rapid weight loss

Samantha Chang
Examiner
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 04:26 UTC
Image
Samantha Chang - authoritarian follower, DOJ wannabe - puts profit before people
The author of this article, and a few other articles hosted on Sott.net, Samantha Chang, recently demanded that Sott.net stop republishing her articles (all of which are on the Ketogenic diet), on pain of "bad things happening" to us (see email below).

Like a good authoritarian follower, Ms. Chang backed up her 'threat' with a symbol of the totalitarian state under which she exists - an image of a United States Dept. of Justice wallet (see below), which seems to suggest that she has perhaps internalized the fascistic ideology of the police state that is the US of A.

Many writers have published information on the benefits of a Ketogenic diet, including research conducted by Sott.net that was made freely available to all. Ms. Chang, however, obviously does not subscribe to the idea of the free flow of vitally important information in an age of massive information control and subversion.

Given that Ms. Chang is obviously more interested in personal profit rather than the dissemination of information that could help many people, we will no longer be carrying her articles. In chasing after self-aggrandizement at the expense of helping others, she has clearly aligned herself with the fundamentals of our pathologically narcissistic global society.

Comment: We've been saying it for years, the ketogenic diet is a path for transformation. See also:

The Ketogenic Diet - An Overview
Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets
Ketogenic Diet (high-fat, low-carb) Has Neuroprotective and Disease-modifying Effects
Is the Ketogenic Diet the cure for multiple diseases?
Diet for cancer cure: Starving cancer ketogenic diet a key to recovery
Solve Your Health Issues with a Ketogenic Diet

Read More...
Pills

Many people won't be able to keep or even afford their medications under Obamacare

Fred Lucas
The Blaze
Mon, 09 Dec 2013 16:04 UTC
obamacare
First some consumers found they couldn't keep their existing health insurance plans. Then others learned they couldn't keep their doctors. Now it's possible that under Obamacare, some people won't be able to keep their medications, or at least not afford them, under the complex formulary structure of the plans on the health exchanges and because of the rising costs.

"If you like your medicines, you may not be able to keep them under Obamacare," health policy analyst Scott Gottlieb wrote in a Forbes column. "Health plans are cheapening their drug formularies - just like they cheapened their networks of doctors. That's how their paying for the benefits that President Obama promised, everything from free contraception to a leveling of premiums between older (and typically costlier) beneficiaries, and younger consumers."

The affordability of prescriptions could hinge on whether a consumer is enrolled in a platinum, gold, silver or bronze plan.

Comment: See also:
The Devastating Truth Behind Obamacare
What you're not being told about Obamacare
Healthcare nightmare: Doctors rebelling against Obamacare, hospitals and health insurance providers declining to join

Read More...