Everyone (in the UK at least) must know of Neon, the seven-year-old boy who has a brain tumour, medulloblastoma, and of Neon's mother, Sally Roberts, who is fighting for her son not to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy because of the danger, she says, of adverse side effects which could damage his brain and destroy his quality of life.

The Daily Mail, today, put it this way:
Cancer boy Neon WILL have radiotherapy against his mother's wishes after High Court ruling.

• Mr Justice Bodey said he was worried Sally Roberts judgement had 'gone awry'
• Mrs Roberts had tried to claim her son should have alternative treatment to radiotherapy
• Experts brand her alternatives 'completely unethical'
• She conceded that her argument is 'weak' under questioning

I don't intend to take sides on this issue (although you can probably guess which side I might be on). But if you are wondering if Mrs Roberts has a case, here is the abstract from a 2003 study about the long-term effects on survivors of exactly the treatment a judge has decided her son must have:

Could bacteria and related microbes, widely believed to be a primary cause of disease, explain how we are capable of surviving through the self-created chemical nightmare of industrialized society?

Environmental chemical exposures number in the tens of thousands among industrialized populations. Our water, air, food, and now bodies, are saturated through with xenobiotic chemicals (compounds foreign to our biochemistry) most of which did not even exist on the planet before the industrial revolution of the late 19^th century.

Remarkably, our bodies are equipped with detoxification systems (such as the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes), whose intelligent design makes it possible to degrade chemicals that did not even exist at the time in the distant past that these elaborate enzyme systems evolved - almost as if we were predesigned to be able to survive the burgeoning, geometrically expanding chemical onslaught of the past century.

Eventually, however, our elaborate detoxification systems become overloaded, which naturally leads to the emergence of acute and chronic diseases - diseases that the conventional medical establishment often pretends do not have an environmental origin, and therefore are treated by suppressing symptoms of poisoning with new, patented poisons known as pharmaceuticals. This approach has resulted in our becoming the sickest organism ever known to inhabit the Earth.

Thankfully, we are not alone. We have helpers all around and within us. Friendly bacteria (and beneficial yeast), with which we co-evolved, and have formed symbiotic alliances with, outnumber our own cells 10 to 1, numbering in the trillions. It has been proposed that our very definition of self should be updated to include these "others," and that humans are truly a "meta-organism." This is no metaphor, because if you take away these bacteria, we die.

A mother in Britain, who was so desperate to stop her cancer-stricken son having to undergo conventional medical treatment that she went into hiding with him, lost a court battle on Friday to prevent him receiving radiotherapy.

The case of Sally Roberts, 37, a New Zealander living in Brighton, southern England, and the plight of her seven-year-old son has made headlines in Britain.

Roberts wants to try alternative treatments first, including immunotherapy and photodynamic therapy for her son Neon. She has been told the boy needs treatment fast but fears the side-effects of conventional medicine.

Doctors treating the boy had warned that without radiotherapy he could die within three months

Judge David Bodey told the High Court in London the life-saving radiotherapy treatment could start against the mother's wishes, the Press Association reported.

"The mother has been through a terrible time. This sort of thing is every parent's nightmare," the judge said.

"But I am worried that her judgment has gone awry on the question of the seriousness of the threat which Neon faces."

The story of the sick blue-eyed blonde boy came to public attention earlier this month when Roberts prompted a nationwide police hunt by going into hiding with Neon for four days to stop him from undergoing the treatment.

The mother's relentless battle in court also cast a light on the dilemmas parents can face when dealing with the illness of a loved one, considering the short-term and long-term risks of a treatment and handling conflicting medical information available at the click of a mouse.

Roberts said in court she had researched on the Internet her son's condition - a fast-growing, high-grade brain tumor called medulloblastoma - and sought advice from specialists around the world because she did not trust British experts.

• His Royal Highness makes heartfelt plea to medical profession
• NHS should foster climate of care and compassion, he says
• Intervention follows series of appalling cases highlighted by the Daily Mail

The Health Service must learn to listen to its patients and be more caring, Prince Charles said yesterday.

Modern medicine and technology are putting the 'human touch' at risk, according to the heir to the throne.

In a heartfelt plea, he said medical schools should try to foster a climate of care and compassion among doctors.

Charles's intervention follows a series of reports of appalling treatment by NHS staff, including dying patients left screaming for water.

He called on doctors and nurses to heed what patients say so they can develop the 'healing empathy' so badly needed.

Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the prince set out a vision apparently in response to studies showing many patients feel ignored.

He said: 'In the individual encounter between patient and clinician, we are led to believe that there is currently a "crisis in caring". I am sure that this is not the case in many or most such encounters.

'Nevertheless, I am equally sure that there is much more that can be done to foster and enhance those age-old qualities of human kindness and compassion.

'The media is full of instances where these have been palpably lacking, and I have heard of others speaking of the need to restore urgently a climate of care and compassion at the heart of our health services.'

Last month, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was a 'kind of normalisation of cruelty' in the worst hospitals, with patients too often subjected to coldness, resentment, indifference and even contempt.

Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, broke down when describing how her husband of 49 years, Owen Roberts, 'died like a battery hen' in October after being admitted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Regulators with the FDA have released a preliminary report that suggests they will soon give the go-ahead to a team of scientists who've created a sci-fi "frankenfish."

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration released an environmental assessment report regarding a salmon-hybrid developed in the laboratories of AquaBounty. The FDA must wait two months before they make final their decision regarding the fate of the frankenfish, but through their study they have determined that the genetically engineered animal, the "AquAdvantage," is safe enough to be sold.

The fish, a hybrid of the Pacific Chinook salmon and a ray-finned creature called the eelpout, is engineered to grow twice as normal as traditional salmon. Once the frankenfish is approved for good, AquaBounty will be able to offer meatier fish able to feed more people.

"In all other respects," the company says the AquAdvantage fish is "identical to other Atlantic salmon."

The AquAdvantage "will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States," the FDA wrote, noting additionally that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon.

The FDA has 60 days to hear remarks from the public before it makes its final decision. At this point, though, experts weighing in with the Associated Press say the report suggests an approval is all but certain. From there, AquaBounty is likely to release what will be the first genetically engineered animal ever determined safe for human consumption. With no other such animal ever approved in the past, though, concerns have been plentiful over what consequences the creature could spawn.

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, in collaboration with colleagues in Germany and the Netherlands, have identified a previously unknown group of nerve cells in the brain. The nerve cells regulate cardiovascular functions such as heart rhythm and blood pressure. It is hoped that the discovery, which is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, will be significant in the long term in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in humans.

The scientists have managed to identify in mice a previously totally unknown group of nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells, also known as 'neurons', develop in the brain with the aid of thyroid hormone, which is produced in the thyroid gland. Patients in whom the function of the thyroid gland is disturbed and who therefore produce too much or too little thyroid hormone, thus risk developing problems with these nerve cells. This in turn has an effect on the function of the heart, leading to cardiovascular disease.

It is well-known that patients with untreated hyperthyroidism (too high a production of thyroid hormone) or hypothyroidism (too low a production of thyroid hormone) often develop heart problems. It has previously been believed that this was solely a result of the hormone affecting the heart directly. The new study, however, shows that thyroid hormone also affects the heart indirectly, through the newly discovered neurons.

Before he became Hermann Goering to George Bush Jr., Rumsfeld oversaw the release of poisonous aspartame into the food supply. Even then, it was KNOWN that there were serious side-effects...Before he became Hermann Goering to George Bush Jr., Rumsfeld oversaw the release of poisonous aspartame into the food supply. Even then, it was KNOWN that there were serious side-effects...Artificial sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame have the 'promise' of being better than sugar for weight control because, although sweet, they contain virtually no calories. It's a nice theory, though the reality is I cannot find one single properly conducted (randomised, controlled) study in humans exists in the scientific literature to support this. Now, there's only two potential explanations for this. Either such studies have not been done, or one or more studies have been done but have not been published.

I actually don't know which of these is the truth, but I am aware of previous research in animals which suggests that artificial sweeteners are not all they're cracked up to be. In one study, rats were fed with either saccharin or sugar-sweetened yoghurt in conjunction with their normal diet [1]. Compared to those eating sugar-sweetened yoghurt, the rats eating saccharin-laced yoghurt consumed more calories and got fatter too. The authors of this study concluded that "...using artificial sweeteners in rats resulted in increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased adiposity [fatness]", adding that "These results suggest that consumption of products containing artificial sweeteners may lead to increased body weight and obesity by interfering with fundamental homeostatic, physiological processes".

No one will argue the fact that heroin, morphine, and pain killers are highly addictive substances. They become addictive due to their ability to suppress pain, reduce anxiety, and can even cause us to have a higher sense of joy. There is another opiate that most of us consume on a daily basis that may be just as addicting, and that is sugar.

Opioid receptors are located in the brain and the spinal column. They are 7 transmembrane-spanning, G protein-coupled receptors. They are responsible for aiding neurotransmitters and hormones, the most well known being our endorphins. Addictive substances work by enacting upon these receptor sites (Waldhoer, 2004). To further understand this, let us look at heroin addiction.

Basically, heroin increases the amount of dopamine. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for energy, memory, and focus. Our system has a checks and balances process. When dopamine is released, we also release GABA to counteract it. The problem with heroin is it enacts upon the opioid receptor responsible for GABA. This disallows GABA to do its job. We are then left with a dopamine surge left unbalanced. This brings about sustained energy and feelings of euphoria. Here is a link that explains it in a little further detail and also has a chart for any visual learners. If we are dopamine deficient, this can lead to addiction according to Kenneth Blum's Reward Deficiency Syndrome.

High sugar foods can cause similar reactions as what we see with heroin. Excessive amounts of sugar (as well as fat) can lead to the release of increased amounts of dopamine. This is the same as with heroin (Avena, 2009). Sugar also inhibits the release of GABA from pancreatic beta cells (Wang, 2005). The pancreatic beta cells also release insulin, so this mechanism is important for a couple of reasons. GABA being released from those pancreatic cells shows that it may play a role in regulating insulin. Also, GABA needs to be released to balance out the dopamine. This could lead to diabetes and weight gain.

For over two million years, the Homo species has been a scavenger and gatherer, then a hunter and gatherer.

Homo evolved from the Australopithecines in eastern Africa, east of the Great Rift Valley. Some 4 million years ago, 4-foot tall Australopithecines, with prognathic snouts, small 450 cc brains, but the first bipedal (upright) primate, started spending less time in the trees and more on the ground, consuming a nearly pure vegetarian diet, existing on a wide variety of wild plants. They likely had large colons and smaller small intestines to accommodate the large quantity of bowel flora required to digest the otherwise indigestible polysaccharide fibers of their diet.

The first hominid that most anthropologists regard as the first Homo species was Homo habilis with slightly larger brains than Australopithecus, upright bipedal gait, a probable scavenger of animals. They likely observed the true predators, the ones with big canine teeth and claws like lions and leopards, tackle other animals, successfully killing and consuming them. After these predators were sated, Homo habilis noticed that the skull containing the brain and the bones containing edible marrow remained, along with whatever other fragments remained. Our Homo ancestors therefore scavenged what the true predators left behind. We learned that stones were useful tools to crack open the skull to access the brain, or to get the marrow in the bones.

Doctors make careless and dangerous errors, like leaving a scalpel in someone's body after surgery, surprisingly often, a new study finds.

The analysis, published Dec. 19 in the journal Surgery, used malpractice records to find instances in which surgeons operated on the wrong patient or part of the body, or left objects inside the patient after surgery.

Compared to other medical errors, the rate of such of such mistakes in the United States is very low. Still, the study found doctors leave towels, cotton balls, sponges and other surgical equipment inside patients' bodies about 39 times a week, on average. Doctors operate on the wrong body part 20 times a week and the wrong patient, also 20 times a week.

(Those numbers were extrapolated to the whole U.S. population based on statistics found in the malpractice sample.)

The study's findings likely underestimate the actual occurrence, however. "What we describe in a study is the low end of the range. There are definitely more of these occurring," said study co-author Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the author of a book about hospital dysfunction called Unaccountable (Bloomsbury Press, 2012).