Health & WellnessS


Info

GM wheat may permanently alter human genome, spark early death

Lisa Garber
Natural Society
Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:23 UTC
GM Wheat
© NaturalSociety
Experts say that the GM wheat currently in development by an Australian governmental research agency could, if ingested, shut down certain genes, leading to premature death or risk thereof to multiple generations.

The GM wheat developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) using public funds is engineered to turn off genes permanently. The organization's intent to turn off wheat genes, however, could affect human and animal genes.

"Through ingestion, these molecules can enter human beings and potentially silence our genes," says Professor Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury's Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety. His report was published in Digital Journal.

DNA Matches in GM Wheat and Humans

The wheat genes intended to be silenced are known as SEI, the sequence of which are classified by CSIRO. What experts know about SEI is that parts of it match the human GBE gene sequence. GBE dictates glycogen storage, without which the liver scars and causes death in children. Adults with malfunctioning GBE genes can experience cognitive impairment, pyramidal quadriplegia, peripheral neuropathy, and neurogenic bladder.
"The findings are absolutely assured," insists Heinemann. "There is no doubt that these matches exist."
Read More...
Newspaper

Mainstream media launches another phony war against organic

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:24 UTC
Image
© Natural Society
The mainstream media is invoking déjà vu with their latest laughable attempt to frame yet another study that actually highlighted the benefits of organic into a hysterical anti-organic news frenzy. This time, however, some publications are actually publishing the truth on the matter. Why? Because last time that the mainstream media conglomerate decided to smear the last organic foods study's findings and proclaim how great pesticides and GMOs are for you and your family, it ended in a major apology by the New York Times.

And it was this piece, a response to the uproar from the public following the alternative news media's response to the mainstream media spin (including my piece first released on the night of the study with a video breakdown), that signified the final nail in the coffin for the mainstream media's previous assault on organic foods. In the apology piece, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman states:
That was dumb of me... I'm sorry. This junk science deserves a response. Ignoring it isn't enough. I apologize.
Read More...
Shoe

How exercise could lead to a better brain

Gretchen Reynolds
New York Times
Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:32 UTC
Image
The value of mental-training games may be speculative, as Dan Hurley writes in his article on the quest to make ourselves smarter, but there is another, easy-to-achieve, scientifically proven way to make yourself smarter. Go for a walk or a swim. For more than a decade, neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering evidence of the beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But the newest findings make it clear that this isn't just a relationship; it is the relationship. Using sophisticated technologies to examine the workings of individual neurons - and the makeup of brain matter itself - scientists in just the past few months have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.

The most persuasive evidence comes from several new studies of lab animals living in busy, exciting cages. It has long been known that so-called "enriched" environments - homes filled with toys and engaging, novel tasks - lead to improvements in the brainpower of lab animals. In most instances, such environmental enrichment also includes a running wheel, because mice and rats generally enjoy running. Until recently, there was little research done to tease out the particular effects of running versus those of playing with new toys or engaging the mind in other ways that don't increase the heart rate.
Read More...
Stop

Makeup and plastics may be causing early menopause

Makini Brice
Medical Daily
Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:17 UTC
Make-up
© Medical Daily
Researchers warn that chemicals in cosmetics, plastics, and household cleaners could be causing women to go through menopause early.

Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri looked at data from 5,708 women who had been participants in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Women who had been exposed to high amounts of certain chemicals were likely to undergo menopause as much as two years early - a change from 51 years old, the average age for the onset of menopause in the United States, to 49 years old.

But, as study author Natalia Grindler explained at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine's conference held in San Diego, some women began menopause as much as 15 years older. That could place the start of menopause for some women as early as their mid-thirties.

The culprits are phthalates. Researchers analyzed the blood or urine levels of the substance, and found that women with high levels of phthalates were more likely to undergo menopause early than their peers.

Early menopause has been linked with increased rates for bone loss, brain hemorrhages, heart problems, and strokes.
Read More...
Pills

WHO urges people to reveal depression, goal is to pump up Big Pharma medication sales

Elizabeth Renter
Natural Society
Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:44 UTC
Image
© Natural Society
On World Mental Health Day (October 10), the World Health Organization (WHO) let it be known that more than 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. But, they say, a stigma is still attached to the condition, leading people to keep their struggles quiet rather than reaching out for help. The WHO says the stigma must be dropped so that depressed individuals can have access to treatment, including therapy and Big Pharma medications.

There is no doubt that many people are depressed and there is little doubt that these people need help. Depression, after all, can lead to serious health conditions and can drive some people to suicide. The stigmas associated with depression certainly don't help anyone. But pushing pharmaceuticals as the most viable treatment method is a travesty, particularly when it comes from a body as esteemed and large as the WHO.
"We have some highly effective treatments for depression," said Dr. Shekhar Saxena, the Director of the Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. "Unfortunately, fewer than half the people who have depression receive the care they need. In fact, in many countries, this is less than 10%. This is why WHO is supporting countries in fighting stigma as a key activity to increasing access to treatment."

Comment: The World Health Organization (WHO) with the help of Big Pharma is eager to push pharmaceuticals as the most viable treatment method for depression:

Big Pharma's Latest Shady Ploy to Sell Depression Drugs That People May Not Need
The drug industry is coming up with ever more clever ways to pump Americans full of drugs they may not need - and that may not even work.

The discovery that many people with life problems or occasional bad moods would willingly dose themselves with antidepressants sailed the drug industry through the 2000s. A good chunk of the $4.5 billion a year direct-to-consumer advertising has been devoted to convincing people they don't have problems with their job, the economy and their family, they have depression. Especially because depression can't be diagnosed from a blood test.

Unfortunately, three things dried up the depression gravy train for the drug industry. Blockbusters went off patent and generics took off, antidepressants were linked with gory and unpredictable violence, especially in young users and - they didn't even work, according to medical articles!
Excerpts from Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America:
There is an outside agent fueling this epidemic of mental illness, only it is to be found in the medicine cabinet. Psychiatric drugs perturb normal neurotransmitter function, and while that perturbation may curb symptoms over a short term, over the long run it increases the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill, or ill with new or more severe symptoms. A review of the scientific literature shows quite clearly that it is our drug-based paradigm of care that is fueling this modern-day plague.


Read More...
Donut

Sugar and carbs quadruple risk of cognitive impairment in aging adults

John Phillip
Natural News
Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:12 UTC
Image
The fear of losing the ability to think, remember and reason strikes fear in the minds of millions of aging adults around the world. Cognitive impairment leads to a decline in quality of life and is often the first sign of the most insidious form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have been slowly uncovering many of the mysteries of cognitive decline in an attempt to find a way to prevent or even treat this condition before it takes control of the mind and can advance to wreak havoc in the life of the individual, caregivers and family members.

A number of recent studies have demonstrated that lifestyle factors can have a strong influence in the development and progression of cognitive decline. Diet, chemicals used around the house and in cosmetics as well as environmental pollutants have been implicated in promoting cognitive dysfunction as they alter brain chemistry and electrical signaling in the brain.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic, publishing the result of a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease explain how people 70 and older who eat food high in carbohydrates have nearly four times the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, and the danger is also present with a diet heavy in sugar. Those who consume a lot of protein and fat relative to carbohydrates are less likely to become cognitively impaired, the study found.

Comment: The connection between a diet high in sugar and carbs and an increased risk of cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's, is discussed in the following articles:

The Sugar and Alzheimer's Connection
Research links Diabetes to Alzheimer's
The Toxic Triad: How Big Food, Big Farming, and Big Pharma Spread Obesity, Diabetes, and Chronic Disease Across the Globe

To learn more about Diet as a solution for cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer's, based on research and experience, read the forum thread Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Solve Your Health Issues with a Ketogenic Diet

Ketogenic Diet Reduces Symptoms of Alzheimer's
The news is breaking that a ketogenic diet can help people with Alzheimer's keep their symptoms at bay. A ketogenic diet is a diet that uses ketones converted from dietary fat instead of carbs as energy. To be in "ketosis", people generally need to eat fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day. The average American eats around 300 grams of carbs a day, just to put that in perspective.


Read More...
Question

Is PMS a Myth?

Maia Szalavitz
Time
Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:47 UTC
Stress
© Constance Bannister / Getty Images
For many women, premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is a familiar preamble to their monthly cycle. But a new review of the data suggests that mood changes aren't as closely tied to menses as many have assumed.

A team led by Dr. Sarah Romans of the University of Otago in New Zealand reviewed 47 studies that followed women's moods across the menstrual cycle. Only 15% of the studies found that women tended to have "classic" PMS: moods that worsened as the menstrual period approached and lifted when menstruation occurred. An additional 38% found PMS that lasted into menstruation or another cycle phase.

However, a further 38% of the studies found no association between mood and any particular phase of the cycle. And 9% found that the worst moods actually occurred outside of the premenstrual phase. That means that little more than half of the studies (53%) found any link between menstruation and bad mood, and 85% didn't find classic PMS.

"The major finding of this review was that clear evidence for a specific premenstrual-phase-related mood occurring in the general population is lacking," the authors conclude.

Nonetheless, the idea of moodiness occurring cyclically in women has a long-standing history. The authors cite a "long-established tendency to label women's behavior as overly emotional and to attribute this to female reproductive function."
Read More...
Attention

Teen girl dies from cardiac arrest after drinking two monster energy drinks: Lawsuit

Makini Brice
Medical Daily
Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:15 UTC
Monster Drink
© Medical Daily
In the wake of a recent death of a 14-year-old Maryland teen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released the reports of the deaths of five people, as well as one non-fatal heart attack that have been linked with the popular energy drink Monster.

According to her parents' lawsuit, the late Anais Fournier went to the mall with her friends, where she bought a 24-ounce Monster energy drink. The next day, she returned to the mall, where she bought another Monster energy drink.

Shortly before 9 PM, just hours after consuming the second drink, the teenager went into cardiac arrest. By the time the ambulance arrived to transport her to the hospital, she was unconscious. Doctors placed her in a medically induced coma in order to combat brain swelling, but after six days, the family decided to terminate her life support. Two days before Christmas last year, Fournier died.

Her parents state that her autopsy said that she had died of "cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity complicating mitral valve regurgitation in the setting of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome". The lawsuit states that the beverages, in total, contained 480 milligrams of caffeine, in addition to other stimulants. Her parents say that caffeine can be lethal at 200 to 400 milligrams of caffeine, and that the two cans amounted to the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca Cola.
Read More...
Evil Rays

Court rules cell phones are causing brain tumors

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post
Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:00 UTC
Image
© noypi.ph
In response to the increasing amount of information shedding light on how cell phones can alter the brain in many known and unknown ways, Italy's Supreme Court centered in Rome has decided to take action. Seeking to protect unknowing consumers, with a particular eye on children, whose brain is still developing and more susceptible to damage, the court has ruled that a link exists between brain tumor development and cell phone use.

The ruling follows a monumental study that found a massive 290% spike in brain tumor risk after using a cell phone for 10 years. A study that has real relevance for Innocente Marcolini, an Italian businessman who was a key part of the court's ruling. Marcolini was an active cell phone user, reportedly talking on the phone for around 6 hours every single day at work. Over 12 years of use, Marcolini developed a tumor which many scientists are saying is the result of cell damage via the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones.
Read More...
Red Flag

"It's too hard to modify a kid's environment - let's just give the kid Amphetamines"


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:53 UTC
Image
© Alliance for Natural Health
Some doctors are now prescribing long-term ADHD medications to low-income kids who don't have ADHD - simply to boost academic performance.

One physician, Dr. Michael Anderson of Canton, Georgia, calls ADHD a "made up" disorder, "an excuse" for doctors to prescribe Adderall to treat poor academic performance in inadequate schools. According to a disturbing article in the New York Times, increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in low-income areas - even though the child may not have ADHD - because the drugs are thought to help the kids achieve higher grades.


Comment: Read the following articles for more information about how 'increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in low-income areas and foster kids':

Comment: It would appear that the mass drugging of children is becoming very common, whether for academic or behavior problems. It is clear that Big Pharma can clean up if kids are diagnosed young:

Read More...