Health & WellnessS


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Mysterious Gene May Hide Trigger for Suicide


Canada.com
Sun, 09 Oct 2011 05:25 UTC
Suicidal behaviour may be written in the genes, according to recently released peer-reviewed data from Canada's largest mental-health hospital.

The study, published online in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, looked at 12 academic studies conducted worldwide, linking suicidal behaviour and the brainderived neurotrophic factor gene. Researchers at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that the studies supported a theory that those who suffer from a psychiatric disorder and have a feature in their BDNF gene called a 'methionine variant' have a higher risk of becoming suicidal than those who had a 'valiant variant' in this gene.

"There are many risk factors for suicide," said the paper's coauthor, Dr. Clement Zai.
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Bacon

Best of the Web: Cholesterol Is Your Body's Most Powerful Defense Against Toxins & Free Radicals

Michael McEvoy
Metabolic Healing
Sat, 08 Oct 2011 09:11 UTC
shield
© Salvatore Vuono
At first glance the title of this article may seem stunning to you, shocking or jolting even. You have been told all of your life that cholesterol is either "good" or "bad". You have been told that elevated cholesterol is the cause of heart disease.

These concepts are absolutely 100% false. It may be true that patients with heart disease have high LDL levels (low density lipo-protein) and even high total blood cholesterol values. However a critical distinction must be made between the cholesterol in your blood versus the cholesterol in your tissues. LDL and cholesterol present in your tissues are there to protect your cells from the damaging effects of toxins, inflammatory fatty acids and free radical activity.

For heart disease patients, high levels of LDL may be on the "scene of the crime" but LDL does NOT "pull the heart disease trigger". Cholesterol and LDL (the so called "bad" cholesterol) are in effect the patsies, the fall guys for the real offenders: ultra pathological conjugated fatty acids such as the leukotrienes and virulent free radicals such as the hydroxyl
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Attention

Best of the Web: Study: GMO food causes organ disruption in animals

David Gomez
TG Dailiy
Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:24 UTC
GMO
© unknown
It seem as if those who are vehemently opposed to genetically modified (GM) food aren't crazy after all.

To be sure, a recently published research paper claims the intake of GM-based food can lead to substantial organ disruptions in rats and mice.

According to Natural News, the paper - which is based on 19 separate studies - concludes the disruptions occur primarily in the liver and kidney.

"[However], other organs may be affected too, such as the heart and spleen, or blood cells," the paper states.

Perhaps the most damning blurb from the six-author paper is the results section which describes the overall results of the study.
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Health

Finland vows care for 79 narcolepsy kids who had swine flu shot


Agence France-Presse
Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:15 UTC
jabs
© (AFP/File, Matej Divizna)Finnish researchers found a link between the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine and new cases of narcolepsy
The Finnish government and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the swine flu vaccine.

"The compensation will provide much-needed financial assistance for the families, although it cannot take away the emotional distress caused by this condition," Social Services and Health Minister Paula Risikko said in a statement.

Finnish and international researchers recently found a conclusive link between the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine and new cases of narcolepsy, a chronic nervous system disorder which causes people to often uncontrollably fall asleep.
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Stop

Mystery skin disease hits Australian fishermen


Fish Update
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:32 UTC
Image
© UnknownGladstone Harbour
It has been one of Australia's more bizarre fishing stories in recent weeks - reports of diseased fish and fishermen breaking out in boils and lesions.

It led to a three-week total fishing ban around a 500-square-kilometre area of Gladstone Harbour in Queensland, which has only just been lifted by the authorities.

Local fishermen say something was wrong with the water in the Gladstone Harbour area which is why some of them had picked up the skin infections. They blamed large scale dredging work which they said may have stirred up a number of contaminates.

One trawlerman said he tasted some of the water and woke up the next day with a sore throat and mouth ulcers. The incident has put the local seafood industry into something of a crisis.

Dr Michael Gardner, president of the Queensland Seafood Industry Association, said in an Australian Broadcasting radio interview that between 20 and 30 per cent of the fishermen working in Gladstone Harbour had developed some sort of skin problem.
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Smoking

Best of the Web: Oral Sex May Cause More Throat Cancer Than Smoking in Men, Researchers Say

Robert Langreth
Bloomberg
Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:03 UTC
Image
A virus spread by oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking, a finding that spurred calls for a new large-scale test of a drug used against the infection.

Researchers examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004 and found that the percentage of oral cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent, according to a report released yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. By 2020, the virus-linked throat tumors -- which mostly affected men -- will become more common than HPV-caused cervical cancer, the report found.

HPV is known for infecting genitals. The finding that it can spread to the throat and cause cancer may increase pressure on Merck & Co., the second-largest U.S. drugmaker, to conduct large-scale trials to see if its vaccine Gardasil, which wards off cervical cancer in women, also prevents HPV throat infections.

"The burden of cancer caused by HPV is going to shift from women to men in this decade," Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Ohio State University and study senior author, said in a telephone interview. "What we believe is happening is that the number of sexual partners and exposure to HPV has risen over that same time period."
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Smoking

Cigarette Vending Machines Banned in the UK

James Edgar
The Independent
Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© mitreagencyclients.com
Children will find it more difficult to buy cigarettes as vending machines selling tobacco will be officially banned in England today.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), around 200,000 young people start smoking regularly in England each year and 11 per cent of 11- to 15-year-old regular smokers in England and Wales get their cigarettes from vending machines.

The charity, which has been campaigning for the ban to cut off the easy source of tobacco, said more than half (56 per cent) of trading standards test purchases with under-age volunteers resulted in successful sales from vending machines in 2010/11.

Comment: While we certainly do not advocate smoking for minors, this is just another step toward a complete fascist nanny state.

Smoking can have benefits for some people:
Let's All Light Up!
Study finds smoking wards off Parkinson's disease
Nicotine helps Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Patients
Scientists Identify Brain Regions Where Nicotine Improves Attention, Other Cognitive Skills

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Light Sabers

Best of the Web: The Long Knives Are Out For 'Wheat Belly' - bring out the "Cult" accusation!

Tom Naughton
fathead-movie.com
Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:33 UTC
Image
© amazon.com
Looks as if the grain-industry people have been trolling the internet attempting to trash Wheat Belly, the outstanding new book by Dr. William Davis. How else do you explain an Amazon review written under the title The David Koresh of Medicine. Notice that the review doesn't dispute any of the facts or science presented in Wheat Belly:
The author has no credentials, no credibility, just a small cult of terribly misinformed followers. Don't be fooled by the high volume screech against wheat and grains.
I have to admit, it didn't occur to me when I recommended Wheat Belly that Dr. Davis has no credentials. I assumed being a doctor who's seen the benefits of a wheat-free diet in thousands of his own patients counted for something. I also figured that after poring over hundreds of studies on wheat's health effects and thoroughly researching the history and genetic structure of wheat, Dr. Davis was qualified to write on the topic.

Comment: For more Real, science based information on healthy eating, check out the following documented sources about the serious negative effects of a diet based on wheat consumption:

The Critical Role of Wheat in Human Disease
The Dark Side of Wheat - New Perspectives on Celiac Disease and Wheat Intolerance
Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You
Just because someone doesn't have coeliac disease, doesn't mean they don't have a problem with gluten
Why is Wheat Gluten Disorder on the Rise?
Can You Stomach Wheat? How Giving up Grain May Better Your Health
The Addictive Opioids in Wheat and Dairy Foods

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Video

We're Not Buying It: Stop Junk Food Marketing to Kids


youtube
Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:13 UTC

Comment: To learn more about the truly deceptive marketing of junk foods to kids via large corporations read the following articles:

Study Shows Fast Food Companies Aggressively Market to Kids, Minorities
Junk Food Mountain: The Astonishing Amount of Rubbish One Child Eats Every Year
Food Industry Is Now Calling Junk Food 'Healthy' - Why Could That Be?
The Junk Food Wars

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Health

Panel Advises Against Prostate Cancer Screening

Lauran Neergaard
The Associated Press
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
doctor, prostate cancer
© unknown
No major medical group recommends routine PSA blood tests to check men for prostate cancer, and now a government panel is saying they do more harm than good and healthy men should no longer receive the tests as part of routine cancer screening.

The panel's guidelines had long advised men over 75 to forgo the tests and the new recommendation extends that do-not-screen advice to healthy men of all ages.

The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, being made public on Friday, will not come as a surprise to cancer specialists.

Yet, most men over 50 have had at least one PSA blood test, the assumption being that finding cancer early is always a good thing.

Not so, said Dr. Virginia Moyer of the Baylor College of Medicine, who heads the task force.
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