Health & WellnessS


Ambulance

Research: Traffic Fumes Can Trigger Heart Attacks

Denis Campbell
The Guardian
Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:30 UTC
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© David Sillitoe for the GuardianResearchers say traffic fumes can increase the risk of a heart attack for up to six hours after exposure.
Study published in the British Medical Journal identifies pollutant particles and nitrogen dioxide as main culprits

Breathing in large amounts of traffic fumes can trigger a heart attack up to six hours after exposure, according to research which reaffirms the health risks associated with pollution.

The study, in the British Medical Journal, found that high levels of pollution can increase the risk of suffering a heart attack. It identifies exposure to pollutant particles and nitrogen dioxide expelled by cars, which are both markers of contaminated urban atmospheres, as the main culprits.

The authors quantify the risk as small - up to 1.3% higher risk of a heart attack up to six hours after exposure to those substances. But they say that getting enough of those two substances into the lungs can bring forward by a few hours a heart attack that would have happened anyway. This is called short-term displacement or the "harvesting" effect of pollution.
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Cow Skull

Real Food Is Not Fungible: How Commoditization Eliminates Nutrition, Impoverishes Farmers, and Destroys The Earth


gnolls.org
Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:11 UTC
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© erasundar.wordpress.com
This article should, by rights, be an entire book: the consequences of agricultural commoditization are profound and far-reaching. By necessity, I am concentrating on a few key points.

Where's The Real Food?

One of the largest movements in 20th century agriculture was the commoditization of food.

In 1900, 41% of the US workforce was directly employed in agriculture, and each farm produced over five different crops for sale - not counting food consumed on the farm or sold locally, outside the commodity system. Furthermore, 60% of Americans lived in rural areas. (Source: USDA.) This means that the majority of Americans either grew their own food, or had direct access to the producers of the food they ate.

In 2000, just 1.9% of Americans were employed in agriculture, farms produced an average of just over one crop for sale, and less than 1 out of 4 Americans lived in rural areas. The number of farms has fallen 63%, while the average farm size has risen 67%.

In other words, we no longer have direct access to the food we eat. How did this happen?

As usual, the answer is simple: follow the money.

Comment: To learn more about the 'commoditization of food' and agriculture's negative effects on our plant read the following article and watch the excellent video: Lierre Keith on 'The Vegetarian Myth - Food, Justice and Sustainability'

The Vegetarian Myth
We've been told that a vegetarian diet can feed the hungry, honor the animals, and save the planet. Lierre Keith believed in that plant-based diet and spent twenty years as a vegan. But in The Vegetarian Myth, she argues that we've been led astray--not by our longings for a just and sustainable world, but by our ignorance.

The truth is that agriculture is a relentless assault against the planet, and more of the same won't save us. In service to annual grains, humans have devastated prairies and forests, driven countless species extinct, altered the climate, and destroyed the topsoil--the basis of life itself. Keith argues that if we are to save this planet, our food must be an act of profound and abiding repair: it must come from inside living communities, not be imposed across them.

Part memoir, part nutritional primer, and part political manifesto, The Vegetarian Myth will challenge everything you thought you knew about food politics.


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Pills

Drug Deaths Overtake Car Fatalities

Jonathan Galland
pilladvised.com
Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:56 UTC
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© pilladvised.com
What is in your medicine cabinet could be more dangerous than what is in your driveway.

That's the takeaway from a new report on the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse from the Los Angeles Times. Drug deaths have doubled within a decade, while traffic fatalities have declined.

According to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) drugs killed at least 37,485 people nationwide in 2009.

See the interactive map: Rise in drug-induced deaths since 2000
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Bulb

Better Food, Better Mood: How Our Diet Affects the Way We Feel


livingthenourishedlife.com
Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:44 UTC
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© livingthenourishedlife.comFeeling low? Maybe it was your breakfast...
Ever feel like you were hit by a truck after eating too much junk food? I think most of us are familiar with the "oh-man-I-shouldn't-have-eaten-that" feeling. But food doesn't just have a short-term impact on the way we feel. A deficient diet can lead to more chronic health problems like depression, emotional instability, and destructive behavior

Maybe you've had personal experience with this. I know I have. I can honestly say I became a different person after changing my diet--just from changing the way I eat.

I didn't have to take anti-depressants, birth control pills or go to countless therapy sessions. And I didn't have to do anything drastic like move to the beach or quit my job (in fact, I was able to start working more after improving my diet!). All I had to do was change the way I was feeding my body.

Comment: To learn more about how food effects moods read the Diet and Health section on the forum. In particular read the thread Life without Bread.

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Beaker

Even BPA-Free Plastics Leach Harmful Chemicals

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:33 UTC
plastic bottles
© n/a
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a known endocrine-disrupting hormone mimicker, present in a large majority of plastic products and even canned goods. But what about plastics that don't contain BPA? A new study has found that even products that claim to be BPA-free oftentimes still leach endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In fact, the study found that 70% of common plastic products were tested positive for estrogenic activity, and the number skyrocketed to 95% when the products were put through real world conditions such as microwaving or dishwashing.

The study shows that even products labeled "BPA-free" still pose a threat to human health, and many contain phthalates, also known as "plasticizers."

Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals used in the production of plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Used to make the plastics more flexible and resilient, phthalates are also found in many cosmetic products and plastic containers. Two studies published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2003 found that pregnant women exposed to phthalates were at an increased risk of pregnancy complications, as the chemicals negatively affect the development of the fetus in unknown ways.
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Pills

Prozac in Lakes is an Antimicrobe. In Sea Bays, It Makes Shrimp Reckless.


Gaia Health Blog
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00 UTC
E. coli by Toxyna
© DeviantArt.comE. coli by Toxyna
National Geographic reports that Prozac is killing off microbes in the Great Lakes. That sounds good, in a sense. It means that all the E. coli from factory farms may be getting poisoned by Prozac. But what about all the bacteria that's naturally part of the ecosystem?

Then, there's the question of what it must be doing to the gut biota of people who take the drug! We now have evidence that antibiotics permanently change gut biota and that they lead to cancer. So, if Prozac kills microbes at hugely diluted doses in lakes, what must it be doing to the natural balance of the intestinal tract?

The amount of Prozac found in Lake Erie is a mere nanogram per liter. If a drug sold as an antibiotic had that sort of effect, Big Pharma would be screaming it from every rooftop. When do you suppose they'll get the message and start rebranding Prozac as an antibiotic?
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Alarm Clock

Poison school lunch kills Peru children


BBC News
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:31 UTC
Three children have died and more than 50 others are seriously ill in Peru after eating a school meal contaminated with pesticide, officials say.

The children were being fed by a government nutrition programme for the poor, at a remote mountain village in the north of the country.

It is thought the meal of rice and fish was prepared in a container which previously held pesticide, with fatal results.

Three adults have also been taken ill.

The mass poisoning happened in the village of Redondo in the Cajamarca region, about 750km (470 miles) north of the capital, Lima.

The three dead were between six and 10 years old.
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Info

Cadmium Levels Cause Concern in Norwegian Crabs


Fish Newseu.com
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:08 UTC
Mud Crab
© NWA SeafoodsMud crab (Scylla serrata)

For the first time, the level of environmental toxins and heavy metals in crabs from all along the Norwegian coast is to be analysed.

Recent sampling by the Norwegian research organisation, NIFES has revealed high concentrations of cadmium in crabs from the County of Nordland.

"We are currently gathering samples, and a total of 475 crabs from 48 different positions all along the coast will be brought to the laboratory for analysis," says NIFES research scientist Sylvia Frantzen.

The reason for this survey of hazardous substances in crabs from the rest of Norway is the finding of high concentrations of cadmium in crabs from Salten in Nordland. In both 2009 and 2010, the cadmium content of samples from this area has been higher than the upper limit in crab claw meat permitted by the EU and Norway. Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in the bodies of crustaceans, fish, other animals and humans.

Both claw meat and brown meat will be analysed for their content of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury, as well as of organic environmental toxins such as PCBs, dioxins, brominated flame retardants and perfluorates.
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Health

Kids' Soup Cans Contain BPA Toxins

Emily Sohn
Discovery News
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:44 UTC
Toxic Cans
© CorbisThe toxin BPA showed up in many cans of food targeted to children.

It doesn't matter how many smiling cartoon characters decorate a package. If food comes in a can, it's likely to contain the worrisome chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, according to a new study.

The study, which looked at six popular name-brand products, adds to accumulating evidence that the hormone-interfering chemical is widespread in our food supply and in the bodies of most Americans, including children.

Advocacy groups have successfully managed to get companies to remove BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers and other products made for small children. The new findings suggest that food cans might need to be their next major target.

"Every single can we tested had BPA, and they could potentially expose people at levels of concern," said Connie Engel, science education coordinator for the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Fund, which released the new study. "We know that consumer pressure on the market can lead to changes. If enough of us talk about this, the market will respond and we'll have BPA-free foods."

Among its many other qualities, BPA is extremely useful as an ingredient in the epoxy-resin lining of food cans. With its flexibility and resistance to both corrosion and the high heats used during sterilization, BPA is extraordinarily effective at preventing spoilage of food with pathogenic bacteria.
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Attention

Leukemia, Nausea, Diarrhea and Death: Small Price to Pay for "Fresh" Fruits and Veggies

Alex Formuzis
Enviroblog
Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:28 UTC
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© environblog
Chemical agriculture's defense of pesticides conjures up the image of the chain-smoking industry attorney Nathan Thurm slithering through a minefield of facts and figures about the causes of global warming in this classic skit from Saturday Night Live.

Stacks of scientific studies have documented serious health risks to humans from pesticide exposure, but pesticide makers and sprayers, like the fictional Mr. Thurm, ignore the research and stick with talking points or their own questionable "science" in their efforts to muddy the waters, create confusion and delay government action to protect the public. Meanwhile, we eaters are left to consume pesticides along with conventionally grown produce.

Pesticides are engineered to kill living organisms in a number of ways, including destroying the nervous system of the insects they target. They can't be good for human health, either.
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