Health & WellnessS


Bad Guys

Lots of Inconvenient Truths -- Chemical Illness Epidemic in the Wake of the BP Blowout

Riki Ott
Huffington Post
Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:59 UTC
Recently Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer overseeing the $20 billion Gulf Coast Claims Facility to "make it right" for people harmed by the British Petroleum oil blowout disaster, told a Louisiana House and Senate committee that he had not seen any claims, or any scientific evidence, linking BP's oil and dispersant release to chemical illnesses. Feinberg also stated that chemical illnesses take years to show up -- conveniently well after his tenure with the compensation fund.

Instead of tossing the media a juicy bone, Feinberg tossed a red herring. He is wrong at worst, or intentionally misleading at best, on all points.

The GCCF process makes it difficult for people to be compensated for medical claims or even raise illness claims, while making it easy to release claims and rights to future medical care and benefits for chemical illnesses or other medically-proven illness related to the BP blowout and disaster response.

In fact the GCCF process is so blatantly egregious in terms of protecting corporate liability at the expense of human rights and health that a bill was introduced in the Louisiana state legislature, specifically targeting the BP oil disaster, to declare such "contractual releases are invalid as against public policy" and the release of claims to future medical care and related benefits null and void. In Louisiana. BP lobbyists are reportedly out in force, trying to gut the legislation.

Further, the pro-industry bias in the GCCF process turned thousands of people away. Over 130,000-plus claimants have filed lawsuits, now consolidated in Louisiana federal court under Judge Carl Barbier. According to one of the law firms involved, many of these claimants have indicated concerns about health and desire medical monitoring.
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Attention

Is the Dramatic Increase in Baby Deaths in the US a Result of Fukushima Fallout?

Janette D. Sherman, MD and Joseph Mangano
Counterpunch
Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:38 UTC
Baby
© Unknown
U.S. babies are dying at an increased rate. While the United States spends billions on medical care, as of 2006, the US ranked 28th in the world in infant mortality, more than twice that of the lowest ranked countries. (DHHS, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics. Health United States 2010, Table 20, p. 131, February 2011.)

The recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicates that eight cities in the northwest U.S. (Boise ID, Seattle WA, Portland OR, plus the northern California cities of Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley) reported the following data on deaths among those younger than one year of age:
4 weeks ending March 19, 2011 - 37 deaths (avg. 9.25 per week)
10 weeks ending May 28, 2011 - 125 deaths (avg.12.50 per week)
This amounts to an increase of 35% (the total for the entire U.S. rose about 2.3%), and is statistically significant. Of further significance is that those dates include the four weeks before and the ten weeks after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster. In 2001 the infant mortality was 6.834 per 1000 live births, increasing to 6.845 in 2007. All years from 2002 to 2007 were higher than the 2001 rate.

Comment: For more information on what one can do to detox from the effects of radiation see:

Detoxify or Die: Natural Radiation Protection Therapies for Coping With the Fallout of the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown

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Arrow Up

Makes one wonder: New method for measuring Parkinson's disease prevalence reveals sharp increase in Israel


IOS Press
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:43 UTC
Published in inaugural issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

In a new study published today in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, Israeli researchers report that by tracking pharmacy purchases of anti-Parkinson drugs they could estimate the number of Parkinson's disease (PD) cases in a large population. The study identified a sharp rise in PD prevalence from 170/100,000 in 2000 to 256/100,000 in 2007 in Israel, which warrants further investigation.

Surprisingly, much of the world lacks accurate figures for the percentage of the population (prevalence) with PD and the rate of occurrence of new cases (incidence). Reliable estimates using "epidemiological" population studies are essential to identify risk factors for developing the disease, and thereby reduce risk. They are also essential for planning how many patients with the disease may need treatment by health services.

Comment: Of course, there could be several contributing factors to the sharp increase in cases of Parkinson's Disease in Israel: anti smoking campaigns, toxic diet, stressful and toxic environment, etc. But perhaps there is another, more holistic reason, that is reflected quite well in general Israel's attitude as a society.

According to Louise Hay, Parkinson's disease is "wanting to control everything and everyone". And if there is anything Israel is well know for, is its ruthless, controlling, disrespectful, and without conscience conduct. Not every Israeli is like this, no doubt, but it seems that there is a price for living in such environment.

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Smoking

Turning the positive into the negative: more statistical nonsense in the Global Campaign to Eradicate Smoking

Grandad
Smoking Out The Truth
Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:52 UTC
I see there has been another so called 'study'.

In this instance, they examined blood pressure levels in children to test the effects of 'second hand smoke' on blood pressure.

The interesting thing is that their results show a drop in blood pressure in girls, but a raise in pressure in the boys. Neither change was significant however.

Overall there is apparently a greater drop amongst the girls compared to the boys. [-1.8 compared to +1.6].

In an honest world, this 'study' would be consigned to the bin where it belongs. In a world where governments wanted to promote smoking, they could announce the 'study' as good news and could trumpet the 'fact' that overall, passive smoking reduces blood pressure in children.
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Smoking

Where is the 'War Against Cell Phones'? WHO guilty of hypocrisy


Smoking Out The Truth
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:44 UTC
Image
Doomed
I came across a telling item of news the other day.

The WHO has stated that mobile/cell phones are an increased cancer risk.
"A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
So what is interesting about that?

The above conclusion was reached after a large study, but what's more important is that that study is backed by laboratory experimentation.

Compare that with the 'risks' posed by smoking - many 'studies' which are not peer reviewed and laboratory experiments that have singularly failed to prove anything.

Compare also the attitude of the WHO - it warns phone users that there may be a risk, but has declared an all out war on smoking.

If the WHO was consistent it would have to start a movement banning all mobile/cell phones. Everything points to the phones being more hazardous than smoking but the WHO does nothing. Is that not strange?
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Smoking

Anti-smoking propaganda: Decrease in smoking causes oral cancer?

Grandad
Smoking Out The Truth
Sun, 15 May 2011 09:37 UTC
Here is an interesting example of how a lie appears from nowhere and will doubtless become part of the vast portfolio of lies put around by the Anti-smoking crowd.

At a dentists' conference in Ireland recently, Dr Conor McAlister talked about the alarming rise in oral cancer, instances of which apparently increased by 30% in the last decade. Naturally he stated that the big risk factors are smoking and alcohol.

For years now, virtually every known disease known to man has been blamed on smoking, so adding another one to the list will not raise a single eyebrow. Add to this the logical association of the mouth with smoking and drinking and no one is going to question it.

Now take Dr McAlister's comment that smoking and drinking are risk factors. With a simple stroke of the pen, that will soon be reported as "smoking and drinking cause oral cancer" This is one of the more subtle of the propagandist's tools - taking a supposition and turning it into hard fact.
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Smoking

Nicotine's effect on appetite identified


Press TV
Sat, 11 Jun 2011 08:59 UTC
Image
Scientists discover how nicotine affects the pathway in the brain that controls appetite, a discovery that may lead to new obesity treatments and quitting tobacco without gaining weight.

Yale University researchers found a specific subclass of brain receptors which influences nicotine's ability in reducing appetite in rodents.

The lab study carried out on mice showed that a nicotine-like drug, cytisine, specifically activates nicotinic receptors in a part of brain known as hypothalamus that controls appetite.

The attachment of nicotinic molecules or any compound mimicking them to these receptors enhances the activity of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons, which affects obesity in humans and animals.

"We found that nicotine reduced eating and body fat through receptors implicated in nicotine aversion and withdrawal rather than reward and reinforcement," said lead author Marina Picciotto, whose study was published in the journal Science.

Comment: The reason smoking inhibits obesity is because it is anti-inflammatory.

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Smoking

It's in the genes: smoking linked to specific genetic profile


Press TV
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:48 UTC
Image
New studies suggest that genetic backgrounds may be to blame for smokers that have a hard time quitting or cutting down on their habit.

Several genes can dictate how prone you are to take up smoking or how easily you can quit, based on the studies.

In three separate studies that collected data from 140,000 people, scientists identified that there are three genetic mutations that increase the number of cigarettes people smoke a day.

A common single-letter change was found in the genetic code that lies in parts of the DNA molecule that contain genes that influence nicotine addiction and lung cancer risk.

However, any potential benefits from the research still have a long way in the future, said Amanda Sandford, lead research at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

"Smokers who want to quit should not wait for treatment tailored to their genetic make-up," Sandford said.

Comment: ASH make a good point: why wait to find out whether or not smoking benefits you?

Let's All Light Up!

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Syringe

Half of UK population had swine flu during pandemic... and many didn't even REALISE it

Fiona Macrae
The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 06:27 UTC
Almost half of the population caught swine flu during the pandemic - although many didn't realise it, research shows.

Blood taken from 1,600 Britons after the 2009/10 H1N1 outbreak revealed that 44 per cent tested positive for the virus.

While some of these had been vaccinated or had caught a similar infection many years earlier, most had caught swine flu, say the Edinburgh University researchers.
Image
© Getty ImagesDespite a mass vaccination of vulnerable people, almost half the country got swine flu

Extrapolated across the country, this means that 20 times more people had swine flu than previously thought - even if it was so mild that many didn't realise it.

However, this doesn't mean that the outbreak, which killed almost 500 Britons when it first struck, was not serious.
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Attention

Wrinkles Can Predict Woman's Bone Break Risk: Study


Breitbart
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:34 UTC
Image
© AFPWrinkles on a woman's face may be able to predict how likely she is to suffer from bone fractures, according to a US study.
Wrinkles on a woman's face may be able to predict how likely she is to suffer from bone fractures, according to a new US study.

That's because the level of proteins in the skin and bones are linked, so if a woman's face and neck are severely wrinkled, she faces a higher risk of bone breakage due to bone density loss, said Yale University researchers.

Researchers examined 114 early post-menopausal women, whose last menstrual period was within three years, as part of an ongoing clinical trial at numerous sites in the United States.

They measured the women's skin at 11 locations on the face and neck, both visually and using a device known as a durometer to assess how rigid the skin was on the forehead and cheek.

Bone mass and density were measured with a portable ultrasound and X-ray.

"We found that deepening and worsening skin wrinkles are related to lower bone density among the study participants," said Lubna Pal, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Yale School of Medicine.

Comment: Having adequate levels of Vitamin D would be helpful in preventing bone loss. See: Vitamin D Deficiency Unquestionably Linked to Bone Fractures.

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