Health & WellnessS


Red Flag

National Literacy Trust: 'Children More Likely to Own a Mobile Phone Than a Book'

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© Ian Jones
Children as young as seven are more likely to own a mobile phone than a book, figures show, fueling fears over a decline in reading.

Almost nine-in-10 pupils now have a mobile compared with fewer than three-quarters who have their own books in the home, it was disclosed.

The study by the National Literacy Trust suggested a link between regular access to books outside school and high test scores.

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In the E. Coli Fight, Some Strains Are Largely Ignored

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© Peter DaSilva: The New York Times
For nearly two decades, Public Enemy No. 1 for the food industry and its government regulators has been a virulent strain of E. coli bacteria that has killed hundreds of people, sickened thousands and prompted the recall of millions of pounds of hamburger, spinach and other foods.

But as everyone focused on controlling that particular bacterium, known as E. coli O157:H7, the six rarer strains of toxic E. coli were largely ignored.

Collectively, those other strains are now emerging as a serious threat to food safety. In April, romaine lettuce tainted with one of them sickened at least 26 people in five states, including three teenagers who suffered kidney failure.

Although the federal government and the beef and produce industries have known about the risk posed by these other dangerous bacteria for years, regulators have taken few concrete steps to directly address it or even measure the scope of the problem.

Attention

Dirty, Contaminated Beef Fed to Children Through School Lunch Programs

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© NaturalNews
The USDA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a shocking report about the condition of the nation's industrial meat supply. It turns out that a lot of the U.S. meat supply is tainted with veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals.

According to the report, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, or FSIS, continues to fail at properly monitoring the safety of the nation's meat supply. So tainted meat is regularly being approved for sale, much of which ends up in school lunch rooms where it is fed to -- guess who? -- our children!

What's truly disturbing about this is that the USDA knows why meat is getting tainted but it's doing nothing about it. In fact, the agency regularly allows toxic meat to make its way to store shelves without even trying to stop it.

We're not talking about microbial pathogens here; we're talking about chemical contaminants that cattle are eating and then passing on to consumers. These contaminants are not cooked off like pathogens are, and they can actually intensify when cooked and become more harmful.

Gear

Animal Screams Manipulate Movie Audiences

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© Getty ImagesA screaming macque.
One reason why The Exorcist and The Shining scared audiences so much is that both had a lot of animal screaming in the soundtracks.

From screaming meerkats to roaring lions, animal distress calls and other animal vocalizations are being included, or copied by instruments, in film soundtracks to influence human emotions on a primal level.

The musical manipulation works because humans and other vertebrates are predisposed to be emotionally affected by animal yells, human baby cries, and other noises that may sound harsh and are unpredictable, according to a new study published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters.

As a result, snakes, lions, hippos, birds, whales, dolphins and even fish are now being recorded for film soundtracks, or are being emulated by musicians. In the future, more such sounds will likely be included in movie scores, which will probably do a better job at influencing audience emotions since the science behind the process is coming to light.

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Anxiety is a Killer Distraction on Our Roads

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© Getty Images
Driving while stressed can be as distracting and dangerous as talking on your mobile phone, according to a study by Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Ides Wong, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q), studied 75 drivers aged 17 to 47 to investigate the negative impact anxiety had on driver performance.

"Being anxious makes drivers unable to fully focus their attention on the road, particularly in urban areas, where there are plenty of distractions and when time pressured," said Ms Wong, whose research was awarded the top RACQ Road Safety Prize.

She said urban environments also posed an increased threat because there were significantly more distractions, such as billboards and increased traffic levels, for drivers to deal with.

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Diet Drug Alli Linked to Severe Liver Damage

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© GlaxoSmithKline
The FDA has started an investigation into whether the diet drug orlistat, marketed as both Alli and Xenical, has been causing serious liver damage in some patients.

Prescription-strength Xenical was approved by the FDA in 1999. Half-strength Alli was approved as the first (and to date, only) over-the-counter weight loss drug in 2007.

Since 1999, there have been 32 adverse event reports linking orlistat to severe liver damage. Twenty-seven patients have been hospitalized for liver problems, and six suffered from outright liver failure. Both of the cases involving Alli took place within the United States, while the other 30 cases, involving Xenical, all took place in other countries.

The FDA discussed its concerns with orlistat at an April meeting of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Drug Safety Oversight Board, then eventually decided to further investigate the issue. It is also reviewing data on other potential cases of liver damage submitted by GlaxoSmithKline, which markets Alli, and Roche, which markets Xenical.

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Learn the importance of winning the candida battle

What type of infection ranges from a female problem to a cause of cancer? Candida albicans is responsible for vaginal yeast infections and, according to Italian oncologist and author of Cancer is a Fungus, Dr. Tullio Simoncini, Candida is the breeding ground and source for all cancer.

Somewhere between these two extremes are a variety of miseries that Candida delivers. But anyone can handle most over grown yeast buildups once detected. Everyone has some of that fungus among us. But when the Candida albicans overwhelms the healthy bacteria or intestinal flora, this yeast takes over unabated.

Insufficient intestinal flora can be due to antibiotic use or poor digestion from an extended bad diet heavy in sugar and starch and lacking digestive enzymes.

Comment: See other articles on Candida:

Apple Cider Vinegar is Effective Treatment for Candida

Fight Candida and Yeast with Natural Olive Leaf Extract

Using Probiotics to Prevent or Eliminate Candida

Treat Candida with Garlic Supplements

High Carbohydrate Diets Named as a Cause for Candida


Bad Guys

U.S. Culture of Greed is Threat to World

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© Reuters
The world is doomed to environmental catastrophe unless the threat posed by U.S. consumption culture is directly addressed, warns the Worldwatch Institute's annual report.

"Until we recognise that our environmental problems, from climate change to deforestation to species loss, are driven by unsustainable habits, we will not be able to solve the ecological crises that threaten to wash over civilization," said project director Erik Assadourian.

The report, produced by a team of 35 researchers, notes that the average U.S. resident consumes more than his or her weight in products every single day. The average family in a Western nation spends more money on its pet in one year than a human being in Bangladesh does on all his or her expenses.

Vader

They're trying to control the entire food chain: Monsanto claims it invented meat

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No Patents on Seeds, Press release, 27 April 2010

Multinational seed corporations are following a consequent strategy to gain control over basic resources for food production. As recent research shows not only genetically engineered plants, but more and more the conventional breeding of plants gets into the focus of patent monopolies: International patent applications in this sector are skyrocketing, having doubled since 2007 till end of 2009. Further on the multinationals expand their claims over the whole chain of food production from feed to animals and food products such as meat. In a pending patent application from Monsanto even bacon and steaks are claimed: Patent application WO2009097403 is claiming meat stemming from pigs being fed with the patented genetically engineered plants of Monsanto. A similar patent is applied for fish from aquaculture in March 2010 (WO201027788). Far reaching patents on food are even already granted: Monsanto received a European patent (EP 1356033) in 2009, which the chain of food production from seeds of genetically engineered plants up to food products such as meal and oil are covered.

Light Saber

US Court Rules in Favour of Free Speech on Health Claims

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Will this precedent influence European policy on health claims for foods and food supplements?

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lost its bid to overturn a health claim for selenium-containing dietary supplements last Thursday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle ruled unconstitutional the FDA's censorship of selenium dietary supplement claims relating to the reduction of cancer risk. Jonathan Emord of Emord & Associates on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case (including lead plaintiff Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH-USA); Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw; and the Coalition to End FDA and FTC Censorship). The verdict, unless reversed on appeal, protects the First Amendment right of dietary supplement manufacturers to provide "qualified health claims", which accurately communicate the state of science concerning dietary supplements. This is a remarkable seventh victory over the FDA by the Emord firm (six of which invalidated FDA health claim censorship).