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Diabetes Alert: Your Gut Microflora May Be Out of Balance


Dr. Mercola
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:25 UTC
Bacterial populations in the gut of diabetics differ from non-diabetics, says a new study from Denmark that may open up a potential role for modifying gut microflora with probiotics and prebiotics to improve health.

The study, published in the open-access peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, builds on earlier studies that have linked gut microflora and obesity.

A breakthrough paper published in Nature in December 2006 reported that microbial populations in the gut are different between obese and lean people.

The results of this new study indicate that type-2 diabetes in humans is associated with compositional changes in intestinal microbiota.

Sources:

Nutra February 12, 2010

PloS One February 5, 2010: 5(2):e9085
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Health

Cancer society casts more doubt on prostate tests

Mike Stobbe
Associated Press
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:22 UTC
Prosaphtate Gr
© Associated PressGraph shows incidence rates for prostate cancer between 1975 and 2006 and highest death rates from prostate cancer by race between 2001 and 2006.
Atlanta - Months after experts discounted the importance of routine mammograms and Pap smears for many women, the American Cancer Society is warning more explicitly than ever that regular testing for prostate cancer is of questionable value, too, and can do men more harm than good.

The cancer society has not recommended routine screening for most men since the mid-1990s, and that is not changing. But the organization is urging doctors to talk frankly with their patients about the risks and limitations of the PSA blood test when offering it.

The widely used test often spots cancers too slow-growing to be deadly, and treatment can lead to incontinence and impotence. Two big studies last year suggested prostate cancer screening doesn't necessarily save lives, and any benefits can come at a high price.

Some doctors and advocates are troubled by the new guidelines.

"Prostate cancer is still something to be respected if not feared, and we still need to be vigilant. I hope primary care docs or insurance companies don't use the 'softening' of the guidelines as an excuse to not do screening at all," said Dr. David Roberts, medical director of an Atlanta clinic that caters to businessmen.
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Book

'Manufacturing Depression': Are Doctors Overprescribing Antidepressants?

Amy Goodman
Alternet
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:00 UTC
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A psychotherapist says depression can be debilitating - but that it's also been largely created by doctors and drug companies as a medical condition.

Is depression manufactured? Two decades after the introduction of antidepressants, it's become commonplace to assume that our sadness can be explained in terms of a disease called depression. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates more than 14 million Americans suffer from major depression every year and more than three million suffer from minor depression. Some 30 million Americans take antidepressants at a cost of over $10 billion a year.

My next guest argues while depression can be debilitating, it's also been largely manufactured by doctors and drug companies as a medical condition with a biological cause that can be treated with prescription medication. Psychotherapist and writer Gary Greenberg participated in a clinical trial for antidepressant medication and found that more often than not the drugs failed to outperform placebos. His latest book is a scientific, medical, historical and cultural exploration of the antidepressant revolution here in the United States. It's called Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease.
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Pills

Healthy people should not take aspirin to ward off heart attack, research shows

Rebecca Smith
Telegraph
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:53 UTC
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Healthy people who take aspirin in the hope of preventing a heart attack or stroke are doing themselves more harm than good, medical experts have warned.

Millions of people take a low dose of aspirin daily, as it is known to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke in people who have already had one attack. It is seen as a 'just in case' measure and, because aspirin has been available for around 100 years, it is considered safe by the majority of people.

However, aspirin increases the likelihood of major bleeding, in the brain, stomach or elsewhere in the body, and experts warned that the beneficial effects must be weighed against the risk of harm.
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Attention

100 Percent of Fish in U.S. Streams Found Contaminated with Mercury

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:43 UTC
In a new study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), every single fish tested from 291 freshwater streams across the United States was found to be contaminated with mercury.

"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds and many of our fish in freshwater streams," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that builds up in the food chain at ever higher concentrations in predators such as large fish and humans. It is especially damaging to the developing nervous systems of fetuses and children, but can have severe effects on adults, as well. The pollutant enters the environment almost wholly as atmospheric emissions from industrial processes, primarily the burning of coal for electricity. It then spreads across the plant and settles back to the surface, eventually concentrating in rivers, lakes and oceans, where it enters the aquatic food chain.
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Magic Wand

Music Is Good For You At Any Age

Melissa Healy
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:13 UTC
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© Ricardo DeAratanha Los Angeles Times
Let's face it: Many of us looking to sharpen our intellectual edges have already passed the age when becoming a prodigy is an option. We missed the opportunity to start clarinet lessons at 5. We lacked the discipline to practice for hours on end. We were told we couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

It's never too late, say researchers.

Just as second languages are more easily learned young, neuroscientists point to periods of heightened sensitivity - particularly before the age of 8 or 9 - when minds are more readily shaped by musical instruction.
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PLU Codes Do Not Indicate Genetically Modified Produce

Jeffrey M. Smith
Huffington Post
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:33 UTC
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Let's put a rumor to rest. No, the 5-digit PLU codes on produce do not tell you what is genetically modified or natural. This urban legend has circulated long enough, even on the best of websites. It's time to take it down.

The 4-digit PLU codes on the sometimes-pain-in-the-neck labels glued to apples, for example, tell the checkout lady which is a small Fuji (4129) and which is a Honeycrisp (3283). She'll know what to charge you and the inventory elves will know what's what. If there's a 5-digit code starting with 9, then it's organic.

These numbers, organized by the Produce Marketing Association, have nothing to do with you. According to Kathy Means, Association Vice President of Public Relations and Government Affairs, this is an optional convention for retailers and their supplier and is not designed as a communication tool for customers. If you want to know which items are organic, look for the word Organic; and stop squinting at tiny codes.
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Frog

More Stark Evidence of the Hazards of Atrazine

David A. Fahrenthold
The Washington Post
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:50 UTC
Washington - A new study shows that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine - commonly found in U.S. rivers and streams - can make a startling developmental U-turn, turning female so completely that they can mate with other males and lay viable eggs.

The study will focus new attention on concerns about atrazine, which is applied to an estimated 75 percent of American cornfields. Its manufacturer, the Swiss agricultural giant Syngenta, says the product is safe for wildlife, and for people who are exposed to small amounts in drinking water.

In recent years, however, some studies have seemed to show that atrazine can drive natural hormone systems haywire in fish, birds, rats and frogs. In some cases, male animals exposed to the chemical developed female characteristics.

The study led by Tyrone Hayes, a professor at the University of California, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It showed an even starker transformation: Among a group of male African clawed frogs raised in water tainted with atrazine, he said, a fraction grew up to look and act like females.
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Boost Low White Blood Cell Count and Immune Function Naturally

Tony Isaacs
NaturalNews
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:00 UTC
Low white blood cell counts are indicative of a suppressed immune system and can have many causes.

Emotional state and stress, an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, and nutritional intake can all cause lower immune system response and low white blood cell counts.

Low immunity can also be caused by a number of health conditions, by surgical or medical treatments and by the natural aging process. Whatever the cause, low immunity and low white blood cell counts prevent the body from being able to have an optimum response to infections and illness.
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Human Brains Grow, Change and Can Heal Themselves

Nancy Churnin
The Dallas Morning News
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:33 UTC
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© Brad Loper/DMN Scott Hayner sorts cards by color during a brain-fitness exam with clinician Molly Keebler at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas.
By the time Scott Hayner of Highland Park was 7, he had had one skull fracture and three major concussions from falling off horses.

Nobody connected those accidents to the difficulties he had in school as he acted out, stopped talking for three months and cried daily for two years. As an adult, he seemed to be a thriving, successful stockbroker, until traumatic brain injury from a 1999 soccer accident led to seizures and sidelined his ability to talk to people and stay on task, it seemed, for good.Two realizations have turned his life around at 42. First, he realized that brain injuries were behind the troubles he had had all his life. And second, he read about brain plasticity - the concept that the brain can heal and learn at all ages.

"It was a relief," says Hayner, who credits his 2008 training at the University of Texas at Dallas' Center for BrainHealth for helping to restore abilities that he thought were long gone. "It helped me regain my self-esteem and self-confidence. It gave me hope."

Neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to adapt and change through life, is gaining increased traction in medical circles.
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