Health & WellnessS


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Stunning Research Shows High Potential for DNA Damage from Nanoparticles

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
Nanoparticles may be able to damage the DNA of cells without ever coming into contact with it, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Bristol Implant Research Center and published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Nanoparticles are particles so small that they have fundamentally different physical and chemical properties than the same substances do at more familiar scales. Industry is increasingly adopting nanotechnology for a variety of applications, from consumer products to medicine, but the technology remains unregulated.

Researchers created particles of chromium and cobalt that were either four millionths (micro scale) or 30 billionths (nano scale) of a meter across, then placed them on a thin, artificial membrane composed of human cells. On the other side of the membrane, researchers placed human fibroblast cells, which are important components of connective tissue.
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Psych Doctor Wrote 1,000 Prescriptions a Week for Psychotropic Drugs

Ethan Huff
NaturalNews
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is reporting that a Miami psychiatrist has prescribed nearly 14 million pills to Medicaid patients since 2004. According to the report, Fernando Mendez-Villamil wrote about 285,000 prescriptions in just six years with a total taxpayer cost of $43 million.

The astounding find is part of an investigation into the legitimacy of Mendez-Villamil's practice; after all, the numbers suggest that he would have had to prescribe about 4,000 prescriptions a month, or 1,000 a week, in order to achieve the large total.

Mendez-Villamil is already recognized as the most profuse drug prescriber in the state of Florida. Prior to the state's implementation of new computer tracking protocols around 2007, Mendez-Villamil's prescription rate was at its highest; after those measures began taking effect, his prescription rate slowed by almost 33 percent.
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New Field of Nutrigenomics Reveals How What You Eat Now Can Prevent Future Disease

S. L. Baker
NaturalNews
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
Kansas State University (K-State) researchers have joined a growing number of scientists who say a relatively new medical field known as nutrigenomics could change the future of public health forever. How? By tailoring strategies to prevent diseases before they can happen -- diseases that might otherwise be in a person's future because of his or her genetic makeup.

The key to this revolutionary stop-disease-before-it-happens strategy isn't a new drug, vaccine or sophisticated gene therapy. Instead, it is eating specific foods.

K-State researchers recently published an academic journal article in Food Technology outlining the potential for nutrigenomics, a field that studies the effects of food on gene expression. Simply put, scientists could eventually recommend specific foods for an individual based on his or her genetics that will prevent future diseases -- especially those that tend to "run in families", such as certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even obesity.
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Use Natural Healing for Anxiety and Panic Disorders

Luella May
NaturalNews
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
Anxiety disorders are characterized by an overwhelming sense of apprehension. Sometimes such apprehension may become constant. Numerous physical symptoms may accompany anxiety with over 100 physical anxiety symptoms reported, including muscle tightness, heart palpitations, chest tightness/pain, dizziness, numbness, tingling, and electric shock feelings. Anxiety disorders often tend to progress to what is called a panic disorder and panic attacks.

The Mayo Clinic definition of a panic attack is: "A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that develops for no apparent reason and that triggers severe physical reactions. Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, you might think you're losing control, having a heart attack or even dying." That is why it is common for a person experiencing a panic attack to feel that death is imminent. Fortunately, there are some good natural solutions to combat anxiety and panic symptoms.

Anxiety and panic disorders are very common, having reached epidemic proportions. They affect an estimated 2.4 million Americans. That means that one in 113 Americans lives with this condition.
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Natural Help Relieves and Eliminates Hemorrhoids

Tony Isaacs
NaturalNews
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
Hemorrhoids are painful swollen veins in the rectum or anus that plague many men and women. They result from increased pressure in the veins which cause the veins to bulge. Getting hemorrhoids is considered bad news. However, if you do get them the good news is that nature offers some good remedies to help control and perhaps even eliminate hemorrhoids.

The most common cause of hemorrhoids for men is straining during bowel movements. Women's hemorrhoids are often caused by pregnancy and childbirth. Hemorrhoids may also result from constipation, sitting for long periods, poor posture and infections. In some cases they may be caused by diseases such as cirrhosis.

Symptoms of hemorrhoids include anal itching, anal pain or aches (especially while sitting), pain during bowel movements, hard lumps in the vicinity of the anus and bright red blood on toilet tissue, in the stool, and/or in the toilet bowl.
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Fast Food Culture: Is It Speeding Up Our Minds?

Wray Herbert
Huffington Post
Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:16 UTC
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Fast food is unhealthy.

I know, I know. Few of us need convincing of that fact any more. But as unassailable as it is, the brief against fast food has for years focused almost entirely on the food in fast food - the high fructose corn syrup and artery-busting fats and nutritional bankruptcy of burgers and French fries and soft drinks. But what about the fast in fast food?

New science is now suggesting that fast food may be doubly unhealthy - not only nutritionally damaging but psychologically detrimental as well. Indeed, the Colonel and the Golden Arches and the rest of America's fast-food culture may be unconsciously triggering a general impatience with life that leads to wrongheaded decisions going way beyond food. In short, fast food may lead to fast and frenzied life-for-today lifestyles that may be just as unhealthy as bad cholesterol.
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Plugged in, Turned on, Tuned Out


Psychology Today
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:10 UTC
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Findings published from the third installment of the Kaiser Foundation's research project on children and their media use shocked technophobes and - philes alike. According to the report, kids ages 8-18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day plugged into an electronic device (such as an iPod, smart phone, computer, or television). This figure does not include an extra hour and a half spent texting or talking on cell phones; time devoted to homework, or an extra three and a half hours of media exposure accrued by multitasking.
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Pfizer to pay $142M for drug fraud


Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:52 UTC
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been ordered to pay $142 million US in damages for fraudulently marketing gabapentin, an anti-seizure drug marketed under the name Neurontin.

A federal jury in Boston ruled Thursday that Pfizer fraudulently marketed the drug and promoted it for unapproved uses. The jury sided with California-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, the first to try a gabapentin case against Pfizer.

Data revealed in a string of U.S. lawsuits indicates the drug was promoted by the drug company as a treatment for for pain, migraines and bipolar disorder - even though it wasn't effective in treating these conditions and was actually toxic in certain cases, according to the Therapautics Initiative, an independent drug research group at the University of British Columbia.
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The Dangers of Triclosan: A Common Anti-Bacterial Ingredient

Samuel S. Epstein, MD
Huffington Post
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:24 UTC
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Triclosan is an anti-bacterial ingredient in many cosmetics and personal-care products. These include nearly half of all commercial antibacterial liquid soaps, cleansers, deodorants, detergents, toothpastes, and mouthwashes.

Water testing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey have found that triclosan is among the top 10 persistent contaminants in U.S. rivers, streams, lakes, and underground aquifers. Of related concern, triclosan persists in the environment, accumulating as it passes up the food chain to our bodies, and contributes to reduced resistance to antibiotics.
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Understanding the Bombay blood group

Alicia M Prater PhD
Helium
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:55 UTC
The Bombay blood group is a rare exception to the commonly accepted ABO blood types. It is observed to occur in 1 out of every 250,000 people except in parts of India where the incidence has been observed to be as much as 1 in 7600. The rare designation was first identified in Mumbai, also known as Bombay - thus the name of the blood group. The blood type is thought to occur in only those of (Eastern) Indian descent.

Blood types are actually ways of differentiating the type of antigens on a person's red blood cells. Being able to match these during donation and transfusions is important because of potential rejection by the immune system. The Bombay blood group is missing an antigen present on cells of the ABO group, the H antigen. The H antigen is a carbohydrate known as fucose.
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