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Study Suggests Obesity May Delay Boys' Puberty

Joseph Brownstein
ABC News Medical Unit
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:27 UTC
Reasons For Maturity Delay Unclear, Implications May Be Far-Reaching

Researchers may have found yet another reason not to let boys become obese -- it could delay their puberty.

A study following over 400 boys shows that those who are obese are twice as likely as their normal-weight counterparts not to have started puberty by the age of 11 and a half. While previous studies in girls had shown the opposite phenomenon -- girls who are obese tend to hit puberty earlier than their normal-weight counterparts -- it seems obesity may cause a maturity delay in boys, a situation with unknown and possibly far-reaching effects.

"With the epidemic of childhood obesity, there's concern this is going to have a negative effect on growth and development," said Dr. Joyce Lee, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Michigan and the study's lead author.
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Laptop

'Internet addiction' linked to depression, says study


BBC News
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:17 UTC
There is a strong link between heavy internet use and depression, UK psychologists have said.

The study, reported in the journal Psychopathology, found 1.2% of people surveyed were "internet addicts", and many of these were depressed.

The Leeds University team stressed they could not say one necessarily caused the other, and that most internet users did not suffer mental health problems.
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Attention

Human Placenta Cells Die After BPA Exposure

Heather Patisaul, Ph.D. & Wendy Hessler
Environmental Health News
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:18 UTC
Image
© cewil/flicker
Exposure to very low concentrations of the plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA) causes cellular damage and death in cultured human placenta cells, researchers report. The doses used for this study are similar to blood levels found in pregnant women. A particularly worrying finding is that effects were most pronounced at the lowest - rather than the highest - concentrations of BPA indicating that placental development could be particularly sensitive to BPA exposure. Damage to the placenta can induce a range of adverse pregnancy outcomes including premature birth, preeclampsia or even pregnancy loss. It is not known if exposure to BPA is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in humans.
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Red Flag

Children More Likely to Have Attention, Behavioral Problems When Exposed to Phthalates in Womb

Marla Cone
Environmental Health News
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:42 UTC
Image
© Stepheye/flickrThe U.S. does not restrict phthalates in cosmetics and other personal care items.
Children exposed in the womb to chemicals in cosmetics and fragrances are more likely to develop behavioral problems commonly found in children with attention deficit disorders, according to a study of New York City school-age children published Thursday. Scientists said the findings uncovered a new problem that could be related to phthalates - effects on a child's developing brain. "More phthalates equaled more behavioral problems," said Stephanie Engel, an associate professor of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "For every increase of exposure, we saw an increase in frequency and severity of the symptoms," including attention problems, poor conduct and aggression. The connection was only detected for the types of phthalates used in perfumes, shampoos and other personal care products, not the ones found in vinyl toys and other soft plastics.
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Bad Guys

New Method for Treating Stress


PhysOrg
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:18 UTC
A new analysis of the way the body responds to stress suggests that administering constant high levels of drugs is not the best way to treat this condition. A better way might be to design drugs that follow the body's own naturally-occurring rhythms.

Drug companies have traditionally sought to design new drugs that are as potent and as long-lasting in the body as possible.

However, a new analysis of the way the body responds to stress suggests that administering constant high levels of drugs is not the best way to treat this condition. A better way might be to design drugs that follow the body's own naturally-occurring rhythms.

Writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers from the University of Bristol report this week that the body has its own built-in processes which ensure the body regulates the way it responds to stress.

Comment: Throw the old drugs away and here, take these new ones! Right, okay got that but no thanks! Readers might want to check out the natural way to beat stress without any drugs. Check out this technique called Éiriú Eolas

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Family

There's a good chance you may be eating a livestock drug banned in 160 nations.

Martha Rosenberg
CounterPunch
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:22 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Why Has the FDA Allowed a Drug Marked 'Not Safe for Use in Humans' to Be Fed to Livestock Right Before Slaughter?

While researchers and scientists investigate the cause of our diabetes, obesity, asthma and ADHD epidemics, they should ask why the FDA approved a livestock drug banned in 160 nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in pigs, according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer.

The beta agonist ractopamine, a repartitioning agent that increases protein synthesis, was recruited for livestock use when researchers found the drug, used in asthma, made mice more muscular says Beef magazine.
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Syringe

Lancet caves in, retracts study tying MMR vaccine to Autism

Michelle Fay Cortez
Bloomberg News
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:29 UTC
The Lancet medical journal retracted a 1998 study that linked a routine childhood vaccine to autism and bowel disease after a U.K. investigation found flaws in the research.

The U.K. General Medical Council, which licenses doctors, concluded in a report last week that three researchers led by Andrew Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital in London carried out invasive, unnecessary tests, failed to act in the best interest of the children, and misused public funds. It also said Wakefield didn't disclose a conflict of interest as he was involved in legal claims against the vaccine makers.

"It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation," the editors of the Lancet wrote in a statement today.

Comment: The pharmaceutical industry is feeling secure knowing that millions of children can now be forced to take dangerous vaccines away from the prying eyes of empathetic researchers who simply wish to watch out for the safety of children, believing with 100% certainty that the toxic ingredients will do no damage. As Vaclav Havel once said, "Follow the man who seeks the truth; run from the man who has found it."

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Fish

Fish oil can ward off psychosis


Press TV
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:31 UTC
Image
In line with previous studies, a new study finds taking one fish oil capsule every day can prevent mental illnesses in the at-risk population.

Previous studies had reported that omega 3 in fish oil is heart tonic and can fight dementia.

According to the study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, taking fish oil supplements lowers the risk of developing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia by one quarter in individuals with weak or transient psychotic symptoms as well as those with schizophrenia-like brain changes.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are believed to fight psychosis through altering the brain signaling process, the study found.
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Attention

Is there more to the story on GMOs?

Howard Vlieger
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:40 UTC
In addition to the considerable questions about the safety of GMOs and their effects on mammals, what about other potential side effects to crop producers of GMO crops and their use?

Dust is a common factor that all of us in crop production must deal with. Whether it comes from a country road or a combine harvesting a crop, dust is present in many places in rural America.

A crop farmer in northwest Iowa had some keen observations in regards to dust and decided to do some testing. This gentleman, who we will call John, noticed a significant amount of dust in the hog building where he custom feeds hogs. John gathered a sample of the dust from inside the hog building and placed it in a zip lock bag and identified it as hog dust.

John noticed an unusually large amount of dust around the combine when harvest was in progress in his brother's Liberty Link corn field. Liberty is an herbicide with the active ingredient of glufosinate which is a nonselective herbicide similar to Roundup, Roundup contains glyphosate as the active ingredient. John collected a sample of the dust from the combine in the Liberty Link corn field and placed it in a zip lock bag and labeled it.
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Syringe

Childhood Vaccine Linked to Increase in Lung Infection


NewsInferno
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:37 UTC
A serious lung infection called pneumococcal empyema has been on the rise in children since the PCV7 vaccination was introduced in 2000, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, Children's Hospital. The study appears in the January issue of Pediatrics.

The PCV7 vaccine prevents the development of pneumococcal disease. According to The New York Times, prior to its introduction, pneumococcal disease caused more than 700 cases of meningitis in children, 13,000 blood infections, about 5 million ear infections and 200 deaths in the U.S. each year. Use of the PCV7 vaccine has been credited with reducing the number of children hospitalized for pneumonia because of pneumococcus by 50 percent and bacterial pneumonias have decreased overall.

Unfortunately according to the study detailed in Pediatrics, there has been a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema. Empyema is a accumulation of dense pus between the outer surface of the lung and the chest wall. The infection interferes with breathing, and surgery is often needed, the Times said.
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