Health & WellnessS


Health

Why are 48,000 Hospital-Stays per Year in the US Ending in Death?

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
In the United States, two common conditions caused by hospital-acquired infections killed 48,000 people and ramped up health care costs by $8.1 billion in 2006 alone, according to a recent study.

This is the largest nationally representative study of the toll taken by sepsis and pneumonia, two conditions often caused by deadly microbes, including the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA.

Such infections can lead to longer hospital stays, serious complications and even death.

Researchers analyzed 69 million discharge records from hospitals in 40 states and identified two conditions caused by health care-associated infections: sepsis, a potentially lethal systemic response to infection and pneumonia, an infection of the lungs and respiratory tract.
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Gear

People in power make better liars, study shows

Eve Tahmincioglu
Microsoft National Broadcasting
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:16 UTC
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© James Nielsen/ AFP - Getty ImagesFormer Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who is serving 24 years in jail for his role in the energy giant's 2001 bankruptcy in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history, has appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. His lawyers are challenging a 1988 federal law that makes corporate bosses liable to prosecution for depriving shareholders of "honest services."
Findings suggest that dishonesty comes more easily to those on top

New York Gov. David Paterson is embroiled in a scandal over whether he used his power and influence to intimidate a woman pursuing a domestic violence case against one of his top aides. As a result, the governor said last month that he would not seek a second term, and his communications director quit earlier this month citing "integrity" issues.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who went to prison after the spectacular collapse of the company, is appealing to the Supreme Court his 2006 conviction on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying.

His lawyers argue that he didn't get a fair trial and that Skilling's conduct, "even if wrongful in some way," was not illegal because he was not looking out for his personal interests "apart from his normal compensation incentives."

The issue of integrity is at the heart of the predicaments these powerful men find themselves in. An organization's health often hinges on the trustworthiness of its leaders, ethics experts say.
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Health

Additional Drug Therapy Shown to Not Benefit Diabetics' Risk of Heart Problems or Stroke

Thomas H. Maugh II
The Los Angeles Times
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:50 UTC
Los Angeles - It seemed like a good idea. Diabetics are at an unusually high risk of heart disease, heart attacks and strokes, so treating them intensively to sharply reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugars should be highly beneficial. But a decade of studies in thousands of patients shows that is not the case.

Two new reports from a major nationwide trial called ACCORD released yesterday show that lowering either blood pressure or cholesterol below current guidelines does not provide additional benefit and, in fact, increases the risk of side effects. A third arm of the study, released two years ago, showed that lowering blood sugars excessively actually increases the risk of heart disease.

The results are disappointing, researchers say, because they suggest that clinicians might have reached the limit of what they can do for diabetic patients.

The good news is that the findings "reduce the cost and potential side effects of drug therapy," and patients will not have to work as hard at reducing blood sugars, lipids and blood pressure, said Dr. Denise Simons-Morton of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the trial.

Diabetes has become a tremendous problem in the United States: At least 21 million people are afflicted with Type 2 diabetes, and millions more are at risk because of obesity. Most diabetics also have high blood pressure and a high cholesterol level; those factors raise their risk of heart attack and stroke to the same level as that of people who have had a heart attack.
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Info

How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals

Dr. Mark Hyman
Huffington Post
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:25 UTC
After my recent blog on mercury, I'm sure many of you are depressed and discouraged about mercury and its toxic effects. The bad news is today I am going to review more of mercury's toxic effects and expand on what I learned at the medical conference on mercury I mentioned in my last blog ...

But the good news is I will provide you with a clear, three-step plan to help your body detoxify from mercury and other heavy metals and recover your health. I have used this same plan successfully and safely with hundreds and hundreds of patients over the last 10 years - and it's the same process I used myself to overcome mercury toxicity!

But first, let's look at the data presented at "The Impact of Mercury on Human Health and the Environment" conference.

Comment: To learn more about Detoxing read the following forum threads:

Detoxification: Heavy Metals, Mercury and how to get rid of them

Anti-Candida, Inflammation, Heavy Metals Detox and Diet

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Info

Nationwide Boycott! WalMart Fired Cancer Patient For Medical Marijuana

Steve Elliot
tokeofthetown
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:16 UTC
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WalMart pulled a major bonehead move this week when it sacked a cancer patient -- a former Associate of the Year -- for following his doctor's advice and using medical marijuana, which is perfectly legal in Michigan. As a direct result, medical marijuana advocates are now organizing a nationwide boycott of the retail giant.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company, notorious for its corporate stance of social conservatism, looked like a big, dumb, lumbering, heartless beast. But WalMart still hasn't budged, and is completely unapologetic about firing Joseph Casias, who suffers from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

The wave of revulsion and outrage over WalMart's treatment of Casias is growing exponentially as more people learn what was done -- and with 80 percent of the American public supporting medical marijuana, the results of a boycott could be substantial.
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Magnify

Weight Watchers Says Eat at McDonald's to Lose Weight

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:00 UTC
Weight Watchers has now officially endorsed Chicken McNuggets as a "healthy meal" in New Zealand, where McDonald's restaurants will begin carrying the Weight Watchers logo on several menu items. This bizarre and inexplicable decision has now made Weight Watchers the laughing stock of the health world where nutrition and weight loss experts normally don't use "McDonald's fast food" and "weight loss" in the same sentence.

As The Guardian reports, "As part of the deal, which the company says is the first of its kind in the world, McDonald's will use the Weight Watchers logo on its menu boards and Weight Watchers will promote McDonald's to dieters."

Nutritionists, not surprisingly, were shocked at the announcement. The idea of eating at McDonald's to lose weight seems a bit ridiculous, and anyone who believes that eating Chicken McNuggets will cause you to lose weight is arguably one nugget short of a Happy Meal. Sometimes you just have to point out the stupidity of these things, even at the risk of offending someone who has convinced themselves that eating more Chicken McNuggets is their ticket to a slim, fit and sexy body.
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Bad Guys

U.S. Healthcare System Wastes $800 Billion a Year

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:00 UTC
The U.S. healthcare system loses between $505 and $850 billion a year to mistakes, inefficiency and fraud, according to a report by Thomson Reuters. This amounts to one-third of all national healthcare spending.

"America's healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars," the report says.

According to the report, unnecessary medical procedures and treatments -- including antibiotic overuse and superfluous tests -- account for 37 percent of all wasted spending, $200 to $300 billion per year. Fraud -- including false Medicare claims and kickbacks for referrals or prescriptions -- accounts for another 22 percent, as much as $200 billion a year. Medical errors are responsible for 11 percent of excess spending, or $50 to $100 billion yearly. Preventable health problems, such as diabetes, cost the healthcare system $30 to $50 billion per year.
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Magnify

Bee Stings as Therapy? Apitherapy Can Treat Arthritis and More

Ethan Huff
NaturalNews
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00 UTC
A bee sting is an unpleasant experience that undoubtedly everyone would choose to avoid if given the choice. However a growing number of people are choosing to be stung by bees in an alternative form of illness treatment called apitherapy. Apitherapy contends that bee venom holds therapeutic value in treating serious illness and that it is a viable alternative to dangerous pharmaceutical drugs that often do not work and have harmful side effects.

Apitherapy, a traditional folk remedy that has been used in many other countries for centuries, takes advantage of the healing power contained in honeybee venom which helps to alleviate serious conditions like multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and lupus. According to 51-year-old Reyah Carlson of Vermont, a proponent of apitherapy, bee venom helped to treat her Lyme Disease.

Carlson recently spoke at the North American Beekeepers Conference in Orlando where she spoke of the benefits of apitherapy. She regularly travels around the world telling people about the alternative treatment and informing them about how it works to treat disease.
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Red Flag

Revealed... the 515 Chemicals Women Put on their Bodies Every Day


Oneradionetwork.com
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:27 UTC
Women and beauty products - it's a love affair that's been going on for centuries. And no wonder. There's nothing like a new lipstick or favorite perfume to make us look and feel good. Or so we thought...

In fact, according to a new report, most of our favorite cosmetics are cocktails of industrially produced and potentially dangerous chemicals that could damage our health and, in some cases, rather than delivering on their potent 'anti-aging' promise, are causing us to age faster.

Research by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, found that the average woman's daily grooming and make-up routine means she 'hosts' a staggering 515 different synthetic chemicals on her body every single day.

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Arrow Down

US court rules again against vaccine-autism claims


Reuters
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:09 UTC
Ruling is the fourth against autism claims

Vaccines that contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal cannot cause autism on their own, a special U.S. court ruled on Friday, dealing one more blow to parents seeking to blame vaccines for their children's illness.

The special U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that vaccines could not have caused the autism of an Oregon boy, William Mead, ending his family's quest for reimbursement.

"The Meads believe that thimerosal-containing vaccines caused William's regressive autism. As explained below, the undersigned finds that the Meads have not presented a scientifically sound theory," Special Master George Hastings, a former tax claims expert at the Department of Justice, wrote in his ruling.
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