Health & WellnessS


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Team Finds Childhood Clues to Adult Schizophrenia


ScienceDaily
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
Years before adults develop schizophrenia, there is a pattern of cognitive difficulties they experience as children, including problems with verbal reasoning, working memory, attention and processing speed.

Drawing on a long-term study of more than 1,000 New Zealanders born from 1972 to 1973, a team led by Duke researchers has found a consistent pattern of developmental difficulties that first appeared when adult study subjects with schizophrenia were 7 years old.

"The proportion of kids who don't score well on these tests is big, and the number of kids who develop schizophrenia is tiny," said study co-author Terrie E. Moffitt, the Knut Schmidt Nielsen professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. But now that the study subjects are in their late 30s and mental illnesses have been identified, "we looked backwards to understand more about how schizophrenia may develop."
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Making Braille Music Universally Accessible


ScienceDaily
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
Blind musicians have had restricted access to scores due to the scarcity and limitations of Braille transcriptions. A new European system makes music for the blind more available and far easier to use.

The iconic image of the blind musician dates back at least to the time of Homer. It's a fitting image, since music is an art form to which blindness does not raise any intrinsic barriers.

Until the first quarter of the 19th century, however, blind musicians could learn music only by ear. Louis Braille changed that when he invented a system for transcribing musical scores into a tactile code.

Unfortunately, both transcribing -- which had to be done by a sighted musician -- and reading Braille music proved difficult. Braille's linear format makes it hard to decipher the many aspects of music that occur simultaneously, such as chords or multiple voices.
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Binoculars

U.S. Government Wants Farmers to Dump Heavy Metals on Fields

Kim Evans
NaturalNews
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
Ash leftover from burning coal contains arsenic, mercury, lead and other heavy metals. These days, the U.S. government is encouraging farmers to dump it right on their fields, and effectively, right onto the public's food supply. According to the Wall Street Journal, each year 125 to 130 million tons of ash and sludge are left over from burning coal - which is enough to fill one million railcars. The government is encouraging farmers to dump it on their fields as a way to dispose of the toxic waste.

Lead in the body has been linked to brain shrinkage, learning difficulties and violent behavior. According to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, lead stays in soil for hundreds of years and accumulates in green produce.

Arsenic is another known poison; it's known to cause cancer, neurological disturbances, and instant death. A lethal dose is about 70 to 200mg.
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GE Attempts to Silence Doctor Who Warned About Dangers of Medical Imaging Drug

E. Huff
NaturalNews
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
GE Healthcare, a British subsidiary of multinational giant General Electric, is suing Henrik Thomsen, a senior radiologist and professor of radiology, for sounding the alarm about the dangers of the company's medical imaging drug, Omniscan. After witnessing kidney patients who had received the drug develop potentially fatal conditions, Thomsen publicly exposed the drug's dangers which caused a firestorm of controversy.

In an effort to muzzle Thomsen, GE Healthcare has already spent more than 380,000 British pounds, or about $610,000, in legal fees pursuing litigation against him. Utilizing loopholes in Britain's libel laws, the company is alleging that Thomsen falsely accused GE of suppressing sensitive information about the drug's risks at an Oxford scientific congress presentation in 2007.

Investigation into these claims has shown that Thomsen accurately described his clinical experience and that no such misrepresentation took place. When questioned about this fact, GE spokesmen had no response other than to suggest that Thomsen indirectly slandered the company through insinuation.
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Natural Form of Vitamin E Protects the Brain After Stroke

S. L. Baker
NaturalNews
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly blocked by a blood clot or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, driving blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells, or neurons. The result can be brain damage that leaves stroke survivors with disabilities ranging from one-sided paralysis or weakness to problems with thinking, attention, memory and learning. But new research by Ohio State University scientists set for publication in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Neurochemistry concludes a specific type of vitamin E known as tocotrienol (TCT) could prevent brain cells from dying after a stroke.

Tocopherols are the best-known form of vitamin E and the kind usually found in supplements. However, the vitamin occurs naturally in seven other different forms, including TCT. Although not widely found in the typical American diet, it is common in foods that comprise a typical Southeast Asian diet. Food sources of TCT include rice bran oil, barley, wheat germ and oats.

"Our research suggests that the different forms of natural vitamin E have distinct functions. The relatively poorly studied tocotrienol form of natural vitamin E targets specific pathways to protect against neural cell death and rescues the brain after stroke injury," Chandan Sen, professor and vice chair for research in Ohio State's Department of Surgery and senior author of the study, said in a statement to the media.
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Alarm Clock

Obama USDA Poised to Take Away Our Right to GMO-Free Food

Ronnie Cummins
Huffington Post
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:22 UTC
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Don't believe Monsanto's green-washing. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), aren't meant to feed the world or survive the evermore frequent droughts and floods brought on by global warming - they're designed to sell Monsanto's herbicide Roundup and the patented "Roundup Ready" genes now spliced into millions of acres of corn, cotton, soy, canola, sugar beets and alfalfa. A 2009 study showed that, in 13 years, Roundup Ready crops increased herbicide use by 383 million pounds.

During the Bush administration, the movement to stop GMOs was making progress. Reflecting public concern over GMOs, in 2007, a Federal court ruled that the Bush USDA's approval of Roundup Ready alfalfa violated the law because it failed to analyze risks such as the contamination of conventional and organic alfalfa and the development of "super-weeds." The court banned the planting of GM alfalfa until USDA completed a rigorous analysis of these impacts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice affirmed the national ban on Roundup Ready alfalfa planting, but Monsanto is appealing. They're taking producers of organic alfalfa seed all the way to the Supreme Court!
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Red Flag

Common Household Chemical Linked to Thyroid Disease

Ian Sample
The Guardian
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:56 UTC
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© Bryan Mullennix/GettyThe chemical, which has been linked to thyroid disease, is thought to enter the body via household dust and contaminated food.
Why your sofa may harm your health
  • Household chemical linked to thyroid disease
  • Scientists call for full investigation into safety
A common household chemical found in everything from sofas and carpets to pots and pans has been linked to an increased risk of thyroid disease, in the first major study carried out on its effect upon health.

The substance, used to make nonstick cookware, stain-resistant furnishings and greaseproof wrappers, is believed to get into the body through contaminated food or household dust. Once in the body it accumulates in organs and other tissues.

People with high levels of the chemical in their blood were found to be twice as likely to have thyroid problems as those with the lowest levels, according to a survey of medical records of nearly 4,000 otherwise healthy US adults. The study is published in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.
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Better Earth

No Deaths from Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids or Herbs: Poison Control Statistics Prove Supplements' Safety

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D.
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:47 UTC
There was not even one death caused by a dietary supplement in 2008, according to the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System. The new 174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other vitamin.

Additionally, there were no deaths whatsoever from any amino acid or herbal product. This means no deaths at all from blue cohosh, echinacea, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, kava kava, St. John's wort, valerian, yohimbe, Asian medicines, ayurvedic medicines, or any other botanical. There were zero deaths from creatine, blue-green algae, glucosamine, chondroitin, melatonin, or any homeopathic remedies.

Furthermore, there were zero deaths in 2008 from any dietary mineral supplement. This means there were no fatalities from calcium, magnesium, chromium, zinc, colloidal silver, selenium, iron, or multimineral supplements. Two children died as a result of medical use of the antacid sodium bicarbonate. The other "Electrolyte and Mineral" category death was due to a man accidentally drinking sodium hydroxide, a highly toxic degreaser and drain-opener.

No man, woman or child died from nutritional supplements. Period.
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Heart - Black

Flashback Corporate Psychopaths - another look

Dr Jonica Newby
The Australian Broadcasting Company
Thu, 05 May 2005 00:02 UTC
Is your boss manipulative? Intimidating? Totally lacking in remorse? Yet superficially charming? Then you could be working with a workplace psychopath. The latest figures suggest one in ten managers are psychopaths, and this week Catalyst goes deep inside their minds - what makes them tick, how do you spot them; and how do you avoid being crushed by them. We'll also run a handy test - tune in to find out if your boss is an office psychopath.

View video: here
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Attention

New Study Confirms Bisphenol A Found in Plastic is Linked to Heart Disease

S. L. Baker
Natural News
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:42 UTC
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the U.S. Various forms of the disease take the lives of over 80 million Americans a year. And while we've all heard about the risk factors for cardiovascular disease - including smoking, being overweight, high cholesterol and lack of exercise - it appears it's time to add bisphenol A, better known as BPA, to that list.

This chemical has been used for decades in polycarbonate plastic products including refillable drink containers, plastic eating utensils and baby bottles as well as the epoxy resins that line most food and soft-drink cans. Now a new study just published in the journal PLoS ONE provides the most compelling evidence so far that BPA exposure is dangerous to the cardiovascular system.

Using 2006 data from the US government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers from the Peninsula Medical School at the University of Exeter in the UK studied urinary BPA concentrations and found a significantly strong link between BPA exposure and heart disease. In 2008, these same scientists discovered that higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with a long list of medical problems in adults, including liver dysfunction, diabetes and obesity. This research team was also the first to report evidence that BPA was linked to cardiovascular disease - and their new research offers further confirmation of a strong connection between BPA and heart ailments.
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