Health & WellnessS


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Early Scents Really Do Get 'Etched' in the Brain


ScienceDaily
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00 UTC
Smell
© iStockphoto/Olga SoloveiCommon experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse.
Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain.

"We found that the first pairing or association between an object and a smell had a distinct signature in the brain," even in adults, said Yaara Yeshurun of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. "This 'etching' of initial odor memories in the brain was equal for good and bad smells, yet was unique to odor." Sounds did not have the same effect, the research showed.

In the study, the researchers presented adults with a visual object together with one, and later with a second, set of pleasant and unpleasant odors and sounds while their brains were imaged by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A week later, the researchers presented the same objects inside the fMRI and tested participants' associations of those images with the scents and smells.
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Blackbox

H1N1 Vaccine Shortage Fabricated to Create Hysteria, Boost Demand?

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:00 UTC
There's a fascinating book by author Robert Cialdini called Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion. As someone who frequently writes about Big Pharma's social engineering tactics, I've read and studied many of these tactics, noting carefully how governments and Big Business use them to wage disinformation campaigns against the People.

I was recently chatting with friends on my Facebook page when a friend named Jennifer pointed out that she thought the vaccine shortage had been intentionally engineered to create greater demand once the vaccines were available. This immediately got me thinking about a chapter in the Cialdini book that writes about something I call the "disappearing cookies in the cookie jar" experiment.

This experiment reveals an extremely powerful strategy for influence. And as it turns out, the pharmaceutical industry is using precisely this strategy for fabricating huge demand for their vaccines in an effort to make sure all the vaccines sell out.
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Family

Newborn Babies May Cry in their Mother Tongues

Bruce Bower
Science News
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:09 UTC
Days after birth, French and German infants wail to the melodic structure of their languages

Only days after birth, babies have a bawl with language. Newborn babies cry in melodic patterns that they have heard in adults' conversations - even while in the womb, say medical anthropologist Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzburg in Germany, and her colleagues.

By 2 to 5 days of age, infants' cries bear the tuneful signature of their parents' native tongue, a sign that language learning has already commenced, the researchers report in a paper published online November 5 in Current Biology.

Fluent speakers use melodic patterns and pitch shifts to imbue words and phrases with emotional meaning. Changes in pitch and rhythm, for example, can indicate anger. During the last few months of fetal life, babies can hear what their mothers or other nearby adults are saying, providing exposure to melodies peculiar to a specific language, Wermke says. Newborns then re-create those familiar patterns in at least some of their cries, she proposes.
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Alarm Clock

Why boys are turning into girls


Telegraph
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:09 UTC
Gender-bending chemicals are largely exempt from new EU regulations, warns Geoffrey Lean.

boys
© Getty CreativeGirls will be girls and boys will be girls: everyday 'gender-bending' chemicals are feminising increasing numbers of babies
Here's something rather rotten from the State of Denmark. Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, food, nappies, sunscreen lotion and moisturising cream.

The 326-page report, published by the environment protection agency, is the latest piece in an increasingly alarming jigsaw. A picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminising male children all over the developed world. And anti-pollution measures and regulations are falling far short of getting to grips with it.
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Info

A/H1N1 Flu Confirmed in U.S. Cat


Xinhua
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:13 UTC
A cat in Iowa has been infected with A/H1N1 flu, believed to be the first case of the pandemic strain in a feline in the United States, veterinary officials reported Wednesday.

The 13-year-old indoor cat was brought to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University last week, where it tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus, the Iowa Department of Public Health said in a statement.

The case was then confirmed by both Iowa State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Two of the three members of the family that own the pet had suffered from influenza-like illness before the cat became ill," said Iowa's state health veterinarian Ann Garvey. "This is not completely unexpected, as other strains of influenza have been found in cats in the past."

Both the cat and its owners have since recovered.
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Health

Extra Millions For Baby Units Denied

Jeremy Laurance
The Independent
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:26 UTC
Image
© ALAMY2,127 babies died in the first 28 days of life in England in 2007
Ministers last night pulled the plug on funding to bring the care of the sickest babies up to the standard for adults, in a sign of the impact of the credit crunch on the NHS.

Ministers had been expected to find the cash to back the recommendations of a task force on neonatal care. Its report, published today, identifies a shortfall of 2,700 nurses and 300 other staff, such as physiotherapists and dietitians, in England's 162 neonatal units. Neonatal care is that delivered to babies in the first 28 days of life.
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Target

Critics Blast Kellogg's Claim That Cereal Can Boost Immunity

Bruce Horovitz
USA Today
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:17 UTC
Image
© Kellogg'sA box of Cocoa Krispies carries Kellogg's controversial claim that the cereal can boost immune systems.
Kellogg, the nation's largest cereal maker, is being called to task by critics who object to the swine flu-conscious claim now bannered in bold lettering on the front of Cocoa Krispies cereal boxes: "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."

Of all claims on cereal boxes, "this one belongs in the hall of fame," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."
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Alarm Clock

Family doctors group loses members over Coke deal

Linsey Tanner
Associated Press
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:29 UTC
Chicago, Illinois - Advice about soft drinks and health from one of the nation's largest doctors groups will soon be brought to you by Coke.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has prompted outcry and lost members over its new six-figure alliance with the Coca-Cola Co. The deal will fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy's consumer health and wellness Web site, http://www.FamilyDoctor.org.

Academy CEO Dr. Douglas Henley said Wednesday that the deal won't influence the group's public health messages, and that the company will have no control over editorial content. He said the new online information will include research linking soft drinks with obesity and will focus on sugar-free alternatives.

But critics say the Coke deal will water down the advice.
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Hormone that Affects Finger Length Key to Social Behavior


ScienceDaily
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00 UTC
Monkey
© iStockphoto/Jonas AnderssonWhite-faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) checking its nails.
Research at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford into the finger length of primate species has revealed that cooperative behavior is linked to exposure to hormone levels in the womb.

The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups.

The team found that Old World monkeys, such as baboons and rhesus macaques, have a longer fourth finger in comparison to the second finger, which suggests that they have been exposed to high levels of prenatal androgens. These species tend to be highly competitive and promiscuous, which suggests that exposure to a lot of androgens before birth could be linked to the expression of this behaviour.

Other species, such as gibbons and many New World species, have digit ratios that suggest low levels of prenatal androgen exposure. These species were monogamous and less competitive than Old World monkeys.
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Folic Acid Supplements Linked to Asthma, Study Suggests


ScienceDaily
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00 UTC
A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades.

Researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the timing of supplementation in pregnancy is important.

Associate Professor Michael Davies says that folic acid supplements -- recommended for pregnant women to prevent birth defects -- appear to have "additional and unexpected" consequences in recent studies in mice and infants.

"In our study, supplemental folic acid in late pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of asthma in children, but there was no evidence to suggest any adverse effects if supplements were taken in early pregnancy."

The University of Adelaide findings have been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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