Health & WellnessS


Syringe

Unpublished studies question whether seasonal flu shot raises swine flu risk

Helen Branswell
The Canadian Press
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:05 UTC
Unpublished Canadian data are raising concerns about whether it's a good idea to get a seasonal flu shot this fall and fuelling a drive by some public health officials in Canada to delay, reduce or scrap altogether campaigns to vaccinate against seasonal flu this year.

Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the data appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn't.

A scientific paper has been submitted to a journal and the lead authors - Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston De Serres of Laval University - are consequently constrained about what they can say about the work. Journals bar would-be authors from discussing their results before they are published.
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Target

Desperate Food Industry Tries to Tar Michael Pollan and Organic Produce

Vanessa Barrington
Alternet
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:30 UTC
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Blake Hurst's article for The American Enterprise Institute. Attacks Pollan and other “agri-intellectuals”.
With growing numbers of food-conscious consumers, big corporations are trying to sully the reputation of alternatives to their style of agriculture.

What do you get when you cross a grassroots movement with a food industry fearful of losing its influence? Bogus studies, campaigns of misinformation and opinion pieces filled with myth and vitriol.
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Cow

Flashback Which is worse, germs in our food or the antibiotics that kill them?

Martha Rosenberg
Online Journal
Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:53 UTC
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Recent recalls of pathogen tainted milk, meat, chicken and cheese make you wonder if E.coli, campylobacter, salmonella and listeria are the new four food groups.

Of course just because our food harbors harmful microbes doesn't mean it's not also full of antibiotics. Especially since dosing farm animals with antibiotics is why so many resistant microbes are in the food.
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Magnify

Dangerous Mercury Contamination of Human Body Increasing, Study Finds

S. L. Baker
Natural News
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:00 UTC
It's no secret mercury is a dangerous toxin that accumulates in the human body and can produce disastrous health problems involving multiple organ systems. It's known to be a risk to unborn babies, too. Unfortunately, as NaturalNews has reported, mercury contamination of our environment and food sources is rampant. For example, scientists have found that fish and high fructose corn syrup are often loaded with the dangerous heavy metal. Now comes this worrisome news: deposits of mercury in the bodies of Americans are increasing at an alarming rate and the health repercussions could be staggering.

Mercury especially targets the liver, the immune system and the pituitary gland. Numerous studies have associated chronic mercury exposure with elevated risks for autism, mental impairment and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Previous research by U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) researchers estimated that chronic mercury exposure caused between 300,000 and 600,000 American children to be born with elevated risks of neurodevelopmental disorders between 1999 and 2000.

A new University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) study of government data on more than 6,000 women in the US found not only that mercury loads in bodies are increasing but it also identified significant associations between chronic mercury exposure and immune and endocrine system functions. The research specifically revealed that levels of the pituitary hormone, lutropin (also called luteinizing hormone) are significantly associated with chronic mercury exposure. This could explain a mechanism for how mercury causes or contributes to degenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases.
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Family

New Study Shows Parents Use Deception To Influence Their Children

Joyann Callender
Medical News Today
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:00 UTC
Parents say that honesty is the best policy, but they regularly lie to their children as a way of influencing their behaviour and emotions, finds new research from the University of Toronto and the University of California, San Diego.

Surprisingly little scholarship has been published on the subject of parental lying, so Gail Heyman, professor of psychology at UC San Diego, Diem Luu, a former UCSD student, and Kang Lee, professor at the University of Toronto and director of the Institute of Child Study at OISE, set out to explore the under-researched phenomenon. They asked U.S. participants in two related studies about parents lying to their children - either for the purpose of promoting appropriate behaviour or to make them happy.

In one of the studies, many parents reported they told their young children that bad things would happen if they didn't go to bed or eat what they were supposed to. For example, one mother said she told her child that if he didn't finish all of his food he would get pimples all over his face. Other parents reported inventing magical creatures. One explained, "We told our daughter that if she wrapped up all her pacifiers like gifts, the 'paci-fairy' would come and give them to children who needed them...I thought it was healthier to get rid of the pacifiers, and it was a way for her to feel proud and special."
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Health

New tree man: coral man has 'shells' cut from his body


The Telegraph
Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:11 UTC
Coral growth on man
© Central European NewsThe severity of Lin Tianzhuan's condition shocked doctors
A man dubbed the human coral reef has been successfully treated for a rare condition that covered his whole body in shell-like growths. Lin Tianzhuan, 38, of Shuimen, southern China, first noticed the growths on his hands and feet when he was just 13.

"It started with a few hard bumps so I tried to apply antibiotics and creams but it didn't get better," he explained.

"Instead it just got worse. They grew and grew and soon they were all over my arms and legs, my back and even my head. Ii was as if I was turning to stone and it was terrifying," he added.
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Wine

Women drink before sex 'because they lack the confidence to do it sober'

Murray Wardrop
The Telegraph
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:04 UTC
Women drink
© GettyWomen drink before sex to boost their confidence, a study has found
Millions of British women drink alcohol before having sex - because they lack the confidence to do it sober, a study claims.

Researchers examining the link between sexual habits and alcohol consumption among 3,000 women found that half preferred sex after a tipple.

Women said alcohol helped them lose their inhibitions and become more adventurous between the sheets.

The study found that 75 per cent of women like to drink a glass of wine or two immediately before getting into bed with their husband or boyfriend.
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Chalkboard

Surrealism helps get your point across

Richard Alleyne
The Telegraph
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00 UTC
If you want to get your point across then it is best not to tell it straight, claim scientists who discovered a touch of the surreal helps people absorb information.

Psychologists found that bizarre juxtapositions force people to engage their brain more and so increases the amount they learn.

Being simple, straightforward and to the point could actually lead to less engagement than jumbling up your facts and time frames, it is claimed.

Researchers at the University of California and the University of British Columbia claimed to have shown that exposure to surrealism enhances the "cognitive mechanism" that leads to learning.

Travis Proulx, lead researcher, said that when people are confronted by something that fundamentally does not make sense they try harder to understand it.
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Heart

Naturopath Bridges Gap in Treatment and Prevention

Noelle Robbins
San Francisco Chronicle
Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:59 UTC
Like most doctors, Karen Peters is gearing up for a flu season that threatens to unleash two strains of the virus: regular seasonal flu and swine flu.

As a licensed ND - doctor of naturopathic medicine - Peters believes that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. And she has some advice about bolstering the body's natural defenses, advice that goes beyond and, in some cases, seems to disagree with, media messages focused on hand washing, coughing or sneezing into elbows, getting flu shots and getting plenty of rest after the flu strikes.

For example, following natural seasonal instincts means slowing down and sleeping more as winter approaches - before the flu has a chance to take hold - but that's just the time when schools, businesses and holiday parties are in full swing.
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Syringe

Flashback German Health Expert Warning: Does H1N1 Vaccine Increase the Risk of Cancer?


Bild.com
Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:07 UTC
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Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg is a politician and a specialist in lungs, hygiene and environmental medicine. He is the chairman of the health committee in the German parliament and European Council.
The swine flu vaccine has been hit by new cancer fears after a German health expert gave a shock warning about its safety.

Lung specialist Wolfgang Wodarg has said that there are many risks associated with the vaccine for the H1N1 virus.

He has grave reservations about the firm Novartis who are developing the vaccine and testing it in Germany. The vaccination is injected "with a very hot needle", Wodarg said.
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