Health & WellnessS


Cheeseburger

Dietary Fat linked to Pancreatic Cancer


ScienceDaily.com
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:35 UTC
High intake of dietary fats from red meat and dairy products was associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a new study published online June 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

This study was undertaken because research relating fat intake to pancreatic cancer was inconclusive.
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Researchers Identify Enzyme that Makes Survival Molecule for Key Vision Cells


PhysOrg
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:44 UTC
Research lead by Dr. Nicolas Bazan, Boyd Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, identifying an enzyme that makes neuroprotectin D1 which specifically and selectively protects retinal cells key for vision, will be published in the June 26, 2009 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Dr. Bazan's research team previously discovered neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1), a naturally produced chemical messenger that protects cells from injury caused by free radicals and other oxidative stress. Neuroprotectin D1 is derived from the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) which is present in both brain and retinal cells.

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are essential for the survival of rod and cone photoreceptor cells. RPE cells regulate the renewal of the tips of photoreceptor cells among other functions. When RPE cells do not function properly, photoreceptor cells are damaged and can die, leading to decreased vision and eventual blindness as in such conditions as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. A number of stressors, including free radicals, damage RPE cells. Dr. Bazan's lab has shown that RPE cells produce NPD1 in response to oxidative stress. The focus of this research project was to further define that process.
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Remembering What To Remember And What To Forget

Stuart Wolpert
Medical News Today
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:32 UTC
People in very early stages of Alzheimer's disease already have trouble focusing on what is important to remember, a UCLA psychologist and colleagues report.

"One of the first telltale signs of Alzheimer's disease may be not memory problems, but failure to control attention," said Alan Castel, UCLA assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study.

The study consisted of three groups: 109 healthy older adults (68 of them female), with an average age of just under 75; 54 older adults (22 of them female) with very mild Alzheimer's disease, who were functioning fine in their daily lives, with an average age of just under 76; and 35 young adults, with an average age of 19.
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Brain Scans Show How Hypnosis Can Paralyze a Limb

Malcolm Ritter
The Associated Press
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:42 UTC
How can a hypnotist paralyze your hand just with words? By making a part of your brain butt in on the process that normally makes your hand move, a study says. So the brain region that's ready to move your hand ignores its usual inputs and listens to this interloper, which says, "Don't even bother," the research concluded.

It's "a kind of reconnection between different brain regions," said Yann Cojan, a researcher at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

He's an author of the study in Thursday's issue of the journal Neuron. It used brain scans to show what happened when 12 volunteers tried to move a hand that had been paralyzed by hypnosis.

Results showed the right motor cortex prepared itself as usual to tell the left hand to move. But the cortex appeared to be ignoring the parts of the brain it normally communicates with in controlling movement. Instead, it acted more in sync than usual with a different brain region called the precuneus. That was a surprise, Cojan said.
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Bomb

Monsanto: Extinction

sowhtttt
YouTube
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:34 UTC

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) are made by manipulation of extremely deadly viruses & bacteria that have been engineered to be immune to antibiotics, such as E. coli (Pause video at 8:08). Monsanto spends millions of dollasr each month to "sugar" coat and hide the truth of what they are doing or what is really behind how GMO's are made....

This video straight-forwardly explains the scientific facts how Monsanto manufactures their GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) by removing all the corporate propaganda, the "smoke & mirrors" if you will.

**Please be warned, the once the mask is removed from what you are eating & feeding your children each day, it will outrage you and shock you to the core.
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Book

'The Unhealthy Truth' Interview with Robyn O'Brien

Naomi Starkman
Civil Eats
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:46 UTC
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Robyn O'Brien is the best-selling author of The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It and a "reluctant crusader" for cleaning up our food system. A Houston native from a conservative family - not the most likely candidate to be found on the frontline of the battleground for the American food supply - Robyn's advocacy began when the youngest of her four children had a violent reaction to eggs. In a quest to find answers and solutions to what seemed to be a personal problem, she used her MBA and background in finance to uncover and report on the relationship between Big Food and Big Money and unearth how a flawed federal policy has allowed hidden toxins in our food that she argues could be contributing to the alarming recent increase in allergies, ADHD, cancer, and asthma in our children. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Robyn about her book and her work, specifically focusing on the recent engineering of patented chemical and proteins in our food.
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Alarm Clock

What Your Body Is Telling You

Melinda Beck
Wall Street Journal
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:09 UTC
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© Getty Images
Brittle Nails, Spider Veins and Other Seemingly Innocent Oddities Could Signal Serious Trouble -- or Not

The body speaks volumes about what ails it -- from obvious warnings like a fever that accompanies an infection to subtle clues like losing hair on the toes, which can be an early sign of vascular disease.

Some signs that seem alarming may actually be harmless: Bright-red stools are more likely to come from eating beets than from intestinal bleeding. But some that seem minor can warn of a serious disorder. Small yellow bumps on the eyelid, for instance, may be fatty deposits that signal high cholesterol, which in turn raises the risk of heart disease.
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Red Flag

The Food Industry's Darkest Secrets

Tara Lohan
Truthout
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:39 UTC
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© Magnolia PicturesA scene from the documentary film "Food Inc."
The new film "Food Inc." is a shocking look at the health, human rights and environmental nightmare that lands on our plate each meal.

It turns out that figuring out the most simple thing - like what's on your dinner plate, and where it came from - is actually a pretty subversive act.

That's what director Robert Kenner found out while spending six years putting together the amazing new documentary, "Food Inc.," which features prominent food writers Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).
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Umbrella

How Adolescent Girls Manage Stress


Science Daily
Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:33 UTC
Greater influence over everyday life, emotional support, and cultural and recreational activities help to enable teenage girls to withstand stress. Those were the results of a dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Footprints

Ability To Literally Imagine Oneself In Another's Shoes May Be Tied To Empathy


Science Daily
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:26 UTC
New research from Vanderbilt University indicates the way our brain handles how we move through space - including being able to imagine literally stepping into someone else's shoes - may be related to how and why we experience empathy toward others.

The research was recently published in the online scientific journal PLoS One.
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