Health & WellnessS


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New DNA and RNA Aptamers Offer Unique Therapeutic Advantages


e! Science News
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:53 UTC
A novel class of drugs composed of single strands of DNA or RNA, called aptamers, can bind protein targets with a high strength and specificity and are currently in clinical development as treatments for a broad range of common diseases, as described in a comprehensive review article published online ahead of print in Oligonucleotides, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online, offer several advantages compared to protein or small molecule drugs, most notably their ease of production, low risk of inducing an immune reaction in humans, and amenability to chemical modifications that enhance their drug-like properties, including improved stability and residence time in the bloodstream.

Aptamer therapeutics presently in clinical development target diseases and applications such as macular degeneration, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and various types of cancer.
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Brain Difference in Psychopaths Identified


ScienceDaily
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:00 UTC
Brain Scan
© iStockphoto/Hayden BirdScientists have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy.
Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues Dr Michael Craig and Dr Marco Catani from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy.

The research investigated the brain biology of psychopaths with convictions that included attempted murder, manslaughter, multiple rape with strangulation and false imprisonment. Using a powerful imaging technique (DT-MRI) the researchers have highlighted biological differences in the brain which may underpin these types of behaviour and provide a more comprehensive understanding of criminal psychopathy.

Dr Michael Craig said: 'If replicated by larger studies the significance of these findings cannot be underestimated. The suggestion of a clear structural deficit in the brains of psychopaths has profound implications for clinicians, research scientists and the criminal justice system.'

Comment: Striking contradiction here: the results suggest that psychopaths have biological differences in the brain, yet this doctor wants to develop treatments to cure "this mental disorder"??

No wonder there has been zero progress on resolving this ages-old bane of human existence. The evidence suggests that psychopaths are hard-wired differently because they are an entirely different species and do not want nor feel any need to be cured, not least by members of a species they consider to be diseased!

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Pills

Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy

Natasha Singer
New York Times
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:15 UTC
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© Unknown
Newly unveiled court documents show that ghostwriters paid by a pharmaceutical company played a major role in producing 26 scientific papers backing the use of hormone replacement therapy in women, suggesting that the level of hidden industry influence on medical literature is broader than previously known.

The articles, published in medical journals between 1998 and 2005, emphasized the benefits and de-emphasized the risks of taking hormones to protect against maladies like aging skin, heart disease and dementia. That supposed medical consensus benefited Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company that paid a medical communications firm to draft the papers, as sales of its hormone drugs, called Premarin and Prempro, soared to nearly $2 billion in 2001.

But the seeming consensus fell apart in 2002 when a huge federal study on hormone therapy was stopped after researchers found that menopausal women who took certain hormones had an increased risk of invasive breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. A later study found that hormones increased the risk of dementia in older patients.
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Alarm Clock

Hewlett-Packard = Hazardous Products, says Greenpeace


The Ecologist
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:23 UTC
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HP has backtracked on pledges to remove dangerous toxic substances from its computers
The US company has been singled out for its failure to remove dangerous chemicals from computers

US computer giant Hewlett-Packard has been accused of backtracking on a commitment to phase out toxic chemicals from its products.

Earlier this year, HP postponed its 2007 commitment to phase out dangerous substances such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from their computer products (excluding their server and printer lines) from 2009 to 2011.
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Syringe

Diseased African Monkeys Used to Make Swine Flu Vaccines; Private Military Contractor Holds Key Patents

Mike Adams
Natural News
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:17 UTC
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To most people, vaccines sound medically harmless. "They're good for you!" say the doctors and drug companies, but they never really talk about what's in those vaccines. There's a good reason for that: If people knew what was really in those vaccines, they would never allow themselves to be injected with them.

Aside from the dangerous ingredients many people already know about (like squalene or thimerosal), one of the key ingredients used in flu vaccines (including the vaccines being prepared for the swine flu pandemic) is the diseased flesh of African Green Monkeys. This is revealed in U.S. patent No. 5911998 - Method of producing a virus vaccine from an African green monkey kidney cell line.

Comment: Although Baxter, International is involved in making some Swine Flu vaccines, according to this article, these are the companies providing vaccines for the US:
Five companies are making H1N1 vaccine for the U.S. market -- AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit, Australia's CSL Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA.


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Attention

Household Pesticide Link to Cancer


The Ecologist
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:16 UTC
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Common household pesticides were found in the urine of more than half of the participants
US study finds pesticide link to childhood leukemia and calls for more research

Children with leukemia have been found to have higher levels of household pesticides in their body, according to a study published in the US.

Researchers from the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre studied 41 pairs of children with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and their mothers. They also tested 41 pairs of healthy children and mothers.

Common household pesticides were found in the urine of more than half of the participants but were higher in the children with leukemia.
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Magic Wand

Magnesium is the Underrated Master Mineral

Paul Fassa
Natural News
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:33 UTC
Magnesium is a very underrated, virtually ignored mineral for our diets, yet it is the most crucial and essential to over 300 bodily biochemical and cellular metabolic processes. It has been called the "Master Mineral" because of its central importance to so many cellular functions and proper body glucose balance. Because of poor topsoil conditions and poor eating habits, almost everyone is magnesium deficient to some extent.

The mineral that gets the most attention for supplementation is calcium. Yet without magnesium, calcium synthesis into bones and teeth is drastically impaired. Cardiovascular and neurological issues are also prone to surface. It's estimated that most people have a ratio of calcium to magnesium at 3 to 1or higher, but the ideal ratio is close to 2 to 1, actually 10 to 4. In other words, your body should have about half as much magnesium as calcium.
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Syringe

Fort Worth firm testing swine flu vaccine on volunteers


Fort Worth Star Telegram
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:28 UTC
Fort Worth, Texas - When Angela Witkamp heard that a local research company would soon be testing a swine flu vaccine, she had no reservations about signing up her two young daughters for a clinical trial.

"Any vaccination you get, there are side effects," Witkamp said. "But the benefits of getting the vaccination definitely outweigh them. There are people dying from the swine flu.

"Some of my friends call us guinea pigs, but they are not fully informed. The vaccination that they will be studying will be the same that anyone can get at the health department [when it is approved]."

Comment: Picking up a few extra bucks risking your childrens lives by testing vaccines is pretty much like playing Russian roulette with them.

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Syringe

Vaccination Myths and Truths

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:13 UTC
Alan G. Philips is an attorney with the following credentials:

-- he's one of the few American lawyers whose practice includes vaccine exemption and waiver issues;

-- he advises other attorneys seeking help for their own clients on vaccine exemptions;

-- he co-founded Citizens for Healthcare Freedom (CHF) as "a grassroots, nonprofit organization supporting an exciting new Consumer Health Freedom Act in North Carolina" where he lives and practices law;

-- he "may be the only attorney in the US with a website dedicated to vaccine exemptions" - vaccinerights.com;

-- he authored "The Authoritative Guide to Vaccine Legal Exemptions;" and

-- he's written numerous articles and publications on vaccinations and immunizations, including "Dispelling Vaccination Myths: An Introduction to the Contradictions Between Medical Science and Immunization Policy," published in 1996 and most recently updated in 2007.

Given the possibility of universally mandated untested, experimental, toxic, and extremely dangerous Swine Flu vaccinations this fall, Philips' work is especially relevant and vital.

In its entirety, it can be accessed at www.vaccinerights.com. A brief account follows below, focusing on 10 myths and truths, which he explains plus some additional information. More than ever, information is vital for protection against vaccines that can cause annoying to life-threatening autoimmune diseases, even the illnesses they're designed to prevent.
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Syringe

Thimerosal: Questions Asked, Few Answered

Julie Obradovic
Age of Autism
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:32 UTC
Part 5 in the 14 Studies Series

I apologize. Originally this was going to be another nice, calmly written post like the others in this series, but given the recent H1N1 vaccine hysteria and imminent use of Thimerosal both there and in the seasonal flu shot (a total of 5 flu shots recommended for pregnant women and children), coupled with the US News and World Report article (HERE) with the AAP stating once again (yawn...) that there is no link between vaccines and Autism, that the science is qualitatively and quantitatively complete, and that it has been the most studied item regarding the cause of Autism, blah, blah, blah... I just had to write this angrily.
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