Health & WellnessS


Calculator

Americans Spend $34 Billion on Alternative Medicine

Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:13 UTC
11% of Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending Goes to CAM

Americans spend almost a third as much money out-of pocket on herbal supplements and other alternative medicines as they do on prescription drugs, a new government report shows.

Out-of-pocket spending on herbal supplements, chiropractic visits, meditation, and other forms of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) was estimated at $34 billion in a single year.

The estimate was based on responses to a national health survey conducted in 2007 by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Read More...
Health

Food allergies get curiouser and curiouser

Andrew Watson
New Scientist
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:26 UTC
Image
© Gregor Schuster/GettyWhere you live may affect the allergies you are prone to.
We were just settling down for our flight when the captain's voice came over the PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have a passenger on board who has a severe nut allergy. Could I ask you please not to open or eat any food that contains nuts for the duration of the flight? I am sorry for any inconvenience. We hope you enjoy your flight."

It was no coincidence that at the time I was on my way to a conference on food allergy in Vienna, Austria. Hazel Gowland, food adviser to the The Anaphylaxis Campaign in the UK, was travelling for the same reason, and it was for her benefit that the captain made his request.

While such an announcement may not be an everyday occurrence, most of us are familiar with the idea that peanuts can trigger a life-threatening allergic reaction. But peanuts aren't the biggest concern in every country. Passengers from Greece, where peanut allergy is rather rare, might have been more concerned about the melon in the fruit salad. A passenger from the south of Italy might have pushed the in-flight apple juice to one side for fear that it might trigger a skin rash and stomach pains, a reaction that would puzzle a compatriot from northern Italy.
Read More...
Family

Codex Threatens Health of Billions

Barbara Minton
Natural News
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:42 UTC
Your right to eat healthy food and use supplements of your choice is rapidly vanishing, but every effort has been made to keep you in the dark about the coming nutricide. Codex Alimentarius is scheduled for full global implementation on December 31, 2009, and not a word has been spoken in main stream media about this threat to humanity. Yet, according to the projections based on figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a minimum of 3 billion people will die from the Codex mandated vitamin and mineral guideline alone.

Former Nazi is father of contemporary Codex

Codex is the enemy of everyone except those who will profit from it. Codex has an association with those who committed crimes during the Nazi regime. At the end of World War II, the Nuremberg tribunal judged Nazis who had committed horrendous crimes against humanity and sentenced them to prison terms. One of those found guilty was the president of the megalithic corporation I.G. Farben, Hermann Schmitz. His company was the largest chemical manufacturing enterprise in the world, and had extraordinary political and economic power and influence with the Hitlerian Nazi state. Farben produced the gas used in the Nazi gas chambers, and the steel for the railroads built to transport people to their deaths.

Comment: Propaganda against wholesome food is thriving by convincing people that natural health options are worse than useless and can even cause harm. Big Pharma spends billions on TV and newspaper ads making the media a willing accomplice.

Read More...
Sun

Video: A real wonder drug: Vitamin D

Dr. John Cannell
Brasscheck TV
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:29 UTC
Read More...
Magnify

A Crystal Ball for Brain Cancer? New Method Predicts Which Brain Tumors Will Respond to Drug


PhysOrg
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:16 UTC
Brain 1
© UCLA/Pope labThis brain scan shows the wavy borders of a dying tumor in white at right. Dying cells leak fluid, causing swelling and water movement linked to a good response to Avastin therapy.
UCLA researchers have uncovered a new way to scan brain tumors and predict which ones will be shrunk by the drug Avastin -- before the patient ever starts treatment. By linking high water movement in tumors to positive drug response, the UCLA team predicted with 70 percent accuracy which patients' tumors were the least likely to grow six months after therapy.

Bronnie McNabb, 57, considers himself lucky. When his aggressive brain cancer returned after chemotherapy and radiation, his UCLA doctor prescribed the off-label use of Avastin, a drug shown to quell cancers in the breast, colon and lung.

One month later, McNabb's tumors had shrunk by 95 percent. Subsequent brain scans show no trace of his cancer at all. The former marathon runner, ordained minister and father of two says he hasn't felt this good since his diagnosis last winter.
Read More...
Magnify

Immune Responses to Flu Vaccine are Diminished in Lupus Patients


PhysOrg
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:12 UTC
Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of infection, due to both disturbances in their immune responses and treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. Because morbidity and mortality related to influenza are increased in immunocompromised patients, it is recommended that patients with SLE get annual flu shots, which are safe and do not increase disease activity.

Both antibody and cell-mediated responses are involved in the immune response to influenza; in SLE, antibody responses to the vaccine are diminished, but it is not known if the same effect is seen in cell-mediated responses. A new study was the first to examine cell-mediated responses in SLE patients prior to and following influenza vaccination. The study was published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Led by Albert Holvast, of the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, the study involved 54 patients with SLE and 54 healthy controls who received subunit flu vaccine, out of a total of 78 patients in each group. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive a flu vaccine or serve as a nonvaccinated control. Patients and controls were followed up at 28 days and three to four months following vaccination, at which time blood was drawn.
Read More...
Magnify

Protein Level May Serve as Predictor of Severe Osteoarthritis


PhysOrg
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:10 UTC
Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common joint disorder throughout the world and a leading cause of disability, is characterized by pain, impaired joint mobility, reduction of muscular strength and loss of joint function. Unlike most other common diseases, little is known about its origins, and factors predicting a severe disease course have not been identified. A new study, the first to establish a laboratory marker for the risk of severe OA, found that vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), was a strong predictor of hip and knee joint replacement due to severe OA. The study was published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Led by Georg Schett of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany, the study involved 912 healthy individuals in Bruneck, Italy, 60 of whom underwent hip or knee replacement surgery due to severe OA in a 15-year follow-up period. Subjects underwent a baseline exam in 1990 and followup exams were performed every five years until 2005. Blood samples were analyzed for VCAM-1, a sialoglycoprotein (a combination sugar and protein) expressed on cells in the cartilage and connective tissue.
Read More...
Magnify

Portuguese Scientists Show Schistosoma Haematobium Direct Link to Tumours


PhysOrg
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:06 UTC
Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) is a parasitic flatworm that infects millions of people, mostly in the developing world, and is associated with high incidence of bladder cancer although why is not clear. Now, however, two works by Portuguese researchers just out in The Journal of Experimental Pathology and the International Journal of Parasitology reveal that cells infected in laboratory with S. haematobium, acquire cancer-like characteristics and, when injected into mice develop into tumours.

The research identifies as well the host molecules linked to the carcinogenic changes, suggesting that these could be used as therapeutic targets to prevent bladder cancer. These results help to explain the link between S. haematobium and can be relevant also to other cancer-linked chronic infections, in particular to those linked to infections difficult to treat such as hepatitis C.
Read More...
Binoculars

Men Better at Distance Vision Due to Hunter-Gatherer Past


PhysOrg
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:57 UTC
Vision
© UnknownA man looks out at sea. Men are better at seeing things in the distance due to their hunter-gatherer past chasing animals, while women are better focusing on things at close range, a British study said Thursday.
Men are better at seeing things in the distance due to their hunter-gatherer past chasing animals, while women are better focusing on things at close range, a British study said Thursday.

In findings which reflect how men's and women's brains have evolved differently over thousands of years, they found that men are better at judging faraway targets.

Researchers tested their theory by asking a group of 48 men and women to use a laser pointer to mark the midpoint of lines on a piece of paper at different distances.

Men were more accurate than women when the paper was placed at a distance of 100 centimetres, while women were more accurate when the target was only 50 cms away, within arm's reach.
Read More...
Magnify

Use the Healing Properties of Helichrysum Essential Oil

Sheryl Walters
Natural News
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:46 UTC
Using essential oils to cleanse and heal the body, mind and soul is not a new concept. In fact using different fragrances to alter your state of mind has been used within religious ceremonies for centuries. But today Aromatherapy has become so popular that anything that has a scent is labeled as an aromatherapy product. Many of these so called essential oils are not the real thing, which leads many people to look at aromatherapy very negatively.

But the truth is that using real essential oils in many different forms of aromatherapy can be a very effective healing and relaxation tool. Helichrysum essential oil is known as the "everlasting" or "immortal" essential oil. Unlike most essential oils it can be stored and left in the cupboard for a very long time. Helichrysum essential oil is found mainly in France and Italy. Its rarity makes it one of the most expensive essential oils to buy, but it is also known as one of the best as it has a long list of healing properties.

In ancient times Helichrysum was used along with Frankincense, Myrrh, Spikenard, and Rose to help open the heart and mind to the infinite possibilities of the spiritual life. But now Helichrysum is known to help all sorts of medical ailments from ridding the body of scar tissue and stretch marks to relieving the pain of arthritis and regulating blood pressure.
Read More...