Health & WellnessS


Attention

Vegan foods are ruining the planet

Lydia Venn
thetab.com
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 14:17 UTC
vegans
So it turns out almond milk is actually really damaging the planet. It's putting tonnes of pressure on bees causing them to die and 130 pints of water are needed to produce just one glass of wholesome almond milk.

And now you thought ok well I'll change to oat milk and I'm still being really good to the planet because I eat tofu instead of chicken. Well turns out tofu is pretty bad too.

A new study by Dr. Graham McAuliffe has revealed tofu could be more harmful to the planet than chicken, beef and pork. Speaking at the National Farmers Union Dr. Graham McAuliffe of the Rothamsted Institute said after researching tofu, he'd concluded it potentially causes more environmental damage because of the production to make the processed protein source.

Comment: More food for thought! Grassland Ecology 101 for vegans and synthetic meat marketers

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Butterfly

Apocalypse Now! Insects, pesticide and a public health crisis

Colin Todhunter
Counter Currents
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 00:01 UTC
pesticide warning
In 2017, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, and UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics, Baskut Tuncak, produced a report that called for a comprehensive new global treaty to regulate and phase out the use of dangerous pesticides in farming and move towards sustainable agricultural practices.

In addition to the devastating impacts on human health, the two authors argued that the excessive use of pesticides contaminates soil and water sources, causing loss of biodiversity, the destruction of the natural enemies of pests and the reduction in the nutritional value of food. They drew attention to denials by the agroindustry of the hazards of certain pesticides and expressed concern about aggressive, unethical marketing tactics that remain unchallenged and the huge sums spent by the powerful chemical industry to influence policymakers and contest scientific evidence.

At the time, Elver said that agroecological approaches, which replace harmful chemicals, are capable of delivering sufficient yields to feed and nourish the entire world population, without undermining the rights of future generations to adequate food and health. The two authors added that it was time to overturn the myth that pesticides are necessary to feed the world and create a global process to transition toward safer and healthier food and agricultural production.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Israeli tested negative on cruise ship tests positive on return home, 11 nationals now in 14 day quarantine

Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman
The Jerusalem Post
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 10:36 UTC
Coronavirus
© AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIVCoronavirus quarantine ward at Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan
One of the 11 Israelis aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship who was allowed to disembark in Yokohama port and evacuated to Israel was diagnosed with coronavirus upon her return to the country on Friday. All 11 passengers are in a 14-day quarantine at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan.

Dr. Gili Regev Yochay, head of Sheba Medical Centers Infectious Diseases unit, said the woman is asymptomatic, meaning she is a carrier of Covid-2019 but is not feeling sick. Yochay stressed that the patient tested negative before boarding the 14-seat private jet last week, which brought 11 Israelis of the 15 who had been quarantined on the cruise ship since February 3 back to Israel.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Objective:Health #44 - Apocalypse Now - Is COVID-19 Our Day of Reckoning?

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Bacon n Eggs

Georgia Ede: Brainwashed — The mainstreaming of nutritional mythology


CrossFit
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 00:01 UTC
georgia ede
Georgia Ede, MD, is a nutritional psychiatrist who is "passionate about the care — the proper care and feeding of the human brain," she tells the audience at a CrossFit Health event on Dec. 15, 2019. During her presentation, Ede delineates the various ways authoritative bodies such as the USDA and World Health Organization (WHO), through their spread of unscientific dietary guidelines that are rife with misinformation, have complicated her efforts to help patients eat healthfully.

"Public health, and public mental health in particular, is a mess," Ede explains. She attributes this fact to the widespread use of nutritional epidemiology. "The lion's share of studies that wind up in our guidelines and our headlines come from this type of study," even though nutritional epidemiology "is not science at all," she claims. When tested in a clinical setting, the outcomes of epidemiological studies are wrong 80 percent of the time, she notes. The odds are worse than a coin toss, which she says indicates the questions epidemiological studies are asking are "biased in the wrong direction, away from the truth."

The problem with epidemiology is that "you are forced to generate data out of thin air." She continues: "These wild guesses become the data that then form these ... hypothetical associations between specific foods and specific diseases."

Comment: More from Dr. Ede

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Water

Developmental exposure to BPA substitutes can lead to serious health consequences


Science Daily
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
bpa free
© ROLLE ROD/SIPA/NEWSCOM
Using "BPA-free" plastic products could be as harmful to human health -- including a developing brain -- as those products that contain the controversial chemical, suggest scientists in a new study led by the University of Missouri and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For decades, scientists have studied BPA extensively in animal models with results indicating the chemical plays a role in early pregnancy loss, placental diseases and various negative health outcomes after birth. As these adverse health effects have become more widely known, companies have turned to using alternative chemicals to develop plastic products -- namely water bottles and food containers -- and often labeling them "BPA-free." However, MU scientist Cheryl Rosenfeld warns these chemical alternatives, such as bisphenol S (BPS), still aren't safe for people to use.

In the study, Rosenfeld and her colleagues focused on examining the effects of BPS on a mouse's placenta. She said the placenta serves as a historical record of what an unborn child faces while in the womb; the placenta also can transfer whatever the mother might be exposed to in her blood, such as harmful chemicals, into the developing child.

Comment: Good old glass bottles would be a much safer option.

Further reading:

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Biohazard

Second case of mumps confirmed at school in New Jersey


6abc
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:41 UTC
Mercer
Mercer County, New Jersey
A case of mumps has been reported at a Hamilton Township Middle School in Mercer County, New Jersey.

State health department officials say this is the second case of mumps reported so far this year. Another case was reported in January.

Hamilton Township school district officials confirm a student at Albert Grice Middle School has been diagnosed with mumps.

A letter was sent to families Wednesday, advising students to avoid sharing food, drinks and utensils, and to wash hands often.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: Vaccines and Flu Shots

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Health

Benefits of walking in the rain

Sandra
Stay Naturally Healthy
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 16:33 UTC
Walking in the rain
Raining can be very soothing and because of that many people like to walk in the rain. If you have consider them crazy, don't anymore, as rain can really soothe the mind, body, and soul. The reason of such anxiety relief is the pleasant smell of the rain.

PETRICHOR - THE SCENT OF RAIN

While walking in the rain you are inhaling the smell of the rain that calms down the mind thus letting out all the suppressed feelings and thoughts. The word Petrichor was given by Australian scientists, Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas, who were inspired by the Greek words petros, meaning stone, and ichor meaning the fluid that flows from the veins of the gods. This amazing scent is produced by nitrogen molecules, soil-dwelling bacteria, and the oils released from plants while dry periods.

Therefore if you practice walking in the rain you will gain many benefits along with reduced stress levels.
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Heart

Heart doctors 'held back stent death data'

Deborah Cohen and Ed Brown
BBC
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 00:01 UTC
heart
© Getty Images
Doctors working on a clinical trial for treatment of heart disease held back key data, Newsnight has been told.

The Excel trial tested whether stents were as effective as open heart surgery at treating patients with a heart problem called left main disease.

The data suggested more people fitted with stents were dying after three years.

It was eventually published - but only after treatment guidelines that partly relied on the trial had been written.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Study reveals how too much fluoride causes defects in tooth enamel


Medical Xpress
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 00:01 UTC
fluorosis
© F.J. Aulestia et al., Science Signaling (2020)Microscope images of control enamel cells (left) and enamel cells treated with high levels of fluoride (middle), with a close-up of mitochondria from the latter (right).
Exposing teeth to excessive fluoride alters calcium signaling, mitochondrial function, and gene expression in the cells forming tooth enamel — a novel explanation for how dental fluorosis, a condition caused by overexposure to fluoride during childhood, arises. The study, led by researchers at NYU College of Dentistry, is published in Science Signaling.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that helps to prevent cavities by promoting mineralization and making tooth enamel more resistant to acid. It is added to drinking water around the world — the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a level of 0.7 parts per million — and all toothpastes backed by the American Dental Association's Seal of Acceptance contain fluoride. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named water fluoridation one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century for its role in reducing tooth decay.

Comment: See also:

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Health

A common cough syrup drug just passed another trial as Parkinson's treatment

Peter Dockrill
Science Alert
Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
cough syrup
A drug first discovered over 50 years ago and long used as a medicine for coughs and respiratory illnesses appears to show promise in treating a very different kind of sickness: Parkinson's disease.

Ambroxol, an active ingredient in cough mixtures since the 1970s, has been investigated in recent years for its apparent potential to halt the progression of Parkinson's, and already this year, the drug has passed two important milestones that may bring us closer to a much-hoped-for treatment.

Last month, a multi-institutional team of researchers led by University College London (UCL) reported the results of a small Phase II clinical trial suggesting that ambroxol was safe and well-tolerated in human patients with Parkinson's disease, while hinting at possible neuroprotective effects that need to be examined further in subsequent trials.

Based on these outcomes, last week funding was announced to continue the next steps in evaluating ambroxol in a much larger cohort of people with Parkinson's, while also seeking to learn more about how individual patient genotypes may contribute to the disease.

"The ambroxol study is important because there are no treatments available for Parkinson's that slow, stop, or reverse [it]" says Simon Stott, deputy director of research at The Cure Parkinson's Trust, one of the bodies funding the research program.

Comment: For more approaches to treating Parkinson's:

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