Health & WellnessS


Bell

Airplane Cabin Air Filled with Toxic Chemicals

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:00 UTC
A new undercover investigation has found traces of toxic chemicals on board the planes of several popular commercial airlines, bolstering claims from pilots and others that contamination of the air in jet cabins is widespread.

A Swiss and German television network collaborated to secretly swab the cabins of 31 airplanes from several popular airliners. The swabs were then sent off to the University of British Columbia for analysis. Twenty-eight of them tested positive for high levels of a jet oil ingredient called tricresyl phosphate (TCP).

TCP is used to prevent wear inside jet engines, but is also known to cause respiratory distress, drowsiness, headaches or other neurological problems in humans.

This cluster of symptoms is known as Aerotoxic Syndrome. Former British Airways pilot Tristan Loraine has conducted research into the condition for seven years, leading eventually to a documentary about his findings. Loraine claims that it was contaminated cabin air that made him unable to work after 19 years as a pilot.

Comment:
"One curious and unintended consequence of the aeroplane ban [on smoking] was that airlines began to save money by changing the air in the cabin less frequently. Traditionally, this was done every two minutes and old air was never recirculated, but with no tobacco smoke to draw attention to the quality of air, the carriers reduced air changes to once every twenty minutes. This led to a musty aroma on board and, according to a report in The Lancet, contributed to the appearance of Deep Vein Thrombosis, a disease unknown in airline passengers until the 1990s."
Christopher Snowdon - Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking

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Sun

Mushrooms Synthesize Vitamin D When Exposed to Ultraviolet Light

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:00 UTC
Recent research suggests that like humans, some animals and certain species of algae, mushrooms may also be able to synthesize vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight.

Vitamin D is synthesized by the body upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight. Synthesis of the vitamin does not appear to be possible in the absence of ultraviolet radiation. The vitamin D in the diet of fish, for example, ultimately comes from several varieties of shallow water algae that produce it from sunlight.

Mushrooms, however, contain 4 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D per serving, and early studies suggest that this can be increased to 100 percent simply by exposing the mushrooms to sunlight for just five minutes.

A further test of this phenomenon was recently conducted by researchers from Crosby House Surgery in England. In a case study, a single 30-year-old, vitamin D deficient Indian man was fed mushrooms that had been treated with ultraviolet-B radiation. After three months of eating the mushrooms daily, his blood vitamin D levels increased by 129 percent.
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Attention

Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Baby Formula

Brian Hartman
ABC News
Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:29 UTC
Image
© PhotoDisc
When a parent puts a bottle of baby formula to a child's lips, the parent might not know exactly what ingredients are in that thick, nutritionally packed mix. But rocket fuel? That's not an ingredient many expect to find.

A study by government researchers released Thursday tested 15 different brands of formula and found a chemical -- also found in rocket fuel -- contaminating every single one. While the levels of the chemical, perchlorate, have been deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, some worry public health is at risk.

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested the formula for the presence of perchlorate, a chemical used as the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel. It's a worry because perchlorate can interfere with the production of thyroid hormones by inhibiting the absorption of iodine.
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Syringe

Nicotine may have more profound impact than previously thought


Brown University
Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:08 UTC
nicotine & alpha-7 receptor binding
© Hawrot Lab/Brown UniversityResearchers have found that the alpha-7 receptor, a site known to bind with nicotine, interacts with 55 different proteins. Nicotine may affect bodily processes -- and perhaps the actions of other commonly used drugs -- more broadly than was previously thought.
Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.

Conversely, the data could also help scientists develop better treatments for various diseases. Pharmaceutical companies rely on basic research to identify new cellular interactions that can, in turn, serve as targets for potential new drugs.

"It opens several new lines of investigation," said lead author Edward Hawrot, professor of molecular science, molecular pharmacology, physiology and biotechnology at Brown University.

Hawrot's research is highlighted in a paper published April 3 in the Journal of Proteome Research. He and a team that included graduate students William Brucker and Joao Paulo set out to provide a more basic understanding of how nicotine affects the process of cell communication through the mammalian nervous system.

Comment: Notice that the article makes no mention of whether the interaction of nicotine with the alpha-7 receptor is negative or not. And that it shows promising research possibiities with respect to treating schizophrenia. Yet this substance, which has been in use for thousands years by indigenous peoples is still demonized. Why?

Nicotine Activates More than Just the Brain's Pleasure Pathways
Nicotine and Autism: Another study demonstrates nicotine's neurological benefits
Nicotine Found To Protect Against Parkinson's-like Brain Damage
Researchers Light Up for Nicotine, the Wonder Drug
Let's All Light Up!

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Sun

Tea Tree Oil And Silver Together Make More Effective Antiseptics


Science Daily
Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:13 UTC
In the fight against infected skin wounds, mixing tea tree oil and silver or putting them in liposomes (small spheres made from natural lipids), greatly increases their antimicrobial activity and may minimise any side effects.
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Syringe

Olmsted on Autism: 1 in 10,000 Amish

Dan Olmsted
Age of Autism
Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:55 UTC
Managing Editor's Note: Dr. Max Wiznitzer of University Hospitals in Cleveland is an expert witness for the government against the families who file in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

It is unanimous, apparently -- the rate of autism among the Amish is low. Really, really low. So low that if it were the same in the rest of the population, we wouldn't even be talking about the subject. Shockingly low.

But not so shocking that anyone feels compelled to follow up on the information or its logical implications -- not four years ago when I first pointed it out, not today when the clues it contains are more intriguing than ever -- in fact, never, never, never.
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Bell

Study Says Vitamin D Deficiency Has Increased Alarmingly

Reuben Chow
Natural News
Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:00 UTC
Vitamin D is a critically important nutrient. However, with most people spending an increasing amount of time indoors, and wearing long-sleeved tops or slapping on sunscreen lotions when they do go under the sun, levels of vitamin D in our bodies are falling to dangerously low levels. And a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has suggested that the state of widespread deficiency in the United States population may be even more staggering than most of us realize.

Details of Study

The study team had compared data on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES III, which had been collected from 1988 to 1994, with NHANES data which had been collected from 2001 to 2004. In total, complete data on 18,883 persons in the former survey and 13,369 persons in the latter survey was used. Data on 5,362 African Americans was used in the first exercise, while data on 3,149 of them was used in the second one.
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Gear

How Easily is Your Memory Manipulated?

John M. Grohol
Psych Central
Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:00 UTC
Baby Hand
© Unknown
You may be surprised to learn that it's easier to manipulate your memory than you might have imagined. Or so says new research recently published that summarizes the findings of "false memories" and something found easy to manipulate - our feelings about food.

In the article, researchers Bernstein and Loftus (2009) examine a half dozen studies that have been conducted examining whether researchers could place false memories - memories that are specifically not true - into ordinary people. The particular false memories implanted had to do with food preferences - such as a liking for asparagus that the person never had, or getting sick from eating egg salad (when that had never actually happened to the person).

The researchers also conducted a number of studies to examine this phenomenon. In one experiment, subjects completed a series of questionnaires, including a personality inventory and a Food History Inventory. A week later, they were brought back into the laboratory and told their responses had been entered into a computer that generated a profile of their early childhood experiences with food.
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Family

Buckwheat: Gluten-Free Grain Substitute Offers Complete Vegetarian Protein

Barbara Minton
Natural News
Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:40 UTC
Most health conscious people don't think of waffles and pancakes when they think of breakfast, but it turns out that both foods are highly nutritious and health promoting if the right ingredients are used. A recent study from a team of researchers in Madrid, Spain has highlighted the healthy aspects of hearty buckwheat and the flour made from it. Indulging in a stack of buckwheat pancakes or waffles will provide vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and prebiotics that create health and happiness.

Buckwheat increases immune boosting friendly bacteria in the gut

Researchers at the University of Madrid fed rats a buckwheat rich diet for ten days. An additional group of ten rats were fed the same diet, but without buckwheat. At the end of the trial period, the intestines of the rats were analyzed and compared. The researchers found that rats receiving buckwheat had a significantly greater amount of friendly bacteria in their digestive tracts than did those in the control group. They also had three additional types of beneficial bacteria that were not present in the controls.
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Heart

Human body regenerates heart cells: Study


Press TV
Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:44 UTC
A study using Carbon-14 dating method has shown that human body can regenerate heart cells at a rate of about one percent a year.

Conducted by Sweden's Karolinska Institute researchers, the study has raised hopes for the artificial stimulation of the renewal process and reducing the need for transplants in future.

"It would be a way to try and help the heart to some self-help rather than transplanting new cells," Jonas Frisen of Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a telephone interview.

"Taking advantage of the heart's own capacity to generate new cells either using pharmaceutical compounds or, if it is possible, by exercise or any other environmental factor."
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