Chattanooga, Tennessee - Viral infections, including hepatitis, have been found in 16 patients exposed to contaminated equipment at Veterans Affairs medical facilities, a department spokeswoman said Friday.
So far, 10 colonoscopy patients from the VA medical center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., have tested positive for hepatitis, VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts told The Associated Press. In a later e-mail, she reported six patients at the VA's ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta, Ga, tested positive for unspecified viral infections.
Roberts stressed that the source of the infections isn't known, but said the VA will make sure those who tested positive "get the best possible treatment."
A recent article published in the Melbourne, Australia paper Herald Sun has drawn attention to the ongoing psychiatric practice of using electroshock therapy on children as young as four years of age.
Electroshock therapy, also known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is the practice of applying electric shocks to the brain in order to induce seizures and modify behavior by damaging "problematic" portions of the brain.
"After a few sessions of ECT, the symptoms are those of moderate cerebral contusions," said neurologist Sidney Sament. "The patient 'forgets' his symptoms because the brain damage destroys memory traces in the brain, and the patient has to pay for this by a reduction in mental capacity of varying degree."
Pharmaceutical pollution is out of control, polluting the waterways of our world to such a disturbing degree that now even the fish are carrying detectable levels of pharmaceuticals in their own bodies! A study conducted by Baylor University researcher Bryan Brooks, and published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, examined fish caught near Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia and Orlando, testing them for residues of pharmaceuticals. And what did the results show? That fish are contaminated with a chemical cocktail of prescription medications!
The research was funded by a $150,000 grant from the EPA, and it found the fish to be contaminated with:
- Seven different pharmaceuticals, including cholesterol drugs, blood pressure drugs, allergy drugs and psychiatric medications used to treat bipolar disorder and depression.
- Two different chemicals used as artificial fragrance in soaps.
Chinese officials say that potentially deadly radioactive material lost in north-western Shaanxi province may have been found at a steel mill.
Officials told the BBC that they had detected what may be the missing Caesium-137, adding that it may have been melted down.
The Caesium-137, encased in lead, was lost this week when workers at a cement plant demolished an old factory.
The material was part of a measuring instrument and is extremely toxic.
Caesium-137 is a radioactive isotope, formed mainly through nuclear fission. The smallest amount can cause infertility, cancer and even death.
The sounds are described as ringing, buzzing, roaring, hissing or whistling
Scientists believe they are a step closer to curing tinnitus after they have found what could be the root cause of ringing in the ears.
Studies show hearing loss can go hand-in-hand with over-excitable nerves within brain areas that process sound.
This uncontrolled nerve activity causes the noises that plague people with tinnitus and appears to be down to gene changes, Neuroscience reports.And it raises the hope of treatment by silencing nerve activity, experts say.
" We are extremely excited about the significant progress this research has made "
Dr Ralph Holme of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.
Murray Wardrop
TelegraphTue, 24 Mar 2009 06:07 UTC
Food watchdogs have warned that thousands of jars of peanut butter on British shelves are contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that jars of Active Peanut Butter contain high levels of a fungus produced by an excess amount of aflatoxins, which can cause cancer. The FSA warned that the spread, which is made by Mardura in Ghana, is "unsafe" for consumption.
It has ordered local authorities to seize and destroy any of the jars as soon as they are spotted. However, despite enquiries, it is not known which shops the contaminated jars have been sent to.
One of the world's most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting science in his remarks on condom use.
It said the Pope's recent comments that condoms exacerbated the problem of HIV/Aids were wildly inaccurate and could have devastating consequences.
The Pope had said the "cruel epidemic" should be tackled through abstinence and fidelity rather than condom use.
Correspondents say the attack from the Lancet was unprecedentedly virulent.
This morning's New York Times has piece by Donald G. McNeil, Jr., headlined Vaccine Delays in Poorer Nations Raise Health Risks for Infants.
Let's put aside for a moment the author (who wrote that awful article on the Somalis) and the premise (in fact, even slight delays in vaccines lower the risk of asthma and probably autism), and go straight to this golden nugget: "In the first nine months of life, the World Health Organization recommends vaccines for tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and measles."
Michael Kahn
ReutersFri, 27 Mar 2009 02:02 UTC
Two new techniques using different approaches to see molecular changes inside people's bodies could lead to faster, more detailed imaging scans that better detect health problems, researchers said on Thursday.
Both magnetic resonance imaging technologies rely on manipulating the spin of molecules to provide more detailed scans that one day could rapidly do things like analyze how well a drug is working or tell how fast tumors are growing at the molecular level, they said.
"Our method has the potential to help doctors make faster and more accurate diagnoses in a wide range of medical conditions," Gary Green of the University of York, who led one of the studies, said.
Washington - Most food manufacturers and distributors cannot identify the suppliers or recipients of their products despite federal rules that require them to do so, federal health investigators have found.
A quarter of the food facilities contacted by investigators as part of the study were not even aware that they were supposed to be able to trace their suppliers, according to a report by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The report, expected to be made public Thursday, comes as President Obama and a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers have promised major changes to the nation's food-safety system.
