Health & WellnessS


Health

U.S. 'Super Bugs' Invading South America


Science Daily
Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:40 UTC
Two clones of highly antibiotic-resistant organism strains, which previously had only been identified in the United States, are now causing serious sickness and death in several Colombian cities including the capital Bogotá, say researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. The study, done in collaboration with Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, is presented in a research letter published in the Nov. 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

U.S. clones of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) have emerged in communities across Colombia. The variation of the MRSA clone, referred to as the USA 300, has been previously reported to be the most important cause of severe skin and soft tissue infections in the United States. The VREF clone is genetically related to a strain that hit a Houston hospital in 1994.
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Syringe

Gardasil Linked to Seventy-Eight Outbreaks of Genital Warts

Joanne Waldron
Natural News
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:44 UTC
The Gardasil vaccine has been linked to 78 outbreaks of genital warts, according to an article in The Fiji Times entitled "Are our girls guinea pigs?" by Matelita Ragogo. That's right. In addition to all of the other adverse reactions to this controversial vaccine, children who receive it are subject to outbreaks of genital warts. Unfortunately, not too many doctors take the time to educate parents about some of these possible reactions prior to giving little girls this expensive jab.
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Pills

Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:04 UTC
A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has concluded that prescription drugs have outstripped illegal drugs as a cause of death.

An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together. According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem.
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X

Before leaving office, Bush pares Medicaid Services

Robert Pear
The New York Times
Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:33 UTC
In the first of an expected avalanche of post-election regulations, the Bush administration on Friday narrowed the scope of services that can be provided to poor people under Medicaid's outpatient hospital benefit.

Public hospitals and state officials immediately protested the action, saying it would reduce Medicaid payments to many hospitals at a time of growing need.
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Cheeseburger

Overweight kids found to have arteries of 45-year-olds

Marilynn Marchione
Associated Press
Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:33 UTC
overweight teenager
© AFP/Francois GuillotA young boy in a nutritional reeducation center in 2004. The neck arteries of obese children and teenagers experience similar strain as those of middle-aged adults, US researchers said Tuesday
Obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds and other heart abnormalities that greatly raise their risk of heart disease, say doctors who used ultrasound tests to take a peek inside.

"As the old saying goes, you're as old as your arteries are," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children's Hospital in Kansas City, who led one of the studies. "This is a wake-up call."

The studies were reported Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference.
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Magnet

Magnetic Relief For Depression?

Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:58 UTC
magnetic stimulation
© Jessica Kourkounis -- Associated PressResearcher John O'Reardon adjusts the NeuroStar magnetic stimulation device for Steve Newman, who tried the technique in an effort to combat depression
Steve Newman had suffered from major depression from the time he was 13. He tried innumerable treatments: psychotherapy and medications. Approaching 60, single by necessity and friendless by choice, he decided his train had only two stops left before suicide.

One option was shock therapy, formally known as electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT. The controversial technique has been shown to be effective in treating depression, but it involves inducing seizures in patients. Memory loss is a common side effect. Newman was not looking forward to it.
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Cow

FDA Set to Approve Genetically Engineered Animals

Susan Thixton
Natural News
Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:51 UTC
Genetically Engineered grains have been in existence for several years, amidst many concerns from various organizations and individuals. Now, the FDA is set to approve Genetically Engineered Animals to be introduced into the food chain.

Ever since the beginning of Genetically Engineered grains, controversy has surrounded their safety. The Sierra Club initiated a national petition against Monsanto's genetically engineered wheat.

The Organic Consumers organization is equally against genetically engineered grains stating "Campaign activists are also demanding that corporations and governments heed the concerns of consumers, North and South, and remove genetically engineered corn and other foods and crops from the market, unless they can be proven to be safe for human health and the environment. Recently hundreds of US consumers have reported allergic reactions to the FDA after eating Kraft and other brand name products likely containing genetically engineered corn." [Link]
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Info

Pomegranate Extracts Found to Inhibit Inflammation

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:53 UTC
Pomegranate extract may inhibit the chronic inflammation linked with a variety of health problems such as heart disease and arthritis, according to a study conducted by researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and published in the Journal of Inflammation.
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Arrow Up

MSU researcher studies ties between cholesterol drugs, muscle problems


physorg.com
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:20 UTC
A Michigan State University researcher is studying whether the most popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs may cause muscle problems in users.
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Health

Got Gout? Discovery at Duke University Yields Potential New Treatment


TechJournal South
Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:03 UTC
A new approach to treating gout - a debilitating form of arthritis - can normalize levels of uric acid in the blood within hours in patients who have failed to respond to any other treatments, and in some patients, eliminate the painful, needle-like crystals of uric acid that clump around fingers, toes and other joints.

Details of the use of the drug, pegloticase, among 212 patients with severe gout enrolled in two, phase III clinical trials, were released today at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

"There hasn't been a new drug for gout in the U.S. for over forty years," says Dr. John Sundy, a rheumatologist at Duke University Medical Center and the lead investigator of the study. "While most gout patients do well with the drug allopurinol, there is a subset of about 50,000 patients in the U.S. who don't respond to it or who can't tolerate it and who have no real alternatives. These are the patients who might benefit from a new therapeutic option."
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