Health & WellnessS


Roses

Miracle leaves that may help protect against liver damage


Society of Chemical Industry
Fri, 23 May 2008 09:41 UTC
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries are well known for their cholesterol busting properties, but scientists in India say that its leaves are also rich in anti-oxidants and may help ward off liver disease, according to new research due to be published in the Society of Chemical Industry's (SCI) Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Indigineous to the mountainous regions of China and Russia, sea buckthorn has been shown to be rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, flavonoids and essential fatty acids. The leaves are also used to make a tea.

In a clinically controlled study, scientists looked at whether the leaves had any protective effects by testing a group of rats, some of whom were given the leaf extract before being administered with a liver damage agent, carbon tetrachloride (CCI4).
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Stop

54 ill as new toxic fume suicide hits Japan


CNN
Thu, 22 May 2008 09:03 UTC
Fifty-four people were sickened by toxic fumes at a hospital in southern Japan Wednesday when a man vomited after drinking pesticide to commit suicide.

An official with Red Cross Hospital in Kumamoto said the 34-year-old man later died while the people who were sickened were "progressing favorably."

Eleven of the 54 people who were sickened were doctors; another 20 were staffers at the hospital in the city of Kumamoto.

The liquid pesticide the man consumed was later identified as chloropicrin, which was used to produce tear gas during World War I and induces tears and vomiting.

Image
©AP
Japan has had a spate of suicides including this one in Konan, where a 14-year-old girl died in April.
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Ambulance

Coca-Cola to phase out use of controversial additive after DNA damage claim


UK Independent
Sun, 25 May 2008 07:11 UTC
Soft-drink giant to do away with sodium benzoate 'where technically possible', in the wake of IoS story that highlighted the potential dangers

Coca-Cola, the world's biggest soft drinks company, is phasing out a controversial additive that may cause hyperactivity and DNA damage. By August, no cans of Diet Coke should contain the preservative sodium benzoate.
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Evil Rays

Cell phone use during pregnancy may cause behavioral problems in children

Sue Mueller
foodconsumer.org
Sun, 25 May 2008 05:53 UTC
Prenatal and postnatal use of cell phones may affect children's brain causing behavioral problems in the children, according to a new study published in the May 7 issue of Epidemiology.

The study found women who used cell phone while pregnant were more likely to give birth to children with behavioral problems. The risk of developing behavioral and emotional problems is higher if children themselves used cell phones before the age of seven.
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Evil Rays

Sexpot Virgins: The Media's Sexualization of Young Girls

Tana Ganeva
AlterNet
Sat, 24 May 2008 03:50 UTC


Young girl
©Unknown

Professor M. Gigi Durham discusses the corporate media's sexual objectification of girls and how to help young women fight regressive media messages.

In 2006, the retail chain Tesco launched the Peekaboo Pole Dancing Kit, a play set designed to help young girls "unleash the sex kitten inside."

Perturbed parents, voicing concern that their 5-year-olds might be too young to engage in sex work, lobbied to have the product pulled. Tesco removed the play set from the toy section but kept it on the market.
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Attention

Vietnam warns of hand, foot and mouth disease spreading among children


Associated Press
Fri, 23 May 2008 03:27 UTC
Vietnam has warned health officials nationwide to be on the lookout for an infectious disease that has killed 12 children in the country this year, a health official said Friday.

So far, Vietnam has reported about 2,800 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, a common childhood illness that typically causes little more than a fever and rash, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Preventive Medicine Department, under Vietnam's Ministry of Health. Nga did not give the number of cases from previous years.
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Syringe

Bangladesh says child recovers from bird flu

Nizam Ahmed
News Daily
Sat, 24 May 2008 23:28 UTC
DHAKA - Bangladesh said on Thursday a child infected with bird flu, the country's first reported human case of the virus, had recovered.

"The child was found infected by H5N1 but after treatment he has recovered and is now doing well," Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Dhaka-based Institute of Epidemiology and Disease Control and Research, told Reuters.

He said the case was detected recently during a routine check-up, but did not give details.

Bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh in March last year, and since then the authorities have culled around 2 million chickens and destroyed more than 2 million eggs.
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Rocket

Paint chemicals 'may harm sperm'


BBC News
Sat, 24 May 2008 16:06 UTC
Men regularly exposed to chemicals found in paint may be more prone to fertility problems, research suggests. Men such as painters and decorators, who work with glycol solvents, are two-and-a-half times more likely to produce fewer "normal" sperm.

The UK study looked at more than 2,000 men attending 14 fertility clinics. However, the Occupational and Environment Medicine study found a wide range of other chemicals had no impact on fertility.
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Hourglass

Older Brain Really May Be a Wiser Brain

Sara Reistad-Long
New York Times
Tue, 20 May 2008 15:56 UTC
When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong.

Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit.

The studies are analyzed in a new edition of a neurology book, "Progress in Brain Research."
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Sheeple

Lost boys: Are we raising a generation of Peter Pans?

Richard Handler
CBC News
Wed, 21 May 2008 12:07 UTC
I received an e-mail the other day from someone I thought was a student. He had heard of me through a friend of a friend and he wrote asking help because he wanted to get into radio. I thought, sure I'll speak to him.

In the conversation, he told me he loved music. He also loved people and, oh yes, he liked history, too. Currently, he was working in a store selling suits but he wanted to host his own radio program.
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