OSUThu, 31 May 2007 09:34 UTC
Heavy metals and other toxins have been linked to many human diseases, but determining exactly how they damage the body remains a mystery in many cases. New research focusing on a relatively obscure, misunderstood protein suggests mercury's link to heart disease can be traced to activation of this enzyme, which triggers a process leading to plaque buildup in blood vessel walls.
The study examined three forms of mercury, matching its characteristics in the environment. Each form of mercury caused changes in the behavior of cells that line the blood vessel walls and that can lead to cardiovascular diseases.
The study also suggests that chelation therapy, a process that removes metals from the body, and antioxidants both show signs of suppressing this activity and might be key to reducing the damage caused by mercury, and possibly other heavy metals.
The research was published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Toxicology.
"Mercury has been implicated as a risk factor in cardiovascular disease because of environmental concerns both from contamination and the atmosphere. But no one has looked at heavy metal regulation of this enzyme," said Narasimham Parinandi, director of the lipidomics and lipid signaling laboratory at Ohio State University Medical Center and senior author of the study. "If we understand this regulation and know how to block it, we can come up with proper ways to prevent the activity."
Ever since pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was traced to shipments of wheat flour from China, American officials have concentrated on cracking down on imports.
It turns out the problem was closer to home, too.
ATLANTA - Health officials in North America and Europe sought passenger lists Wednesday for two trans-Atlantic airline flights in their effort to find about 80 people who sat near a honeymooner infected with a dangerous drug-resistant form of tuberculosis.
For most people talking on a mobile phone, cooking dinner in the microwave or driving in a car is simply part of modern living in 21st century Britain.
But completing any such tasks is impossible for Debbie Bird - because she is allergic to modern technology.
The 39-year-old is so sensitive to the electromagnetic field (emf) or 'smog' created by computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens and even some cars, that she develops a painful skin rash and her eyelids swell to three times their size if she goes near them.
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| ©Cavendish Press
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| Debbie Bird's eyelids swell to three times their size when she is exposed to microwaves.
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29-year-old Wyton, Cambs resident Dave Nunley suffers from a food phobia that started when he was a toddler, in which he only eats cheese - 17 stone of grated mild cheddar annually. The only exception is a rare salt and vinegar crisp.
Pretty much all of us worry about our diet - let's face it, getting your five portions of fruit and veg a day isn't the easiest thing in the world. However, for some people, every meal time can prove a challenge. For the people highlighted in our new show Freaky Eaters, a balanced meal might mean two different flavours of crisps, or perhaps a squirt of ketchup with their chips...
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
ISISThu, 24 May 2007 16:16 UTC
Microwaves from wireless mobile phone transmitters may be more potent than lower frequency electromagnetic fields in promoting cancer.
Evidence linking weak electromagnetic radiation (EMR) to leukaemia and other cancers has been fast accumulating in recent years [1-3] ( Electromagnetic Fields Double Leukemia Risks , Mobile Phones & Cancer , SiS 18; Electromagnetic Fields, Leukaemia and DNA Damage , SiS 24). Such 'non-thermal' effects of EMR - due to levels well below that sufficient to bring about any heating - have been observed even before World War II [4] ( Non-Thermal Effects , SiS 17).
A Russian daily reported Wednesday that Russia had suspended the export of human clinical specimens over bio terrorism concerns.
Kommersant said the move could affect dozens of patients and paralyze the Russian market for foreign clinical tests, which experts estimate is worth up to $150 million.
The paper said the decision came after a report on bio terrorism submitted by the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) to the president in early May, which cites examples of major foreign medical centers using biological samples to develop genetic, "ethnically oriented" weapons.
Courier services DHL and TNT Express in Russia told their clients Tuesday that the suspension, effective as of May 29, was imposed by the Federal Customs Service, the paper said, adding a government resolution to this effect was signed by First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov May 22.
Experts warn that the move would above all affect patients. "If this is true, it is an artillery strike against us," Alexei Mashchan, deputy head of the Pediatric Oncohematological Center, told Kommersant.
Rebecca Camber
Daily MailWed, 30 May 2007 10:03 UTC
Dyslexia is a social fig leaf used by middle-class parents who fear their children will be labelled as low achievers, a professor has claimed.
Julian Elliott, a leading educational psychologist at Durham University, says he has found no evidence to identify dyslexia as a medical condition after more than 30 years of research.
"There is a huge stigma attached to low intelligence," he said.
"After years of working with parents, I have seen how they don't want their child to be considered lazy, thick or stupid.
"If they get called this medically diagnosed term, dyslexic, then it is a signal to all that it's not to do with intelligence."
The U.N. health agency on Tuesday issued its strongest policy recommendations yet for controlling tobacco use, urging all countries to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and in public buildings.
"The evidence is clear. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke," said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization.
Tobacco use is the world's leading cause of preventable death, accounting for 10 percent of adult fatalities, according to WHO. It is responsible for 5.4 million deaths each year, a figure that is expected to rise to 8.3 million by 2030, the agency says.
Increasing numbers of nonsmokers will also die unless governments take action, WHO said in its 50-page report. It said governments of both rich and poor countries should declare all public indoor places smoke-free, by passing laws and actively enforcing measures to ensure that "everyone has a right to breathe clean air, free from tobacco smoke."
