Health & WellnessS


Red Flag

Dental flossing and other behaviors linked with higher levels of toxic PFAS in the body


Silent Spring Institute
Thu, 10 Jan 2019 18:43 UTC
dental floss
First study to show association between Oral-B Glide dental floss and higher exposures

A new study suggests certain types of consumer behaviors, including flossing with Oral-B Glide dental floss, contribute to elevated levels in the body of toxic PFAS chemicals. PFAS are water- and grease-proof substances that have been linked with numerous health problems. The findings provide new insight into how these chemicals end up in people's bodies and how consumers can limit their exposures by modifying their behavior.

The study, led by Silent Spring Institute in collaboration with the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, CA, appears online January 8 in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE), and is part of a special issue dedicated to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

PFAS are used in a range of consumer products, including fast food packaging, non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, and stain-resistant carpets. People can be exposed to the substances directly through the products they use and the food they eat. They can also be exposed through indoor air and dust and contaminated drinking water.
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Apple Red

Government shutdown stops crucial FDA food safety inspections

Valerie Williams
Scary Mommy
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 00:01 UTC
produce shopping


The FDA is struggling to perform crucial food safety duties amid the shutdown.

Nearly three weeks into the government shutdown created by our president the pouting toddler, and we keep hearing more disturbing things about what it all means for everyday Americans. Today's awful tidbit? The shutdown is causing a halt to most Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety inspections. That means no more FDA inspectors looking for things like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria in our food.

Which is nothing short of alarming.

Comment: A rather one-sided view of what's causing the government shutdown, but never the less, the fact that food safety may be compromised is disturbing. Considering the number of outbreaks of food-borne illness that have been popping up lately, even while the FDA is doing its job, one wonders what the effect of this shutdown could have when there's no one at the controls.

See also:

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Dollars

$3.5 TRILLION a year: The deeply corrupt and sickening state of America's health care system

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
US healthcare
If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would have the fifth largest GDP on the entire planet. At this point only the United States, China, Japan and Germany have a GDP that is larger than the 3.5 trillion dollar U.S. health care market. If that sounds obscene to you, that is because it is obscene. We should want people to be attracted to the health care industry because they truly want to help people that are suffering, but instead the primary reason why people are drawn to the health care industry these days is because of the giant mountains of money that are being made. Like so many other things in our society, the health care industry is all about the pursuit of the almighty dollar, and that is just wrong.

In order to keep this giant money machine rolling, the health care industry has to do an enormous amount of marketing. If you can believe it, a study that was just published found that at least 30 billion dollars a year is spent on such marketing.

Comment: See also:

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Books

Embracing nature's medicine: Healing herbs

Dr. Edward F. Group
Wake Up World
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 13:22 UTC
Ebers Papyrus
More than 5,000 years ago, Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia carved the names of commonly used healing herbs onto clay tablets. These tablets provide the first known record of various herbs and their specific healing properties. You might say it was the birth of herbal medicine and herbalism.

In 1500 B.C., the Egyptians continued the tradition by publishing a manuscript called Ebers Papyrus that described 850 different medicinal plants. The document included many healing herbs we use today, like aloe vera, dill, garlic, and mint.

Hippocrates, who lived from 460 to 375 B.C., cataloged herbal remedies used by the Greeks and Romans. In the Middle Ages, European Benedictine monks began to grow and study medicinal plants. From the 1500s onward, herbalism took off. Book after book on the health benefits of healing herbs have found an audience, and interest in the field has never waned.

Comment: An herbalist library of historical references
Our ancestors cultivated a deep, rooted relationship with plants; they harvested plants in ceremony, made herbal medicines with intention, and passed along traditional plant knowledge to help future generations maintain wellness. In many cultures this information was shared orally, through stories or an apprenticeship with a local healer. The books we do have on traditional herbal medicines are a treasure to modern day herbalists; they're a window into our survival as a species and often hold surprising tidbits on how we once used common plants.


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Shoe

A hormone released during exercise might protect against Alzheimer's


New Scientist
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 00:01 UTC
cold swim lake
© Arctic Images/Getty
A hormone released during exercise may protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease. It may also explain the known positive effects of exercise on mental performance.

Irisin is a hormone generated by muscle tissue that is carried around the body in the bloodstream. Fernana de Felice at the Federal University of Rio de Janerio and colleagues found that people with Alzheimer's had lower levels of the hormone compared with healthy individuals.

In tests with mice, the team could induce learning and memory deficits by cutting out irisin and could reverse the effects by restoring the hormone. When irisin signalling was blocked in mice with a rodent version of Alzheimer's, the brain benefits of physical exercise were lost.

Comment: See also:

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Briefcase

Physician scientists fail to disclose Big Pharma conflicts of interest in medical journals

Rishma Parpia
The Vaccine Reaction
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 15:59 UTC
deals
Medical doctors conducting scientific research are not accurately disclosing their financial ties to pharmaceutical and health care companies when their studies are published in medical journals, according to a recent article published by ProPublica in collaboration with The New York Times.1

A number of these doctors are prominent figures in the medical field. One example is Howard A. "Skip" Burris III, MD the president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Burris declared that he has no conflicts of interest in over fifty journal articles, including those articles in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.1However, ProPublica reported that pharmaceutical companies paid his employer, Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee approximately $114,000 for his speaking and consulting engagements and almost $8 million for his research during the time period when the disclosure of financial relationships and industry was required. One of those journals was the Journal of Clinical Oncology, published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the medical trade group he was elected to head.1

Comment: Conflicts of interest in the medical field: New law aims to expose Big Pharma influence on physicians
Over the years, the credibility of the medical profession from the patient's perspective has continued to decline because of the relationship between physicians and industry.1 It is now being realized that relationships between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry are a central public health issue that must regulated and contained within reasonable boundaries.1 A growing number of critics are pointing out the danger of the too-cozy relationship between doctors and drug companies and are beginning to push for more transparency around these murky relationships.


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Biohazard

Worst measles outbreak in decades sweeps New York and abroad

Natalie Rahhal
Daily Mail
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 15:51 UTC
measles
Cases of measles have reached a 20-year high in several New York counties amid an outbreak that threatens to reach epidemic proportions, experts say.

At least 160 people have been infected by the virus, which typically strikes children, in New York and unusual outbreaks have been reported internationally.

The worst affected areas so far are Rockland County - where 105 cases have been reported - and an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, where at least 55 have been infected.

Meanwhile, 25 other states have reported outbreaks, with numbers climbing particularly high in Oregon and Washington.

Comment: There is a wealth of evidence that demonstrates vaccination does not necessarily confer immunity, and, in some cases, has actually been linked back to the outbreaks themselves: Outbreaks of all kinds appear to be on the rise, for more links and information on the possible causes, see: 6 children dead after outbreak of life-threatening virus strain at New Jersey health facility - UPDATE: death toll now at 11

And for more on vaccines, check out SOTT radio's:

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Cupcake Pink

Food additive linked to celiac disease: Transglutaminase

Rosie McCall
IFL Science!
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 16:47 UTC
meat glue transglutaminase
If you have a severe intolerance to gluten, a chemical in your diet may (at least partly) be to blame.

We are not talking about gluten allergies or sensitivities here, but celiac disease - a lifelong autoimmune disorder affecting roughly one in 100 people where the ingestion of gluten provokes an immune system attack on the gut. Experts aren't sure of the exact cause. However, a paper recently published in Frontiers in Pediatrics has linked a common food additive to the disease: Microbial transglutaminase.

Transglutaminase is a bacterial enzyme often added to food during manufacturing. You can find it in a lot of processed food, from dairy and meat to baked goods.

Comment: What isn't mentioned in the above article is that microbial transglutaminase is otherwise known as "meat glue", an additive used to fuse proteins together. It's been known for awhile within the celiac community that this additive can cause a reaction in people with celiac (see Dr. Peter Osborne's piece about it here; written 2 years ago), but it's good that they're actually doing some scientific studies on it.

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Brain

Number of people with dementia doubled in just 26 years

Cheryl Critchley-Melbourne
Futurity
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 00:01 UTC
old couple holding hands
© Getty Images
The number of people living with dementia globally more than doubled between 1990 and 2016 from 20.2 million to 43.8 million, report researchers.

The researchers also found that 22.3 percent of healthy years lost due to dementia in 2016 were due to modifiable risk factors. Their study looks at the global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias from 1990-2016.

The systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 found dementia was more common at older ages, with the prevalence doubling every five years over age 50. There was also significant potential for prevention.

Comment: The unstoppable tide of chronic disease continues to climb yet everyone still seems to have their hearts set on looking in the wrong directions for answers. The above article is correct in its addressing of lifestyle factors, but what is really needed is for researchers to start asking difficult questions, throwing away everything that is currently being taken for granted (like assumptions about diet) and stop looking for solutions in pharmaceutical interventions.

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Cow

New Canada food guide to encourage Canadians to malnourish themselves by eating more plant-based protein


Global News
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 15:53 UTC
canada food guide
An overhaul of the Canada Food Guide is set to be released soon, a highly-anticipated makeover that will do away with the rainbow visual many Canadians associate with the dietary guide commonly used in hospitals and daycares.

One of the major changes expected in the new guide is a focus on plant-based sources of proteins - a move that has sparked concern among industry players, including the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, the national policy and lobby organization representing Canada's farmers warned the decision could have a detrimental impact on future generations and harm a sector that continues to be "negatively impacted by the concessions granted in recent trade agreements."

Comment: Canada's Food Guide has always bee a complete farce, only ever conferring advice on how Canadians can make themselves fat and sick, so it isn't any wonder it's newest iteration is more of the same. This politically correct emphasis on encouraging the replacing of animal foods with vegetables and grains is doing no one any good. The only thing the Canada Food Guide should be used for is lighting fires and emergency toilet paper.

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