Health & WellnessS


Health

Millennials on course to be the fattest generation on record with 74% projected to be overweight by age 40


RT
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 10:04 UTC
Millennials obesity
© Finbarr O'Reilly / ReutersMillennials are set to become the fattest on record
Millennials are on course to become the fattest generation on record. A staggering three-quarters of 'Generation Y' will be obese or overweight by the age of 40.

Despite fad diets and Instagram health stars shooting to fame among the health-trend generation, the majority are actually putting themselves at serious risk, new figures show.

An over-indulgent culture has been blamed on the rising weight of people born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. So much for the avocado trend sweeping the 'food conscious' age group which guzzles down quinoa. After tweeting about it.

Cancer Research UK has revealed 6 million Britons in the age group are on course to struggle with weight gain. The figures are described as "horrifying," and mean millennials are the most overweight generation since records began.
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Pills

Quercetin far superior to Tamiflu as flu remedy

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 00:01 UTC
quercitin molecule
Your immune system is your first-line defense against all types of infections, be they bacterial or viral, so the most effective way to prevent infectious illness - including influenza - is a robust immune system. Your diet and other lifestyle factors are foundational for good immune function, but certain supplements can also be quite helpful.

One such supplement is quercetin,1 an antioxidant flavonol found naturally in apples, plums, red grapes, green tea, elder flower and onions, just to name a few. For a more exhaustive list, see Superfoodly's ranking of the top 100 quercetin-packed foods.2 Quercetin has been shown to combat inflammation and acts as a natural antihistamine. Elder flower extract, which is rich in quercetin, has been traditionally used as a tonic to boost immunity. It is also widely known to promote lung and bronchial tract health.

Quercetin is also available in supplement form and has been used to ameliorate obesity, Type 2 diabetes,3 circulatory dysfunction, chronic inflammation, hay fever and mood disorders.4 A number of studies have also highlighted quercetin's ability to prevent and treat both the common cold and influenza.5

Comment: For more on natural remedies for flu, including swine flu, see:

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Microscope 1

Scientists catch on film the rogue molecule that can trigger autoimmunity (VIDEO)


Science Express
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
(L-R): This is an image of Monash BDI researchers Professor Ben Kile and Dr Kate McArthur.
© Steve Morton(L-R): This is an image of Monash BDI researchers Professor Ben Kile and Dr Kate McArthur.
A research team has discovered the process - and filmed the actual moment - that can change the body's response to a dying cell. Importantly, what they call the 'Great Escape' moment may one day prove to be the crucial trigger for autoimmune diseases like arthritis.

The research team, led by Professor Benjamin Kile from Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI), has discovered - and filmed - the exact moment when DNA escapes out of the mitochondria (the organelles inside cells that produce energy) during cell death. The study, published today in the journal Science, involved major collaborators from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus in the US.

Comment: See Also:

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Brain

'World's largest brain tumour' removed


Gulf News
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 13:58 UTC
massive brain tumour
© Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/GettyDigital scans show Santlal Pal's brain tumour before his operation.
For the past several years, Santlal Pal had been watching a tumour emerge from his skull.

Doctors in India say Pal's brain tumour grew so big that it weighed nearly four pounds (1.8 kg) and measured nearly 8-by-12-by-12 inches (20 by 30 by 30 cm), according to local news reports.

It may have been the largest brain tumour in the world.

But now it is gone: Doctors successfully removed the mass during an intensive, six-hour operation on Valentine's Day.

Comment: Jeebus! It's pretty miraculous that a person can grow a tumor that big, on his brain, no less, and still live to tell the tale. We hope Pal recovers his vision, but even if not, it's still rather miraculous that he's able to live a normal life after such a harrowing experience. See also:

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Attention

'Every Child Alive' report states: The United States' falls embarrassingly far behind other wealthy countries in infant mortality rates

Julia Conley
Alternet
Sun, 25 Feb 2018 18:25 UTC
unicef
Eighty percent of our newborn deaths are entirely preventable.

A report by the United Nations' children's rights agency found that the United States' infant mortality rate is below average for high-income countries, and is only slightly lower than that of less economically-stable countries including Ukraine and Sri Lanka.

Four out of every 1,000 American newborns die within a month of being born, while other wealthy nations have an average infant mortality rate of three per 1,000 live births, according to UNICEF's report, entitled "Every Child Alive."

Comment: A national embarrassment: Why is the U.S. infant mortality rate so high?
The United States spends more on health care per capita than any other country and still has one of the highest levels of infant mortality among the world's developed countries? The question is what is going on! This could be why many parents are considering home births safer than hospital births:
The United States has a 32.2 percent C-section rate, a maternal mortality rate of approximately 16 per 100,000 (which means more than 600 women die from childbirth-related causes in America each year), and an infant mortality rate of six deaths for every 1000 live births, a rate so high compared to other developed countries that the Washington Post has called it a "national embarrassment." We also have the highest maternal mortality rate of any country in the industrialized world. Though Flowers tells me they are still compiling the most recent statistics, out of over 2,800 births, The Farm has never lost a mother and have had a single-digit number of infant mortalities.


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Pills

America's other prescription drug epidemic? Benzodiazepines

Anna Lembke
statnews.com
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 16:44 UTC
benzos
© DEAN812/CREATIVE COMMONS
I got the call every addiction doctor dreads: A patient of mine nearly overdosed. He had a long history of addiction, starting with opioid pain pills in his teens after a sports injury and progressing to heroin by his early 20s. He had been in recovery for six months.

"Was it heroin?" I asked the doctor, who was calling from the emergency department.

"Not opioids," said the doctor. "Benzos."

"Benzos" is shorthand for benzodiazepines, a class of drugs often used to treat anxiety and insomnia. The dozen or so different types include Ativan, Klonopin, Valium, and Xanax. Most people have heard of them. More people than you might think are taking them (three benzodiazepines are in the top 10 most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications in the United States). Yet few people realize how many people get addicted to and die from them.

Comment: A shadow epidemic: The rising problem of Benzodiazapine addiction

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Health

'Experts' declare turmeric just a health fad, despite evidence

Rachel Hosie
The Independent
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 14:10 UTC
turmeric Latte
Turmeric. Is. Everywhere.

It's the latte flavour of the moment - matcha is so 2016 and charcoal hasn't quite hit the mainstream yet - with even Starbucks launching its own version of the spicy drink last autumn.

Health brands and eateries have all jumped on the bandwagon: store shelves are brimming with turmeric teas, capsules, nuts, ghee and more, and eateries are adding the spice to everything from juice shots to cocktails.

Comment: It seems it's rather trendy in journalism to take natural remedies and dismiss them as health fads for hipsters. While most (although not all) of what is said above isn't a complete lie, the general tone of the article, to be dismissive of natural remedies as nothing more than health fads, is disingenuous. Sure, sprinkling a little turmeric in a latte isn't going to cure cancer. But used in a targeted way, under the guidance of those who know what they're doing, it can be a potent medicinal. The bottom line: if you're expecting something you bought at Starbucks to cure you're IBS, there's not much hope for you anyway. See:

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Syringe

The flu is a global threat for which the world is poorly prepared

Joseph Chamie
Channel NewsAsia
Sun, 25 Feb 2018 16:00 UTC
Flu patient
© Reuters/Mike BlakeEmergency room nurse Christine Bauer treats Joshua Lagade of Vista, California, for the flu as his girlfriend Mayra Mora looks on in the emergency room at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, California on Jan 18, 2018.
A century ago, people woke up ill in the morning and fell dead by evening.

Considered the deadliest pandemic in human history, global influenza infected a third of humanity, killing no less than 50 million and perhaps as many as 100 million people. In one twelve-month period, one out of every 100 people on the planet died from the flu.

The 1918 pandemic disproportionately impacted healthy young adults, ages 20 to 40. Mortality peaked at age 28 years. Young adult men in the military, especially those in close quarters in frontline trenches, were hit hard.

It is estimated that the flu killed more US soldiers and sailors than enemy weapons during World War I. A year after its initial outbreak, the global pandemic had killed more than double the 10 million who had died in World War I.

Comment: While the concept behind vaccines, and the universal vaccine, may be sound (although certainly not without its issues), its implementation remains problematic. As long as Big Pharma is in charge, can we really expect any kind of safety, efficacy or indeed any transparency? For more on the universal flu vaccine, see:

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Stop

"School exclusion day" bans unvaccinated kids from schools in Oregon

Mac Salvo
Natural Blaze
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 14:33 UTC
no shots no school
Today is school exclusion day in Oregon. The public school district will be banning children from attending their classes if they are not fully vaccinated.

The word they are looking for here is "segregation." But Oregonians are calling it "School Exclusion Day." As noted by the state's Health Authority, "parents must provide schools, child care facilities with kids' vaccine records". If their "records on file show missing immunizations," their "children will not be able to attend school or child care" from this date forth.

Comment: Read more about Unvaccinated Kids Barred From Attending School: Important information to consider:

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Health

Schizophrenia a side effect of human development?


Medical Express
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 21:00 UTC
A false colour image of a brain of a person with schizophrenia. Credit: NIH
© NIHA false colour image of a brain of a person with schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia may have evolved as an "unwanted side effect" of the development of the complex human brain, a new study has found.

The study identified changed gene expression in the area of the brain that is most different between humans and animals, including our closest species, non-human primates.

Published in Schizophrenia, the study was undertaken by a group of researchers from Swinburne, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health and University of Melbourne. It reveals major changes in gene expression in the frontal area of the brains of those with schizophrenia.

"This is the area of our brain that evolved latest and most sets us apart from other species," says Professor Brian Dean of Swinburne's Centre for Mental Health and the Florey Institute.

Comment: See Also:

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