Health & WellnessS


Pills

Johnson & Johnson lawsuits spike from men who 'grew breasts' using the antipsychotic drug Risperdal


International Business Times
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 17:00 UTC
Tablets of the generic antipsychotic drug Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia
Tablets of the generic antipsychotic drug Risperidone, used to treat schizophrenia
More than 100,000 patients are suing US group Johnson & Johnson, alleging that some of its products have caused them harm. They are claiming an antipsychotic medicine has resulted in 18,500 men developing a condition known as gynecomastia, or breast swelling after taking the drugs as children.

Between 2016 and 2017, the number of lawsuits disclosed by J&J dramatically increased from 28,300 to 104,700, and along with it, the company's legal costs, the Financial Times reports.

However, the troubles of J&J with Risperdal are not new. The company has been accused before of wrongly marketing the drug between 1999 and 2005, promoting it for uses not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration - including for the treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In 2013, this led to the company paying more than $2.2bn to settle investigations into its marketing of the drug and other products.

To date however, only a minority of lawsuits have been settled or gone to trial, although some plaintiffs have already been awarded important compensations.

Comment: Additional information about how Johnson & Johnson, circumvented the FDA by cynically and successfully pushing Risperdal's use for very different maladies, notably in the treatment of children and the elderly:

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Health

Fighting deadly C. Difficile infections? Exotic honey comes to the rescue

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 16:31 UTC
honey
Today, an alarming number of patients are falling victim to antibiotic-resistant infections, including those like C. difficile which aren't just resistant to conventional antibiotics but actually caused by them. Thankfully, even when antibiotics fail to produce positive outcomes, ancient medicinal foods like honey may come to the rescue.

A recent report published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents reveals that an exotic honey may provide a powerful alternative to conventional antibiotics in treating one of the most common and deadly forms of infection in the United States today.

In a letter to the editor of the journal titled, "Successful treatment of persistent Clostridium difficile infection with manuka honey," two scientists from the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, Netherlends, discuss the therapeutic potential of a honey indigneous to Australia and New Zealand known as Manuka for treating Clostridium difficile infections.

Most serious Clostridicum difficile infections are caused by antibiotic-associated depopulation of the gut flora, leading to the overgrowth of what would otherwise be harmless bacteria in most cases. For instance, about 60-70% of newborns are assymptomatically colonized by Clostridium difficle. 1 It is only when the microbiome is assaulted with broad spectrum antibiotics that this spore-forming, Gram positive bacteria can grow out of its natural bounds to cause serious problems. We've also reported previously about the role of the herbicide glyphosate (aka Roundup) in contributing to deadly Clostridium infections.
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Nuke

Dr. Helen Caldicott: The sixth anniversary of the start of the Fukushima crisis

Helen Dr. Helen Caldicott
Global Research
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:37 UTC
nuclear
Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear educator and former nuclear industry senior vice president, has referred to it as "the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind." [1]

Six years ago this week, a tsunami, triggered by a category 9.0 earthquake, slammed into the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility on the north east coast of the Japanese island of Honshu. The natural disaster resulted in the failure of systems keeping the reactor cores and spent fuel rods cool, leading to core meltdowns in three of the plant's reactors, as well as damage from consequent hydrogen explosions. [2]

Enormous quantities of radioactive particles were released into the atmosphere and the water table leading to the Pacific Ocean. Approximately 170,000 people in the vicinity of the plant were immediately evacuated.

The World Health Organization downplayed the health risks from the catastrophe, concluding in their 2013 Health Risk Assessment from the nuclear accident that the risks of contracting certain cancers in certain sex and age groups were only "somewhat elevated." The report also concluded "no discernable increase in health risks from the Fukushima event is expected outside Japan." [3]

Nevertheless, a health management survey examining 38,000 children in Fukushima found three children diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The natural incidence is one in one million. [4]

Further, a December 2011 peer-reviewed report in the International Journal of Health Sciences found that in the 14 weeks immediately following the event, there were 14,000 excess deaths in the United States connected with radio-active fall-out from the Fukushima meltdowns. [5]

Comment: Dr. Helen Caldicott: Hiroshima, Fukushima & beyond

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Syringe

USA! Highest vaccination rates in the world, worst overall health

Paul Fassa
Real Farmacy
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:42 UTC
Childhood vaccinations
© Twitter
That "worst health" label includes a ranking of 34th in the world with infant mortality. In other words, the USA has the 34th worst infant survival with its highest rate of vaccinations. Some are directly from multiple vaccinations administered.

But the USA leads the world in infant vaccinations, those administered during the first year after their births - 26 vaccinations during that time.

The only vaccination I recall receiving during early childhood, circa 1948, was the smallpox vaccine, the one that left a circle of shallow pockmarks on the upper arm, a non-ink tattoo that proved you had received that vaccine. Months later there was the booster shot which gave me a vacation of several days away from my first grade teacher while sitting out the chicken pox.

During Naval training the mass vaccination high pressure hand held gun that replaced syringes and needles was tried on us with the polio shot. I wound up with a vacation in the base infirmary with an extended period of the flu. Between those two, there may have been a tetanus shot or two.


Comment: See also:

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Bulb

Mercury containing lightbulbs contaminate the home and the environment

Pedro Aquila
Waking Times
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:40 UTC
mercury lightbulb
Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL's) are contaminating homes and the environment with mercury. They contain much higher amounts of mercury than other typical factors in the poisoning of people, often with many milligrams of mercury, whereas other factors in mercury poisoning are usually measured in micrograms. Thousands of times more than other typical mercury contaminants.

The damage done to people and the environment by mercury is well documented in papers found at sites like PubMed. According to a paper titled: "Current approaches of the management of mercury poisoning: need of the hour":
"Mercury poisoning cases have been reported in many parts of the world, resulting in many deaths every year."

"Humans exposure to mercury usually take place via eating mercury contaminated food, dental care procedures (using amalgams in endodontics) using mercury based, thermometers, and sphygmomanometer), occupational exposure (e.g. mining) and others (using fluorescent light bulbs and batteries)"
So how much mercury is in a CFL light bulb, compared to amalgam dental fillings or contaminated food?

Reading from the transcript of a documentary about big pharma:
"Mercury amalgams leak significant amounts of mercury vapor, an approximate 15 micrograms daily per filling.

Many people have multiple fillings, leaking up to 120 micrograms of mercury into the body every day. The vapor is swallowed with saliva and inhaled into the lungs. Agitating them with chewing or acidic foods can release more.

Mercury in seafood is a serious concern, and 1 microgram of mercury is enough to be concerned with that. 1 microgram of mercury per gram of fish exceeds the FDA standard."

Comment: How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals

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Life Preserver

Change your destiny: Strategies that can boost brain performance and prevent dementia

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
healthy brain
Alzheimer's is an epidemic, currently affecting an estimated 5.4 million Americans. Unless there are radical changes, many experts project half of us will eventually acquire it.

Since diet is one of the root causes, diet is also a foundational prevention and treatment strategy. This is an important point, considering there are no meaningful conventional treatments for this devastating disease.

Drugs like Namenda or Aricept, which are commonly prescribed for Alzheimer's, have very limited effectiveness, and come with potentially serious side effects. But other healthy lifestyle strategies also need to come into play for a truly holistic approach.

In this interview, Dr. David Perlmutter, a board-certified neurologist and author of The New York Times best seller "The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan: Boost Brain Performance, Lose Weight, and Achieve Optimal Health," shares his insights into core strategies that will help boost brain performance and dramatically reduce your risk of Alzheimer's.

"The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan" is an extension and continuation of his previous book, "The Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs and Sugar — Your Brain's Silent Killers." Perlmutter's own father died from Alzheimer's — a death he has since realized was preventable, which has acted as a driving force for his work.
"To be clear, no one inherits Alzheimer's. Some of us who have relatives [with] Alzheimer's ... are at increased risk. We certainly know there are some genes, the apoliprotein E (ApoE) 3, 2 and 4 genes that are playing a role in carrying the ApoE-4 allele. It does increase a person's risk.
But this is not a determinant that you will or won't get the disease. It does indicate that you have a higher risk for that disease. But the beauty of what we are talking about is you can offset that risk. You can change your destiny," Perlmutter says

Comment: Further reading:

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Health

16-hour cap for 1st-year medical residents eliminated, 24-hour shifts under new rules

Lindsay Tanner
Yahoo! News
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:22 UTC
First-year resident Samantha Harrington
© AP/Steven SenneFirst-year resident Samantha Harrington
Rookie doctors can work up to 24 hours straight under new work limits taking effect this summer — a move supporters say will enhance training and foes maintain will do just the opposite.

A Chicago-based group that establishes work standards for U.S. medical school graduates has voted to eliminate a 16-hour cap for first-year residents. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education announced the move Friday as part of revisions that include reinstating the longer limit for rookies — the same maximum allowed for advanced residents.

An 80-hour per week limit for residents at all levels remains in place under the new rules.

Dr. Anai Kothari, a third-year resident on a council panel that recommended the changes, says he only occasionally works 24-hour shifts. The extra hours give him time to finish up with patients instead of being sent home in the middle of a case, said Kothari, who works at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago.

But first-year resident Dr. Samantha Harrington thinks it will endanger the safety of residents and patients. Harrington says her 14-hour shifts this winter at Cambridge Hospital near Boston are already plenty long. To stay awake while driving home after work, she sometimes rolls down the window to let the freezing air blast her in the face.

Harrington says the grueling hours are "based on a patriarchal hazing system," where longtime physicians think "'I went through it, so therefore you have to go through it too.'" She is a member of the Committee of Interns and Residents, a union group that opposes the work-shift changes. So does the American Medical Student Association.

Comment: See also:

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Health

Your poo may be trying to tell you something

Tanya Mead
The Alternative Daily
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:25 UTC
smelly poop
Ask someone if their poop smells bad, and they'll most likely look at you like you're crazy. Of course poop smells bad! Yes, but some poop smells way worse than normal, and this can be the sign of a problem.

As we all know, even a healthy poop doesn't exactly smell nice. However, a healthy poop also should not smell too strongly or too awful. The odor associated with a normal bowel movement is usually mild and it passes quickly. If you're stinking up the bathroom to high heaven, enough to make yourself gag, it's a sign of your poop trying to tell you something.

Before you get too alarmed, having smelly poop from time to time may just mean you ate something funny or you need to adjust your diet. Sometimes, however, smelly poop can be the sign of a health condition that needs to be addressed, especially if it's smelly on a chronic basis or accompanied by other symptoms.

If you have horrible smelling bowel movements, it may be due to one of the following instances:
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Attention

Agricultural chemicals are not helping feed the world - they are killing our children

Katherine Paul
Organic Consumer Association
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 22:40 UTC
pesticides
© takepart.com
"How could we have ever believed that it is a good idea to grow our food with poisons?" - Dr. Jane Goodall

Two new reports published in recent weeks add to the already large and convincing body of evidence, accumulated over more than half a century, that agricultural pesticides and other toxic chemicals are poisoning us.

Both reports issue scathing indictments of U.S. and global regulatory systems that collude with chemical companies to hide the truth from the public, while they fill their coffers with ill-gotten profits.

According to the World Health Organization, whose report focused on a range of environmental risks, the cost of a polluted environment adds up to the deaths of 1.7 million children every year.
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Health

Common insecticides can ruin your sleep by binding to melatonin receptors

Tanya Mead
The Alternative Daily
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:54 UTC
pesticide stress
When we think of things which may disrupt our sleep, many come to mind. Alarm clocks set too early? Definitely. A middle-of-the-night emergency text? Of course. Screaming children and rambunctious pets? For sure. Thunderstorms, eating something not-so-healthy the night before and too much evening coffee? These are also a given.

But what about exposure to insecticides? This may seem downright counterintuitive. Most of us know that insecticides are made of toxic chemicals, but how could they possibly affect our sleep? Well, new research from the University of Buffalo has found a connection.

Common insecticides and melatonin

The study, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, looked at two common insecticide chemicals: carbaryl and carbofuran. Carbaryl is widely used in the United States, although it has been banned in some other countries. Carbofuran, on the other hand, is considered to be the most toxic of the carbamate insecticides. It has been banned in the United States since 2009. However, this insecticide is still used in a variety of other countries — places that export to the United States.
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