Health & WellnessS


Health

How your mum influences your speed of ageing

Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn & Dr. Elissa Epel
Daily Mail
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:17 UTC
mother and daughter
We found that the length of your telomere is directly inherited from your mother.
Many comedians, over the years, have made jokes about their wives becoming more like their mothers as they get older.

Well, Les Dawson and co were actually on to something. We were astonished to discover just how much our mothers can affect the speed at which we age.

The data is in: we've seen the proof at the end of our microscopes.

We are a Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and a health psychologist who've devoted years to understanding how you can slow ageing. We've been revealing our findings all this week in the Mail and giving you tips on getting your youthful glow back. What's more, it's never too late to start slowing life's clock.

If you've been following our series, by now you'll be familiar with how we know all this: through examining the end of your chromosomes — the string-like structures where your DNA lives.

Chromosomes, remember, can be found in every single cell in your body, from the surface of your skin to the core of your liver.

Comment: See also:

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Life Preserver

Good Poop! Autism symptoms show improvement from donor viruses in fecal transplants


RT
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 08:39 UTC
autism
© Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters
Children with autism may see their symptoms reduced after receiving fecal transplants, a method of introducing healthy microbes that rebalance the gut, a new study finds.

A team of scientists from Ohio State University, Northern Arizona University, and University of Arizona released on Monday the results from their study, "Microbiota transfer alters gut ecosystem and improves gastrointestinal and autism symptoms," which claims that mental problems like autism are linked to bacteria and viruses that inhabit the gut.

In the small study, 18 children, aged seven to 16, who suffer from autism symptoms, saw positive changes that lasted for at least eight weeks after a fecal transplant.

The team claims that parents saw overall improvement in their children in 17 different autism-related symptoms, including social skills, irritability, hyperactivity and communication.

Comment: See also: For some useful tips, listen to our Health & Wellness Show: Some of my best friends are germs

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Question

Do you suffer from Illness Anxiety Disorder?

Jill Newby
The Conversation
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 22:08 UTC
hypochondriac
Most of us worry about our health at some point. You may notice a new symptom or change in your body and become convinced it's a sign of a horrible illness; a loved one might become ill and you might worry it may also happen to you.

In fact, it can be helpful to be concerned about your health. This is the type of concern that might motivate you to visit your doctor to check a sore back, apply sunscreen to prevent skin cancer, eat well, exercise or drink enough water.


Comment: Maybe fewer people would be hypochondriacs, er, suffer from Illness Anxiety Disorder if misinformation like sunscreen preventing cancer or sunlight causing cancer wasn't shoved down their throats.


Usually, worries about your health are short-lived and disappear after symptoms go away or after you receive the all clear from your doctor.

But for some people, what starts as a normal health concern can tip over into a serious mental health problem you might know as hypochondria, health anxiety or to give it its official title, illness anxiety disorder.

So how can you tell if your health concerns are helpful or harmful? And where can you go for help?
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Health

Unsettled science: Trump sets off media firestorm with creation of Vaccine Safety Review Panel

Dr. Mercola
mercola.com
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 21:06 UTC
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Only nine days away from his swearing-in as president, Donald Trump held his first press conference since the election and announced that the pharmaceutical industry was "getting away with murder" and that during his presidency he would do something about high drug prices with more competitive bidding for federal contracts. His remarks sent drug stocks into a sudden nosedive.1

As noted by Brad Loncar, manager of Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF: "When somebody that high-profile says something that negative, people do not want to invest in it." According to Reuters:2
"Trump's campaign platform included allowing the Medicare healthcare program to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, which the law currently prohibits.
He has also discussed making it easier to import drugs at cheaper prices. 'We are going to start bidding. We are going to save billions of dollars over time,' Trump said."
Trump's comments came only one day after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters that Trump had asked him to "chair a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity."


Comment: Trump appoints noted vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. to chair a commission to investigate vaccine safety


Although the Trump transition team quickly denied that any decision had been made on such a commission, shockwaves reverberated throughout the drug industry in speculation as to what impact this commission, if formed, might have on vaccine uptake and sales.3
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Brain

New study shows vagus nerve stimulation may help addicts overcome addiction

Christopher Bergland
Psychology Today
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:43 UTC
eiriu eolas
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy may help addicts overcome substance abuse via the extinction of conditioned drug-seeking behaviors, according to a groundbreaking preclinical study.

The new report, "Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Cocaine Seeking and Alters Plasticity in the Extinction Network," was published in the January issue of Learning and Memory.

Although this is an animal study, the researchers believe their findings could eventually be applied to people who struggle with drug addiction or substance abuse disorders. VNS therapy has already been approved by the FDA as a treatment for certain illnesses, including clinical depression, epilepsy, and inflammation.

This new research adds to a growing body of evidence on the benefits of VNS therapy. For example, a February 2016 study found that VNS therapy improved functional connectivity of the default mode network which reduced symptoms of Major Depressive Disorders (MDD).

Additionally, a July 2016 study by neuroscientists and immunology experts found that VNS therapy inhibited "the inflammatory reflex" by blocking the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This research was the first human study designed to reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by triggering a chain reaction that reduced cytokine levels and inflammation.

Comment: You can learn to stimulate the vagus nerve naturally and help heal the body and mind with the Éiriú Eolas breathing and meditation program. Try it out for yourselves for free!

See also:

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Health

Researchers: Countries 'grossly underprepared' for infectious disease outbreaks

Amy Wallace
UPI
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 13:49 UTC
Ebola virus
© UPI/NIAIDThis National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) image taken on August 12, 2014 by a digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicts a single filamentous Ebola virus particle.
Review of the response to the Ebola virus points to the world not being prepared for infectious disease outbreaks

An analysis of reports on the response to the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has researchers sounding the alarm about worldwide infectious disease outbreak preparedness.

Suerie Moon of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, and a team of researchers examined seven post-Ebola reports.

They identified critical problems and made recommendations including strengthening compliance with the International Health Regulations, or IHR, improving outbreak-related research and information sharing, reforming the World Health Organization, or WHO, and broadening the humanitarian response system.

"We found remarkable consensus on what went wrong with the Ebola response and what we need to do to address the deficiencies," study authors said in a press release. "Yet not nearly enough has been done. Ebola, and more recently Zika and yellow fever, have demonstrated that we do not yet have a reliable or robust global system for preventing, detecting and responding to disease outbreaks."

The team urged the world "to mobilize greater resources and put in place monitoring and accountability mechanisms to ensure we are better prepared for the next pandemic."
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Hearts

Mother put eight-year-old daughter on ketogenic diet to treat her severe epilepsy

Hannah Moore
Mail Online
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:57 UTC
lizzy gow keto
Keeping an eye out: Lizzy began the diet while she was in hospital, and was medically monitored throughout.
While medications to treat epilepsy are widely varied, some parents are claiming a more natural method can be effective.

One mother in South Australia claims she saw a vast improvement in her young daughter's seizures that she said were 'consuming their [family's] life', after just 18 months on the controversial ketogenic diet.

Zoe Gow told Daily Mail Australia her daughter Lizzy was diagnosed with the condition at just three years old, and she had watched her child suffer uncontrollable nightly seizures for six years, despite medication.

The Gow family's lives were changed in February 2013, when the mother-of-two sat down to watch First Do No Harm, a TV movie starring Meryl Streep. The film follows the true story of a mother who attempts to cure her son's epilepsy with a ketogenic diet after bad experiences in hospital. 'I remember finishing it crying my eyes out and realising we had to find out if we could give it a go,' Mrs Gow said.

After much research, she contacted the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, where Lizzy had been treated before, and asked if the diet was an option for her child. At that point, the then-eight-year-old had been suffering hallucinatory seizures at least once a night.

Comment: For more information on why and how it works, see:

Ketogenic diet: Role in epilepsy and beyond

The Ketogenic Diet - An overview

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Microscope 1

Rare Seoul rat virus sickens 6 people in Illinois, 2 in Wisconsin


RT
Tue, 24 Jan 2017 00:02 UTC
Girl with pet rat
© Diez, O./Global Look Press
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said eight people became ill after contracting a rare rat virus in Illinois and Wisconsin. The one unifying factor between all the infected people was their contact with pet rats.

Two of the people who fell ill worked in ratteries in Wisconsin, with one going to hospital. People are infected when they breathe in dust contaminated with rodent droppings or urine.

"A home-based rodent breeder in Wisconsin was hospitalized in December 2016 with fever, headache and other symptoms," the CDC said in a statement.

"Symptoms may include fever, severe headache, back and abdominal pain, chills, blurred vision, redness of the eyes, or rash. In rare cases, infection can also lead to acute renal disease," the CDC added. "However, not all people infected with the virus experience symptoms. Most people infected with Seoul virus recover."

Both breeders tested positive for Seoul virus, a member of the Hantavirus family of rodent-borne viruses, according to the CDC. Others fell ill who purchased pet rats from animal suppliers in Wisconsin and Illinois. All the people have recovered.
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Health

Simple natural remedies to get rid of white tongue and boost your oral health

Dr. Axe
Food is Medicine
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:47 UTC
tongue diagnosis
Did you know that the tongue is one of the strongest muscles in the body? It's actually the most sensitive place for our sense of touch, and it allows us to talk, taste food and swallow. Plus, according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, the tongue plays an important role in determining and treatment health conditions. For that reason, white tongue can be viewed as a warning sign of a possible health issue, like oral thrush or poor oral hygiene.

There are simple, natural remedies that get rid of white tongue, get rid of bad breath and boost your oral health.

What Is White Tongue? Primary Causes + Risk Factors

A healthy tongue is pink and covered with papillae, small nodules that are on the surface of the tongue and have a rough texture. When your tongue appears white, that means food debris, bacteria and dead cells have been lodged between inflamed papillae. (1) White tongue is usually harmless and only temporary, but it can also be an indication of an infection or some serious conditions.

Comment:


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Ambulance

Study finds cervical cancer killing women at much higher rate than previously thought


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 13:36 UTC
Doctor nurse health science medicine hospital
© Reuters
Women's risk of dying from cervical cancer is much higher than scientists previously thought, according to a new Johns Hopkins study which readjusted cancer calculations to eliminate women who had hysterectomies.

The new study, published in the Cancer journal Monday, found that black women in America are dying at 77 percent higher rate than previously thought, while white women are dying at a 47 percent higher rate from the disease.

The adjusted figures by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health incorporate a new calculation system for cancer death rates.

Comment: Further reading: Are HPV vaccines worthless? Study: HPV infections not necessary for development of cervical cancer
The title of a paper recently published by McCormack et al in Molecular Cytogenetics says it all, "Individual karyotypes at the origins of cervical carcinomas." If the findings in this paper are true, a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) is extremely unlikely to protect against cervical cancer.

According to this paper neither genetic predisposition nor HPV infections are necessary for the development of cervical cancer. All cervical cancer cells investigated during the course of this study contained new abnormal karyotypes. The clonality (genetic makeup) of these new abnormal karyotypes indicates the cervical cancers originated with these karyotypes - NOT from a virus.


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