Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a group of medications whose primary action is a to reduce gastric acid production. Prilosec, prevacid, and nexium are popular PPIs which help constitute a large percentage of the most prescribed medications in the world. In a population-based study from Scotland, PPIs were linked with an increased risk of intestinal infections with C. difficile and Campylobacter bacteria, which can cause considerable illness. The study adds to a growing body of evidence that the health consequences of PPI-based drugs are causing far more damage to the human body than previously published in medical literature.

PPIs suppress gastric acid secretion by specific inhibition of the gastric acid ions in cells. The absorption of PPIs takes place in the small intestine essentially turning off the switch which promotes healthy digestion of foods. Omeprazole is also completely metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system.

Compared with individuals in the community who did not take acid suppression medications, those who did had 1.7-times and 3.7-times increased risks of C. difficile and Campylobacter, respectively. Among hospitalized patients, those using the medications had 1.4-times and 4.5-times increased risks, respectively.

Are you a Mary Poppins or a Hemingway?

You know when you're out with your friends at a bar, and you've all had the same amount to drink, yet one friend is giggling uncontrollably, another is telling a hilarious story to a group of strangers, a third is picking a fight with the bouncer, and the last is talking to the bartender as if those four Jägerbombs never happened? You might have wondered, well, what's up with that?

Science to the rescue. Psychology researchers from the University of Missouri at Columbia have published a study in Addiction Research & Theory attempting to bring the conventional wisdom that there are many distinct ways to be drunk to its logical, scientifically-based conclusion. Their study, which involved 374 undergraduates at a large Midwestern university, drew from literature and pop culture in order to conclude that there are four types of drinkers: the Mary Poppins, the Ernest Hemingway, the Nutty Professor and the Mr. Hyde.

The popularity of makeup products today seems to be greater than ever before in human history. Business Wire states that the global cosmetics market reached a staggering $ 460 billion in 2014 alone. Experts anticipate that the global market for beauty products will continue to rise at an annual rate of 3.8% in the next five years.

We're all witnesses to just how big the beauty industry is. Just thinking about the huge number of beauty products we see today can be overwhelming. Beauty is taking over even social media sites like YouTube that had a total of 123,164,115 beauty subscribers in 2015. These numbers speak for themselves, and what they're telling us is that we are becoming a society of makeup junkies.

Humans have used makeup for at least 5000 years for the purpose of enhancing features that are thought of as attractive and hiding perceived flaws such as the first signs and symptoms of wrinkles. And although there is nothing wrong with wanting to beautify yourself occasionally, makeup becomes a problem when it creates psychological dependence.

A study carried out by The Renfrew Center Foundation found that almost half (44%) of all women said they felt unattractive without makeup. But the problem with relying on makeup to build your self-esteem does not end there. More and more medical practitioners, scientists, and consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with how makeup affects our physical health.

High carb, low fat, ketogenic, Whole 30 and paleo diets... research exists supporting (and refuting) them all. Some people thrive on a high amount of carbs, some decline. Some people soar on a ketogenic diet while others crash and burn. As much as researchers would like to find the perfect human diet it is becoming increasingly clear that one dietary template is not suitable for everyone everywhere and at all times. Age, genetics, activity level, location and more can all play a role in what one should or should not be eating.

Is diet as black and white as some proponents claim it to be? Do carbs, dairy, grains, fruits and legumes have any place in a 'healthy' diet? Are there any absolute no-no's? Join us on this episode of the Health and Wellness Show as we attempt to tease out the nuances and add some levity to the diet wars. And be sure to stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where the topic will be Animals: Do they dream like us?

Running Time: 01:43:17

Download: MP3

Ready Nutrition Guys and Gals, it's a new year and there's still work to be done! Yes indeed, speaking for myself here in Montana, I've been shoveling snow every day for the past week. Doing this helps me to do things, such as pull my vehicle out of the driveway, different structures on my property to not collapse or be buried...little things such as that. Some days it has been dumping almost a foot of snow on me, and most I see about 4 to 6 inches. What a pain! But it's not all complaints in this department, as it serves a purpose that perhaps you, too, can "latch" onto to make your own.

I'm referring to your daily activities for use as exercise. When I shovel (I don't like snow-blowers, and prefer the shovel...grid down, I still can remove snow), that counts as a workout. Especially if it's between 1-2 hours per day. That's just simple maintenance; however, I take it as a workout. You can too! This is not to say that I don't lift weights on these days, but as a workout, my "yard work" supplements (or complements) the lifting.

Shoveling snow works the shoulder muscles (the deltoids), and the neck muscles (the trapezius), as well as the biceps and triceps in the arms. It also works your legs: your quadriceps for when you squat and drive your shovel into the snow. Your lumbar and lower back gets quite a workout for when you turn and throw the snow. Oh yes, when you're running "full tilt," you work up quite a sweat. [Remember to stay hydrated!]

A tumour containing a miniature brain has been found growing on the ovary of a 16-year-old girl in Japan.

The 10-centimetre-wide tumour was discovered when the girl had surgery to remove her appendix. When doctors cut the tumour out, they found clumps of greasy, matted hair inside, and a 3-centimetre-wide brain-like structure covered by a thin plate of skull bone.

Closer analysis revealed that it was a smaller version of a cerebellum - which usually sits underneath the brain's two hemispheres. A mass on one side resembled a brain stem - the structure that normally joins to the spinal cord.

Monsters within

About one-fifth of ovarian tumours contain foreign tissue, including hair, teeth, cartilage, fat and muscle. These tumours, which are normally benign, are named teratomas after the Greek word "teras", meaning monster.

In 2013 and 2014, Saint Vincent Hospital began firing any staff who refused a flu shot. The refusals were grounded in religious beliefs which prevented the staff from accepting the shots. Following the firings, a religious discrimination lawsuit was filed.

Today, the fruits of that labor are being paid out to those who suffered job losses.

The Erie hospital also will provide about $300,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to the employees as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of the workers by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September. A consent decree that ended the case and detailed the settlement terms was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Erie.

The commission had claimed Saint Vincent violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it fired the six workers, who refused to be vaccinated after the hospital implemented a mandatory flu vaccination policy for all employees. The hospital granted medical exemptions to 14 other workers.

"The consent decree filed this week between the EEOC and Saint Vincent Hospital does not constitute any admission of violations by Saint Vincent or a finding on the merits of the case," Dan Laurent, a spokesman for Allegheny Health Network, Saint Vincent's parent organization, said in an email. "Although we have vigorously and respectfully disagreed with the EEOC's position and characterization of how employee claims outlined in this lawsuit were handled by the hospital, we have reached a resolution of the matter in the interest of avoiding the expense, delay and burden of further litigation on all parties."

In the U.S., working around the clock is still glorified. According to the documentary "Sleepless in America," 40 percent of Americans are sleep-deprived. Many get less than five hours of sleep per night.

The cost is rarely considered, even though it includes reduced productivity and an increased risk of serious accidents.

Tired drivers are as dangerous as drunk or drugged ones, and experts believe sleep deprivation may have played a role in the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Staten Island ferry crash and the Three-Mile Island nuclear meltdown, just to name a few.

Besides raising your risk of accidents that may harm or kill you or others, research clearly shows that skimping on sleep will decimate your health in a number of different ways.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that lack of sleep is a public health epidemic, noting that insufficient sleep has been linked to a wide variety of health problems.

Genetic Mutation Makes Some People More Efficient Sleepers

Interestingly, there are a few rare individuals who can get by on very little sleep without incurring any noticeable harm. There's an actual condition called advanced phase sleep syndrome — a genetic mutation that allows you to be fully rested after as little as four to six hours of sleep.¹

Living near busy roads with constant noise has more downsides than sleep deprivation. Canadian scientists say that those who live in proximity to heavy traffic have an increased risk of developing dementia.

"People who lived within 50 metres of high-traffic roads had a seven per cent higher likelihood of developing dementia compared to those who lived more than 300 meters away from busy roads," research from Public Health Ontario (PHO) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) has found.

Researchers examined over 6.5 million residents in the Canadian province of Ontario aged 20-85.

In today's world, aluminum is omnipresent, building up within our system from everyday products. Now, we are learning that aluminum toxicity can manifest itself in alarming ways.
As many of us are aware, the human body is being bombarded with aluminum in everyday products. Many of our foods, vaccinations, medications, baby products, cosmetics, cleaning products and even soft furnishings contain aluminum and it appears that we are powerless to prevent the ever-increasing onslaught.

This is extremely worrying because, according to Professor Exley, a scientist from Keele University in Staffordshire, aluminum can accumulate in the body and has the potential to do harm wherever it ends up.

A Little Background Information

In a 2014 press release, Exley stated:

"The biological availability of aluminium or the ease with which aluminium reacts with human biochemistry means that aluminium in the body is unlikely to be benign, though it may appear as such due to the inherent robustness of human physiology. The question is raised as to 'how do you know if you are suffering from chronic aluminium toxicity?' How do we know that Alzheimer's disease is not the manifestation of chronic aluminium toxicity in humans?

At some point in time the accumulation of aluminium in the brain will achieve a toxic threshold and a specific neurone or area of the brain will stop coping with the presence of aluminium and will start reacting to its presence. If the same neurone or brain tissue is also suffering other insults, or another on-going degenerative condition, then the additional response to aluminium will exacerbate these effects. In this way aluminium may cause a particular condition to be more aggressive and perhaps to have an earlier onset - such occurrences have already been shown in Alzheimer's disease related to environmental and occupational exposure to aluminium."