Health & WellnessS


Eye 1

New theory sheds light on astronauts' blurry vision

Kaleigh Rogers
Motherboard
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 16:46 UTC
astronaut eye test
© NASANASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, performs ultrasound eye imaging in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano assists Hopkins.
For years now, NASA has been puzzled by a mysterious effect of extended space flight: vision damage. Many, though not all, astronauts who have been in space for months at a time experienced their vision slowly degrading, and post-flight inspection revealed that the back of their eyeballs had been squished down and flattened over the course of their trip.

But new research presented this week provides a partial answer to what's causing this condition: pressurized spinal fluid. Noam Alperin, a researcher at the University of Miami's Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, presented findings from research he and his peers conducted on 16 astronauts, measuring the volume of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in their heads before and after spaceflight. CSF floats around the brain and spine, cushioning it and protecting your brain as you move, such as when you stand up after lying down.

Alperin and his team found that astronauts who had been in space for extended trips (about six months) had much higher build up of CSF in the socket around the eye than astronauts who had only gone on short stints (about two weeks). They also designed a new imaging technique to measure exactly how "flat" the astronauts eyeballs had become after extended periods in space.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Health

The anti-depressant effects of curcumin

Mae Chan
Prevent Disease
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 16:27 UTC
turmeric, curcumin
Curcumin, the yellow pigment associated with the curry spice Turmeric, has been found to be effective in reducing depressive and symptoms of anxiety even in people with major depressive disorders.

Writing in the Journal of Affective Disorders, researchers from Australia said studies had supported the antidepressant effects of curcumin (from the spice turmeric) and saffron for people with severe depression.

"However, these studies have been hampered by poor designs, small sample sizes, short treatment duration, and similar intervention dosages. Furthermore, the antidepressant effects of combined curcumin and saffron administration are unknown," they wrote.

Powdered turmeric has been used for centuries to treat a host of illnesses. It inhibits inflammatory reactions, has anti-diabetic effects, reduces cholesterol among other powerful health effects. A recent study led by a research team in Munich showed that it can also inhibit formation of metastases.

The researchers from Murdoch University, Perth, undertook a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, using curcumin extract BCM-95.

Comment: Curcumin just as effective as anti-depressants in treating depression

Read More...
Red Flag

Obesity and diabetes blamed for rising stroke rates in younger people

Nicholas Bakalr
NY Times
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 15:52 UTC
stroke
Stroke rates have been declining in older people over the past 20 years — but have sharply increased in those under 55.

Researchers at Rutgers University used data from the New Jersey Department of Health on more than 227,000 hospitalizations for stroke from 1995 through 2014, calculating incidence by age over five-year periods. The findings appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Compared with the 1995-99 period, the rate of stroke in 2010-14 increased by 147 percent in people 35 to 39, by 101 percent in people 40 to 44, by 68 percent in those 45 to 49, and by 23 percent in the 50 to 54 group.

Stroke is still far more common in older people. But the rate decreased by 11 percent in those 55 to 59, by 22 percent in the 60 to 64 group, and by 18 percent in people 65 to 69.

The reasons are unclear, but the lead author, Joel N. Swerdel, now an epidemiologist with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said that increasing obesity and diabetes in younger people are probably involved.

"For a person 30 to 50, the good news is you ain't dead yet," he said. "With behavioral changes, changing diet, increasing exercise, there's still hope for you. Behavioral change is hard, but this study is an early warning sign."
Read More...
Arrow Down

Epic fail! Monsanto supporters latest attempt to hide the real truth about glyphosate from the public


Sustainable Pulse
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 00:07 UTC
RoundUp
Following the release of the report Glyphosate: Unsafe On Any Plate on November 14, which revealed alarming levels of the weedkiller glyphosate in popular American foods, Monsanto supporters went in to full attack mode to protect their number one product, however this time they fell on their own swords within a matter of days.

Last year, 17 leading global cancer experts from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) sparked a firestorm when they classified glyphosate as a class 2A "probable human carcinogen".

On the heels of this growing controversy surrounding the safety of glyphosate, the testing report published by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project revealed alarming levels (5 to 1125 ppb) of glyphosate in General Mills' Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran and Frosted Flakes and PepsiCo's Doritos Cool Ranch, Ritz Crackers and Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips, as well as many more famous products, at levels that present significant risks according to the latest independent peer-reviewed science on glyphosate.
Read More...
Flashlight

HPV 'safe & effective narrative' is destroyed by Nordic Cochrane Centre complaint

Jefferey Jaxen
jeffereyjaxen.com
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 00:42 UTC
HPV vaccine
Piece by piece the foundation and historical legacy of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine is fast approaching the reality of former pharmaceutical industry physician with Gardasil manufacturers Merck when he stated in 2014, "I predict that Gardasil will become the greatest medical scandal of all times..."

In Europe, the 'safe and effective' HPV scam appears to have run its course. Receiving no coverage by mainstream media sources, the Nordic Cochrane Centre has filed its second complaint in five months - this time to the European ombudsman - over maladministration at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in relation to the safety of the HPV vaccines.

According to the Nordic Cochrane Centre, its first complaint to the EMA filed on May 26, 2016 was met with replies that did not fully address their concerns. The Centre writes in its new complaint that, "Some of our concerns were not addressed at all, and several of the EMA's statements were either wrong or seriously misleading, or irrelevant for the criticism we had posed. We therefore now complain to the EU ombudsman over the EMA." This time around, the Nordic Cochrane Centre's complaint is joined by support from other major European institutions.

Comment: Read more about HPV vaccine harms: Prestigious Cochrane challenges the European Medicines Agency Assessment report
The Cochrane Nordic Center's Director, Peter C Gotzsche, MD, MSc, filed a formal Complaint with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) May 26, 2016 regarding the EMA's 40-page Assessment Report (Nov. 11, 2015) about the safety of the HPV vaccines, which are "supposed to decrease deaths from cervical cancer."

The Cochrane complaint cited ten serious concerns about EMA's handling of information in its report; however, I will discuss only those which I find relatively intriguing:
  1. Whether the EMA has been open and accountable to citizens and has respected citizens' rights to know uncertainties related to the safety of the HPV vaccines.
  2. Whether the extreme secrecy, with lifelong confidentiality agreements, which the EMA imposed upon its working group members and scientific experts, is needed; is legitimate; is in the public interest; and guarantees that the administration enjoys legitimacy.
  3. Whether the redactions the EMA imposed on documents it delivered to the citizens according to Freedom of Information requests were needed; were legitimate; are in the public interest; and guarantees that the administration enjoys legitimacy.
  4. Whether the EMA behaves in a manner that guarantees that the administration enjoys legitimacy when the agency uses experts with financial ties to the manufacturers, in particular considering that it is always possible to find experts without such conflicts.
Personally, I find the above four complaints also could be filed with, and against, the U.S. CDC and FDA, since it seems that the EMA probably is patterning its HPV vaccine information and vaccine safety profiles and protocols after the same practices as the U.S. patent holders of the HPV vaccine, the U.S. Health and Human Services, as explained below: As if this is not enough, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, via the National Institutes of Health, Office of Technology Transfer receives royalties on each HPV vaccine sold worldwide. This happens because technologies used in the production of HPV vaccines were developed at NIH and subsequently patented by them. For three of the last five years, HPV vaccines based on recombinant papillomavirus capsid proteins have ranked #1 based on royalties from product sales. [....]


Read More...
Health

Broccoli, epsom salts & MSM: Why you need sulphur

Dr. Mercola
mercola.com
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 18:17 UTC
sulphur
Sulphur
Sulfur is the third most abundant mineral in your body, based on percentage of total body weight.1 While close to half of it can be found in your muscles, skin and bones, sulfur plays important roles in hundreds of physiological processes.2

Sulfur bonds are required for proteins to maintain their shape, and these bonds determine the biological activity of the proteins.

For example, hair and nails consist of a tough protein called keratin, which is high in sulfur, whereas connective tissue and cartilage contain proteins with flexible sulfur bonds, giving the structure its flexibility.

With age, the flexible tissues in your body tend to lose their elasticity, leading to sagging and wrinkling of skin, stiff muscles and painful joints. A shortage of sulfur likely contributes to these age-related problems.

The Many Biological Roles of Sulfur

In addition to bonding proteins, sulfur is also required for the proper structure and biological activity of enzymes. If you don't have sufficient amounts of sulfur in your body, enzymes cannot function properly.

A cascade of health problems may thus ensue, since your metabolic processes rely on biologically active enzymes. Sulfur also plays an important role in:3
Read More...
Brain

Why children need a good night's sleep: Study suggests sleep deprivation affects immature brain differently than adults'


Science Daily
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 10:56 UTC
child sleeping
© unknown
Any parent can tell you about the consequences of their child not getting enough sleep. But there is far less known about the details of how sleep deprivation affects children's brains and what this means for early brain development.

"The process of sleep may be involved in brain 'wiring' in childhood and thus affect brain maturation," explains Salome Kurth, first author of the study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, and a researcher at the University Hospital of Zurich. "This research shows an increase in sleep need in posterior brain regions in children."

Comment: Most modern-day lifestyle habits and techno-gadgets are not conducive to a restful night's sleep. For a child's physiological development to progress properly, it is vitally important to have an adequate amount of quality sleep. For some more information on the negative health consequences of poor sleep quality, see the following:

Read More...
Magnify

How clothing can pollute the oceans

Dr. Mercola
mercola.com
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 18:12 UTC
plastic microbeads
© 5Gyres, courtesy of Oregon State University plastic microbeads
Microbeads, those tiny plastic pellets found in body washes, facial scrubs, toothpaste and other toiletries and even pharmaceuticals, go down your drain, through the filters at most wastewater treatment plants and out into the environment.

Once in the water, microbeads easily absorb endocrine-disrupting and cancer-causing chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The chemical-laden beads, which resemble fish eggs, are then eaten by many forms of marine life, including plankton, fish, seabirds and whales.

Microbeads are so prevalent and damaging to the environment that the Canadian government banned their sale in toiletries by July 2018 and in non-prescription drugs by July 2019.1 Unfortunately, this is only one type of microplastic pollution, which refers to plastic particles less than 5 millimeters (0.19 inches) in size.

A recent study found an unlikely source contributing to microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes — microfiber clothing. These garments release microfibers, or tiny bits of synthetic materials, which are being found in waterways in far more abundance than even microbeads. The National Post reported:2
"U.S. researchers recently examined plastic pollution in 29 tributaries of the Great Lakes and found that 98 per cent of plastics collected were microplastics. Seventy-one per cent of these were microfibers."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Pills

Elizabeth Warren accuses big pharma of hijacking 'cures bill', fears of putting consumers at risk


RT
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 12:57 UTC
Elizabeth Warren
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersU.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
Accusing Republicans of giving handouts to pharmaceutical industry, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts warned that the 21st Century Cures Act would speed up the FDA's approval process, which she fears could put consumers at risk.

The 21st Century Cures legislation would give $4.8 billion to fund research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but Senator Warren is more concerned with the possibility of the bill enabling the pharmaceutical industry.

On Monday, she took to the Senate floor to blame Republicans for letting "Big Pharma hijack the cures bill."

The bill includes several provisions popular with Democrats and progressives, such as funding to combat the opioid crisis and mental health treatment. However, Warren claims that these measures are nothing but "political cover for huge giveaways to giant drug companies."

Comment: See also: As Americans increasingly seethe at Big Pharma's money racket, Govt is coddling its power more than ever

Read More...
Health

Lancet study on statins was 'fundamentally flawed'

Laura Donnelly
The Telegraph
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 14:56 UTC
statins
© Alamy Stock Photo Earlier this year scientists said controversy surrounding the cholesterol-reducing pills had put patients' health at risk.
A major Lancet study which backed the safety of statins was "fundamentally flawed" and underestimated the side-effects of the heart drugs, a group of medics has said.

The research published in September concluded the drugs help prevent around 80,000 major cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes, every year.

Scientists said the drugs did far more good than harm, with too many patients having been put off taking them because of needless fears about side-effects.

It followed a long debate over the merits of the cholesterol-busting drugs, which are taken by around eight million Britons.


Comment: Let's stay with the facts:
  • Not only are statin medications failing to impact on our most prevalent disease, but they are causing more harm than good.
  • Cholesterol is crucial for energy, immunity, fat metabolism, leptin, thyroid hormone activity, liver related synthesis, protection from stress, adrenal function, sex hormone syntheses and brain function.
  • Only middle aged men with coronary heart disease benefit from taking statins, but even in these cases statins may only work in the short term and should be stopped before adverse effects can take hold.
  • High cholesterol levels have been found to be protective in elderly and heart failure patients.
  • The statin industry is the utmost medical tragedy of all times.
  • A government report in Canada found an overestimation of benefit and underestimation of harm where statins are concerned.
  • Statins are associated with triple the risk of coronary artery and aortic calcification.
For more information, please read:

Read More...