Health & WellnessS


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Junk food alters gene expression leading to binge eating


Science Daily
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:09 UTC
Junk food
A new therapeutic target for the treatment of compulsive binge eating has been identified by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).

The study, which is published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, reports the beneficial effects of the activation of a class of receptors, Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1 (TAAR1), on compulsive, binge eating. TAAR1 discovered in 2001, is a receptor that binds molecules in the brain called trace amines.

Compulsive binge eating is estimated to affect approximately 15 million people suffering from forms of obesity and eating disorders in the United States. It is characterized by episodes of eating large quantities of food, often very quickly and to the point of discomfort. Binge eaters often experience a loss of control during the binge as well as shame, distress or guilt afterwards.

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Water

Do you really need eight glasses a day?


Science Daily
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 18:58 UTC
Study challenges idea of mandatory water intake

drinking water
© liza5450 / FotoliaA new study showed that a 'swallowing inhibition' is activated by the brain after excess liquid is consumed, helping maintain tightly calibrated volumes of water in the body.
A multi-institute study led by Monash University has revealed for the first time the mechanism that regulates fluid intake in the human body and stops us from over-drinking, which can cause potentially fatal water intoxication. The study challenges the popular idea that we should drink eight glasses of water a day for health.

The study showed that a 'swallowing inhibition' is activated by the brain after excess liquid is consumed, helping maintain tightly calibrated volumes of water in the body.

Associate Professor Michael Farrell from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute oversaw the work by University of Melbourne PhD student Pascal Saker as part of a collaboration with several Melbourne institutes.

"If we just do what our body demands us to we'll probably get it right - just drink according to thirst rather than an elaborate schedule," Associate Professor Farrell said.

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SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: When the body says, 'Whoah!': Rare diseases and strange ailments


Sott.net
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 14:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
There are a number of people currently living around the world who are experiencing the weirdest, rarest diseases known to man. Some are genetic, some are caused by injury and practically all of them leave the most learned medical professionals scratching their heads in confusion. When the human body works as it should it can be a wonder to behold, but what about when things go wrong? Gustatory auditory synaesthesia, polydactyly, misophonia, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive, hirsuitism and spontaneous human combustion are just a few of the conditions we'll talk about. What causes these strange ailments? A cruel mishap in the genetic lottery, karma, poverty and malnutrition, a disturbance in the morphic field?

Join us on this episode of the Health and Wellness Show as we discuss these rare diseases.
Stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where the topic will be strange animals.

Running Time: 01:25:38

Download: MP3


Here's the transcript of the show:
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Health

Pets on pot: Medical marijuana has a new customer base

Laura M. Holson
New York Times
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 14:29 UTC
dog with marijuana plant
When Lisa Mastramico needed relief for her ailing tabby, Little Kitty, she turned to an unlikely source: marijuana.

At 12 years old, the cat had arthritis. For a long while she spent her days hiding in a closet, where Ms. Mastramico had built her a bed of plush blankets. After trying various supplements that proved ineffectual, she went to a meeting for Women Grow, an industry group for cannabis entrepreneurs.

She was not sold on the idea right away. "My concern was that it's not my place to get my cat high," said Ms. Mastramico, the director of a public access television network in Long Beach, Calif.

But with Little Kitty becoming increasingly isolated, it was time to give it a try. She got a medical marijuana card and purchased two edible oils made for pets and derived from cannabis that she squirts into her pet's mouth.
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Pills

Clinical trials underreport harms of antidepressant medications

Akansha Vaswani
Mad in America
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 14:34 UTC
pharmaceutical cartoon
© Dolishan
A group of researchers recently found serious bias in the reporting of harm due to adverse events in antidepressant medication clinical trials. They report that although dropout rates from studies for both drug and placebo groups were comparable and well reported, participants who were randomly assigned to receive the drug were 2.4 times more likely to leave the study due to adverse events.

More strikingly, serious adverse events were very poorly reported in journal articles. Even when they were reported, discrepancies were often found between data submitted to the FDA and those reported in the published literature, which is a form of "spinning data" or a way of using language to report results in a way that shows favorable outcomes for the drug while minimizing its negative effects.

Comment:


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Syringe

5 NYC moms win second court case against mandatory flu vaccination

Emily Saul
New York Post
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 13:13 UTC
vaccines
A group of persistent moms claimed victory Thursday over the Health Department, when an appellate court continued to smack down a 2013 Bloomberg initiative that required mandatory flu vaccinations for preschool-aged kids in city-sponsored day care.

The flu-shot requirement is illegal, the Manhattan Appellate Division ruled, because the city "impermissibly crossed into the legislative sphere" when it decided pre-school and kindergarten-aged children must be injected — or be barred from attending the programs.

A group of five moms brought suit in Nov. 2015, contesting the policy.

Thursday's decision upheld a lower court's ruling but cited different reasons.

State Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez ruled in December 2015 that the Department of Health had faltered in adopting the rule because state law gives the state Health Department power over which diseases it decides require mandatory vaccination.

Comment: Congratulations to these moms. Considering the ill effects of flu vaccines they had every reason to take their case to court.
Blistering report on flu vaccines: Revealed by John Hopkins Scientist

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Attention

Rise in girls asking GPs about genital labiaplasty cosmetic surgery is blamed on online porn


The Telegraph
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 15:01 UTC
young girls genital mutilitation
A study has found there has been a threefold rise in girls asking for genital cosmetic surgery in the last decade
An increasing number of girls as young as 15 are asking their GPs for advice about genital cosmetic surgery, a study has found.

Teenage girls who are increasingly concerned that their genitals don't look "normal" have been inquiring about the possibility of getting a labiaplasty - a surgical procedure that removes tissue from the labia.

Author of the study Dr. Magdalena Simonis from the University of Melbourne, said she felt compelled to conduct the survey after her own patients began asking about the procedure.

She said: "I felt underprepared to respond to those requests. When I spoke to colleagues who were also working in areas of women's health, they also expressed the same sort of experiences with women questioning whether their genitals looked normal.

"Many of them volunteered that that 20 or 25 years ago, this was never an issue."

Comment: What's going on with young women and their lady bits?

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Health

Irisin: The fat-blasting hormone produced by exercise


Science Daily
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 18:30 UTC
sport,Workout
© Tyler Olson/fotolia.com
If a workout feels like more pain than gain, here's some motivation: Exercise releases a hormone that helps the body shed fat and keeps it from forming.

A group led by a University of Florida Health researcher has learned more about how the hormone irisin helps convert calorie-storing white fat cells into brown fat cells that burn energy. Irisin, which surges when the heart and other muscles are exerted, also inhibits the formation of fatty tissue, according to the researchers.

The findings, published recently in the American Journal of Physiology -- Endocrinology and Metabolism, show that irisin may be an attractive target for fighting obesity and diabetes, said Li-Jun Yang, M.D., a professor of hematopathology in the UF College of Medicine's department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine. The study is believed to be the first of its kind to examine the mechanisms of irisin's effect on human fat tissue and fat cells, researchers said.
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Christmas Tree

Science says that hiking actually changes your brain and lowers oxidative stress

Vandita
AnonHq
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 17:28 UTC
hiking
It is no secret that hiking — the long, vigorous walk on the countryside, through a forest or up a mountain — is good for your health. But just how good is hiking? It burns calories? Yes. It improves cardio-respiratory fitness? Yes. It improves muscular fitness? Yes. It helps prevent and control diabetes? Yes. The list seems endless. But do you know that hiking cleanses you mind, body and soul?

Here're just 5 of the most powerful ways hiking actually changes your brain — supported by scientific evidence...

Hiking Lowers Rumination

A 2015 Stanford University study found that people who went on a 90-minute walk through a natural environment, reported lower levels of rumination and reduced neural activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness, compared with those who walked through an urban environment.

"This finding is exciting because it demonstrates the impact of nature experience on an aspect of emotion regulation — something that may help explain how nature makes us feel better," said Gregory Bratman, lead author of the study.

Ruminative thoughts are focused on negative aspects of the self. Examples of rumination include spending a lot of time thinking back over embarrassing or disappointing moments, or obsessing over recent things you've said or done.

Comment: Hiking in nature is cleansing to the mind, body and soul

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Evil Rays

The health effects of microwave radiation spelled out

Catherine J. Frompovich
Activist Post
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 17:10 UTC
microwave brain
One of the most definitive, expansive and inclusive peer-reviewed papers I've ever read on any subject was published July 25, 2016 online at Electronic Physician as an "open access article" that I sincerely hope everyone in the media and healthcare industries will take extremely seriously, especially those who are promoting more and more 'smart' appliances and devices that transmit electromagnetic frequencies and radiofrequencies—microwaves, which damage human health more than we are being told by government health agencies at all levels (local, state and national), manufacturers, employers and school districts that even mandate their uses as "new technologies" to learn and to implement.

New technologies are fine IF and WHEN they take into consideration and implement safeguards for human health, which is not the case with microwave technology, but has been the "dream warfare" technology for the United States military and other governments, so anything goes, including our being bombarded with so much microwaves, we now are experiencing more adverse health effects attributed to what's scientifically termed "Non-thermal Adverse Health Effects."

The U.S. military has had a GREAT interest in keeping microwave safety standards higher than they should be and not as applicable as the science demands. Dr Magda Havas, PhD, Environmental & Resource Studies, 1600 West Bank Drive, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada, K9J 7B8 on her website published the following incriminating unclassified U.S. Army documents information as to why microwaves are not safe, nor made safer, due to U.S. military involvement with its electronic warfare techniques, which harm everything.

Comment: See the following series of Sott articles for more information:

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