Health & WellnessS


Microscope 1

Gardening your microbiome: Self as superorganism

Julie Peters
spiritualityhealth.com
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:09 UTC
microbiome
Meet your microbiome
Every one of us houses trillions of bacterial cells and microorganisms whose DNA is not human DNA. Most of the self that we consider "me" is made up of these tiny creatures, many of whom come from our food, our environment, and the other people and animals we interact with.

Our microbiome is as individual to us as our fingerprint, and today researchers are learning more and more about how the flora and fauna on our skins, in our mouths, and especially in our guts affect not only our health but our happiness. The balance of bacteria living in the large intestine make up the chemical concoctions that give us moods—some figures say the gut produces 90 percent of the serotonin in our bodies.

We can definitely interpret this to mean we should eat more living foods, like fermented dairy and fresh produce, but I think it goes farther than that. I've started to think of my body as a superorganism: not just a "me" but a collection of little beings that I live in interaction with. I not only offer them food, but also sleep and stress and sunshine and comedy specials on Netflix and kisses—a single kiss can transfer 80 trillion bacteria. The people I choose to spend time with have their own individual microbiomes that interact with mine. If their body chemicals are not a good mix for me, I can feel it, smell it, even taste it—at least, if I'm close enough to kiss them.

Comment: Read more about the microbiome and the role microbes play in protecting and regulating the 'self as superorganism':

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Health

Mysterious illness affecting Kansas high school spreading to other district schools


KSNT.com
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 22:47 UTC
manhattan high school kansas mystery illness
A mysterious outbreak that's plagued Manhattan High School for two weeks has now expanded to the elementary and middle schools in the district, the superintendent said Friday. A district wide plan to clean all schools and buses in the district is underway.

State and local health officials have been unable to determine the cause of the sickness, which has sent about 150 high school students home from school with stomach issues, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Superintendent Marvin Wade calls the issue unusual and says "an unusually large number of students" are impacted.

Comment: Mystery illness continues to spread at Kansas high school; 67 afflicted

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Question

Could 'new' G.M.O. labeling stir a food revolution?

Mark Bittman
New York Times
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 14:56 UTC
GMO labeling
Big food and its allies spent roughly $100 million to counter the movement to force the labeling of foods produced with genetically modified organisms. And one could argue that they were successful: President Obama recently signed the weakest labeling law imaginable, and to most of the food movement, this felt like a loss.

But to be optimistic, perhaps rashly so, to me the law looks like a victory wrapped inside a defeat.

The new law mandates that the Department of Agriculture define what constitutes a genetically modified food ingredient and then requires food manufacturers to label products that contain them. Disappointment among labeling proponents stems from the latitude the law gives food companies in how this labeling is done.

Producers may use a text label, a symbol, a toll-free number that consumers can call for more information, or a code that can be scanned with a smartphone to link to a website. The new law tells consumers, "You deserve to know what's in your food, so we're going to tell you," while sending a not-too-subtle message to food companies: "Feel free to make this information as difficult to find as you'd like."

At first glance, it seems like another tacit agreement between government and industry to rob consumers of our right to know what's in our food.

Comment: Food experts say GMO labeling law is 'fake', would not 'truly' expose engineered food
Critics have also accused the law of trying to intentionally hide the information, by making it hard to access it. About a third of Americans - mostly elderly people and minorities - still don't use smartphones needed to scan QR codes with information, according to Statista.

"The reason why we are seeing such a burgeoning growth in the organic sector is because people realize that [GMO] labeling is really not there. They don't know what's in their food and they don't know the processes that have been used to produce their food," Kucinich said, stressing the importance of protecting the "USDA Organic" label.
"We have to make sure that organic labeling standards are maintained, because sadly, in this legislation there is a threat that GMO is may even be seen as a equivalent to organic," she said.
Both Kucinich and Baden-Mayer are confident that the newly signed legislation will face a backlash from consumers who are going to fight against it.


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Ambulance

Microbiomes of corpses: ICU patients helpful gut bacteria are depleted within days of hospital admission

Daisy Luther
DaisyLuther.com
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
hospital ICU loss gut bacteria
© txakel / FotoliaResearchers suspect that critical illness requiring a stay in the ICU is associated with the the loss of bacteria that help keep a person healthy. The new study, which prospectively monitored and tracked changes in bacterial makeup, delivers evidence for that hypothesis.
Sick people go to the hospital to get well, but there's now even more scientific evidence confirming that a visit to the hospital may a person even worse-off than they were to begin with. And now we know why.

A brand new study was released that has discovered that gut flora is reduced dramatically within DAYS of someone entering the hospital environment.

Here's why this is such a big deal.

Many of us have had a suspicion for quite some time that going into the hospital is not always good for your health. But recently, hospital-acquired diseases have begun affecting patients in record numbers. The overuse of antibiotics has contributed to not only antibiotic resistance but to the rise in cases of Clostridium difficile (commonly called C.diff), which can rapidly kill a person due to dehydration.

Comment: How your microbiome controls your health:

Our bodies are complex ecosystems made up of more than 100 trillion microbes that must be properly balanced if we are to remain healthy. Those organisms perform a multitude of functions in key biological systems, from supplying critical vitamins to fighting pathogens, modulating weight and metabolism. This army of organisms also makes up 70 percent of your immune system, "talking" directly to your body's natural killer T-cells so that they can tell apart your "friendlies" from dangerous invaders. Your microbiome also helps control how your genes express themselves.

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Syringe

Center for Disease Control gives itself unconstitutional powers to round up and detain citizens en masse

Catherine Frompovich
Activist Post
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
CDC prison
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention literally has overstepped its authority in proposing to grant itself powers that obviously negate any rights U.S. citizens thought they had by issuing the Proposed Rule "Control of Communicable Diseases" on August 15, 2016 wherein CDC willself-invest itself with the power to apprehend healthy people en masse and detain them indefinitely with NO process of appeal!

That mammoth proposed rule is published in the Federal Register [Federal Register Number: 2016-18103] online at this website. Before you read it, I suggest taking a very stiff shot of vodka or scotch, because you won't believe what you read that is being proposed for what is supposed to be a non-communist country and its people, the USA!

But, the CDC wants to hear your comments about the proposed rule, as if it really cares. Citizens should file your comments at this website before October 14, 2016! Officially, it's Comment No. CDC-2016-0068-0001.

This proposed CDC rule, in my opinion, is an "end run" or a "Hail Mary pass" around what's become a nightmare situation in the USA regarding Big Pharma's 'sacred cows'—vaccines and vaccinations—which many more healthcare consumers are waking up to being what they actually are: neurotoxic injections damaging children, adults and pets!
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Fish

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Evolutionary and Environmental Context

Dr. Josh Lamaro
PaleoOsteo.com
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:25 UTC
salmon transgenicos
© Eric Kilby/Flickr
In life, nothing ever remains the same for very long. One state is continually moving into another in a ceaseless flow of energy and information. Change, in this regard, is one of the essential characteristics of life. Seasonally, we see constant environmental shifts, such as the bright, high energy states of spring and summer, flowing into the darker, lower energy states like winter and autumn. On a smaller scale, similar shifts are seen on a daily basis between daylight and night time.

Such environmental changes elicit adaptive responses in all organisms, which can be observed seasonally in deciduous plants, for example, who lose their leaves in a process is called abscission. In some cases leaf loss coincides with winter — namely in temperate or polar climates.In other parts of the world, including tropical, subtropical, and arid regions, plants lose their leaves during the dry season or other seasons, depending on variations in rainfall. Abscission demonstrates a conservation of energy when resources for growth or proliferation become scarce.
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Arrow Up

Finally! FDA bans toxic triclosan from antibacterial hand soaps

Alex Formuzis
Environmental Working Group
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:04 UTC
tricolsan
The federal Food and Drug Administration announced today that triclosan, a toxic chemical ingredient associated with hormone disruption in people, will no longer be allowed in antibacterial hand soaps, which EWG noted as a significant success.

"This decision by the FDA is a huge victory on behalf of human health and the environment," said Ken Cook, co-founder and president of EWG. "EWG has been conducting research and advocating for this exact federal government action for nearly a decade, and our work, as well as that of other public interest groups and many of our supporters, has finally paid off."

"EWG research found industry adding this sketchy, endocrine-disrupting germ killer to all kinds of soaps and even to toothpaste. Nine years ago we found it at disturbing levels in San Francisco Bay," Cook added. "Worse yet, EWG studies detected the stuff in breast milk and in bodies of teenage girls. Clearly this is an industry that needed a good, swift kick in the triclosan. It took far too long, but today the FDA delivered."

In a first-of-its kind study, in 2008, EWG found triclosan and 15 other toxic chemicals in blood and urine of 20 teen girls from eight states and the District of Columbia.

Comment: Make sure to read labels, and be aware of the endocrine disrupting dangers of Triclosan in commonly used products:

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Take 2

Lunatic attack on free speech: The film VAXXED could be outlawed in California if Bill AB 1671 passes

Jon Rappoport
Activist Post
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 17:57 UTC
vaxxed
"Let's see, Mr. Reporter. You received an undercover recording of a medical researcher confessing his crimes. You posted the recording and wrote about it. You're the one who is guilty of a crime. Next case!"

"Wait, Your Honor! That recording is vital information for the public. It shows that a vaccine considered to be safe actually causes brain damage in children."

"No. It shows you violated the law by posting the recording. It was illegally made, and you aided and abetted and forwarded that crime. As I said, next case!"

Buckle up.

The shocking film Vaxxed (trailer) is drawing audiences all over the country. It details the confessions of a CDC researcher, William Thompson, who states that he and his colleagues buried data in a key study on the MMR vaccine.
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Health

Don't blame your genes for what ails you -- take control

Mae Chan
Prevent Disease
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:26 UTC
genes adn dna
© Foto ilustrativa / Pixbay.com
There is a chronic anxiety among populations who focus on the diseases acquired by their genetic line. Many define the potential of their own health based on what happened to their father and mother. Although a great deal of who we are appears to have been written in our genes, our actual health potential is more determined by our lifestyle, what we consume, our environment but more than anything else, what we think.

Every thought creates a physiological response in the body, or in other words, every thought we think produces a physical reality. Esoteric and spiritual teachers have known for ages that our body is programmable by language, words and thought. This has now been scientifically proven and explained.

Studies at the world-leading Minnesota Center for Twin and Family suggest that many of our traits are more than 50% inherited, including obedience to authority, vulnerability to stress, and risk-seeking. Researchers have even suggested that when it comes to issues such as religion and politics, our choices are much more determined by our genes than we think.

Comment: We cannot change ourselves or our health by simply sitting around wishing and imagining. It requires acquiring knowledge and applying that knowledge through action. A great start in going against your genetic history to improve health is through diet.

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Cell Phone

Skin issues - Are cellphones to blame?


CBS Pittsburgh
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 16:21 UTC
cell phone bacteria
© learn.sterilizers.com
Just about everyone has a cellphone and most of us are constantly on them.

Have you ever thought about just how dirty your phone is?

They're kind of gross if you think about it. As it turns out, our phones could be causing major skin issues.

"I don't really know how many hours per day, but I would say I am constantly on my phone talking to people," Brian Tomlinson said.

That's what gave Tomlinson a severe case of acne.

"I was actually pretty surprised you know, as much as you use your phone you never really think about it doing something like that to your face, but absolutely, it definitely makes sense that it would," he said.
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