Health & WellnessS


Syringe

Vaccine failure: Vaccinated people are spreading the mumps

mumps
© onenewspage.comA mumps outbreak at Harvard University has affected 40 members of the school community.
Vaccines are a very lucrative business. Pfizer's vaccine Prevnar, which targets 13 strains of pneumococcus bacteria, generated $6.25 billion in revenue last year. And that's just one vaccine.1

Even ineffective vaccines allow vaccine makers to make a mint. One of the most obvious vaccine failures is the mumps vaccine (part of the measles, mumps, rubella, aka MMR).

Again and again, outbreaks among vaccinated populations occur, yet rarely is the truth of the situation addressed, namely the fact that the vaccine is ineffective and doesn't work as advertised.

In 2010, two virologists filed a federal lawsuit against Merck, their former employer, alleging the vaccine maker engaged in improper testing and data falsification to artificially inflate the efficacy rating of their mumps vaccine.

For details on how they allegedly pulled this off, read Dr. Suzanne Humphries' excellent summary,2 which explains in layman's terms how the tests were manipulated.

Just about every media outlet reported the lawsuit, and the hundreds of millions of dollars Merck was said to have defrauded from the U.S. government by selling a vaccine of questionable effectiveness.

As reported by Reuters3 last year, Merck's behavior in and of itself suggests they're trying to cover up fraud:
"Attorneys at Constantine Cannon, who represent the scientists, asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne Sitarski of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to compel Merck to respond to their discovery request, which asks the company to give the efficacy of the vaccine as a percentage.
Instead of answering the question, the letter said, Merck has been consistently evasive, using 'cut-and-paste' answers saying it cannot run a new clinical trial to determine the current efficacy, and providing only data from 50 years ago.
'Merck should not be permitted to raise as one of its principal defenses that its vaccine has a high efficacy, which is accurately represented on the product's label, but then refuse to answer what it claims that efficacy actually is,' the letter said."
So why are people still surprised when mumps outbreaks occur? And why are the unvaccinated still blamed for most disease outbreaks, even when most of the infected are vaccinated?

Comment: Vaccine failure is well established: Malignant mumps in MMR vaccinated children

A recent study revealed that the MMR vaccine, despite generating high rates of presumably protective IgG antibodies against mumps, does not always translate into real-world immunity against infection as we have repeatedly been told. To the contrary, the study details cases where, despite the detection of high levels of antibodies against the mumps virus, patients contracted a malignant form of mumps that only rarely follows from natural, community acquired infection.

Mumps vaccine proves ineffective

A pro-vaccine researcher has even admitted that the effectiveness of the mumps vaccine is "not so good". A CDC study of a 2009 - 2010 mumps outbreak in the northeastern US found that a full 77% of those sickened in 2009 outbreak had been vaccinated.


Health

Yellow fever outbreak: Experts call on WHO to respond to latest global health 'emergency'

yellow fever
© AFPExpert call on WHO to set emergency committee to tackle emerging yellow fever outbreak.
Medical experts have called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene an emergency committee in an effort to tackle an emerging epidemic of yellow fever infection across the world.

Two experts from Georgetown University Medical Center wrote to the WHO to immediately hold the meeting to decide a response to the new outbreak, which is becoming the latest global health emergency.

Professor Daniel Lucey and Lawrence Gostin urged the health organization to "mobilize funds, coordinate an international response, and spearhead a surge in vaccine production."

In return, the WHO said that holding an emergency committee meeting on yellow fever was "under discussion."

The experts also said the world's health advocates should not have to call for convening an emergency committee for each new international health threat.

Instead, the organization "should establish a standing emergency committee" to decide how to respond as new threats emerge, they said.

"Prior delays by the WHO in convening emergency committees for the Ebola virus, and possibly the on-going Zika epidemic, cost lives and should not be repeated," wrote the experts.

Comment: All eyes on Africa: Yellow Fever is the latest viral outbreak fear-mongering campaign


Fish

Avoid these foods from China filled with plastic, pesticides and cancer-causing chemicals

China
Generally speaking, quality control and employee health are not issues that Chinese industry or the Chinese government are overly concerned about, especially in comparison to U.S. and European standards. But there are some foods and products you should definitely avoid completely if they are produced by the Asian giant.

Comment: See also: Chinese still producing plastic rice which causes serious digestive issues and can be fatal
  • Grave error: China pans to become GMO giant



Pills

The illusion of truth effect: Why so many people fall for celebrity health advice

Kim Kardashian
The human mind is built for simplicity. Add the simplicity of a message with an attractive messenger and you have human programming 101. The amount of self-appointed insta-health gurus touting medications, toxic supplements and fad diets is at an all-time high and people fall for it every time. But why?

This is what psychologists call the illusion of truth effect, a type of cognitive fluency which arises at least partly because familiarity breeds liking. As we are exposed to a message again and again from attractive messengers or those of status, it becomes more familiar. Because of the way our minds work, what is familiar is also true. Familiar things require less effort to process and that feeling of ease unconsciously signals truth.

Light Saber

The agroecology alternative to Monsanto and militarism

traditional farm india
© Rajarshi MITRA via Flickr (CC BY)Farmers on the storm ... Madhya Pradesh, 31st July 2013.
US Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders recently tweeted: "It is no mystery why Monsanto fights against our right to know about GMOs in food - business is booming for this huge chemical company."

Supporters of GMO are fond of telling everyone that this technology will 'feed the world' and those who oppose it are below the standards of common decency.

But Sanders hits the nail on the head by implying commercial interests and huge profits take precedence over concern for the public good. Labelling would lead to consumers rejecting food containing GMOs.

Monsanto makes huge annual profits, and, as its front men, CEO Hugh Grant and VP Robb Fraley are amply rewarded. Grant brought in just under $12m in 2015. Fraley raked in just under $3.4m. In January 2015, Monsanto reported a profit of $243m (down from $368m the previous year).

In the meantime, millions of India farmers live on a knife-edge thanks to them having been encouraged to experiment with the Monsanto's GM cotton. Read about the case of Bharat Dogra here whose shift to GM cotton as a result of heavy pressure from company sales agents proved disastrous. His case is not a one-off.

A strong link has been discovered between economic distress among Indian farmers and the planting of Monsanto's GM cotton.

With a legal obligation to maximise profits for shareholders, Monsanto seems less concerned with the impacts of its products on public health (whether in Argentina or the US) or the conditions of Indian farmers and more concerned with roll-outs of its highly profitable disease-associated weed-killer (Roundup) and its GM seeds.

Comment: For generations India sustained one of the highest densities of population on earth, without any chemical fertilizers, pesticides, exotic dwarf strains of grain or 'bio-tech' inputs, and without degrading the soil. In the 18th and 19th centuries India achieved better productivity levels with organic methods than those of the 'green revolution'.

Organic agriculture, capitalism and the parallel reality of the Pro-GMO evangelist - Shanthu Shantharam


Health

New study reveals: Traditional food puts chemotherapy to shame

noni fruit

A traditional food plant that has been used for thousands of years to improve health and well-being, is finally being validated by science. The results? It may be far superior to a chemotherapy agent with deadly side effects and dubious efficacy.


Increasingly, an awareness of the power of commonly used traditional plants to prevent and even treat cancer is coming to the forefront. In fact, GreenMedInfo.com now houses one of the largest open access databases on the topic, with over 3,000 studies on the value of over 650 natural substances as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. You can take a look here.

Now, a powerful new study published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry provides evidence that a traditional food consumed in the tropics as vegetables — Morinda citrifolia (Noni) leaves — may be the ideal complementary therapy or functional food in the prevention or management of lung cancer.

Donut

Never make a decision when hungry: Hormone released before meals makes you more impulsive and less rational

hormone ghrelin
© James Steidl / FotoliaWhen hungry, the hormone ghrelin is produced in the stomach. In a new study conducted on rats, the hormone has been shown to have a negative effect on decision making capabilities and impulse control.
Never make a decision when you are hungry. The hormone ghrelin -- that is released before meals and known to increase appetite -- has a negative effect on both decision making and impulse control. Such were the results of a recently conducted study at Sahlgrenska University.

When hungry, the hormone ghrelin is produced in the stomach. In a new study conducted on rats at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, the hormone has been shown to have a negative effect on decision making capabilities and impulse control.

"For the first time, we have been able to show that increasing ghrelin to levels that are seen prior to meals or during fasting, causes the brain to act impulsively and also affects the ability to make rational decisions," says Karolina Skibicka, docent at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

Comment: Yet, another reason why it's better to be a fat-burner, rather than a sugar burner. Depending on sugar for your primary source of fuel means you will be hungry more often and that you must eat regularly because your moods and thinking are dependent upon a steady supply of fuel. If you instead adapt your body to burning fat for fuel as with a ketogenic diet, you are sustained for much longer periods of time; energy levels are more constant which allows for clearer thinking and stable moods. The natural dietary fat you eat quickly fills you up and leaves you less hungry, with cravings rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

For more information on how to successfully implement a ketogenic diet, see:


Info

The porn debate: Why should public health scholars study pornography?

Porn
© shutterstock
Determining what's dangerous or healthful for the public is not always simple.

On April 19, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert signed a resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis.

The resolution has sparked debate, but for most public health experts, the idea that pornography has some relevance to our health as a society isn't too controversial.

This topic is in my wheelhouse. I am a public health researcher and teacher, and have conducted several studies on adolescent pornography use. Personally, I do think pornography is a public health issue; it has implications for sexual and reproductive health promotion, and violence prevention.

Comment: Fifty shades of filth: The glorification and acceptance of pornography reveals society's moral bankruptcy
"The porn industry has hijacked the sexuality of an entire culture and is laying waste to a whole generation of boys," she warned. "And when you lay waste to a generation of boys, you lay waste to a generation of girls."...
Along with the rise of pornography there has been an explosion in sex-related violence, including domestic abuse, rape and gang rape. A rape is reported every 6.2 minutes in the United States, but the estimated total, taking into account unreported assaults, is perhaps five times higher, as Rebecca Solnit points out in her book Men Explain Things to Me.



Ladybug

Put down the pills & pick up a shovel: Gardening makes you happier & smarter

gardening
"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul." - Alfred Austin

Gardeners have been knowing for centuries that their hobby gives them joy and peace. In today's fast-paced world, gardening has become a form of stress therapy for many. There is even an organization called the American Horticultural Therapy Association, which is "committed to promoting and developing the practice of horticultural therapy as a unique and dynamic human service modality."

The first Saturday of May is World Naked Gardening Day, a growing annual tradition that represents the ultimate act of getting in touch with nature. Even if you remain clothed, there is a uniquely good feeling about interacting with plants and the soil.

Comment: Getting high on dirt
How Dirt Might Improve Cognitive Function

Mycobacterium antidepressant microbes in soil may also help to improve cognitive function, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis by boosting levels of cytokine, which, in turn, promotes the production of higher levels of serotonin.

To put this theory into practice, bacterium was tested both by injection and ingestion on rats, with results showing an increase in cognitive ability, a reduction in stress, and an improvement in concentration on tasks in comparison to a control group.

Gardeners may reap the benefits as they inhale the bacteria, get it on their hands, and even into their bloodstreams through an open wound or other pathway for infection. It's been found that the natural effects of the soil bacteria antidepressant can last up to 3 weeks.



Life Preserver

Stinging Nettle heals allergy related inflammation

nettle tea
Many of us look forward to Spring. The weather warms up. We start spending more time outdoors. Plants are growing, and flowers are blooming everywhere. When spring is in the air, so is pollen. For those of us with seasonal allergies, spring is not as lovely. Fortunately, nature has a way with timing and can really help us out if we pay attention.

In the spring, just as all those flowers, grasses and trees are blooming and releasing clouds of pollen, stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are popping up in full force, ready to come to the rescue. Not only are they an amazing superfood and an all around useful medicinal plant, nettles work wonders for reducing inflammation.