Health & WellnessS


Health

Taiwan sees 37% increase in gonorrhea cases

Robert Herriman
Outbreak News Today
Sat, 02 Apr 2016 15:21 UTC
Gonorrhea
© CBS
Taiwan health officials are urging the public to avoid unsafe sex in light of the new numbers on gonorrhea cases on the island released earlier this week.

According to the surveillance data compiled by Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the number of gonorrhea cases reported increased from 2,622 in 2014 to 3,584 in 2015, reflecting a 37% increase. Moreover, the increase in the number of infected women (41%) is higher than that in the number of infected men (36%).

Further, a 47% increase in cases aged between 10 and 19 from 2014 to 2015 has been observed. Although the number of reported cases among underage girls is only a few, an 107% increase in the number of reported cases among girls aged between 10 and 19 from 2011 to 2015 has been observed, which is higher than the 102% increase in the number of reported cases among boys in the same age group.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused the bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This bacterium can infect the genital tract, mouth and rectum of both men and women. Ejaculation does not have to occur for the disease to be transmitted. It can also be transmitted from mother to baby during delivery.

Symptoms of gonorrhea usually appear with 2 to 5 days after sexual contact with an infected partner, occasionally symptoms make take longer to appear.

Men have symptoms more often than women and they may include; a white, yellow or green discharge from the penis with pain, burning sensations during urination, and painful, swollen testicles.In women, infection may be asymptomatic. If present, the early symptoms of gonorrhea are often mild. The first symptoms in women are frequently; painful or burning sensations when urinating, an increase in discharge (yellow or bloody) and bleeding after intercourse.
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Cell Phone

Flashback The Complete Guide to Breaking Your Smartphone Habit

Brett and Kate McKay
The Art of Manliness
Mon, 22 Feb 2016 13:54 UTC
Break the smartphone habit
Smartphones are magical.

A device that's small enough to fit in your pocket, allows you to instantly communicate with virtually anyone on earth, take breathtaking photos, and access humanity's collected knowledge. Amazing!

But like any magical implement, the smartphone's power can be so consuming that all you want to do is stare into its comforting, glowing, little screen and cling to it like Gollum does his "Precious" in The Lord of the Rings.
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Red Flag

Vaccine Hesitancy: A new mental disease?

John P. Thomas
Health Impact News
Wed, 30 Mar 2016 12:28 UTC
vaccine hesitancy
There is a new affliction that is threatening the world population. It is so new that it hasn't even been officially declared to be a disease, but the World Health Organization and bioethicists are already waving the red flag of warning.

Do You Have "Vaccine Hesitancy?"

The World Health Organization (WHO) is very concerned about the problem of "vaccine hesitancy," which they say is threatening the effectiveness of their worldwide vaccination program. In short, some parents are not automatically allowing their babies to be vaccinated even though such services are available. They are pausing, thinking, and in many cases walking away with their babies in their arms, and leaving the vaccine filled hypodermic syringes to be used for someone else. Adults also are not responding to calls for receiving vaccines even when they are free.

As always, WHO is on the quest for 100% compliance with all vaccine schedules, and is warning the world that vaccine hesitancy is causing unnecessary illness and death. They believe that 1.5 million children die each year from causes that could be prevented by vaccines. [1, 2]
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Heart - Black

Sustainable profits: Corporate agribusiness globalizing bad food and poor health

Colin Todhunter
Global Research
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
pesticide, big agriculture
The proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2013. Globally, cancer is already the second-leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases.

In India, government data indicates that cancer showed a 5 percent increase in prevalence between 2012 and 2014 with the number of new cases doubling between 1990 and 2013. The incidence of cancer for some major organs in India is the highest in the world. Reports have also drawn attention to rising rates of breast cancer in urban areas, and, in 2009, there was a reported increase in cancer rates in Tamil Nadu's textile belt, possibly due to chemically contaminated water.

The increase in prevalence of diabetes is also worrying. By 2030, the number of diabetes patients in India is likely to rise to 101 million (World Health Organisation estimate). The number doubled to 63 million in 2013 from 32 million in 2000. Almost 8.2 percent of the adult male population in India has diabetes. The figure is 6.8 percent for women.

In India, almost 76,000 men and 52,000 women in the 30-69 age group died due to diabetes in 2015, according to the WHO. The organisation reports South-East Asia had a diabetic population of around 47 million, which is expected to reach 119 million by 2030.

A new study in The Lancet has found that India and China continue to have the largest number of underweight people in the world; however, both countries have broken into the top five in terms of obesity.

Comment: Further reading:

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Health

Low levels of thyroid hormone in the blood raises type 2 diabetes risk


Science Daily
Sat, 02 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
thyroid
Having too little thyroid hormone in the blood--even in the low-normal range--raises the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, especially in people with prediabetes, a new study in nearly 8,500 people finds. The study results will be presented Sunday at the Endocrine Society's 98th annual meeting in Boston.

Prediabetes is a mild elevation in blood glucose, or sugar, level that usually occurs before diabetes develops. One of every 10 people with prediabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes every year, according to the Hormone Health Network.

In the new study, the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over long-term follow-up increased by 13 percent for people with low thyroid function--often called underactive thyroid gland or hypothyroidism--or even those with low-normal thyroid function. However, the diabetes risk was up to 40 percent higher for individuals with reduced thyroid function if they already had prediabetes, the investigators reported.

"These findings suggest we should consider screening people with prediabetes for low thyroid function," said lead investigator Layal Chaker, MD, of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Comment: Supplementing with iodine can help to normalize the body's thyroid function and can improve or even heal hypothyroidism without the use of synthetic drugs.

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Syringe

It's time to put the vaccine sacred cow out to pasture

Catherine J. Frompovich
Activist Post
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 20:28 UTC
The graphic below indicates that VACCINE-DERIVED POLIOVIRUSES have been known, and apparently tracked, since 1962 and yet those very vaccines are still being given to developing countries' children under the guise of polio prevention! What is it that the pro-vaccine contingent doesn't get?
vaccine induced polio
© cdc
Apparently, pro-vaxxers may believe that the moon is made of green cheese, too! Vaccines cause the very diseases they are supposed to 'immunize' against. How's that efficacious? It certainly is efficacious for vaccine makers' financial interests [1], but certainly not for those who contract vaccine-induced polio or experience the adverse events associated with many vaccines, particularly the HPV 'anti-cervical cancer' vaccines [2], which are now given to young boys, who don't have cervixes.
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Whistle

Comedian Jim Carrey criticizes U.S. government for allowing Big Pharma to influence policy


healthyholisticliving.com
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 09:50 UTC
Jim Carey
Comedian and actor Jim Carrey has been making a name for himself as an activist in recent years as he attacks the government for the influence big corporations have on it, and lately his attacks have been directed at Big Pharma's monetary leverage over policy and legislation.

In July 2015, Carrey went on a long Twitter rant that called out Governor Jerry Brown of California for being a "corporate fascist" after Brown approved legislation to make vaccines mandatory. Whatever your stance on vaccines might be, Carrey's position is interesting because he is both pro-vaccine but critical of governments forcing citizens to be vaccinated because the health risks haven't been fully evaluated and reported. Carrey's exact tweet that faced a lot of criticism before he elaborated read, "California Gov says yes to poisoning more children with mercury and aluminum in mandatory vaccines. This corporate fascist must be stopped."
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Life Preserver

Fast for longevity and health

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 21:37 UTC
empty plate
The types and quality of food you eat influences more than how much you weigh. Food has an effect on your metabolism, insulin production, leptin release and a myriad of other hormonal and chemical balances.

Scientists are also examining the way fasting affects cellular and mitochondrial function, and longevity.

They've found the cells in your body react to fasting in much the same way as they do to exercise. In other words, when placed under stress — be it exercise or fasting - the reaction creates changes at the cellular level that helps extend your lifespan.1

For starters, fasting shifts your body from using glucose as its primary fuel to fat, and being an efficient fat-burner benefits your health beyond weight loss.

Comment: For more on fasting see the following articles:

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Light Saber

Vaxxed premiers In New York City, full review

Luke Rudkowski
Activist Post
Fri, 01 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
De Bigtree
Producer of Vaxxed Del Bigtree, at its premiere at Angelika Film Center
In this video Luke Rudkowski goes to the premier of Vaxxed in NYC and gives his full review of the film. We show you how many people showed up to the premier and what happened inside. The controversial film was pulled from the Tribeca film festival by Robert De Niro after a media backlash, but was able to premier at another theater. The film is currently playing in limited theaters in NYC to find out more check out http://www.vaxxedthemovie.com/

Comment: For more background about this front line battle in the war of vaccine information see:


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Arrow Up

Gut microbes and the Thyroid: What's the connection?

Chris Kresser
Chris Kresser
Wed, 23 Mar 2016 00:00 UTC
male thyroid diagram
While there are many factors that influence thyroid function, recent research suggests that gut health may be a key player. The trillions of microbes that reside in your gut have a profound influence on the production of hormones in the body—including thyroid hormones. Read on to find out if a disrupted gut microbiota might be contributing to your thyroid problem, and learn how healing your gut could improve your thyroid function.

A central principle of functional medicine is addressing the underlying cause of a disease, as opposed to just treating symptoms. In a previous article on the blog, I discussed the connection between overall gut health and the thyroid. In this article, we'll focus on the microbes themselves and the many ways in which they are connected to thyroid function.

Comment: Maintaining and improving gut health can go a long way towards improving one's health, both physical and mental/emotional, overall. Iodine is actually a powerful tool to aid in this process, since it's critically essential not only for the thyroid, but for every cell in the body, and it's a potent anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic, so it can help eliminate SIBO and other pathogens of the gut. Considering that 96% of people tested for Iodine test low, it's highly likely that almost everyone needs more iodine. For more information, see Iodine - Suppressed knowledge that can change your life

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