Health & WellnessS


Eye 1

Sleep paralysis: A waking nightmare where sufferers can't move or speak

Brian Sharpless, Karl Doghramji
The Independent
Mon, 21 Sep 2015 00:00 UTC
sleep paralysis
© www.hetalvo.huSleep paralysis, an awake nightmare.
When most people hear the word 'nightmare' they think of a scary dream that may involve a person's teeth falling out, public humiliation, or being hunted by a scary monster. In these sorts of nightmares it is easy to know when the dream ends, as we are jarred awake and find ourselves surprisingly safe and secure in the comfortable confines of our bedroom. The original nightmare, however, was a different beast entirely.

This older conception was much more frightening and, in certain cultures, even believed to be life-threatening. Nightmares in this more archaic sense consisted of being:

(1) paralyzed except for your eyes
(2) oppressed (or feeling a weight on your chest)
(3) mute (i.e. unable to call out for help)

These three experiences all took place while you were clearly awake and, not surprisingly, also led to strong feelings of terror. Making matters worse (or at least scarier), nightmares usually had visual and tactile elements just as vivid as anything experienced in daily life.

Different times and cultures made sense of the nightmare in their own ways, and wove these experiences into many rich folklore traditions. Some people believed that the nightmare was an actual nocturnal assault (by demons, ghosts, vampires, witches or extraterrestrials). This resulted in attempts to prevent further attacks, like placing crosses in the bedroom, or even go on the offensive, i.e. sleeping with knives or other weapons.

Comment: Anyone who has had this experience first hand will tell you it is bizarre and disturbing. See also:
What makes sleep paralysis scary
Sleep paralysis linked to genetics, anxiety & stressful events
Brain Chemicals That Cause Sleep Paralysis Discovered

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Handcuffs

Psychiatry & organized crime

Dr. Kelly Brogan
kellybroganmd.com
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:25 UTC
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The science is settled.

Have you heard this proclamation before about a controversial medical topic?

I have, and it makes me smile. Or maybe smirk. It feels almost like my toddler frothing up a tantrum and yelling with a furrowed brow, when she knows, deep down, that she's backed herself into a corner.

We've heard it about the benign nature of GMOs & glyphosate, about vaccine safety and efficacy, about the danger of homebirth or the necessity of ultrasound. It is dangerous to be certain, let alone so aggressively and dismissively certain about science, which, by definition is a process rather than a destination.

Comment: The "institutional corruption" of Psychiatry: A discussion with the authors of Psychiatry Under the Influence
American psychiatry, as an institution, is not going to reform itself. The guild influence is too strong; so too the cognitive dissonance...

The field, as a whole, is too invested in a narrative born of guild interests, and it has shown little sign of the introspection, as an institution, that could lead it to seriously reform its ways...

We have a society that thinks there is a pill for every ill and a system that incentivizes the prescribing of pills. So there needs to be a paradigm shift, as well as public policy initiatives, that will foster an appreciation of the socio-political grounding of emotional distress.


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Dollars

Gigantic overnight increase in the price of the drug Daraprim

Andrew Pollack
New York Times
Sun, 20 Sep 2015 16:04 UTC
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© Paul Taggart/Bloomberg, via Getty ImagesMartin Shkreli is the founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which raised the price of the drug Daraprim to $750 a tablet from $13.50.
Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.

The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"What is it that they are doing differently that has led to this dramatic increase?" said Dr. Judith Aberg, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She said the price increase could force hospitals to use "alternative therapies that may not have the same efficacy."
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Dollar

Hedge fund buys rights to anti-parasite drug, hikes price by 5000%

Dartagnan
Daily Kos
Sun, 20 Sep 2015 23:05 UTC
drug prices
This is enough to make anyone sick. Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.
The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The hedge fund manager responsible for the price increase is named Martin Shkreli. Shkreli has a reputation as some type of wunderkind, having started his own hedge fund company while still in his 20's. Shkreli has already drawn attention for urging the FDA not to approve drugs made by companies whose stocks Shkreli was shorting. In July 20012, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for an investigation of Shkreli and others whom it charged were manipulating the prices of drug company stocks through blog posts intended to spread negative and purportedly misleading information about certain drugs. According to CREW, Mr. Shkreli has acknowledged he has no medical expertise whatsoever. His company stands to increase sales in the magnitude of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars from the price increase, according to the article.

Comment: These types of transactions are one reason for the exorbitant cost of medication in the U.S, and another example of psychopathy in action. Squeezing people mercilessly to slake their greed is but one of the psychopath's thrills.
U.S. prescription medicine costs are some of the highest in the world U.S. consumers spend more on medication than any other country in the OECD, with prescription medicines sometimes costing as much as double in the United States compared to countries like the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

US citizens loathe Big Pharma, study finds


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Monkey Wrench

How plumbing (not vaccines) eradicated disease

Joel Edwards
Organic Lifestyle Magazine
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 21:32 UTC
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Vaccines get all the glory, but most plumbers will tell you that it was water infrastructure - sewage systems and clean water - that eradicated disease, and they're right.

Disease Before Plumbing

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europeans despised all things Roman, including bathing. There was a widespread belief that getting wet caused illness. This contempt and fear of bathing persisted through the Dark Ages.

Comment: Historical Data Shows Vaccines are Not what Saved Us

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Sun

Burn: Negative health Impacts of sunscreen found to be worse than UV damage!

Marie Be
Wake Up World
Sat, 10 May 2014 19:29 UTC
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© eco-chick.com
It has long been known that sunscreen products are detrimental to our health. But how bad? And what is worse: UV damage, chemical sunscreens or mineral sunscreens? Would there be any alternative ways to protect the skin against UV rays, without necessarily hiding behind an umbrella all day?

Safe sun protection seems like another topic overloaded with information, where nothing seems quite clear. This article makes sense of the whole issue by gathering independent scientific data from worldwide sources and linking it to how your body reacts to sunscreen ingredients and UV rays. While undertaking this research, we've even discovered alternative and natural ways to protect your skin against UV rays!

Comment: Listen to the Vitamin D and Sun Exposure discussion on The Health and Wellness Show for more information about the importance of sun exposure and the evil ingredients in chemical sunscreens.

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Health

When disaster strikes are you prepared?


The Prepper Journal
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:59 UTC
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When planning for disaster, we run through scenarios in our mind and those scenarios give us a visual baseline for which we make plans. As preppers we talk a lot about the steps you can take right now to get prepared so that you will have a plan, supplies and options for when that disaster may strike. Often preparedness deals with the immediate effects of disaster like having a vehicle to bug out or having plenty of food and water to deal with shortages. The next logical step from that is a longer term plan, but those long term prepping plans usually revolve around extensions of those same basic needs: Food, Water, Shelter and Security.

Comment: More info:
Preparing yourself is the most optimistic and hopeful thing you can do in a world that would prefer to choose immediate gratification over a firm grasp on reality. Readying yourself to deal with whatever might happen is joyful act, an expression of gratitude to the Creator, peace made tangible, and the personification of faith itself.
  • SHOCK: 72 hours after grid-down: Starvation, supply shortages, food lines, no clean water, no gas, transportation standstill


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Health

Relieving acid reflux with essential oils

Maxx Joseph
NaturalHealth365
Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:00 UTC
essential oil
Acid reflux refers to a condition where the acid produced in the stomach goes back to the esophagus. It is experienced as a burning sensation below your breastbone and results in a number of symptoms, for instance, bloating, difficulty swallowing, and indigestion.

In addition, acid reflux is caused by various factors, for instance, lying down after eating a large meal, alcohol, eating acidic foods, pregnancy, and a leaky gut.

The good news is that it is possible to relieve acid reflux with the help of a few essential oils. These oils come from plants and are extracted through a distillation process. Essential oils have been used for therapeutic and healing purposes for centuries. Using them will promote faster healing for your ailment while using an all-natural solution.

Comment: For more information on the causes of acid reflux and how to heal your digestive system, see:

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Water

Stop drinking fluoridated water immediately: Fifty reasons why

Alex Pietrowski
Waking Times
Tue, 15 Sep 2015 18:12 UTC
fluoride nuke
Public water fluoridation continues to be one of the most controversial health topics in the United States and in other parts of the world. The American Dental Association (ADA) has been, and continues to be, one of the biggest proponents of water fluoridation, although eventhe government has recently admitted that fluoride may not actually be helping teeth. More scientific studies pointout that fluoride is actually very dangerous, yet this practice continues in many countries.
In Europe, only Ireland (73%), Poland (1%), Serbia (3%), Spain (11%), and the U.K. (11%) fluoridate any of their water. Most developed countries, including Japan and 97% of the western European population, do not consume fluoridated water.

In the U.S., about 70% of public water supplies are fluoridated. This equates to approximately 185 million people, which is over half the number of people drinking artificially fluoridated water worldwide. (Source)
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TV

Consumer culture 'feeding' body image anxiety

William Njobvu
Russian Times
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:51 UTC
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Consumerism could be crippling the mentally ill, RT's William Njobvu finds, as one Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) sufferer reveals she turned suicidal as a result of "poisonous" mass media decreeing the 'perfect body.'

Worrying about physical appearances can be common. But for some people these concerns can escalate and, if allowed to ferment without help, develop into BDD.

Sufferers experience daily torment about their real or perceived flaws.

They are often mistaken for being vain or self-obsessed, but in reality they are disgusted by the thought of their own appearance.

Unable to control such negative self-assessments, BDD sufferers dismiss anyone trying to convince them otherwise.
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