Health & Wellness
In one study, 70% of gluten intolerant patients had social phobias. Depression was found in 52%. These are neurological manifestations of the disease, or are related to the disease, and they're not the only ones either.
Italian researchers found that 22.5% of the patients with gluten intolerance had headaches, depression, epilepsy, & nerve entrapment syndromes such as carpal tunnel syndrome, and peripheral neuropathy.
The immune system was clearly involved in about 42% of the patients, as antibody reactivity to neural(nerve) antigens was detected. Interestingly, those who had antibodies to neural antigens did not necessarily have neurological problems. This indicates that these problems may take awhile to manifest.
Also noted was that if patients changed to a traditional gluten free diet, the follow-up lab work still revealed the same antibodies. In other words, only eliminating wheat, barley, and rye, didn't change the immune system response in those with gluten sensitivity.
Source:
J Neuroimmunol, March 2008, Vol. 195, No. 1-2, pg. 171-75. Epub March 17, 2008.
Source:
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2006;77:1262-1266.
In order to cut costs during its severe debt crisis, Greece had announced it would pay drug companies 25 percent less for their products, but this loss of profit was enough to convince several pharmaceutical companies supplying key drugs to the country to initiate their own medical blockade where they simply refuse to deliver any more medicines.
In doing this, Big Pharma shows its true character. When the profits are flowing and the companies are raking in full-price profits, they're your best friend. But when budgets get tight and everybody is asked to take a cut, Big Pharma betrays your country and its citizens, withholding medicines in a thinly-veiled blackmail attempt to force you to cough up more cash.
"Events are revealing that many of the things we take for granted, like bank accounts, fuel and food, are vulnerable," he writes. "If we value civilization, the litmus test for economic success should not be short-term profitability, but resilience in the face of climatic extremes and resource shortages."
Simms notes that the assumptions of the free market have led to an economic system focused on producing the greatest cost savings rather than the greatest sustainability. This has led many First World countries to turn away from producing food domestically in favor of cheaper (and more profitable) imports.
These instances are referred to as "never" events, meaning they are never supposed to happen. But even though they are reported in a small percentage of surgeries, they occur with alarming regularity.
Surgical equipment inadvertently left inside patients after procedures and operations accounts for the second-most-common preventable adverse event in acute care, behind serious pressure ulcers, or bed sores.
Academics from five British institutions, including Oxford University, will study the brains of troubled youngsters in an attempt to prove that their 'wiring' was affected by the abuse or neglect they suffered as toddlers.
They will use scans to determine whether some brain areas are over-active and other parts are under-used.
The Peace of Mind project, commissioned by the charity Kids Company, will also look at whether providing such youngsters with surrogate parenting and loving care has a positive effect on the brain.
Kids Company chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh said: 'Most of us are only programmed to be frightened for short periods without getting some relief.
'But the 1.5million children who are abused and neglected every year in the UK are actually being frightened chronically without rest or relief. The consequence is often disturbed behaviours and violence.

Overhyped headlines aside, most of the human studies on chocolate's effects have so far been small and of short duration and have ties to chocolate makers.
It's every sweet tooth's dream. A steady stream of studies has linked chocolate to a variety of health benefits, including decreased blood pressure, lower cholesterol, reduced risk of heart disease, even effects on mood.
But the evidence, all of it, is preliminary.

Jim Cochran of organic grower Swanton Berry Farms checks his strawberries, a crop on which methyl iodide often is used.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has proposed registering methyl iodide as a pesticide in California to the dismay of scientists and environmental groups, who say it is so toxic that even chemists are reluctant to handle it.
The chemical will become legal for growers to use after a 60-day comment period ending June 29 unless there is some kind of public outcry.
Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day - and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it's exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn't have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.
Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food - fiber!
Fiber has so many health benefits that I want to focus on it in this week's blog. I'll explain some of its benefits and give you nine tips you can begin using today to get more fiber in your diet. I'll also tell you about my favorite "super-fiber" that can help you increase your total fiber intake overnight.
Naps help Constance Kobylarz Wilde, 58, recharge, especially if she takes them right after lunch. Wilde, a marketing manager and health blogger in Mountain View, California, is constantly juggling her schedule as a working mom and family caregiver. She's up by 6 a.m. every day and tries to go to bed by 10:30 p.m., but unanticipated issues often push her bedtime later.
"I can't do all-nighters anymore or get six hours of sleep without it beginning to affect me," she says.
So to combat fatigue and stay on top of things at work and at home, Wilde has made power naps a regular part of her routine, setting an alarm for a short snooze.











Comment: For more information about the negative health effects of gluten read the following articles carried on SOTT:
The Dark Side of Wheat - New Perspectives on Celiac Disease and Wheat Intolerance
Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease