Health & WellnessS


Question

How common viruses can turn cells cancerous

Common viruses may play a bigger role in cancer than anyone thought.

It is well known that certain viruses can trigger specific cancers. Human papillomavirus, for example, causes around 93 per cent of cancers of the cervix. Now Dominik Duelli and Yuri Lazebnik at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and colleagues have found evidence for how they might do it.

During tumour development, the chromosomes of affected cells often become wildly rearranged, but no one knew why. Duelli and Lazebnik suspected that cell fusion - when two or more cells unite by merging membranes - might be to blame. Several common viruses can initiate this process.

Evil Rays

A drug to fend off radiation

Emergency workers attending the scene of a "dirty" bomb or nuclear blast could soon have a drug to help protect them.

People exposed to radioactive material often die weeks later of acute radiation syndrome, as blood cells vital to clotting and fighting infection die off, and bone marrow cells killed by radiation cannot replace them. There is currently no preventive treatment.

Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, California, now reports that 5-androstenediol (AED), an adrenal gland hormone that stimulates marrow-cell growth, cuts the death rate among monkeys exposed to 6 grays of radiation - usually enough to kill 32 per cent of them - to 12 per cent, mainly by boosting blood platelets (International Immunopharmacology, vol 7, p 500).

Document

Busy Intersections Invite People To Walk More

People are more likely to go for a walk in areas with four-way intersections and a large number of shops and businesses as possible destinations, a large new study finds.

The study examined pedestrian trips in 10 major U.S. cities to determine to what extent urban design guidelines increase walking.

Only two of four smart growth criteria investigated held up as reasons for walking the presence of four-way intersections and a diverse business environment.

The other two housing density and the length of a city block did not appear to have any impact on the probability of walking, the study found.

Evil Rays

DU in Hawai'i

While weapons made with depleted uranium can penetrate any substance known to man, the issues surrounding the use of this radioactive, heavy metal are having a much harder time sinking in.

Here in Hawai'i, Linda Faye Kroll is a retired nurse who has dedicated her life to educating the public about the dangers of military toxics. When Representative Josh Green introduced H.B. 1452 this legislative session, he created a forum for Kroll and others to voice their concerns.

Comment: Our planet is small. DU is very likely everywhere at this point - those who run the most powerful military on the planet do so with tons of poison that will affect life on this planet for hundreds and thousands of years to come. When a pathocracy is the sole superpower on a planet, there is nowhere to go but down.


No Entry

Food for thought: Russia joins the battle over GM products

On July 1, the city of Moscow will introduce a voluntary system of food labels indicating that a product does not contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients.

Europe has recently been engaged in a battle with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which, taking its cue from the United States, Canada and Argentina, considers the European Union's moratorium on GM products illegal. Meanwhile, Europeans have been collecting signatures and protesting against GM foods. In the United States, a lawsuit was filed against the Department of Agriculture after it legalized the commercial production of genetically modified alfalfa sprouts. The court found the agency's actions illegal. All these events, which involve environmental, agricultural, social and political issues, unfolded during the month of February, highlighting the high profile taken on by the GM controversy. Nevertheless, it would be naive to expect the world to adopt a unified stance on the issue.

Health

Peanut Butter Recalls Spread to Ice Cream & Desserts

The Food and Drug Administration reports that its inspectors have found salmonella samples at ConAgra's Georgia plant and, as the investigation of salmonella-tainted peanut butter widens, the recall has spread to ice cream manufacturers and a wholesale retailer of a peanut butter dessert topping.

Syringe

HPV vaccine maker, Merck, gave $50K to GOP and Gov. Perry

Austin - The maker of an anti-cancer vaccine that Gov. Rick Perry mandated for Texas schoolgirls contributed $50,000 to a GOP fundraiser chaired by the governor, but a spokesman for the organization said Tuesday that the donation had nothing to do with Perry's controversial order.

Merck & Co. has contributed $50,000 a year for at least the past six years, said Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

Health

Man with 'extreme' TB may be jailed until death

A man infected with an especially virulent strain of tuberculosis has spent eight months in a hospital jail ward under a court order and may be held until he dies.

Robert Daniels has not been charged with a crime, but the 27-year-old violated the rules of a voluntary quarantine, exposing others to a potentially deadly illness. Maricopa County public health officials got a court order to keep him locked up.
The TB strain Daniels has is so dangerous that he has never met his appointed lawyer, Robert Blecher, who describes the situation as "extremely unusual."

Cheeseburger

Food and Your Moods

Are you an emotional basket case who can't get by without comfort food? If you had more strength, could you power through your problems without overeating? Should you feel ashamed of yourself for needing emotional sustenance from foods? No! I hope to help you understand why you are using food as self-medication. It's not because you are weak willed, it's because you're low in certain brain chemicals. You don't have enough of the brain chemicals that should naturally be making you emotionally strong and complete.

Attention

Warnings sought on kids' cold medicine

Washington - Government health officials said Friday they are reviewing whether popular medicines like Tylenol Plus Cold & Cough and Infant Triaminic Thin Strips are safe and effective in treating children's colds and coughs.

Disclosure of the ongoing review, which will take months to complete, came as critics charged that many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies can harm toddlers and preschoolers. Those critics, including public health officials and pediatricians, are pushing the government for stricter warnings to prevent life-threatening overdoses.