We've all heard the bad news that sitting will kill you. That might be a slight exaggeration, and hey, we're all going to die someday, after all. But our chair-loving lifestyle isn't helping us live any longer, that's for sure. It's associated with everything from cardiovascular disease to type 2 diabetes and even cancer.

And if you think you're compensating for your sedentary desk job by exercising, well: your high-intensity workout is good for many things, but it doesn't give you leave to be a desk potato the rest of the day. A 2014 study found that moving frequently throughout the day is a more effective antidote to sedentary work than an hour's worth of fitness. Think of it like how studying intermittently for a week for a test works better than cramming the night before.

How Much Do You Need to Move?

We asked Roland Denzel, wellness coach and author (with Galina Denzel) of Eat Well, Move Well: 52 Ways to Feel Better in a Week. He began his movement journey when he started getting aches and pains from his desk job. That's when he discovered the Pomodoro productivity technique, which uses 25 minutes of work time followed by a 5-minute break "to refresh the brain and renew concentration."

Poison ivy, oak and sumac are closely related plants, and may be found growing in similar environments. In fact, all three grow throughout the U.S. except Hawaii, Alaska and parts of Nevada.¹ Poison ivy is found throughout the U.S.; poison sumac is distributed mostly on the East Coast from Maine to Florida; and poison oak is found along the West Coast and the south from Texas to Florida and as far north as Illinois.²

While irritating and uncomfortable, poison ivy is not usually dangerous, unless the oil is aerosolized from burning. Inhaling the fumes can trigger an allergic reaction in your lungs. Nearly three quarters of the population of the U.S. will break out into a rash when exposed to the plant leaves. Only 25 percent appear to be resistant to the contact dermatitis that results from exposure to the oil in the plant.³

The rash can be unbearably itchy if left untreated. However, while your primary care physician may want to prescribe a corticosteroid to address the symptoms, there are much safer treatments you may begin at home that don't come with a slew of side effects. Steroids are commonly prescribed for a number of different conditions, including contact dermatitis, asthma, ulcerative colitis, cancer and arthritis.

They can be given topically, by injection, through inhalation or by mouth. In each case the medication is linked with significant side effects, including fluid retention, elevated blood pressure, osteoporosis, mood swings and increased risk of infection.⁴ In other words, these are drugs you want to steer clear of as much as possible. Learn to recognize the plant (as prevention is the best medicine) and the treatments you can use at home to alleviate the symptoms as your skin heals.

Trump has made two key appointments in the area of childhood vaccination. The first was Scott Gottlieb, the director of the FDA. What does Gottlieb have to say?

From fiercepharma.com:

"...antivaccine activists were disappointed with Trump's appointment for FDA head, Scott Gottlieb, who has said any theories of a link between vaccines and autism have been 'thoroughly debunked'."

Trump's second key appointment has now been revealed. Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald takes over as the head of the CDC.

Georgia Department of Public Health:

"'Immunizations are the best way to protect infants and children from childhood diseases, like whooping cough and measles that can be life-threatening at young ages'," said Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health [before her appointment to lead the CDC]. "It is critical for parents to talk to their child's doctor to ensure they are up-to-date on immunizations, because no child should have to suffer a vaccine-preventable illness'."

In 2014, Dr. Fitzgerald wrote an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"I've heard all the arguments against vaccination. All have been debunked..."

On first glance, it looked like a two-hour walk in the woods. Our guide had already tackled the hard part of finding a trail with minimal elevation gain and limited poison oak along its flanks. This wasn't a hike, we were reminded. A hike usually involved clear endpoints and physical exertion. We were invited to walk slower than usual, perhaps a quarter of our normal speed. To pay attention to the different shades of green we encountered, the snapping of twigs beneath our feet, the sudden vaulting of winged life—nothing was ornamental. Everything was in its right place, including us. The forest bathers and I had come to the woods in search of peace. All of us were to be present, focused solely on the moment. Our immersion in the natural world would act not only as a balm to everyday stresses but a catalyst: According to the event description, we had gathered outside that day to emerge, as flowers might after a long winter.

"Back in the 1940s people were sleeping on average just a little bit over eight hours a night, and now in the modern age we're down to around 6.7, 6.8 hours a night," says Matt Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

"So that's a staggering loss of sleep within the space of just 70 years, we're now almost at the stage where we've lopped off 20% of that."

For adults, the modern world is full of things which reduce sleep. Caffeine, which keeps us awake. Alcohol, which fragments our sleep and suppresses dreaming. And although we've improved the conditions for sleeping, with everything from better mattresses to smoke-free homes, our controlled environment may also have created problems, Walker says.

What is consensus science?

As a researcher, I've come to regard the word "consensus" as equivalent to "conspiracy-like" insofar as one segment of science research agrees either to accept or not to accept research that is either favorable or unfavorable to their specific vested interests.

Therefore, we find a dogmatic use of "consensus science" in medicine, specifically regarding vaccines, but moreover, in microwave technology, which doggedly contends there are no such electromagnetics as non-thermal radiation waves, which damage human health and wellbeing. However, such studies go back to the 1930s!

Updating microwave science to make it safe would require costly improvements, which would not fit in with the U.S. military agenda and microwave tech industries cost analyses.

About 1 in 3 Americans are getting less than seven hours of sleep a night, and an estimated 83.6 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived.^1,2 If you're trying to lose weight, you may be surprised to know the amount and quality of sleep you get might be as influential as your choice of diet and exercise.

Research continues to confirm that sleep is an important factor in helping you avoid diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity. Notably, sleeping in on weekends — a practice quite common among teenagers — may be more beneficial for adults than you may have imagined. In fact, it may not be simply what your body wants, but also precisely what it needs.

Weekend 'Catch Up Sleep' Shown to Decrease Body Mass Index

A study published in the journal Sleep³ involving 2,156 adults aged 19 to 82, indicates sleeping in longer on weekends — also known as "catch up sleep" (CUS) — may positively impact your weight.

On average, the group of participants who slept up to two hours longer on weekend days than weekdays had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) than the non-CUS group. Researchers observed that every additional hour of weekend CUS was associated with a 0.12 decrease in BMI. Lead author Dr. Chang-Ho Yun, department of neurology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, told Reuters:⁴

"Short sleep ... is a risk factor for obesity, hypertension and coronary heart disease, as well as mortality. If you cannot sleep sufficiently on workdays because of work or social obligations, try to sleep as much as possible on the weekend. It might alleviate the risk for obesity."

Yun cautioned that using weekend CUS while sleeping far below the optimal amount during the week would, at some point, result in diminished benefits. He also noted that sleeping in on weekends is preferable to napping because it is more likely a deeper sleep and follows your body's sleep-wake rhythms.⁵ Jean-Philippe Chaput, assistant professor, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, University of Ottawa, who was not involved in the study, commented:⁶

"Short sleepers tend to eat more meals per day, snack more, engage in more screen time and may be less likely to move due to increased sensations of fatigue when not rested."

At least three people worldwide are infected with totally untreatable "superbug" strains of gonorrhoea which they are likely to be spreading to others through sex, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Giving details of studies showing a "very serious situation" with regard to highly drug-resistant forms of the sexually-transmitted disease (STD), WHO experts said it was "only a matter of time" before last-resort gonorrhoea antibiotics would be of no use.

"Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug," said Teodora Wi, a human reproduction specialist at the Geneva-based U.N. health agency. "Every time you introduce a new type of antibiotic to treat it, this bug develops resistance to it."

A promising new study confirms that the simple act of sweating may go a long way in removing dangerous industrial chemicals from our bodies.

In a day and age where chemical and radiation exposures from industrial pollution are ubiquitous and virtually unavoidable, it behooves us all to find ways to minimize exposure to them as well as to reduce their complex toxicities.

But how do we begin the process of detoxifying vis-a-vis exposure to tens of thousands of novel new synthetic compounds that have been introduced into the environment over the past century, and by virtue of that fact, have been accumulating in our bodies since we've been in the womb?

Just so the reader gets a sense for the true magnitude of the problem, I will refer back to an article I wrote in 2012 entitled, "Crude Awakening: Mineral Oil Contaminates Everyone's Bodies," wherein I reported on how petroleum-derived ingredients in cosmetics and even foods are accumulating in our bodies and causing profound adverse health issues:

According to the World Health Organization a person commits suicide every 40 seconds and it is the leading cause of death in 15 to 29 year olds. There is a high rate of suicide among veteran and active service members and the mentally ill, whether severely depressed or psychotic, are at greater risk. Suicide and suicide attempts are still considered criminal acts in many countries and continues to be stigmatized and spoken about in hushed tones.

To many, suicide goes against a human being's innate sense of self-preservation while others claim that it is the ultimate act of freedom and taking control of one's own fate (as in assisted suicide). On this episode of The Health and Wellness Show we'll discuss the factors that could cause a person to take their own life, suicidal clusters, live-streamed suicides and whether, for some people experiencing extreme emotional of physical pain if suicide is, indeed, a valid choice.

Stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Segment where she shares her thoughts on euthanasia from a veterinarian's perspective.

Running Time: 01:16:49

Download: OGG, MP3


Listen live, chat, and call in to future shows on the SOTT Radio Network!