Health & WellnessS


Key

Scientists discover new key to flu transmission

Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:45 UTC
Flu viruses must be able to pick a very specific type of lock before entering human respiratory cells, U.S. researchers said on Sunday, offering a new understanding of how flu viruses work.

The discovery may help scientists better monitor changes in the H5N1 bird flu virus that could trigger a deadly pandemic in humans. And it may lead to better ways to fight it, they said.


Comment: Now these scientists have found out how to manipulate the virus making it able to jump from human to human. The darned thing just wouldn't do it before, but now they have it figured out. And, of course, then they will be able to give us all of the vaccines that they have been trying to stick us with. They'll get this pandemic thing off the ground one way or another.

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Alarm Clock

Size zero epidemic as hospitals struggle to cope with huge rise in patients with eating disorders

Andrew Levy
Daily Mail
Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:47 UTC
The number of patients needing hospital treatment for eating disorders has soared, it has emerged.

The findings are sure to renew concerns about the effect "size zero" models and celebrities are having on the body image of many youngsters.

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Some doctors are blaming the fashion industry for the rise in so-called size zero patients
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Pills

Most Free Drug Samples Go to Wealthy and Insured

Steven Reinberg
livescience.com
Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:13 UTC
Most free drug samples go to wealthy and insured patients, not to the poor and uninsured who may need them most, Harvard researchers report.

In fact, more than four-fifths of those who receive samples are insured, while less than one-fifth are uninsured and less than one-third have low incomes (below $37,000 for a family of four), the researchers found.

"Free drug samples influence prescribing and also introduce potential safety problems," said lead researcher Dr. Sarah Cutrona, a physician with the Cambridge Health Alliance and an instructor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. "Despite these problems, many doctors support the program because [they say] free samples 'allow us to get free medications to our neediest patients,' " she said.
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Eye 1

Teens who torture animals are 'potential time bombs'

Brookes Merritt
Edmonton Sun
Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:17 UTC
A local criminologist says teens who torture animals are potential time bombs waiting to go off.

"Young people who torture animals can be lethal at older ages. This is an incredibly dangerous red flag. Combined with other behaviours, it's often an indicator of anti-social personality disorder and psychopathy," said Bill Pitt of the University of Alberta.
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Syringe

New vaccinations to conquer flu pandemic (one that is being manufactured in secret government labs)

Nigel Hawkes
The Times Online
Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:33 UTC
A vaccine that could help to control a flu pandemic has shown encouraging results in its first human trials.

The vaccine, made by Acambis, based in Cambridge, should protect against all strains of influenza A, the type responsible for pandemics. Unlike existing vaccines it does not have to be reformulated each year to match the prevalent strains of flu, so it could be stockpiled and used as soon as a pandemic strain emerges. Nor does it need to be grown on fertilised chicken eggs, as the existing vaccines do, but can be produced by cell culture.
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Health

Flashback Chocolate: A Health Food After All

Esther Walker
Independent
Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:36 UTC


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Chocolate 'addicts' won't be surprised at the growing evidence that it is a mood enhancer

Ever since the Atkins Diet revival made sugar public enemy No 1, confectionery manufacturers have had their work cut out to sweeten up their image. It hasn't been easy: sugar doesn't just make you fat, and thus can contribute to the development of adult-onset diabetes, it also rots your teeth. Willy Wonka would be weeping into his top hat.

But recently, chocolate has been undergoing something of a rehabilitation, and the current thinking is that it may actually be good for you. So, what's going on?
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Bad Guys

Flashback China is E-Waste Dumping Ground for the US

Terry J. Allen
In These Times
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:23 UTC
The highway of poisoned products that runs from China to the United States is not a one-way street. America ships China up to 80 percent of U.S. electronic waste - discarded computers, cell phones, TVs, etc. Last year alone, the United States exported enough e-waste to cover a football field and rise a mile into the sky.

So while the media ride their new lead-painted hobbyhorse - the danger of Chinese wares - spare a thought for Chinese workers dying to dispose of millions of tons of our toxic crap.
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Bulb

Flashback Psychopathy and the Hippocampus


University of Kuopio
Mon, 26 Feb 2001 16:33 UTC
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the hippocampus has been extensively studied on neurological and psychiatric disorders. Particularly in studies on schizophrenia and mood disorders, findings regarding the hippocampal involvement have been most controversial. Previously, minor volume loss of the hippocampus in alcoholism, a major comorbidity alongside psychiatric disorders, has been reported.

No data has existed on the hippocampal volumes in subtypes of alcoholism, despite the need and interest to further identify and study subgroups of alcoholics with psychiatric and behavioral syndromes that occur outside and within the context of their abuse. In this case, the distinction was drawn to alcoholism with and without antisocial and violent behavior.
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X

Processed Meats Declared Too Dangerous for Human Consumption

Mike Adams
Total Health Breakthroughs
Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:16 UTC


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The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has just completed a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer. Its conclusion is rocking the health world with startling bluntness: Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives.
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Bulb

Low-energy bulbs 'worsen rashes'


BBC
Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:38 UTC
The switch to energy-saving light bulbs may put thousands at risk of painful skin reactions, health charities warn.
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