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Bug

Half of all U.S. counties found to have Lyme disease-carrying ticks

Claire Asher
Science
Mon, 18 Jan 2016 01:08 UTC
lyme disease tick
© Gary Alpert/Harvard University/Bugwood.org
The ticks that transmit Lyme disease, a debilitating flulike illness caused by Borrelia bacteria, are spreading rapidly across the United States. A new study shows just how rapidly. Over the past 20 years, the two species known to spread the disease to humans have together advanced into half of all the counties in the United States.

Lyme disease cases have tripled in the United States over the last 2 decades, making it the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. The disease now affects around 300,000 Americans each year. If diagnosed early—a rash commonly appears around the site of the tick bite—Lyme can be effectively treated with antibiotics, but longer term infections can produce more serious symptoms, including joint stiffness, brain inflammation, and nerve pain.

To get a comprehensive map of where the two species—the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus)—were living, Rebecca Eisen and colleagues from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Fort Collins, Colorado, combined data from published papers with state and county tick surveillance data going back to 1996. They counted reports of tick sightings in each of the 3110 continental U.S. counties to determine whether those counties hosted an established population or just a few individuals. Ticks were considered "established" when sightings of at least six ticks, or two of the three life stages, had been reported in a year.

Comment: Careful precautions when in tick country are essential. It is possible to spend years fighting this debilitating tick-borne illness.

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Apple Red

No food is "healthy". Not even kale: Why nomenclature matters

Michael Ruhlman
Washington Post
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 14:00 UTC
kale healthy food
© Deb Lindsey/The Washington Post
Our beloved kale salads are not “healthy.” And we are confusing ourselves by believing that they are.
Not long ago, I watched a woman set a carton of Land O' Lakes Fat-Free Half-and-Half on the conveyor belt at a supermarket.

"Can I ask you why you're buying fat-free half-and-half?" I said. Half-and-half is defined by its fat content: about 10 percent, more than milk, less than cream.

"Because it's fat-free?" she responded.

"Do you know what they replace the fat with?" I asked.

"Hmm," she said, then lifted the carton and read the second ingredient on the label after skim milk: "Corn syrup." She frowned at me. Then she set the carton back on the conveyor belt to be scanned along with the rest of her groceries.

The woman apparently hadn't even thought to ask herself that question but had instead accepted the common belief that fat, an essential part of our diet, should be avoided whenever possible.
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Beaker

Your blood is full of the toxins you probably never think about

Lisa Bloomquist
Collective Evolution
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
PFOA, fluoride
When you bake muffins in a non-stick tin, do you think about how the non-stick coating is going to affect your health? There has been enough publicity around damaged Teflon that some reading this will likely think about the harm that can come from chipped non-stick coating. After all, who wants to eat that stuff? But I still doubt that most people think about the health consequences of the vapors that are being emitted from the heated non-stick pan or the chemicals that are being leached into their muffins while they bake them.

Do you think about the vapors coming up from carpet-covered in-floor heating? Do you think about the health consequences of the particularly slippery dental floss that has become so popular? Do you think about how non-clump kitty litter may affect the health of your children? Do you think about how water-repellant packaging chemicals seep into the food they cover?

Most people don't think about those things. Consumer products with non-stick coatings are such a pervasive part of life that they're rarely thought about at all. Most people assume that those products are safe and that the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) and other regulatory agencies wouldn't let people use them if they were dangerous.

Unfortunately, there is increasing evidence that the chemicals used to make non-stick consumer products, chemicals such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, a.k.a. C8), are toxic and that they're related (causally, but that's difficult to prove) to many diseases. Even more worrisome is the fact that organofluorine compounds like PFOA bioaccumulate — meaning that they are not excreted from the body. Rather, they accumulate in the body with each exposure, and the risk of suffering from ill-health because of them increases as the toxic load on the body increases. Additionally, man-made organofluorine compounds accumulate in the environment and the food-chain. Creatures who are high on the food chain, like humans, get exposed to these chemical compounds that have concentrated our food. We're also affected by them when they're in the water that we drink and the air that we breathe.

Comment: While these toxins are prevalent in our environment, we should be taking steps to avoid exposure as much as possible and following a regular detoxification protocol.

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Rocket

Planning a spacewalk? Here's what will happen to your body

Naomi Brooks
The Conversation
Fri, 15 Jan 2016 15:54 UTC
astronaut Tim Peake
© ESA/NASA
Tim Peake prepares his Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit.
Tim Peake is the first official British astronaut to walk in space. The former Army Air Corps officer has spent a month in space, after blasting off on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station on December 15 last year, but the spacewalk will doubtless be his most gruelling test.

But what exactly will he be going through, during his remarkable spell aboard the space station? Space travel leads to many changes in the human body, many of which have been investigated since Yuri Gargarin made the first manned spaceflight in 1961 - and an extensive team provides guidance and preparation for astronauts before, during and after any spaceflight. But if you're planning an out-of-this-world trip, here are some of the things to expect.

Comment: Considering how cool it would be to be an astronaut, it's a worthy trade off.

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Ambulance

More details emerge in tragic French drug trial

Martin Enserink
Science
Sat, 16 Jan 2016 15:16 UTC
The University of Rennes Hospital Center.
© Electzik / Wikimedia Commons
The University of Rennes Hospital Center.
A day after news broke about a clinical research tragedy in France, more details are beginning to emerge about what happened at Biotrial, the private research company in Rennes where the phase I study took place. An information sheet for prospective trial participants, posted yesterday at the French regional news site Breizh-info.com, provides an overview of the study's goal and procedures, while also offering a glimpse of what it's like to partake in a lengthy drug safety study.

According to the document, which is in French, participants in this particular study group were to receive €1900, including travel expenses; in return, they agreed to stay at Biotrial's facility in Rennes for 2 weeks, swallow a drug on 10 consecutive days, undergo extensive medical tests, and provide at least 40 blood samples.

Comment: See also: One brain dead, five others critically ill, in drug trial gone horribly wrong

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Info

Cold feet & hands? How to solve the problem of poor blood circulation


naturalmedicinebox.net
Sat, 28 Nov 2015 02:19 UTC
feet
People from all ages can experience circulation problems, and although poor circulation affects the entire blood flow, it usually first manifests in the extremities.

In most cases, poor circulation comes as a result of weakened blood vessels and too much sitting. It may not signify that you are having some serious health issues, but it definitely is a warning sign that you must change something in your lifestyle.


Comment: Sitting for too long can do harm to your body


Comment: Got cold hands and feet? Think brain

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Beaker

First US case of Zika-linked brain damage reported in newborn in Hawaii


Yahoo News
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 01:02 UTC
zika virus hawaii
© Nelson Almeida/Agence France-Presse
A researcher looks at Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at a lab of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the Sao Paulo University, on January 8, 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil as researchers work to combat Zika virus epidemic
The United States has reported its first case of a newborn suffering from brain damage linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus that has caused birth defects in Latin America.

The baby, born in a hospital in Oahu, suffers from microcephaly, a rare condition that means its brain and skull are abnormally small, the Hawaiian state health department said late Friday.

The mother was probably infected with the virus early in her pregnancy while living in Brazil in May 2015 and transmitted it to the fetus, the health department said.

It added that neither mother nor child is still infected and that there is no danger to anyone in Hawaii. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease.

The Zika virus, which can impair normal intellectual development in newborns, has affected several thousand babies in Brazil in recent months.

The case in Hawaii was confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Health

The ADA doesn't want you to know about airborne mercury in your dentist's office

L.J. Devon
Natural News
Fri, 15 Jan 2016 18:57 UTC
dental amalgam
The American Dental Association (ADA) is the leading proponent for installing mercury-based fillings into the mouths of millions of people. The ADA states on their website that, "Dental amalgam is considered a safe, affordable and durable material that has been used to restore the teeth of more than 100 million Americans. It contains a mixture of metals such as silver, copper and tin, in addition to mercury, which binds these components into a hard, stable and safe substance. Dental amalgam has been studied and reviewed extensively, and has established a record of safety and effectiveness."

Even though safer options exist for teeth restoration, the ADA continues to push for amalgams which contain 50 percent mercury. For the most part, modern dentistry follows along with the toxic mercury tradition. Question a dentist about mercury toxicity, and he may just smirk at you. The ADA is so dead set on, and so prideful in their support of mercury fillings, that they will go out of their way to threaten mercury detection professionals who educate the public on the toxic levels of mercury in dental offices.

Comment: There is absolutely no justification for this practice to continue but like most so-called health organizations the ADA hides the truth from the public.

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Pills

Targeted by Big Pharma: Are moody women being drugged into submission?

Margie King
Green Med Info
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 14:38 UTC
worried woman
"Why can't a woman be more like a man?" laments Henry Higgins in the 1964 Lerner and Loewe classic musical "My Fair Lady." In the show Higgins is stymied by Eliza Doolittle's emotional reactions to his science-based efforts to re-engineer her in his image of a proper woman.

Click here for Rex Harrison's rendition of "Hymn to Him" from the movie.

It's the age-old problem of men and women having different sensibilities. But fast forward 50 years or so, and Henry Higgins may well have the answer to his problem - antidepressants.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry finds that more than 69% of people on antidepressants aren't actually depressed. They don't meet the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). And 38% never met the criteria for other conditions for which antidepressants are prescribed, at any time in their life. These include obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder.[i]

Comment: For a closer look at depression listen to this episode of SOTT's Health and Wellness Show.

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Pills

Statins cause the disease it seeks to cure - Shock research warns drug hardens arteries

Lucy Johnston
Sunday Express
Sun, 10 Jan 2016 14:51 UTC
Controversial drug statins can actually increase the risk of heart disease, shock new research has shown.
statins
People taking the drugs are more likely to suffer from hardening of the arteries, a leading cause of heart problems. In addition, researchers found the drugs block a process that protects the heart. This can "cause, or worsen, heart failure", according to a study.

The lead author says: "I cannot find any evidence to support people taking statins." The findings, published in Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, will add to the debate surrounding the drugs, which are routinely given to up to 12 million patients in the UK, or around one in four adults.

Supporters say they save lives by lowering cholesterol and UK health regulators say they are safe.

Oxford professor Sir Rory Collins has warned that overstating concerns about statins could "cause very large numbers of unnecessary deaths from heart attacks and stroke".

Opponents have pointed to the side effects, such as skeletal weakness and muscle pain, and say the risks outweigh the benefits.

Comment: What took them so long? Many researchers have stated this before, and before them, there were countless of negative testimonials across the world. There are even documentaries about it. Nevertheless, we're pleased to see how mainstream researchers are speaking out against statin drugs.

For other useful tips, see:

Vascular surgeon: Why I've ditched statins for good

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