Health & Wellness
Supporters of a Maine bill which would require cell phone manufacturers to put warning labels on mobile phones say that ignoring the health risks of heavy cell phone use invites a cancer epidemic.
David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and Environment at the University of Albany, argued, "We can do nothing and wait for the body count."
The bill would make Maine the first state to mandate warnings that cell phones can cause brain cancer, especially among children.
Sources:
Google News March 3, 2010
Annie Leonard
AlternetTue, 16 Mar 2010 14:50 UTC
A new book questioning our consumerism says we spend more on shoes and jewelry than higher education; more on ocean cruises than providing drinking water for all.
The following is an excerpt from
The Story Of Stuff: How Our Obsession With Stuff Is Trashing The Planet, Our Communities, And Our Health - And A Vision For Change by Annie Leonard. (Excerpted with permission by Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Copyright © 2010 by Annie Leonard.)
Santa Fe, New Mexico - The Santa Fe plaintiff claims to suffer from 'electromagnetic sensitivities' set off by cellphones, routers and other electronic devices.
Arthur Firstenberg, who says he is hypersensitive to certain frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, saw the house at the end of a narrow lane as a refuge from physical and neurological symptoms that have plagued him for three decades.
"It's been difficult because of my electromagnetic sensitivities," he said. "I had a lot of difficulty finding a house that I could be comfortable in."
So in September 2008, he bought the home on Barela Street, a few blocks from the newly redeveloped downtown rail yard here.
Nanoparticles may be able to damage the DNA of cells without ever coming into contact with it, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Bristol Implant Research Center and published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Nanoparticles are particles so small that they have fundamentally different physical and chemical properties than the same substances do at more familiar scales. Industry is increasingly adopting nanotechnology for a variety of applications, from consumer products to medicine, but the technology remains unregulated.
Researchers created particles of chromium and cobalt that were either four millionths (micro scale) or 30 billionths (nano scale) of a meter across, then placed them on a thin, artificial membrane composed of human cells. On the other side of the membrane, researchers placed human fibroblast cells, which are important components of connective tissue.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is reporting that a Miami psychiatrist has prescribed nearly 14 million pills to Medicaid patients since 2004. According to the report, Fernando Mendez-Villamil wrote about 285,000 prescriptions in just six years with a total taxpayer cost of $43 million.
The astounding find is part of an investigation into the legitimacy of Mendez-Villamil's practice; after all, the numbers suggest that he would have had to prescribe about 4,000 prescriptions a month, or 1,000 a week, in order to achieve the large total.
Mendez-Villamil is already recognized as the most profuse drug prescriber in the state of Florida. Prior to the state's implementation of new computer tracking protocols around 2007, Mendez-Villamil's prescription rate was at its highest; after those measures began taking effect, his prescription rate slowed by almost 33 percent.
Kansas State University (K-State) researchers
have joined a growing number of scientists who say a relatively new medical field known as nutrigenomics could change the future of public health forever. How? By tailoring strategies to prevent diseases before they can happen -- diseases that might otherwise be in a person's future because of his or her genetic makeup.
The key to this revolutionary stop-disease-before-it-happens strategy isn't a new drug, vaccine or sophisticated gene therapy. Instead, it is eating specific foods.
K-State researchers recently published an academic journal article in
Food Technology outlining the potential for nutrigenomics, a field that studies the effects of food on gene expression. Simply put, scientists could eventually recommend specific foods for an individual based on his or her genetics that will prevent future diseases -- especially those that tend to "run in families", such as certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even obesity.
Anxiety disorders are characterized by an overwhelming sense of apprehension. Sometimes such apprehension may become constant. Numerous physical symptoms may accompany anxiety with over 100 physical anxiety symptoms reported, including muscle tightness, heart palpitations, chest tightness/pain, dizziness, numbness, tingling, and electric shock feelings. Anxiety disorders often tend to progress to what is called a panic disorder and panic attacks.
The Mayo Clinic definition of a panic attack is: "A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that develops for no apparent reason and that triggers severe physical reactions. Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, you might think you're losing control, having a heart attack or even dying." That is why it is common for a person experiencing a panic attack to feel that death is imminent. Fortunately, there are some good natural solutions to combat anxiety and panic symptoms.
Anxiety and panic disorders are very common, having reached epidemic proportions. They affect an estimated 2.4 million Americans. That means that one in 113 Americans lives with this condition.
Hemorrhoids are painful swollen veins in the rectum or anus that plague many men and women. They result from increased pressure in the veins which cause the veins to bulge. Getting hemorrhoids is considered bad news. However, if you do get them the good news is that nature offers some good remedies to help control and perhaps even eliminate hemorrhoids.
The most common cause of hemorrhoids for men is straining during bowel movements. Women's hemorrhoids are often caused by pregnancy and childbirth. Hemorrhoids may also result from constipation, sitting for long periods, poor posture and infections. In some cases they may be caused by diseases such as cirrhosis.
Symptoms of hemorrhoids include anal itching, anal pain or aches (especially while sitting), pain during bowel movements, hard lumps in the vicinity of the anus and bright red blood on toilet tissue, in the stool, and/or in the toilet bowl.
Fast food is unhealthy.
I know, I know. Few of us need convincing of that fact any more. But as unassailable as it is, the brief against fast food has for years focused almost entirely on the food in fast food - the high fructose corn syrup and artery-busting fats and nutritional bankruptcy of burgers and French fries and soft drinks. But what about the fast in fast food?
New science is now suggesting that fast food may be doubly unhealthy - not only nutritionally damaging but psychologically detrimental as well. Indeed, the Colonel and the Golden Arches and the rest of America's fast-food culture may be unconsciously triggering a general impatience with life that leads to wrongheaded decisions going way beyond food. In short, fast food may lead to fast and frenzied life-for-today lifestyles that may be just as unhealthy as bad cholesterol.
Findings published from the third installment of the
Kaiser Foundation's research project on children and their media use shocked technophobes and - philes alike. According to the report,
kids ages 8-18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day plugged into an electronic device (such as an iPod, smart phone, computer, or television). This figure does not include an extra hour and a half spent texting or talking on cell phones; time devoted to homework, or an extra three and a half hours of media exposure accrued by multitasking.
Comment: This is not "psychological in origin":
Warning: Your Cell Phone and Wi-Fi Are Hazardous to Your Health
Electro-sensitivity, EMF and WIFI - one woman's saga
Is 'Electrosmog' Harming Our Health?
Just because you don't feel the effects of microwave radiation, doesn't mean you're not being fried!