Do Our Personalities Pilot the Way We Live Our Lives?

The idea that our inborn predispositions dictate how we live our lives was once seen as antiquated and even reactionary. No more.

One afternoon not long ago, my body mocked my pretensions, toppled my carefully constructed persona, and forced me to rethink who I am.

I was lounging at the dining room table late on a Sunday afternoon, perusing the local newspaper and wearing my favorite home-alone attire — faded linen capris, a baggy yellow T-shirt, and ancient bedroom slippers. I had a cup of ginger tea going; somewhere in the background, NPR’s American Routes played a bluesy riff by John Prine. As far as I was concerned, life didn’t get much better than this.

Just then, I heard slapping footsteps on the stairs leading up to our front porch. The screen door whined open. Voices. Muffled laughter. Youthful. Female. More than one.

Full Story: Do Our Personalities Pilot the Way We Live Our Lives? | Personal Health | AlterNet.

Thousands in Gulf Suffer from Misdiagnosed Skin Lesions

Lesions, like those featured [in photo] are being experienced

by adults and children in Louisiana.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana—Area residents have begun to show up at clinics and hospitals with mysterious scabs and pustules covering their extremities, as reported from residents to non-profit relief organizations in the Gulf.

One thirty-three year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, has disclosed to Project Gulf Impact that upon seeking medical advice at a clinic, she was told she had scabies. Hours later, she was told by an area hospital that she had a staph infection. The woman was treated with a shot of penicillin and Elimite cream, a topical agent for the treatment of scabies mite infestations, and an oral antibiotic. In addition to the lesions, the woman reported aching bones, weight loss, stomach pains, inflammation in her leg and sties developing in her eyes.

Full Story: Thousands in Gulf Suffer from Misdiagnosed Skin Lesions | Project Gulf Impact.

Scientists Find Evidence That Oil And Dispersant Mix Is Making Its Way Into The Foodchain

Scientists have found signs of an oil-and-dispersant mix under the shells of tiny blue crab larvae in the Gulf of Mexico, the first clear indication that the unprecedented use of dispersants in the BP oil spill has broken up the oil into toxic droplets so tiny that they can easily enter the foodchain.

Marine biologists started finding orange blobs under the translucent shells of crab larvae in May, and have continued to find them “in almost all” of the larvae they collect, all the way from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to Pensacola, Fla. — more than 300 miles of coastline — said Harriet Perry, a biologist with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.

And now, a team of researchers from Tulane University using infrared spectrometry to determine the chemical makeup of the blobs has detected the signature for Corexit, the dispersant BP used so widely in the Deepwater Horizon

Full Story: Scientists Find Evidence That Oil And Dispersant Mix Is Making Its Way Into The Foodchain.

More Evidence That BPA Laces Store Receipts

Science & the Public Blog: Problem is, you can’t tell which ones host the hormone mimic

People interested in limiting exposure to bisphenol A — a hormone-mimicking environmental contaminant — might want to consider wearing gloves the next time a store clerk hands over a cash-register receipt. A July 27 report by a public-interest research group has now confirmed many of these receipts have a BPA-rich powdery residue on their surface. But you can’t tell which ones on the basis of a visual inspection.

A building block of polycarbonate plastics, bisphenol A is also a biologically active estrogen mimic. Less well known, many thermal- and carbonless-copy papers also employ BPA to print images, generally store receipts.

In animals, fetal exposures to BPA can be especially risky, sometimes fostering brain, behavioral or reproductive problems. Canada and some states are moving to ban polycarbonate plastic in baby bottles for that reason. And heart data suggest that even adult exposures to BPA might cause harm.

A vexing question has been where people are acquiring the BPA that taints nearly everyone’s body. Last year, green chemist John Warner argued that his data suggested store receipts could be a — if not the — leading source.

Full Story: More Evidence That BPA Laces Store Receipts – US News and World Report.

Is Wall Street Making Life or Death Decisions on Your Behalf?

In the last thirty years, the values of Wall Street have so infiltrated American society that seemingly all aspects of life are impacted, even medical care.

Is your health insurance company traded on Wall Street?

If so, is Wall Street deciding your medical care?

It’s hard to recall that for-profit corporations were once kept out of health care — in fact, for most of the 20th century. During this time, the nation’s medical system was built largely by non-profit and charitable organizations, which is why so many hospitals are named for saints. Courts across the country ruled that for corporations to profit from medical care was simply “against sound public policy.” In the early 1980′s, however, when the financial and airline industries were deregulated, a similar process occurred for American medicine. For-profit corporations became newly encouraged to take leadership of health care. Deregulating health care into the free market was intended to drive down costs and to improve care. After all, medical care in 1980 consumed a whopping 9.1 percent of the nation’s GDP.

Never mind that after 30 years in the free market, health care costs have doubled to consume 18 percent of the GDP (with a third of these precious dollars wasted on bureaucracy). Never mind that health care has gotten increasingly inaccessible to the uninsured and even the insured, or that American health care has become an international poster child for reform

Full Story: Is Wall Street Making Life or Death Decisions on Your Behalf? | Economy | AlterNet.

Disputed chemical bisphenol-A found in paper receipts

As lawmakers and health experts wrestle over whether a controversial chemical, bisphenol-A, should be banned from food and beverage containers, a new analysis by an environmental group suggests Americans are being exposed to BPA through another, surprising route: paper receipts.

The Environmental Working Group found BPA on 40 percent of the receipts it collected from supermarkets, automated teller machines, gas stations and chain stores. In some cases, the total amount of BPA on the receipt was 1,000 times the amount found in the epoxy lining of a can of food, another controversial use of the chemical.

Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the environmental group, says BPA’s prevalence on receipts could help explain why the chemical can be detected in the urine of an estimated 93 percent of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Full Story: Disputed chemical bisphenol-A found in paper receipts.

The Limits of Antidepressants: Exploring the Alternatives

In 2008, we learned that the benefits of antidepressants had been greatly overstated. [1] Former FDA psychiatrist Erick H. Turner, M.D. uncovered some startling information about Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), including Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. In reviewing all the medical literature, he learned that 94 percent of the reports showing the therapeutic benefits of SSRIs were published compared to only 14 percent of the reports showing either no benefits or inconclusive results (of taking SSRIs were published). When he weighed all the literature, Dr. Turner determined that SSRIs were no more effective than a placebo for treating most depressive patients. Those with severe depression were helped, sometimes greatly, but those with mild to moderate depression, the majority of cases, received little relief. British researchers using the Freedom of Information Act uncovered identical findings. [2]

In January 2010, another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) confirms these findings. The newest study also evaluated another class of antidepressants, tricyclic antidepressants. Again, researchers determined that the typical patient, one with mild to moderate depression, gets the same amount of relief from a placebo as from an antidepressant. [3][4] The first author of the study, Jay C. Fournier, MA, told Medscape, “I think the most surprising part of the findings was how severe depression has to be in order to see this clinically meaningful difference emerge between medication and placebo, and that the majority of depressed patients presenting for treatment do not fall into that very severe category.”

Full Story: Christiane Northrup, MD: The Limits of Antidepressants: Exploring the Alternatives.

Is Hidden Fungus Making You Ill?

A hidden fungus may be making you ill. A 35-year-old recently walked into my office suffering from a whole list of health problems (which is why I often call myself a “whole-listic doctor”). She had chronic fatigue, recurrent yeast vaginal infections, itchy ears, dandruff, patchy itchy skin rashes, irritable bowel syndrome, muscle twitching, acne rosacea, malabsorption, headaches and more.

These symptoms can have multiple causes, but in her case all of these problems were related. They were symptoms of an overgrowth of yeast in and on her body. This patient had such a fungus problem that she was practically a walking mushroom!

The cause was clear. She had taken many, many courses of antibiotic over the years. She had been diagnosed with a mostly benign condition called mitral valve prolapse–a problem I believe is over diagnosed and over treated–and “needed” antibiotics every time she went to the dentist. In addition, she had many urinary tract infections for which she took many more courses of antibiotics.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: Is Hidden Fungus Making You Ill?.

Some insurers stop writing new coverage for kids

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said several big insurers in his state will stop issuing new policies that cover children individually. Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland said a couple of local insurers in her state are doing likewise.

In Florida, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Aetna, and Golden Rule — a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare — notified the insurance commissioner that they will stop issuing individual policies for children, said Jack McDermott, a spokesman for McCarty.

Full Story: Some insurers stop writing new coverage for kids – Yahoo! News.

Florida Dengue Fever Outbreak Leads Back to CIA & Army Experiments

Unknown to most Americans is that dengue fever has been the intense focus of US Army and CIA biological warfare researchers for over 50 years. Ed Regis notes in his excellent history of Fort Detrick, “The Biology of Doom,” that as early as 1942 leading biochemists at the installation placed dengue fever on a long list for serious consideration as a possible weapon.

With little fanfare on July 13, Florida officials released the findings of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study conducted recently in the Key West area revealing that about 10 percent, or 1,000 people, of the coastal town’s population are infected with the dengue fever virus.

While the July 13 release made little mention of it, the CDC study was provoked by an earlier 2009 report that a woman in New York State, who had returned from a Florida Keys’ visit, had contracted dengue fever. Within a few weeks of this initial report, two additional cases were discovered in people who had returned from Key West. Over the next three months of 2009, an additional 26 cases were identified, all tied to visits to the town.

Because of these reported cases, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District conducted greatly increased aerial spraying to control mosquitoes. Following the spraying, a small amount of other cases were reported, including that of a 41-year-old Key West man who found blood in his urine and had severely aching joints. Following these additional reports, the CDC launched its study of antibodies in Key West residents and found that 5 percent of the town’s residents have been exposed to the dengue virus. Said CDC dengue expert, Dr. Christopher J. Gregory, “The best estimate from the survey is that about 5 percent of [residents] was infected in 2009 with dengue.” Gregory also stated, “We have known for a while it is a possible risk, but t

Full Story: Florida Dengue Fever Outbreak Leads Back to CIA & Army Experiments « Wake-up Call.

Oil spill illnesses, injuries double in past month

Oil spill workers toiling along the Gulf Coast have suffered 1,753 illnesses and injuries, according to most recent figures from BP. That’s more than double the tally of a month ago.

Records collected from April 22 through July 15 include 718 illnesses ranging from dehydration and heat exhaustion to seasickness, and 1035 injuries, mostly cuts, bruises and strains caused by accidents. On July 11, for instance, a worker slipped and caught his arm on a fish hook, which was embedded so deeply it reached the bone.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, poison control centers had received 863 calls from people in 18 states reporting exposures to oil and dispersants, with symptoms that include headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. People who called from states outside the Gulf Coast region may have been in the area to work or visit or may have family there, said a staffer with the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Full Story: Field Notes – Oil spill illnesses, injuries double in past month.

CBO: Public option could save $68 billion by 2020

When people think of deficit reduction, they tend to think about spending cuts and tax increases. They don’t think as much about saving money by putting more effective policies into place. But as the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of a new public option proposal from Pete Stark suggests, maybe they should.

Stark wants to add a public option to the exchanges that would start by paying doctors the rates Medicare pays plus 5 percent, and then grow with the cost of physicians’ services. According to the CBO, this plan’s premiums “would be 5 percent to 7 percent lower, on average, than the premiums of private plans offered in the exchanges.” But that’s not all!

“The proposal would reduce federal budget deficits through 2019 by about $53 billion,” CBO says. And because the public plan is saving more money as time goes on, if you extend that out to 2020, the savings to the government are $68 billion. That implies a savings of $200 billion or so in the second decade. That’s a lot of money, and it’s in addition to the savings for consumers.

Full Story: Ezra Klein – CBO: Public option could save $68 billion by 2020.

Woolsey to introduce ‘robust public option’ bill

What, did you think the fight for health care reform was over?

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), co-chair of the progressive caucus, is making good on her promise to continue pushing for a public health insurance option after the enactment of sweeping reform legislation.

On Thursday afternoon, the Northern California congresswoman will announce the introduction of a bill offering consumers a choice between private plans and a “robust” public plan in the health insurance exchanges set up by the law.

“The robust public option offers lower-cost competition to private insurance companies,” Woolsey told Raw Story. “This will make insurance more affordable for those who do not have it and keep insurance affordable for those who do. We are introducing the public option now so is will be available as a ready-made off set or deficit reducer in this or the next Congress.”

Full Story: Woolsey to introduce ‘robust public option’ bill | Raw Story.

California city plans mass production of medical marijuana

California city Oakland has approved draft legislation moving it a step closer to legalizing the large-scale production of medical marijuana, a city council clerk said on Wednesday.

“The proposition passed the first reading at the city council by five yes, two nos and one abstention,” said Crystal Bing, legislator recorder for the city clerk’s office.

“Now it has to go for a second reading which will happen on July 27th,” she told AFP.

Full Story: California city plans mass production of medical marijuana | Raw Story.

The Non-Remembrance of Things Past

It’s pitch-dark. Your eyes have opened, but you cannot see.

Piece by piece, you begin to establish your location: Bed. Yes. Home. Middle of the night. Wednesday. No, Thursday, now. Early. Chilly. Fall.

Even as, half-asleep, you’re reassembling yourself, part of you wakes up to the fact that you’ve just come from a dream: your body—abuzz, refreshed—is still in the feeling-state the dream created. Where you are, though, matters less than where you’ve been. Your body, still half-slumbering, is eager to return to the exotic land you’ve just left, but your mind can’t make out where to go or how . . . . Wait, there’s something. A boat. Your father, rowing . . . . No, not your father; some other male. You were coming from . . . a movie theater?!? Someone was there with you—to your right? Behind you? You can feel the absence of her presence. You turn back to the boat, but the guy is no longer there. Did he disappear in the dream, or did he disappear because you can’t remember the dream? And was that a boat he was in or a pickup truck?

You keep searching, as if inching your way through some unexplored cave—arms, hands, fingers, fingertips outstretched—and whenever you feel you’ve almost got a handle on something—a picture, a notion—damn, it slips away, escaping deeper into the blackness. It was right there, just a minute ago. You were living it; asleep, yes, but your body is still feeling it, yet you can’t connect the feeling to anything in particular, and you’re losing your grip on the few pieces you’ve managed to grab. They’re going. And now—wait . .

Full Story: The Non-Remembrance of Things Past.

Top 5 Suspected Everyday Carcinogens in American Cancer Society’s Scary New Report

Some carcinogens you already know and fear: cigarettes, asbestos, smoked meat.

But what about the ones you’ve never even heard of? That’s the crux of a new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS), which rounds up 20 “suspected carcinogens” the organization would like to see studied more extensively.

Of course, that research, if it happens, will come after the chemicals, ingredients — and even lifestyle choices — are already embedded into the bedrock of our 24/7 economy.

“The objectives of this report are to identify research gaps and needs for 20 agents prioritized for review based on evidence of widespread human exposures and potential carcinogenicity in animals or humans,” Elizabeth Ward, the co-author of the report, said.

So just what are these potential cancer causers lurking in our everyday environs? Surge Desk runs down five (not so awesome) favorites.

Full Story: Top 5 Suspected Everyday Carcinogens in American Cancer Society’s Scary New Report.

Insurers Push Plans That Limit Health Choices

As the Obama administration begins to enact the new national health care law, the country’s biggest insurers are promoting affordable plans with reduced premiums that require participants to use a narrower selection of doctors or hospitals.

The plans, being tested in places like San Diego, New York and Chicago, are likely to appeal especially to small businesses that already provide insurance to their employees, but are concerned about the ever-spiraling cost of coverage.

But large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.

The tradeoff, they say, is that more Americans will be asked to pay higher prices for the privilege of choosing or keeping their own doctors if they are outside the new networks. That could come as a surprise to many who remember the repeated assurances from President Obama and other officials that consumers would retain a variety of health-care choices.

Full Story: Insurers Push Plans That Limit Health Choices – NYTimes.com.

Surviving the Great Indoors: The Pros and Cons of Living in an A/C World

There’s no doubt that air-conditioning can save your life, but as heat waves increase in the future, should we all be armed with A/C?

Eddie Slautas turned down his neighbors’ repeated offers to install a window air conditioner in his Chicago apartment. Even when they said they’d help him pay the difference in his utility bill, the 74-year-old demurred. “Why should I make my electric bill higher?” he asked. “The fan is good enough.” Then came a fierce midsummer heat wave. On the night of July 30, 1999, the neighbors found Slautas dead. The fan was running, blowing hot air across his body. He was one of 103 Chicagoans killed by the heat that week.

On the last night of July 2006, a Commonwealth Edison power cable running beneath the city of Chicago failed, putting 3,400 customers in the dark. The next day, as temperatures reached 100 degrees on the fifth day of a blistering heat wave, 1,300 people had to be evacuated from high-rise residential buildings in the area. Their apartments had become saunas, so they took refuge in air-conditioned shelters. Resident Lutricia Somerville, who had resorted to spending much of the night in her parked truck with the air conditioner running, told a reporter, “It’s just like Hurricane Katrina.” Those trapped in the heat must indeed have felt some of the desperation that had hit New Orleans residents 11 months earlier. But the outage was short-lived, and this time no one died or suffered serious medical problems.

Full Story: Surviving the Great Indoors: The Pros and Cons of Living in an A/C World | Environment | AlterNet.

You Don’t Have to Live with PMS!

Confused about hormones? Beset by PMS or menopausal symptoms? Wondering about HRT versus herbal remedies? Dr. Cass explains what’s going on in your body, and gives you healthy solutions that work.

–Uzzi Reiss MD, author of Natural Hormone Balance for Women

Our mothers once called them “women’s problems.” Now we know that these mood swings and physical changes, from PMS to menopause, are all part of a delicate balance among our various hormones. In my years of practicing integrative medicine, I have helped hundreds of women overcome PMS and menopausal symptoms naturally, and here’s how.

Let’s start by defining hormones. They are chemical messengers secreted by any one of the body’s endocrine (ductless) glands. They travel through the bloodstream, telling various systems what to do. Besides reproductive functions, hormones affect virtually every body system from digestion to metabolism to hair growth.

Full Story: Hyla Cass, M.D.: You Don’t Have to Live with PMS!.

Weed killer kills human cells. Study intensifies debate over ‘inert’ ingredients.

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States.  About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.

Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.

Full Story: Weed killer kills human cells. Study intensifies debate over ‘inert’ ingredients. — Environmental Health News.

July The Deadliest Month For Hospitals?

Each year, thousands of medical students become doctors. However, instead of simply saving lives, the influx of recent graduates entering the workplace in July in may be the cause of rising death rates, according to a new study out of the University of California, San Diego.

CNN has more on the study:

..Deaths from medication errors increase by 10 percent during July, a so-called July effect as students graduate from medical school and enter residency programs.

Full Story: July The Deadliest Month For Hospitals?.

Gulf toxicologist: Shrimpers exposed to Corexit “bleeding from the rectum”

CNN, July 9. 2010: Rush Transcript Excerpt Susan Shaw, Marine Toxicologist: If I can tell you what happens — because i was in the oil — to people… Shrimpers throwing their nets into water… [then] water from the nets splashed on his skin. … [He experienced a] headache that lasted 3 weeks… heart palpitations… muscle spasms… bleeding from the rectum… And that’s what that Corexit does, it ruptures red blood cells, causes internal bleeding, and liver and kidney damage. … This stuff is so toxic combined… not the oil or dispersants alone. … Very, very toxic and goes right through skin.

BP Hiding Workers’ Blood Panels?

Today Michael Whitney has a story up about an OSHA official’s comment about clean up workers getting sick. What did they get sick from? “almost all have been heat related,” according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. As I read that my heart sank. I fell into “What’s the pointism” and threw the covers over my head. “What can I do?” I thought. “Experts have spoken! I’m just a brain in a box with pointy ears and a fedora.”

Then I got mad and posted a comment about the story (here).

The media have covered all aspects of this story. From the impact of regulatory capture to the mechanics of blind shear rams. But sometimes journalists get mislead by the same regulators that the industry captured. And when they do they fail the public.

And when the public is failed we need to respond. What to do? My first impulse was despair, then anger. Next I started researching, writing and then I’ll act.

“Almost all have been heat related” Really? My first question would be: “Could I please see your evidence and look at the medical information that you are relying on to tell you this?”

Full Story: BP Hiding Workers’ Blood Panels? | The Seminal.

BP, Governments Downplay Public Health Risk From Oil and Dispersants (PHOTOS)

When Ryan Heffernan, a volunteer with Emerald Coastkeeper, noticed a bag of oily debris floating off in Santa Rosa Sound, she ran up to BP’s HazMat-trained workers to ask if they would retrieve it.

“No, ma’am,” one replied politely. “We can’t go in the ocean. It’s contaminated.”

Ryan waded in and retrieved the bag. That was Wednesday, June 23, the first day visible oil hit Pensacola Beach. Ryan had been swimming off the beach the day before, as she said, “to get in my last swim before the oil hit.” The trouble is that not all of the oil coming ashore is visible. Dispersed oil – tiny bubbles of oil encased in chemical dispersants – are in the water column. On Thursday Ryan was treated at a local doctor’s office for skin rash on her legs.

Three days later on Pensacola Beach, I watched BP’s HazMat-trained workers shovel surface oiled sand and oily debris into bags early in the morning. The workers followed the waterline like shorebirds, scurrying up the beach in front of breaking waves and moving back down with receding waters.

Full Story: Riki Ott: BP, Governments Downplay Public Health Risk From Oil and Dispersants (PHOTOS).

Insurer revoked leukemia patient’s coverage because it claimed she underpaid her premium by a penny.

One of the worst abuses of the private health insurance industry is the practice of denying claims to pay for necessary care or revoking the coverage of policyholders for frivolous reasons. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a leukemia patient — a single mother of two teenage boys — had her coverage revoked after her penny-pinching insurance company, Discover Benefits, claimed that she had underpaid her premium:

La Rosa Carrington has more than enough to worry about. She’s a single mother with two teenage daughters, she’s fighting a type of leukemia that requires five days of chemo a month for four months, and she lost her job in May. So the last thing she needed was news that her health insurance benefits would be terminated because she hadn’t paid her premium in full. The shortfall? One penny. [...]

Under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, those who meet the eligibility requirements pay just 35 percent of the full COBRA premium. Because Carrington had not yet received a bill showing what her payment would be with the discount, she whipped out a calculator, figured out that she owed $165.15 a month and sent a check for that amount to Discovery Benefits.

Full Story: Think Progress » Insurer revoked leukemia patient’s coverage because it claimed she underpaid her premium by a penny..

America’s Deadliest Sweetener Betrays Millions, Then Hoodwinks You With Name Change

The Deceptive Marketing of Aspartame

Aspartame is the most controversial food additive in history, and its approval for use in food was the most contested in FDA history. In the end, the artificial sweetener was approved, not on scientific grounds, but rather because of strong political and financial pressure. After all, aspartame was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent!

It’s hard to believe such a chemical would be allowed into the food supply, but it was, and it has been wreaking silent havoc with people’s health for the past 30 years.

The truth is, it should never have been released onto the market, and allowing it to remain in the food chain is seriously hurting people — no matter how many times you rebrand it under fancy new names.

Full Story: Dr. Joseph Mercola: America’s Deadliest Sweetener Betrays Millions, Then Hoodwinks You With Name Change.

Looks Great, Less Nutritious?

Mother Jones:

Eating all your vegetables was a lot better for you in the ’50s. Store-bought veggies weren’t as pretty back then, but according to USDA data, they were packed with a lot more nutrients than their modern counterparts. The likely reason for the nutritional drop is that hybrid crops are often bred for size and color, not nutrients. Below, the stats for a few crops that have gone to seed.

Full Story: Looks Great, Less Nutritious? | Mother Jones.

Why Eating a Low-Fat Diet Doesn’t Lead to Weight Loss

Despite the common observation that obesity runs in families, genetic research shows that the habits you inherit from your family are more important than the genes you inherit. Obesity genes account for only five percent of all weight problems. Then, we have to wonder, what causes the other 95 percent of weight problems?

We are seeing an epidemic of obesity in America today. It is the single most important public health issue facing us. If genes do not account for obesity, perhaps it is our high-fat diet that is to blame. That has been the common belief in our society since nutritional low fat guidelines were pushed upon us in the 1970′s. It seems logical that eating fat makes you fat. Fat contains nine calories per gram, so it would seem that eating more fat (and more calories) would make you gain weight. But that’s not what the science reveals.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: Why Eating a Low-Fat Diet Doesn’t Lead to Weight Loss.

Fat or Carbs: Which Is Worse?

Dr. Andrew Weil:

In my home state of Arizona, a restaurant named “Heart Attack Grill” does brisk business in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb. Waitresses in nurse-themed uniforms with miniskirts deliver single, double, triple and quadruple “bypass burgers” (featuring one, two, three and four hefty patties, respectively) dripping with cheese, to patrons who wear hospital gowns that double as bibs. The motto: “Taste Worth Dying For!”

Now, there is much for a medical doctor (as opposed to “Dr. Jon,” the stethoscope-wearing, burger-flipping owner) to dislike in this establishment. If you visit, I implore you to steer clear of the white-flour buns, the sugary sodas and the piles of “flatliner fries” that accompany the burgers in the restaurant’s signature bedpan plates. This is precisely the sort of processed-carbohydrate-intensive meal that, via this and other fast-food establishments, is propelling the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in America.

But the Grill’s essential, in-your-face concept is that the saturated fat in beef clogs arteries, and hamburger meat is consequently among the most heart-damaging foods a human being can consume. As the Grill literature puts it, “The menu names imply coronary bypass surgery, and refer to the danger of developing atherosclerosis from the food’s high proportion of saturated fat…” Aimed at a certain crowd, this is clever, edgy marketing. Some people enjoy flirting with death.

Full Story: Dr. Andrew Weil: Fat or Carbs: Which Is Worse?.

This Is Where You’re Fat

An update on our collective waistline: The Trust for America’s Health has a new report out, with the blunt title “F as in Fat,” and the news isn’t good. The map above shows America’s obesity rates state by state. They hover in the 25 to 30 percent range. To put that in perspective, in 1991, no state had an obesity rate higher than 20 percent.

The report also notes the relationship between income and weight: “35.3 percent of adults earning less than $15,000 per year were obese compared with 24.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more per year.” Part of the problem there is that a salad costs more than a Big Mac. So that’s something to remedy. More cycling and walking would help, too.

Colorado has the lowest obesity rate at 19 percent. Apparently a year-round routine of uninterrupted mountain biking, rock climbing, and snowboarding more than offsets the side effects of the munchies.

Full Story: This Is Where You’re Fat – GOOD Blog – GOOD.

OPS: hmmmm, the RED States….. where ignorance rules

Formaldehyde-tainted trailers return to Gulf for spill cleanup workers

Given all the speculation that the Gulf oil spill would become (or is already) “Obama’s Katrina,” the last thing the embattled White House needs is a platoon of formaldehyde-contaminated trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Yet according to a front-page report in Thursday’s New York Times, the very same vehicles that came to symbolize the Bush administration’s bumbling response to Hurricane Katrina are now back in the Gulf region — this time as accommodations for oil cleanup workers.

As Ian Urbina reports, the 120,000 trailers designated to shelter Katrina victims “were discovered to have such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being used for long-term housing again.”

Full Story: Formaldehyde-tainted trailers return to Gulf for spill cleanup workers – Yahoo! News.

SICK AND SECRET: No Reporters Allowed At Federal Clinic Treating Oil Spill Responders

Reporters Still Given The Runaround Even As Public Health Concerns Mount

The latest chapter in the media’s ongoing struggle to cover the Gulf Oil Spill comes courtesy of PBS Newshour’s Bridget Desimone, who has been working with her colleague, Betty Ann Bowser, in “reporting the health impact of the oil spill in Plaquemines Parish.” Desimone reports that on the ground, officials are generally doing a better job answering inquiries and granting access to the clean-up efforts.

But Desimone and Bowser have encountered one “roadblock” that they’ve struggled to overcome: access to a “federal mobile medical unit” in Venice, Louisiana: “The glorified double-wide trailer sits on a spit of newly graveled land known to some as the “BP compound.” Ringed with barbed wire-topped chain link fencing, it’s tightly restricted by police and private security guards.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set up the facility on May 31. According to a press release, the medical unit is staffed by “a medical team from the HHS National Disaster Medical System — a doctor, two nurses, two emergency medical technician paramedics (EMT-P) and a pharmacist.”

Full Story: Oil Spill Media Access: Reporters Still Given The Runaround Even As Public Health Concerns Mount.

Formaldehyde-tainted trailers return to Gulf for spill cleanup workers

Yet according to a front-page report in Thursday’s New York Times, the very same vehicles that came to symbolize the Bush administration’s bumbling response to Hurricane Katrina are now back in the Gulf region — this time as accommodations for oil cleanup workers.

As Ian Urbina reports, the 120,000 trailers designated to shelter Katrina victims “were discovered to have such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being used for long-term housing again.”

Full Story: Formaldehyde-tainted trailers return to Gulf for spill cleanup workers – Yahoo! News.

Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Bad for You?

Availability of total fructose, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS ), and free fructose in relation to overweight & obesity prevalence in the United States

Last month, I saw an interesting commercial where a mother was throwing a birthday party for her five-year old. She had a fruit drink that was sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and another mother scolded her for serving it. She replied that it was ok, because high-fructose corn syrup is all natural and made from corn, so what could be so bad?

Up to now, my only qualm with high-fructose corn syrup was that it is being added in higher quantities than necessary to so many packaged and bottled foods. Excess consumption of calories and sugar is a serious issue for Americans and probably one of the factors responsible for the rapid rise of obesity over the last 30 years. Americans eat around 150 pounds of sugar a year – in 1970, it was only 120. So that means the average American is eating 6 cups of sugar a week, mostly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

So What is High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Why Could It Be Harmful?

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener that is found in many packaged and fast foods – everything from crackers to cookies, ice cream and jarred sauces. It originates from corn syrup that has undergone enzymatic processing to increase its fructose content, and is then mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose), becoming a high-fructose corn syrup in the process.

Full Story: Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Bad for You? | Skinny Chef.

Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought

Full body scanners at airports could increase your risk of skin cancer, experts warn.

The X-ray machines have been brought in at Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow.

But scientists say radiation from the scanners has been underestimated and could be particularly risky for children.

They say that the low level beam does deliver a small dose of radiation to the body but because the beam concentrates on the skin – one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the human body – that dose may be up to 20 times higher than first estimated.

Full Story: Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought | Mail Online.

New saliva test ‘can detect various cancers’

Japanese and US universities have jointly developed a medical technique that can quickly detect various cancers using a simple saliva test, researchers said on Tuesday.

Japan’s Keio University and University of California, Los Angeles, have developed the technology with which they detected high probabilities of pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and oral cancer.

The researchers analysed saliva samples of 215 people, including cancer patients, and identified 54 substances whose presence can be used to detect the disease, Keio University said in a statement released Monday.

By further analysing the substances, the test detected 99 percent of pancreatic cancer cases, 95 percent of breast cancer and 80 percent of oral cancer cases among those taking part, it said.

Full Story: New saliva test ‘can detect various cancers’ – Yahoo! News.

Louisiana Reports Oil Spill Illnesses

More people who have been exposed to the BP oil spill are falling ill. To date, reports CNN, 162 cases of sickness have been reported to the Louisiana state health department, citing a report released yesterday. Of the 162 cases, 128 involved workers who were either on oil rigs or who were involved in clean-up efforts.

Generally, symptoms involved “throat irritation, shortness of breath, cough, eye irritation, nausea and headaches,” said CNN, citing the department’s oil spill surveillance report. The report, which is released weekly, pulls together information from physicians and various medical facilities. This week’s report stated that since the disaster struck, 120 male and eight female workers and nine men and 25 women from the general public have complained of illnesses allegedly linked to the spill, according to CNN.

The report indicated that those complaining of illness were between the ages of 18 and 64; six illnesses were reported for the week of June 20 and 38 illnesses were reported the first week of June.

Full Story: Louisiana Reports Oil Spill Illnesses.

High court won’t review San Francisco health care plan

The Supreme Court has rejected a business-led challenge to San Francisco’s universal health care program that has enrolled more than 53,000 people who lacked health insurance.

The justices on Monday denied an appeal from the Golden Gate Restaurant Association of an appeals court ruling that upheld the program’s requirement that employers help pay the bill or give their workers health coverage.

The association said the city cannot require employers to pay the fee because a federal law generally prohibits state and local interference in the area of benefits that are offered to employees.

Full Story: High court won’t review San Francisco health care plan – latimes.com.

FDA urges less antibiotics in meat

The federal recommendation comes amid rising concern that the drugs in animals pose a health threat to humans.

Meat producers should use certain antibiotics only to assure animal health and stop using the drugs to increase production and promote growth, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

The recommendation to cut back on the use of antimicrobial drugs comes amid rising concern that extensive use in animals contributes to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria afflicting humans.

Full Story: FDA urges less antibiotics in meat – latimes.com.

Uninsured Americans Still Waiting For Coverage Promised By Health Care Reform

High-Risk Pools: Slow Start To New Program To Help The Uninsurable

For the past six months, Mary Duffy of Redwood City, Calif. has eagerly awaited news about how to apply for a program created by the health care reform bill that will allow her to buy health insurance. So far, she’s waited in vain.

“Every week for the last month I’ve been thinking, ‘God, surely they’ll have something out by June 1,’” said Duffy, a 60-year-old three-time cancer survivor. “It’s been difficult because I’ve still been ordering medications from Canada.”

Duffy has been uninsured since December because of her previous cancer. The health care reform bill signed into law on March 23 called for the creation of a $5 billion “high-risk pool” to cover people who are uninsurable due to preexisting conditions. The program would last until 2014, when an “exchange” will be set up for people to choose from a range of newly-affordable policies.

“Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act,” says the bill, “the Secretary shall establish a temporary high risk health insurance pool program to provide health insurance coverage for eligible individuals during the period beginning on the date on which such program is established and ending on January 1, 2014.”

Full Story: High-Risk Pools: Slow Start To New Program To Help The Uninsurable.

Genetically Altered Salmon Set to Move Closer to Your Table

The Food and Drug Administration is seriously considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.

The developer of the salmon has been trying to get approval for a decade. But the company now seems to have submitted most or all of the data the F.D.A. needs to analyze whether the salmon are safe to eat, nutritionally equivalent to other salmon and safe for the environment, according to government and biotechnology industry officials. A public meeting to discuss the salmon may be held as early as this fall.

Some consumer and environmental groups are likely to raise objections to approval. Even within the F.D.A., there has been a debate about whether the salmon should be labeled as genetically engineered (genetically engineered crops are not labeled).

Full Story: Genetically Altered Salmon Set to Move Closer to Your Table – NYTimes.com.

9 Steps to Reverse Dementia and Memory Loss As You Age

Recently, I spoke on a panel for PBS TV at the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) convention in Boston. The topic was dementia.

There was a woman with mild cognitive impairment on the panel. Her condition is sort of like pre-Alzheimer’s disease. Everyone on the panel — including the Harvard neurologist — agreed that memory loss is NOT a normal part of aging. The sad part was that the panel didn’t have much to offer people in the way of prevention. Their only solution was just a very bad and pretty ineffective selection of drugs with lots of side effects.

Mark Hyman, MD

Practicing physician and pioneer in functional medicine

Posted: June 26, 2010 08:00 AM

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9 Steps to Reverse Dementia and Memory Loss As You Age

Recently, I spoke on a panel for PBS TV at the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) convention in Boston. The topic was dementia.

There was a woman with mild cognitive impairment on the panel. Her condition is sort of like pre-Alzheimer’s disease. Everyone on the panel — including the Harvard neurologist — agreed that memory loss is NOT a normal part of aging. The sad part was that the panel didn’t have much to offer people in the way of prevention. Their only solution was just a very bad and pretty ineffective selection of drugs with lots of side effects.

But there is another way to think about brain aging. The brain responds to all the same insults as the rest of the body — stress, poor diet, toxins, lack of exercise or sleep, nutritional deficiencies, and more. All we have to do is give the brain a tune-up and we can see miracles. In today’s blog I will give you nine tips that will allow you to do that. But first, let’s look a little more closely at the magnitude of this problem.

Dementia on the Rise

Dementia is a big problem and growing every day. Ten percent of 65-year olds, 25 percent of 75-year olds, and 50 percent of 85-year olds will get Alzheimer’s disease — at a cost of $60 billion a year to society. Worse, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is predicted to triple in the next few decades. It is now the seventh leading cause of death.(i)

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: 9 Steps to Reverse Dementia and Memory Loss As You Age.

Exxon Valdez Survivor To Gulf Residents RUN AWAY!!!

June 25, 2010 MSNBC Keith Olbermann

Kellogg Recall: 28 Million Boxes Of Cereal Pulled For Off Odor

UPDATE, 6/25/10: BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Kellogg Co. is voluntarily recalling about 28 million boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks cereals, saying a “waxy” smell and flavor coming from the package liners could make people sick, the company said Friday.

Kellogg spokeswoman J. Adaire Putnam said about 20 people complained about the smell, including five who reported nausea and vomiting. The company said the potential for serious health problems associated with the cereal is low. Putnam said the lining of the cereals’ boxes produced the waxy smell and flavor. Kellogg is trying to identify the substance on the liner that’s causing the problem.

The products were distributed throughout the U.S. and have been on the market since late March. Kellogg’s shares were unchanged in midday trading.

Consumers concerned about the recall — or seeking a refund — can contact the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at 888-801-4163 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Full Story: Kellogg Recall 2010: 28 Million Boxes Of Cereal Pulled For Off Odor (DETAILS).

US scientists make major progress on lung regeneration

US scientists reported important progress Thursday towards building new human lungs by successfully implanting lab-cultivated cells into a rat’s lungs, and by creating an artificial device on a microchip that mimics the human lung.

Yale University researchers managed to create lungs that worked from 45 to 120 minutes by using laboratory-cultivated cells and implanted them into rats, a scientific first.

Separately, researchers with the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston created a device that acts like a human lung using blood vessel cells. It is about the size of a rubber eraser.

Full Story: France24 – US scientists make major progress on lung regeneration.

Heartburn Drug Linked to Parkinsons’-like Disease

Mike Papantonio speaks with attorney Lea Morris about the dangers associated with the prescription drug Reglan, which is having some serious adverse effects on consumers. This is just the latest in a long line of dangerous pharmaceuticals that have made it to the market thanks to an FDA that was stuffed with political hacks for 8 years during the Bush administration.

35,000 pounds of beef recalled for E.coli fears

A Southern California meat distributor has recalled some 35,000 pounds of ground-beef that might be contaminated with E. coli.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said late Tuesday that no illnesses have been reported from the bulk ground beef and ground beef patties sold by South Gate Meat Co.

The affected beef was produced between June 7 and June 21 and shipped to restaurants in and around Los Angeles.

Full Story: 35,000 pounds of beef recalled for E.coli fears – Food safety- msnbc.com.

U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study

Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries — Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found.

“As an American it just bothers me that with all of our know-how, all of our wealth, that we are not assuring that people who need healthcare can get it,” Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Previous reports by the nonprofit fund, which conducts research into healthcare performance and promotes changes in the U.S. system, have been heavily used by policymakers and politicians pressing for healthcare reform.

Full Story: U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study | Reuters.

Study: Individual health insurance premiums skyrocketing

People who buy their own health insurance have been hit lately with premium hikes that far exceed increases in premiums for employer-sponsored coverage, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The nonprofit foundation, which is separate from health insurer Kaiser Permanente, said recent premium hikes requested by insurers for individual coverage averaged 20 percent. Some customers were able to switch plans and pay less, so people paying on their own actually wound up paying 13 percent more on average.

That tops last year’s average 5 percent annual increase for employer-sponsored family coverage and almost unchanged premiums for employer-sponsored single coverage, though foundation Vice President Gary Claxton said the comparisons come with qualifications.

Full Story: Study: Individual health insurance premiums skyrocketing | Raw Story.

Study: Individual health insurance premiums skyrocketing

People who buy their own health insurance have been hit lately with premium hikes that far exceed increases in premiums for employer-sponsored coverage, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The nonprofit foundation, which is separate from health insurer Kaiser Permanente, said recent premium hikes requested by insurers for individual coverage averaged 20 percent. Some customers were able to switch plans and pay less, so people paying on their own actually wound up paying 13 percent more on average.

That tops last year’s average 5 percent annual increase for employer-sponsored family coverage and almost unchanged premiums for employer-sponsored single coverage, though foundation Vice President Gary Claxton said the comparisons come with qualifications.

Full Story: Study: Individual health insurance premiums skyrocketing | Raw Story.

Boing! Feds say Magic Power coffee contains Viagra drug

If you’re looking for an extra pick me up at the office but don’t want to endure a day with tightness in your pants, you may not want to order a popular coffee that’s being marketed online.

Federal regulators told a Florida paper Monday that Magic Power Coffee contains a drug similar to that in the best-selling Pfizer pill Viagra.

The instant coffee, marketed as a dietary supplement, contains a substance similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in the prescription erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. Sildenafil can interact with nitrate-type medications commonly taken by patients with hypertension, causing dangerous drops in blood pressure.

“Because this product is an instant coffee labeled as an ‘all natural dietary supplement,’ consumers may assume its harmless and poses no health risk,” said Deborah Autor, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s compliance office. “In fact, Magic Power Coffee can cause serious harm.”

Full Story: Boing! Feds say Magic Power coffee contains Viagra drug | Raw Story.

The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Is Making A Lot Of People Really Sick

At this point nobody knows. What is becoming clear is that a whole lot of people are becoming ill.

Several days ago, the state of Louisiana announced that 71 cases of oil spill-related illnesses had been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals up to that point. A significant number of those had not even been involved in any of the clean up efforts.

But the cases of illness are most prominent among those involved in cleaning up the oil spill. CBS news has reported that more than 75 oil spill disaster workers have already been treated for mysterious symptoms.

The most common symptoms being reported by oil spill disaster workers include vomiting, dizziness, headaches and shortness of breath.

The wife of one fisherman who is involved in disaster relief efforts in the Gulf recently told CNN what her husband has been telling her about what is really going on out there:

I received several calls from him saying, 'This one's hanging over the boat throwing up. This one says he's dizzy, and he's feeling faint. Everybody's loading up their stuff, tying up their rigs and going back to the docks.'

Down in Texas, they are referring to these illnesses as “TILT” – Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance. The following is an excerpt from a local news report out of San Antonio:

Full Story: The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Is Making A Lot Of People Really Sick — Signs of the Times News.

Milk The Deadly Poison

About the Author

Robert Cohen performed research in the 1970's on the hormonal effects on the brain and behavior. Twenty-five years later, this father of three became concerned about the most controversial drug approval in FDA history, the genetically engineered hormone that is now in our milk supply. Along the way, Cohen discovered that milk is implicated in causing breast cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, and chronic childhood illnesses. Cohen's skills as a researcher, and his passion for the safety of his family, led to his single-minded pursuit to expose the truth about milk. Based on his exhaustive and comprehensive research over the past six years, Cohen predicted the Mad Cow Disease outbreak. His dogged determination has set the American dairy industry on its ear. To insure that all citizens of the world learn the truth, Cohen founded and is executive director of America's Dairy Education Board, a group of nationally prominent doctors dedicated to dispelling the myth that milk is nature's perfect food.

===

This is a 1998 Hard Copy Special on MILK. What the government doesn't want you to know about milk. Don't drink milk, we know it contains fat and cholesterol but did you know it contains the protein CASEIN (which is basically a glue which leads to a lot of mucous build up and other health problems like asthma and congestion), milk also contains.. powerful growth hormones, viruses, a host of deadly chemical and biological bacterial agents, bovine proteins that cause allergies, insecticides, antibiotics, all this can trigger the growth of cancer and contributes to today's problem of obese children (ever notice why young girls breasts develop faster?). Cow's milk is the number one allergic food in this country. It has been well documented as a cause in diarrhea, cramps, bloating, gas, gastrointestinal bleeding, iron-deficiency anemia, skin rashes, atherosclerosis, and acne. It is the primary cause of recurrent ear infections in children. It has also been linked to insulin dependent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, and leukemia. Milk and refined sugar make two of the largest contributions to food induced ill health in our country.

For More Information about Milk go to: http://www.notmilk.com/

Read Robert Cohen’s book Milk The Deadly Poison Available at Amazon.com or other major bookstores.

Direct Link: http://www.amazon.com/MILK-Deadly-Poi…

Panel Recommends Approval of After-Sex Pill to Prevent Pregnancy

A federal advisory panel voted unanimously Thursday that federal drug regulators should approve a medicine that could help prevent pregnancy if taken as late as five days after unprotected sex.

The pill, called ella, sprang from government labs and appears to be more effective than Plan B, a morning-after pill now available over the counter to women 18 and older that gradually loses efficacy after intercourse and can be taken at latest three days after sex. Ella, by contrast, works just as well on the fifth day as the first after sex.

Ella blocks the effects of progesterone, a female hormone that spurs ovulation. It is a chemical relative to RU-486, the abortion pill, and some mystery remains over exactly how it works. That mystery spurred a fierce debate outside the committee over whether it should be considered an abortion drug, a debate that prompted the posting of several uniformed police officers around the meeting room.

Full Story: Panel Recommends Approval of After-Sex Pill to Prevent Pregnancy – NYTimes.com.

AP-GfK poll: Public thumbs up for Obama health law

The vital signs are improving for President Barack Obama’s health care plan.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll on Obama’s top domestic achievement finds support for the new overhaul has risen to its highest point since the survey started asking people about it in September – six months before it became law.

The results now: 45 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed. That’s a significant shift in public sentiment considering that opposition hit 50 percent after Obama signed the health plan into law in late March and that in May, supporters were outnumbered 39 percent to 46 percent.

“I thought when people began to realize what was in the health care package that they would see it’s a good, solid program and that would dispel some of the misinformation,” said Brigham Young University English professor Claudia Harris, 72, of Orem, Utah.

Full Story: CQ Politics | News from the AP.

Gulf Cleanup Training Ignores Advice From Health Agency, Official Says

As we’ve reported, workplace safety experts have expressed concern that Gulf oil spill responders aren’t getting enough safety training. On Wednesday, we spoke with a federal official who said the four-hour safety course that BP is providing to Gulf cleanup workers lacks basic information on health risks and is too short to cover the necessary material.

Joseph Hughes, director of the worker training program at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, said the course fails to incorporate important information. Among the subjects not included are chemical inhalation, the health effects of dispersants, and the risks of direct contact with weathered crude oil.

Hughes’ agency, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, helped develop the training. “We tried to recommend what we thought the right training topics were, but all of those were not included,” he said.

Full Story: On The Hill: Gulf Cleanup Training Ignores Advice From Health Agency, Official Says.

Millions of patients should never be prescribed antidepressants, scientists say

Roughly half the population should never be prescribed antidepressant drugs because they are only likely to become more depressed, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute and published in the journal Neuron.

Scientists have known for some time that antidepressant drugs only work in about half of patients. Research has discovered that although the drugs are designed to raise circulating levels of the neurotransmitter chemical serotonin in the brain, they actually produce the opposite effect in large numbers of people.

“The more antidepressants try to increase serotonin production, the less serotonin [they] actually produce,” researcher Rene Hen said.

Full Story: Millions of patients should never be prescribed antidepressants, scientists say.

League of Women Voters calls for ‘Medicare for all’

Noting the Obama administration’s new health law falls short of providing affordable care to all U.S. residents, the national convention of the League of Women Voters passed a resolution Monday calling on the group’s board to “advocate strongly” for “an improved Medicare for all.”

The convention’s 600 delegates, meeting in Atlanta on the group’s 90th anniversary, voted more than 2 to 1 in support of the measure. In the run-up to the national meeting, nearly identical resolutions were adopted by more than 50 local chapters and 11 state organizations of the League, which claims more than 150,000 members nationwide.

Although many other groups, including labor unions, religious denominations and medical associations, have gone on record in recent years in support of a single-payer health program, or an improved Medicare for all, the League’s action is believed to be the first national endorsement of its type since Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March.

Full Story: League of Women Voters calls for ‘Medicare for all’ | Physicians for a National Health Program.

BP keeps cleanup workers getting sick from pollutants out of its records, claims only two such incidents.

BP attempted to deny and conceal links of its oil spill to illnesses, after initial reports of oil cleanup workers who were getting sick due to extended exposure to oil and dispersants. Fishermen have complained of “severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing” after working to clean up the spill, and one said BP did not provide protective equipment. But BP CEO Tony Hayward brushed off illness concerns, suggesting “food poisoning” might have been the culprit. Now, McClatchy reports on a wide disparity in government and BP records on illness complaints:

Although Louisiana state records indicate that at least 74 oil spill workers have complained of becoming sick after exposure to pollutants, BP’s own official recordkeeping notes just two such incidents.

BP reported a wide range of worker injuries in the period from April 22 to June 10 , from the minor — a sprained ankle, a pinched finger and a cat bite — to the more serious — three instances of workers being struck by lightning and one worker who lost part of a finger.

Full Story: Think Progress » BP keeps cleanup workers getting sick from pollutants out of its records, claims only two such incidents..

Biggest radiation threat is due to medical scans

Americans get most medical radiation in world; dose has grown sixfold

We fret about airport scanners, power lines, cell phones and even microwaves. It’s true that we get too much radiation. But it’s not from those sources — it’s from too many medical tests.

Americans get the most medical radiation in the world, even more than folks in other rich countries. The U.S. accounts for half of the most advanced procedures that use radiation, and the average American’s dose has grown sixfold over the last couple of decades.

Too much radiation raises the risk of cancer. That risk is growing because people in everyday situations are getting imaging tests far too often. Like the New Hampshire teen who was about to get a CT scan to check for kidney stones until a radiologist, Dr. Steven Birnbaum, discovered he’d already had 14 of these powerful X-rays for previous episodes. Adding up the total dose, “I was horrified” at the cancer risk it posed, Birnbaum said.

Full Story: Biggest radiation threat is due to medical scans – Health care- msnbc.com.

When Your Doctor is Willing to Destroy Your Hip Cuz He’s A Lobbied-Kickbacked-Corporate-Whore

More shocking news from the basement of corporate evil.

A few months ago I was multi-tasking at home with NPR on in the background and I heard a story about back surgeries. I was sorry not to have grabbed a pen at that point and jotted down the details since not only was I infuriated by the time the interview concluded, but later when googling I was not able to track down the story.

The essence of the analysis was that there has been a marked increase in serious back surgeries (the kind that go on for maybe 6-12 hours) despite the fact that articles in present medical journals are strongly advising that such surgeries are not worth the risk.

The interviewee said that there were three reasons for the prevalence of high risk back surgeries. (1) The doctors really believed they were best for their patients despite the negative findings. (2) The doctors received substantially more in payment for the longer surgeries. (3) Something I would not have regarded as a serious factor but apparently was the major factor, according to this expert, there is strong, seductive lobbying of back surgeons by the medical industry that makes the mechanical gizmos, screws, devices, etc. that get implanted in one’s back during such surgeries.

Full Story: When Your Doctor is Willing to Destroy Your Hip Cuz He’s A Lobbied-Kickbacked-Corporate-Whore | Corrente.

Hospitals Block Nurses from Returning to Work

Abbott Northwestern, Children’s Minneapolis and St. Paul and United Hospitals refused to allow a total of 122 nurses to return to work on Friday, June 11 after the conclusion of the one-day Minnesota Nurses Association strike. The nurses had all been scheduled to work on Friday and refusal to allow them return to their jobs and patients broke the MNA contract with the hospitals. This contract remains legally in effect until a new one is bargained and ratified by both parties or the employers declare an official impasse and impose a final offer. The hospital administration also failed to call back nurses on the basis of seniority, another violation of the contract. This employer-imposed recall process, without agreement by the union, is a violation of labor law, which the union is calling a selective lockout of the nurses who were refused resuming of their work duties and pay.

Why Lead Poisoning May Be Causing Your Health Problems

We are too heavy, and I don’t mean overweight. We’re heavy with metals, not fat. Nearly 40 percent of us have toxic levels of lead in our bodies. And we don’t even know it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have symptoms…

You may have headaches, insomnia, irritability, a low sex drive or tremors. You may have mood problems, nausea, depression, memory difficulties, trouble concentrating, poor coordination or even constipation. Yet most of us attribute these symptoms to other problems. We don’t recognize that they may be caused by lead poisoning.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: Why Lead Poisoning May Be Causing Your Health Problems.

Fake Meat: Scientists Closer To Vegetarian Chicken

Time magazine reports on a team of scientists from the University of Missouri who may have finally cracked the code on vegetarian chicken.

Though fake-meat products like Tofurkey (and many more — see photos of various fake meat products here) have been available for years, emulating the subtle, fibrous texture and taste profile of chicken is particularly difficult. But scientist Fu-Hung Hsieh and his partner Harold Huff have developed a complex formula to overcome chicken’s peculiar challenges.

According to Time, after more than a decade, they have created:

“The first soy product that not only can be flavored to taste like chicken but also breaks apart in your mouth the way chicken does: not too soft, not too hard, but with that ineffable chew of real flesh. When you pull apart the Missouri invention, it disjoins the way chicken does, with a few random strands of “meat” hanging loosely.”

Here’s how the process is described:

Full Story: Fake Meat: Scientists Closer To Vegetarian Chicken.

OPS: Once this is perfected they can start working on Soylent Green

No methyl iodide on our food

You may have heard that California, the nation’s largest agricultural producer, is on the verge of approving a potent carcinogenic gas for use on strawberry fields and other food crops. The chemical — methyl iodide — is so toxic that scientists in labs use only small amounts with special protective equipment, yet agricultural applications mean it could be released directly into the air and water.

CREDO members have been working hard to stop methyl iodide in California by submitting over 26,000 public comments in opposition to the state’s approval of the pesticide. But there are steps we can take nationally as well. The ultimate power to regulate pesticides lies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It originally issued its approval of methyl iodide under George W. Bush’s administration but has the ability to revisit the decision at any time.

Methyl iodide has been subject to ongoing controversy in its approval process. The U.S. EPA approved methyl iodide for agricultural use in 2007, amid criticism from more than 50 prominent scientists[1] that the process was hidden from public view and the research focus was too limited. Even though a report from an independent panel of scientists in California’s review declared that “methyl iodide is a highly toxic chemical and we expect that any anticipated scenario for the agricultural or structural fumigation use of this agent would result in exposures to a large number of the public and thus would have a significant adverse impact on public health,”[2] the state nonetheless proposed that the chemical be approved.

Full Story: No methyl iodide on our food.

Breaking the Spell of Sisyphus: How to Let Go of Negative Patterns

We all have habitual, negative thinking, feeling and doing patterns that sabotage our success, happiness and well-being. They become so ingrained that we think we have no power to change them. They simply become part of our daily life.

Being passionate about Greek mythology and archetypes, I thought of how the myth of Sisyphus might relate to our lives. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the myth, let me tell you about it.

Sisyphus — a crafty and arrogant man — was condemned by Zeus for his bad deeds to roll a rock up a hill, only to have it roll right back down before he could get it to the top. He would have to repeat this task day after day for eternity — a punishment you might not wish on your worst enemy, unless perhaps he was an ex-husband, wife or lover who left you for your best friend.

Full Story: Agapi Stassinopoulos: Breaking the Spell of Sisyphus: How to Let Go of Negative Patterns.

WHO scandal exposed: Advisors received kickbacks from H1N1 vaccine manufacturers

A stunning new report reveals that top scientists who convinced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare H1N1 a global pandemic held close financial ties to the drug companies that profited from the sale of those vaccines. This report, published in the British Medical Journal, exposes the hidden ties that drove WHO to declare a pandemic, resulting in billions of dollars in profits for vaccine manufacturers.

Several key advisors who urged WHO to declare a pandemic received direct financial compensation from the very same vaccine manufacturers who received a windfall of profits from the pandemic announcement. During all this, WHO refused to disclose any conflicts of interests between its top advisors and the drug companies who would financially benefit from its decisions.

All the kickbacks, in other words, were swept under the table and kept silent, and WHO somehow didn’t think it was important to let the world know that it was receiving policy advice from individuals who stood to make millions of dollars when a pandemic was declared.

Full Story: WHO scandal exposed: Advisors received kickbacks from H1N1 vaccine manufacturers.

Toxic Seafood

Almost all the seafood sold in American grocery stores – 80 percent – now comes from developing nations. The FDA inspects and tests less than 1 percent of all seafood imports, and the food it does inspect is often rejected due to the presence of banned chemicals and antibiotics. Alabama’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Ron Sparks, recently traveled to Vietnam and witnessed fish farmed in sewage. U.S. fish farmers cannot compete with cheap importers who cut corners on safety, and the flood of foreign fish is devastating their business and threatening America’s health.

VIDEO AT LINK

Full Story: Toxic Seafood | Economy In Crisis.

Crizotinib, Lung Cancer Drug, Shows Big Promise In Early Tests

It’s way too soon to declare success, but an experimental drug for lung cancer patients with a certain gene showed extraordinary promise in early testing, doctors reported at a cancer conference on Saturday.

More than 90 percent of the 82 patients in a study saw their tumors shrink after two months on the drug, Pfizer Inc.’s crizotinib, (crih-ZAH-tin-ib), researchers reported.

Doctors had expected only about 10 percent of these very sick patients to respond to the drug, according to one of the study’s leaders, Dr. Yung-Jue Bang of the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea.

Full Story: Crizotinib, Lung Cancer Drug, Shows Big Promise In Early Tests.

New cancer guidelines: Exercise during and after treatment is now encouraged

Cancer patients who’ve been told to rest and avoid exercise can — and should — find ways to be physically active both during and after treatment, according to new national guidelines.

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will present these guidelines at an educational session at the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, aimed at making cancer exercise rehabilitation programs as common as those offered to people who have had heart attacks or undergone cardiac surgery. (“Exercise Testing and Prescription for Cancer Survivors: Guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine.”)

Schmitz, whose previous research reversed decades of cautionary exercise advice given to breast cancer patients with the painful arm-swelling condition lymphedema, led a 13-member American College of Sports Medicine expert panel that developed the new recommendations after reviewing and evaluating literature on the safety and efficacy of exercise training during and after cancer therapy.

“We have to get doctors past the ideas that exercise is harmful to their cancer patients. There is a still a prevailing attitude out there that patients shouldn’t push themselves during treatment, but our message — avoid inactivity — is essential,” Schmitz says. “We now have a compelling body of high quality evidence that exercise during and after treatment is safe and beneficial for these patients, even those undergoing complex procedures such as stem cell transplants. If physicians want to avoid doing harm, they need to incorporate these guidelines into their clinical practice in a systematic way.”

Full Story: New cancer guidelines: Exercise during and after treatment is now encouraged.

A-Okay To Change Sell-By Date On Expired Meat, Says New York State

*Story updated below with official comment from D’Artagnan on relabeling of its expired products*

You know those nifty “sell-by” tags on food that seem like they’re there for your safety and to separate our 21st Century grocery stores from, say, medieval street fairs? Well, it turns out they’re not for you. Evidently, they’re for the convenience of the store owner, according to this unsettling report in the Brooklyn Paper.

An angry customer of a Brooklyn Heights Key Food pointed out that store store placed a newer “sell-by” tag over an expired, 11-day old one on a (spoiled) D’Artagnan chicken.

If that wasn’t unsettling enough, state officials at New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets seem pretty lax about the whole thing:

Full Story: A-Okay To Change Sell-By Date On Expired Meat, Says New York State [UPDATED].

Are Your Weight Issues Tied to Insulin Resistance?

Frequently, a new client will walk into my office knowing he or she needs to lose weight, get in shape and improve their health. Perhaps they feel sluggish and are hungry a good part of the day, and nothing they do makes a difference. Multiple diet regimes, exercise programs, lose-weight-quick gimmicks — they’ve tried them all and are just fed up.

With no visible results, many are still searching for the root of the problem, which could actually be insulin resistance. Not until the last 10 years did many health care professionals really understood what it is and its impact on the body. It affects metabolism, hunger levels and zeal for life, and if untreated, can turn into diabetes.

A Key That Won’t Turn

Full Story: Susan B. Dopart, M.S., R.D.: Are Your Weight Issues Tied to Insulin Resistance?.

Are You Fighting Against Your Own Upliftment?

As you will know if you have been following these columns, I am of the mind that just about anyone can improve both their life circumstances as well as the quality of how they experience their life. I have taken numerous approaches, attempting to share ideas that I have found useful in my own life and that others seem to have found beneficial as well.

A common theme running through these articles includes the notion that how you frame the problem is the problem coupled with it’s not what happens to you but what you choose to do about it.

The dialogue has been rich, comical, supportive, derogatory and sometimes just downright spiteful. I appreciate the exchanges, even the most vitriolic, because no matter the point of view, at least the commenter is engaged.

Full Story: Russell Bishop: Are You Fighting Against Your Own Upliftment?.

Men’s skin cancer death rate doubles over 30 years

The rate of men dying from the deadliest form of skin cancer has doubled over the past three decades.

Figures from Cancer Research UK show a steep increase in deaths from malignant melanoma, especially in elderly men.

In the late 1970s fewer than 400 (1.5 per 100,000) men died from melanoma but that figure has now risen to over 1,100 (3.1 per 100,000).

Yet the cancer is preventable if people avoid sunburn and deal with ‘worrying’ moles early, the charity said.

The death rates for women have also risen, from 1.5 to 2.2 per 100,000.

Full Story: BBC News – Men’s skin cancer death rate doubles over 30 years.

Hopes for breast cancer vaccine

American scientists say they have developed a vaccine which has prevented breast cancer from developing in mice.

The researchers – whose findings are published in the journal, Nature Medicine – are now planning to conduct trials of the drug in humans.

But they warn that it could be some years before the vaccine is widely available.

The immunologist who led the research says the vaccine targets a protein found in most breast tumours.

Vincent Tuohy, from the Cleveland Clinic Learner Research Institute, said: “We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines have prevented many childhood diseases.

Full Story: BBC News – Hopes for breast cancer vaccine.

The Super Fiber That Controls Your Appetite and Blood Sugar

Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day — and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it’s exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn’t have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.

Of course, I wouldn’t advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food — fiber!

Fiber has so many health benefits that I want to focus on it in this week’s blog. I’ll explain some of its benefits and give you nine tips you can begin using today to get more fiber in your diet. I’ll also tell you about my favorite “super-fiber” that can help you increase your total fiber intake overnight.

But before I tell you about what fiber can do for you, let’s a look a little more at the history of fiber.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: The Super Fiber That Controls Your Appetite and Blood Sugar.

Man got cancer from transplanted kidney

Man died after getting a kidney transplanted from a donor with disease

A prominent organ-transplant hospital wasn’t to blame for the death of a man who became riddled with cancer after getting a kidney from a donor who unknowingly had uterine cancer, jurors found Friday.

The Queens jury found for NYU Langone Medical Center on Friday in the medical malpractice case surrounding Vincent Liew’s 2002 death, said the hospital’s lawyer, Robert Elliott. Experts have said it may be the only case of uterine cancer being transmitted by transplant, though the hospital has suggested Liew died of another form of cancer derived from the transplant.

Attorneys for Liew’s widow, Kimberly, who had sued seeking more than $3 million in damages, didn’t immediately return a call.

Full Story: Hospital wins suit after man got uterine cancer – Cancer- msnbc.com.

Gulf oil spill is public health risk, environmental scientists warn

• Pollution could do lasting damage to locals’ health

• BP’s ‘top kill’ attempt to stop flow enters third day

Prolonged exposure to crude oil and chemical dispersants is a public health danger, environmental scientists warned today as BP spent a third day trying to initiate a “top kill” operation to cap the ruptured well on the sea bed.

The oil firm moved to a second stage of the procedure by injecting material such as golf balls, shredded tyres and rope into the well. But John Pack, a spokesman for BP, said it would not be clear until Sunday if it would work. “We have never said there is a deadline or a schedule,” he said. “We need to take this pretty slowly, but everything is going according to plan.”

BP’s beleaguered chief executive, Tony Hayward, today drastically scaled upwards his assessment of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “This is clearly an environmental catastrophe. There is no two ways about it,” he told CNN. “It’s clear that we are dealing with a very significant environmental crisis and catastrophe.”

Full Story: Gulf oil spill is public health risk, environmental scientists warn | Environment | The Guardian.

Tap water tops bottled on quality and cost

As Americans, we take the availability of clean water so much for granted that when arriving in exotic places we are unpleasantly surprised to discover that the tap water in our hotel is unhealthy.

Yet even with our easy access to good tap water, it seems that we have been convinced that attractively packaged and branded bottles of water offer us something better than what we get from the tap; we have been convinced enough to spend $15 billion annually on bottled water.

While the bottlers use images of springs, mountains and glaciers to imply that their product comes from “natural” sources, in reality, up to 40 percent of their product actually comes from municipal tap water.

The industry would also have us believe that their product is purer than tap water and free of harmful chemicals and micro-organisms; however, research suggests that about a third of all bottled water is contaminated.

Full Story: Kirsti Sorsa: Tap water tops bottled on quality and cost.

Could Ramen Make You Sick? Study Says Energy-Dense Foods Up Risk For Chronic Diseases

An Australian study has found that poor nutritional habits in college students could have lasting effects.

According to the New York Daily News, students exacerbate their risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and cancer by consuming energy-dense foods.

One scientist behind the survey says the danger of these foods lies in their widespread cultural approval on campuses.

Full Story: Could Ramen Make You Sick? Study Says Energy-Dense Foods Up Risk For Chronic Diseases.

Health products under fire as FDA attacks walnuts, cherries and more

According to the FDA, walnuts are unapproved drugs because they have been scientifically proven to lower high cholesterol. So the FDA has unleashed a threatening attack against a large walnut company to scare them into removing all scientific research about walnuts from their website and marketing materials. The FDA, you may already realize, is waging a campaign of censorship, disinformation and consumer ignorance to try to destroy all knowledge of the scientifically-proven health benefits of healing foods and nutritional supplements.

Support the Free Speech About Science Act and restore freedom of health speech

The Alliance for Natural Health, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting access to natural and integrative medicine, has recently come up with a Congressional bill designed to stop government censorship of truthful, scientific health claims about natural foods and herbs, and restore free speech to natural health. The Free Speech About Science Act (FSAS), also known as HR 4913, will allow manufacturers and producers to reference peer-reviewed, scientific studies that highlight the health benefits of a particular food or herb that they grow or sell.

Full Story: Health products under fire as FDA attacks walnuts, cherries and more « Food Freedom.

Healthcare Reform Is Finished, But Senators Aren’t Done Trying To Lower Drug Costs

They may not have won during the long and tumultuous healthcare reform debate, but there are those in Congress who want to help you pay less for your prescription drug costs — and they haven't given up.

Lawmakers failed to include key provisions to lower the skyrocketing costs of prescription medications in the final healthcare bill President Obama signed into law back in March, but they are still trying to enact their reforms in new ways.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) this week introduced his Fair Pricing for Prescription Drug Act to authorize the safe importation of prescription drugs from other industrialized countries and require price negotiation for Medicare Part D purchases.

Full Story: On The Hill: Healthcare Reform Is Finished, But Senators Aren’t Done Trying To Lower Drug Costs.

Fishermen hired by BP for oil clean up weren’t provided protective equipment, have now fallen ill.

With last month’s massive oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the livelihood of the area’s fishermen, BP said it would “hire as many local residents as possible to clean the beaches and distribute booms through the surrounding marshes and waterways.” But the effort has hit a few bumps with fishermen complaining that “too few people” were being hired and their cleanup contracts contained problems. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that some fishermen have “become ill after working long hours near waters fouled with oil and dispersant.” At least one worker says he wasn’t given protective equipment by BP:

Like other cleanup workers, Jackson had attended a training class where he was told not to pick up oil-related waste. But he said he wasn’t provided with protective equipment and wore leather boots and regular clothes on his boat.

“They [BP officials] told us if we ran into oil, it wasn’t supposed to bother us,” Jackson said. “As far as gloves, no, we haven’t been wearing any gloves.”

Full Story: Think Progress » Fishermen hired by BP for oil clean up weren’t provided protective equipment, have now fallen ill..

Florida Gulf oil spill: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area are in place

Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area are in place

As FEMA and other government agencies prepare for what is now being called by some, the worst oil spill disaster in history, plans to evacuate the Tampa Bay area are in place.

The plans would be announed in the event of a controlled burn of surface oil in the Gulf of Mexico, if wind or other conditions are expected to take the toxic fumes through Tampa Bay.

This practice is common for the US Forestry service, when fire and smoke threaten the health and well being of people.

The elderly and those with respiratory problems would be more susceptible to health risks, in the event of a controlled burn.

Full Story: Florida Gulf oil spill: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area are in place.

Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer

Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives, according to an evaluation of those products released today.

AOL News also has learned through documents and interviews that the Food and Drug Administration has known of the potential danger for as long as a decade without alerting the public, which the FDA denies.

The study was released with Memorial Day weekend approaching. Store shelves throughout the country are already crammed with tubes, jars, bottles and spray cans of sunscreen.

The white goop, creams and ointments might prevent sunburn. But don’t count on them to keep the ultraviolet light from destroying your skin cells and causing tumors and lesions, according to researchers at Environmental Working Group.

Full Story: Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer – AOL News.

Meatless Monday: The Protein Principle (RECIPES, PHOTOS)

Wow, the numbers are startling. Americans consume an astonishing amount of protein. USDA statistics reveal that U.S. men eat as much as 190% of their recommended daily protein allowance, while women eat as much as 160%, the great majority of which comes from saturated-fat heavy meat and meat products.

Protein is essential to life; it builds and maintains muscles, bones and skin, and regulates metabolism and digestion. But the question remains, whether you look at it from the perspective of personal health, or environmental degradation, or cost savings, or animal rights, or veggie activism, or whatever else floats your boat: do we really need to eat all that meat?

I went to the top, to the nation's most influential nutritionist, Dr. Marion Nestle, professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, to get her take. “All proteins are made up of the same amino acids. ALL. No exceptions,” she reasons. “The difference between animal and vegetable proteins is in the content of certain amino acids. If vegetable proteins are mixed, the differences get made up. Even if they aren't mixed, all you need to do to get the right amount of low amino acids is to eat more of that food. There is no 'need' for animal proteins at all.”

So, when it comes to protein…if we don't need animal protein all the time, what other options do we have? It turns out that beans, legumes, whole grains, greens, nuts and seeds are excellent sources of protein — plus they offer the added benefit of fiber (not found in meat), vitamins and minerals. Here's some examples of protein found in readily available foods:

Full Story: Chris Elam: Meatless Monday: The Protein Principle (RECIPES, PHOTOS).

Nutrients to Unplug and Recharge Your Body and Mind

Stress seems inevitable, and takes its toll on our health and well-being. Do you recognize any of these signs?

Stress Check

• Do you have difficulty relaxing?

• Do you feel irritable?

• Do you have a dry mouth and sweaty palms?

• Do you worry about little events of the day and are unable to shut your mind off?

• Do you take on too much?

• Do you eat quickly?

• Do you have problems sleeping?

A “yes” to any of these is a sign that you are under stress, and at risk for stress-related health problems.

Fight or Flight — The Stress Response

We need a certain amount of stress to keep us motivated, but too much can seriously affect our health. It mobilizes the body's “fight-or-flight response”, which prepares us to cope with emergencies. Triggering the release of stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol from our adrenal glands, it increases our respiration and heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and raises blood sugar levels.

Full Story: Hyla Cass, M.D.: Nutrients to Unplug and Recharge Your Body and Mind.

Big Soda Wants to Keep America Fat: Here’s How to Fight Back

Sodas have fueled our obesity epidemic. An elegant solution — soda taxes — would cut our addiction, but the sugary drink industry is gearing up to make sure that can’t happen.

Scouring lobbyist filings is akin to looking into a public-policy crystal ball. What Big Business is spending on lobbying today will give you a good idea of what the next big policy fight will hinge upon.

Here’s an example. In the first quarter of this year, a trade group representing the interests of non-alcoholic drink-makers called the American Beverage Association upped its lobbying expenditures by a whopping 3,785 percent over the last quarter of 2009. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the ABA went from spending a paltry $140,000 to shelling out $5.4 million.

What are non-alcoholic beverage producers so afraid of? Two words: soda taxes.

Last year, Congress seriously discussed including a tax on sodas and other calorie-laden beverages like energy and sports drinks (diet sodas were to be exempted) in the forthcoming health care overhaul in order to help cover costs for what was then supposed to be a universal health care plan. At the time, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the proposed nationwide 3-cent tax on sodas would generate $24 billion over four years.

Full Story: Big Soda Wants to Keep America Fat: Here’s How to Fight Back | Personal Health | AlterNet.

Vitamin D: Why You Are Probably NOT Getting Enough and How That Makes You Sick

What vitamin may we need in amounts up to 25 times higher than the government recommends for us to be healthy?

What vitamin deficiency affects 70-80 percent of the population, is almost never diagnosed and has been linked to many cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression,(i) fibromyalgia, chronic muscle pain, bone loss and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis?(ii)

What vitamin is almost totally absent from our food supply?

What vitamin is the hidden cause of much suffering that is easy to treat?

The answer to all of these questions is vitamin D.

Over the last 15 years of my practice, my focus has been to discover what the body needs to function optimally. Vitamin D, a nutrient (more of a hormone and gene modulator) is a critical, essential ingredient for health and optimal function. The problem is that most of us don’t have enough of it because we work and live indoors, use sun block and can’t get enough from our diet–even in fortified foods.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: Vitamin D: Why You Are Probably NOT Getting Enough and How That Makes You Sick.

Fishermen Report Illness From BP Chemicals

Toxicologist Says Chemicals Harmful, Can Lead To Death

More and more stories about sick fishermen are beginning to surface after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fishermen are working out in the Gulf — many of them all day, every day — to clean up the spill. They said they blame their ailments on the chemicals that BP is using.

One fisherman said he felt like he was going to die over the weekend.

“I've been coughing up stuff,” Gary Burris said. “Your lungs fill up.”

Burris, a longtime fisherman who has worked across the Gulf Coast, said he woke up Sunday night feeling drugged and disoriented.

“It was like sniffing gasoline or something, and my ears are still popping,” Burris said. “I'm coughing up stuff. I feel real weak, tingling feelings.”

Full Story: Fishermen Report Illness From BP Chemicals – Health News Story – WDSU New Orleans.

Pesticides In Food: What To Eat And What To Avoid (PHOTOS)

With the latest news that ADHD in children is linked to common pesticides used on fruits and vegetables, it is more important than ever to be aware of what we are putting on our plates. Of the 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides used annually in the US, less than .01% actually reach their intended targets–the bugs! Obviously they are completely contaminating our food, and the consequences are disastrous, with numerous national and international government agencies acknowledging the connection to various health problems–nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system effects, and irritation of skin, eyes, and lungs among them.

Unfortunately, due to cost and availability, organic food which is grown without any pesticides, is not a plausible option for every family. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group has put together a ranked list of the 49 most purchased produce items, based on laboratory tests conducted by the US Department Of Agriculture Pesticide Testing Program. So if you can’t get organic, at least you know which foods are the safest, and which should be avoided.

The EWG rated the 49 food items based on a variety of measurements, including percent of detectable pesticide and multiple pesticides, average number and amount of pesticides on samples, and maximum number and amounts of pesticides per item. The list is based on an analysis of 96,000 pesticide tests the USDA and FDA conducted between 2000 and 2008. Most of the tests were conducted on produce that had been rinsed and peeled.

Full Story: Pesticides In Food: What To Eat And What To Avoid (PHOTOS).

How Corrupted Drug Companies Deceive and Manipulate Your Doctor

Dr. Beatrice Golomb, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, masterfully exposes the corruption that has metastasized like a tumor throughout the pharmaceutical and medical industries, in the video above.

If you have any doubt about drug companies being riddled with conflicts of interest, those doubts will be shattered after seeing the evidence she presents.

The corruption has become so prolific that it has literally debased medical science.

In the above linked Chicago Breaking News article, Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is quoted as saying:

“Science is not a democracy where people’s votes decide what is right. Look at the data, look at science and make a decision based on science that has been published.”

What he is really advocating is for you to blindly believe in “facts” that may have been produced in the midst of MASSIVE conflicts of interest.

Before you assume the science in medical journals is credible, let’s take a look at what is going on behind the scenes of editing and publishing in medical science.

Full Story: How Corrupted Drug Companies Deceive and Manipulate Your Doctor « Wake-up Call.

New drug reverses even ‘untreatable’ cancers

Cancer patients may be offered new hope in the form of a harmless virus which can reverse even apparently untreatable forms of the disease when injected into tumours.

Full Story: New drug reverses even ‘untreatable’ cancers – Telegraph.

CDC misled District residents about lead levels in water, House probe finds

The nation’s premier public health agency knowingly used flawed data to claim that high lead levels in the District’s drinking water did not pose a health risk to the public, a congressional investigation has found. And, investigators determined, the agency has not publicized more thorough internal research showing that the problem harmed children across the city and continues to endanger thousands of D.C. residents

A House investigative subcommittee concludes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made “scientifically indefensible” claims in 2004 that high lead in the water was not causing noticeable harm to the health of city residents. As terrified District parents demanded explanations for the spike in lead in their water, the CDC hurriedly published its calming analysis, knowing it relied on incomplete, misleading blood-test results that played down the potential health impact, the investigation found.

The city utility says lead levels have been in the safe range in D.C. water since 2006, after a chemical change to reduce lead leaching. But the House report raises concerns about children in 9,100 residences citywide with partial lead-pipe replacements. Their parents may not know CDC research has found that children in such homes are four times more likely to have elevated lead in their blood.

Full Story: CDC misled District residents about lead levels in water, House probe finds.

The-90 Minute Solution: How Building in Periods of Renewal Can Change Your Work and Your Life (POLL) (VIDEO)

The only way to meet rising demand is to work longer hours, more continuously and stay connected 24/7.

Welcome to the crazy credo that many of us now live by, encouraged by the companies that employ us, in a world that’s been wildly accelerated by technology.

It’s also completely contrary to everything we know about what makes it possible for human beings to perform at the highest level.

The human body is hard-wired to pulse. To operate at our best, we need to renew our energy at 90-minute intervals — not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

Full Story: Tony Schwartz: The-90 Minute Solution: How Building in Periods of Renewal Can Change Your Work and Your Life (POLL) (VIDEO).

Research links pesticides with ADHD in kids

A study published today in the Journal of Pediatrics says that one type of pesticide commonly used on fruits and vegetables may be contributing to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD.

Pesticides commonly found on frozen blueberries, strawberries, celery and other fruits and veggies kids love may be contributing to ADHD in American children.

“It’s consistent with other studies that have looked at organophosphate pesticides and have found that exposure in early life can cause brain injury.”

Researchers tested urine for pesticide levels from over a thousand kids – ages 8 to 15. 119 of the children had symptoms of ADHD. Those with the highest concentration of were more likely to have the disorder.

Scientists claim the chemicals can have harmful effects on development — including behavioral problems and the ability to think and communicate.

Full Story: Research links pesticides with ADHD in kids | abc7.com.

5 Simple Steps to Cure IBS

Imagine having a condition with symptoms so severe that you can’t leave the house, yet your doctor calls it a “functional,” or “psychosomatic,” disease — meaning that it’s all in your head.

But it’s a very real problem for the 60 million people — that’s 20 percent of Americans — who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These people are plagued by uncomfortable and often disabling symptoms like bloating, cramps, diarrhea, constipation and pain.

I have many patients with IBS, some of whom have suffered for decades without relief. Their previous doctors couldn’t find the cause of the illness, so they were told to just get more fiber or take Metamucil, or were prescribed sedatives, anti-spasm drugs, or antidepressants.

That is NOT the answer. Most of those treatments don’t work because they don’t address the underlying causes of why your digestion is not working. Emerging research has helped identify the underlying causes. For over 15 years I have been successfully treating irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive conditions using a very simple methodology based on Functional Medicine (www.functionalmedicine.org) that helps identify and remove the underlying causes and restores normal digestive function and health.

Full Story: Mark Hyman, MD: 5 Simple Steps to Cure IBS.

New Study on Milk Quality Runs Away from Its Own Findings

A Monsanto-funded study by scientists at Cornell University measured the concentrations of heart-healthy fatty acids in 292 samples of conventional rbST, and organic whole milk. The study was needed, according to the authors, to clear up “confusion” among consumers over nutritional differences between conventional, rbST, and organic milk.

The team found significant differences in the two key fatty acids that are higher in organic milk – conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega 3 fatty acids. CLA levels were 23% higher in the organic milk compared to conventional and rbST milk, and omega 3 levels were 63% higher.

The authors dismissed the differences as not nutritionally relevant, reflecting accurately their opinions but not hundreds of studies on the health benefits of elevated CLA and omega 3 intakes.

Full Story: New Study on Milk Quality Runs Away from Its Own Findings.

President’s Cancer Panel: Environmentally caused cancers are ‘grossly underestimated’ and ‘needlessly devastate American lives.’

“The true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated,” says the President’s Cancer Panel in a strongly reported report that urges action to reduce people’s widespread exposure to carcinogens. The panel today advised President Obama “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

The President’s Cancer Panel on Thursday reported that “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated” and strongly urged action to reduce people’s widespread exposure to carcinogens.

The panel advised President Obama ”to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

The 240-page report by the President’s Cancer Panel is the first to focus on environmental causes of cancer. The panel, created by an act of Congress in 1971, is charged with monitoring the multi-billion-dollar National Cancer Program and reports directly to the President every year.

Environmental exposures “do not represent a new front in the ongoing war on cancer. However, the grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed adequately by the National Cancer Program,” the panel said in its letter to Obama that precedes the report. “The American people – even before they are born – are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures.”

Full Story: President’s Cancer Panel: Environmentally caused cancers are ‘grossly underestimated’ and ‘needlessly devastate American lives.’ — Environmental Health News.

Study: Stomach Cancer Up In Young, White Adults

Scientists are puzzling over a surprising increase in stomach cancer in young white adults, while rates in all other American adults have declined. Chances for developing stomach cancer are still very low in young adults but the incidence among 25 to 39 year old whites nonetheless climbed by almost 70 percent in the past three decades, a study found.

National Cancer Institute researchers and colleagues examined new cases from 1977 to 2006 of cancer in the lower stomach, which can be caused by chronic infection with a common bacteria called H. pylori. It also causes stomach ulcers.

Overall, there were 39,003 cases detected in a surveillance program that covers about one-fourth of the U.S. population.

Full Story: Study: Stomach Cancer Up In Young, White Adults.