Boston TV Station Reports Dangers Of Fluoride In Water
Boston’s WCVB TV reports on suspicious sodium fluoride being added to local water supplies. The video clip shown below has some overlays from a viewer with deeper concerns than those expressed in the report:
Lead Poisoning Lurks in Spices
Photo: warriorgrrl (CC)
By Alice Park for Time:
Most parents have already cleared their children’s toy boxes of playthings containing lead-laden plastics or paint. But according to a new study published on Monday in Pediatrics, the toxic heavy metal may continue to lurk in other, less expected sources in the home — like in the kitchen pantry.
After several reports of lead poisoning in Indian children in the Boston area were linked to consumption of Indian spices, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Harvard School of Public Health decided to measure the amount of lead in the seasonings as well as in ceremonial powders commonly used to mark newborn Indian infants for religious and cultural purposes.
The team visited 15 Indian specialty stores in the Boston area and purchased 71 cultural powders and…
The Woman Who Wants To Be World’s Fattest Closes In On 1,000 lb
To counterbalance the articles on this site bemoaning the increasing rates of obesity, here’s one from the Daily Mail (where else?) about Donna Simpson, the New Jersey woman who is already gargantuan and wants to become even fatter to set a new world record:
Donna Simpson already weighs 43st, but she is determined to nearly double her size to become the world’s fattest woman. The 42-year-old from New Jersey, U.S, is set on reaching the 1,000lb mark (71st) in just two years. Remarkably she insists she is healthy, despite now needing a mobility scooter when she goes shopping.
Donna Simpson already weighs 43 stone but is consuming an astonishing 12,000 calories a day in a quest to become the world’s fattest woman. ‘My favourite food is sushi, but unlike others I can sit and…
Modern Food Is Changing Our Minds As Well As Our Bodies
David A. Kessler, a former commisioner at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says our favorite foods are making us fat, yet we can’t resist, because eating them is changing our minds as well as bodies. It’s something the producers of the disinformation® documentary Killer At Large also discussed, but coming as it does from someone with as much credibility and influence as Mr. Kessler in his book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, perhaps we’ll actually start to listen to his advice, dispensed here in the Guardian:
For years I wondered why I was fat. I lost weight, gained it back, and lost it again – over and over and over. I owned suits in every size. As a former commissioner of the FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration), surely I should have the answer to my problems. Yet food held remarkable sway over my behaviour.
The latest science seemed to suggest being overweight was my destiny. I was fat because my body’s “thermostat” was set high. If I lost weight, my body would try to get it back, slowing down my metabolism till I returned to my predetermined set point.
But this theory didn’t explain why so many people, in the US and UK in particular, were getting significantly fatter. For thousands of years, human body weight had stayed remarkably stable. Millions of calories passed through our bodies, yet with rare exceptions our weight neither rose nor fell. A perfect biological system seemed to be at work. Then, in the 80s, something changed…
NYC Schools Prohibit Sale of Home-Made Food and Allow Junk for Fundraising?!?
From NYC Green Schools:
Regulation A-812 prohibits home-baked foods from being sold at school fundraisers, while permitting Doritos and Pop-Tarts instead! Yes, this regulation mandates that if we want to raise money for our schools, we have to buy and sell junk food to our children!
VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO REGULATION A-812!
— Our schools cannot become venues for big food corporations, like Pepsi Cola and Kellogg’s to advertise and sell their processed foods to our children!
— Our children must not receive the message that junk food is healthier for them than foods cooked at home!
— We, as parents, must be allowed to participate in the discussion about our children’s health and nutrition!
$650m Compensation Settlement for Heroes of September 11
Nico Hines writes on the Times:
Rescue and recovery workers who were exposed to a toxic brew of smoke and dust in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks have been awarded $650 million in a compensation deal struck in New York.
Thousands of 9/11 heroes, including firefighters, police officers, construction experts and emergency workers, have filed lawsuits since 2003 but last night’s agreement is expected to put an end to years of legal battles.
The settlement, worth up to $657.5 million (£434 million), was reached after negotiations between lawyers representing more than 10,000 people exposed to the debris from the World Trade Center and New York City’s federally financed insurer.
Some workers are likely to receive payments of only a few thousand dollars. Others could be in line to get more than…
Hawaii Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Three Bills to Improve Marijuana Laws
From the Examiner:
Yesterday, the Hawaii Senate passed by overwhelming, veto-proof margins three measures that will greatly improve marijuana laws in the state:
· SB 2213 passed 20-4, with one excused. This bill would allow counties to license medical marijuana dispensaries.
· SB 2141 passed 24-1. This bill would increase the ratio of plants, ounces and caregivers allowed for each medical marijuana patient.
· SB 2450 passed 22-3. This bill would remove criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for a subsequent offense.The bills now go to the state House.
“These votes show that Hawaii’s Senate supports sensible marijuana policies that will serve the best interests of state citizens,” said Eric M. McDaniel, a legislative analyst…
New Birth Defects Seen In Gaza Due To Israeli Weapons
From the Palestine Telegraph:
An increase in birth defects among newborns in the Gaza Strip – first documented in the Palestine Telegraph – has become apparent, despite claims to the contrary by some doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital. Pregnant women say they are living in constant fear.
Noha Abu Laban, 37, a resident of Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is in her final month of pregnancy and says: “In the war, I inhaled the smoke of white phosphorus, which was fired on the roof of our house. I have been feeling sick since my pregnancy, and have had heavy bleeding.” Noha is currently being treated in the High-Risk Pregnancy Care Unit at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Alaa Al-Tunp, a 25-year-old resident in the Al-Tofah neighborhood, says: “When I heard the stories…
90 Percent of High School Kids Lack Sufficient Intake of Fruits, Veggies
From Natural News:
Less than 10 percent of high school students in the United States meet the federally recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“A diet high in fruits and vegetables is important for optimal child growth, maintaining a healthy weight, and prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, ” said William H. Dietz, director of the Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Division of the CDC. “This report will help states determine what is taking place in their communities and schools and come up with ways to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables.”
In 2007, the CDC surveyed both adults and high school students on their daily consumption of fruits or…
Is It Wrong To Cure Colorblindness?
One in twelve men suffers from colorblindness, though “The good news here is that these folks are simply missing a patch of DNA… which is just the kind of challenge this Millennium is made for. Enter science.”
But NPR’s Moira Gunn (from Biotech Nation) now asks a provocative question. Is it wrong to cure colorblindness?
She reports on an experiment that used a virus to introduce corrective DNA into colorblind monkeys. (”It took 20 weeks, but eventually the monkeys started distinguishing between red and green.”) Then she asks, could it be viewed differently? “Are we trying to ‘normalize’ humans to a threshold of experience?
“Slippery Slope. Enter here. Watch your step…”
How Does The Body Heal Itself?
From the Times of India:
Unlocking the secrets of how the body heals itself, especially when organs become diseased, a new study shows that the presence of small particles known as microvesicles helps cellular communication and enables healing.
Microvesicles are much smaller than a normal cell and contain genetic information such as messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA), other species of RNA and protein.
Jason Aliotta, physician researcher at the critical care and haematology-oncology departments at Rhode Island Hospital (RIH), and colleagues focussed on these small particles.
During times of cellular injury or stress, or with certain diseases like cancer, infections and cardiovascular disease, these particles are shed and then taken up by other cells in the body.
The genetic information and protein in the microvesicles help to reprogramme the accepting cell to behave more like the…
Are Pesticides from Plants Dangerous to Humans?
By Ferris Jabr for Scientific American:
Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide.
For at least a decade, pyrethroids have been the insecticide of choice for consumers, replacing organophosphate pesticides, which are far more toxic to people and wildlife. But evidence is mounting that the switch to less-toxic pyrethroids has brought its own set of new ecological and human health risks.
About 70 percent of people in the United States have been exposed to pyrethroids, with children facing the highest exposure, according to a study published this month. Although the human health threats are unknown, animal studies have found evidence of damage to neurological, immune and reproductive systems.
In addition, pyrethroids are flowing off yards and gardens,…
Childhood Obesity Linked To Heart Disease
One more reason not to let your kids eat junk food, drink soda and so forth (see the disinformation® documentary Killer At Large for more on that), reported by the BBC:
Obese children as young as three years old show signs of future heart disease, say US researchers.
A study of 16,000 children and teenagers showed the most obese had signs of an inflammatory marker which can predict future heart disease.
In all, 40% of obese three-to-five-year olds had raised levels of C-reactive protein compared with 17% of healthy weight children, Pediatrics reported. But more work is needed to prove the link with heart disease in later life. The study, carried out by a team at the University of North Carolina (UNC), looked at children aged one to 17.
Overall, nearly 70% were a healthy…
Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
From Bloomberg.com:
Meditation appears to build up cortex, MRI scans find
If you’re trying to reduce your sensitivity to pain, Zen meditation may help by actually thickening your brain, new research suggests.The authors of a new study, published in a special issue of the journal Emotion, reached their conclusions after comparing brain thickness in 17 Zen meditators and a control group of 18 people who didn’t meditate and hadn’t practiced yoga or suffered from chronic pain, brain disease or mental illness.
The researchers applied heat to the participants’ calves and used MRI scans to study how their brains reacted to the pain.
“Through training, Zen meditators appear to thicken certain areas of their cortex, and this appears to underlie their lower sensitivity to pain,” study author Joshua A. Grant, a doctoral student in the…
Health Care Overhaul Summit Cements Differences
From NPR:
President Obama’s made-for-TV health summit probably didn’t change many minds. And it certainly didn’t produce any bipartisan breakthroughs on Thursday. But it did clarify some of the biggest differences between Republicans and Democrats.
The 18 Republicans who attended the all-day meeting at Blair House, just across from the White House, were polite, but firm. The bills passed by the Democratic House and Senate last year are simply too big for them, and for the American people, to swallow.
“We’ve come to the conclusion we don’t do comprehensive well,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee. “Our country is too big, too complicated, too decentralized for Washington; a few of us here, just to write a few rules about remaking 17 percent of the economy all at once.”
But Democrats were just…
We Need To Stop Circumcision
Christiane Northrup, M.D., a board-certified ob/gyn, for Huffington Post:
In the weeks ahead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are likely to publish a recommendation that all infant boys undergo circumcision. This is a huge mistake. Circumcision is an unnecessary procedure that is painful and can lead to complications, including death. No organization in the world currently recommends this. Why should we routinely remove normal, functioning tissue from the genitals of little boys within days of their birth?
The vast majority of the world’s men, including most Europeans and Scandinavians, are uncircumcised. And before 1900, circumcision was virtually nonexistent in the United States as well–except for Jewish and Muslim people, who’ve been performing circumcisions for thousands of years for religious reasons. Believe it…
Court Documents Reveal Palin’s Grandson Uses Socialized Medicine
From The Raw Story:
For someone who once generated a national hysteria by claiming socialized medicine would bring about government-run “death panels” that would kill the elderly and children with mental defects, Sarah Palin seems remarkably calm, what with her grandson now facing the very same allegedly tyrannical construct, that is.Yes, that’s right: Sarah Palin, Alaska’s former governor and a millionaire thanks to sales of her book, has a grandson whose health care is paid for by the federal government, according to newly released court documents.
The revelation was made in court documents filed Feb. 16, relating to the child support battle between Bristol Palin and Levi Jonson, available here [PDF link] courtesy of E! Online.
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome…
Michael Pollan on Food Rules: An Eaters Manual on Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman: Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivores Dilemma and In Defense of Food, discusses the link between healthcare and diet, the dangers of processed foods, the power of the meat industry lobby, the nutritional-industrial complex, the impact industrial agriculture has on global warming, and his sixty-four rules for eating. The markets are full of what I call edible food-like substances that you have to avoid, says Michael Pollan. So a lot of the rules are to help you, you know, navigate that now very treacherous landscape of the American supermarket. Today we air an excerpt of the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. and then spend the rest of the show with Michael Pollan.
