Posted: July 29, 2013
(http://petitions.whitehouse.gov)Yesterday, a petition was posted on whitehouse.gov to ban all sales and manufacture of infant formula containing genetically modified ingredients in the US.
The petition states: "Our children generation shouldn't be the first long term GMO food study done on US soil. Babies in the US deserve to start life being fed the best. Other countries have already passed laws to prohibit the use of GM ingredients in their infant formulas. It's our turn to do the same."
The goal for this petition is 100,000 signatures. If met, it will be a big step forward in protecting the nation's youth from being subjected to GMOs from birth.
As many signatures as possible are needed, if you are interested in helping, please visit the link provided.
Posted: July 29, 2013
(http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com)You may have heard of the chemicals BHT or BHA; they stand for butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole, respectively. These two artificial preservatives are used to preserve fats and oils in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, but they can also be found in rubber, jet fuel, petroleum products, the oil electrical transformers - and even embalming fluid. These compounds have been approved for usage by the Food and Drug Administration and are most commonly found in dog food and breakfast cereals.
According to the National Institute of Health, BHA in the diet has been found to consistently produce certain types of tumors in laboratory animals. BHA has been banned in the state of California and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has placed it on the "Chemicals Known to the State to Cause Cancer or Reproductive Toxicity" list.
BHA is also listed as a chemical of potential concern under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, because it has been found to be toxic to aquatic organisms and potential to bioaccumulate. The United Nations Environment Program also notes that BHT has a moderate to high potential to bioaccumulate in aquatic species.
A study on the use of BHT in cosmetics found that it penetrates the skin and has a number of effects on lab rats. Exposure to BHT caused renal and hepatic damage in rats in addition to producing increased liver weight, decreased activity of several hepatic enzymes, kidney effects, and toxic effects in lung tissue. BHT was also found to modify the genotoxicity of other agents. The abstract of the study concluded: "Although there were only limited studies that evaluated the effect of BHT on the skin, the available studies, along with the case literature, demonstrate no significant irritation, sensitization, or photosensitization. Recognizing the low concentration at which this ingredient is currently used in cosmetic formulations, it was concluded that BHT is safe as used in cosmetic formulations." So, despite all the possible risks associated with this chemical, it doesn't cause your skin to become significantly irritated or sensitive, so it must be safe to use.
The FDA carelessly approves these chemicals, assuming that they are safe at low doses. However, because there is evidence that this substance can bioaccumulate, there is no reason to assume that there will be no long-term adverse health effects. The items and foods that we, our loved ones, and our pets consume are still being poisoned by the very people that we're supposed to trust. Consumers should always be aware of these artificial preservatives, and instead look for healthier, natural ingredients to promote a long and happy life.
Posted: July 29, 2013
(http://www.cornucopia.org)On Tuesday, July 23, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a draft guidance for organic egg producers (and other farmers who allow outdoor access for their chickens) to comply with its salmonella food safety rule, which went into effect in 2010. The draft guidance is in a Question and Answer format. The public comment period is sixty days, and the FDA is seeking input from organic industry stakeholders.
• Published studies show scientific evidence that confining chickens to battery cages, large flock sizes, infestation with flies and rodents, and forced molting (a practice banned in organics) are the real risk factors for salmonella contamination. Yet rather than address these documented risk factors, which are common on non-organic, large-scale confinement operations ("factory farms"), the FDA is focusing on outdoor access and making it harder for organic farmers, who afford their chickens access to the outdoors, to comply with FDA regulations. If the FDA were truly concerned with consumer health, it would phase out cages and large flock sizes.
• Countries in the European Union do not limit outdoor access and require at least 43 ft2 per bird of outdoor space. These countries are having great success with reducing salmonella rates without interfering with outdoor access.
• Wild birds were never addressed in the FDA's salmonella rule, and studies have not consistently shown that farms where hens come in contact with wild birds are more likely to have salmonella contamination. This makes the FDA's guidance document focusing on reducing contact with wild birds questionable, as wild birds present a low risk factor.
• The FDA's egg safety regulations clearly prohibit its enforcement staff from interpreting the rules to interfere with farmers complying with USDA's national organic standards. Those standards require "access to the outdoors" for all organic livestock. According to the Cornucopia Institue, this guidance will add unnecessary burdens for producers with outdoor access to comply with the regulations (possibly making true outdoor access economically and logistically impracticable).
• The USDA's National Organic Program has collaborated with the FDA in promulgating this draft guidance. The Cornucopia Institute has already been investigating filing a lawsuit against the USDA for its refusal to enforce the Organic Foods Production Act, failing to carry out the will of Congress. Instead they have allowed the largest players in the organic egg industry to confine as many as 100,000 birds in a single building without legitimate outdoor access. The USDA has permitted small porches, that fit only 1-3% of the birds - many of these structures have screen walls, floors and ceilings - and has suggested that these fulfill the legal requirement for "access to the outdoors."
• Family-scale organic farmers are placed at a competitive disadvantage by the USDA abdicating its legal responsibility to enforce the organic law. Consumers, who for good reason believe organic chickens are being cared for in a more humane manner, equating to healthier and more nutritious eggs, are taken advantage of. Preventing unfair business practices, and defrauding consumers, is the reason Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990.
• The FDA salmonella guidance for organic farmers will likely tip the scales even further, advantaging an industrial-scale agriculture sector at the expense of family farmers.
The Cornucopia Institute will continue to carefully review the draft guidance, especially for its impact on organic egg producers who provide meaningful outdoor access to laying hens.
Posted: July 26, 2013
(http://vactruth.com)According to a front page article of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, dated July 17, 2013, Missourians are being offered a free Tdap vaccine in July to protect them against the reported rising incidence of pertussis or "whooping cough." The vaccine is being offered to residents aged 11 and older.
It is reported that "the Tdap vaccine is a single vaccination that prevents tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis." The cause of the rising incidence of whooping cough is reported to be related to the vaccine wearing off if given more than ten years earlier. According to the report, more than 41,000 pertussis cases occurred across the United States in 2012, compared to 18,719 cases in 2011.
The news story emphasizes the dangers of whooping cough and diphtheria, which can lead to death, and tetanus, which can cause intense muscle spasms, but it fails to mention the serious health risks associated with the Tdap vaccinations or the important fact that vaccines have never been proven to prevent any disease.
The risks that whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus pose to health are low compared to the potential, serious dangers reported as a result of this vaccine. Whooping cough can be treated successfully through a vitamin C protocol developed by Dr. Suzanne Humphries which has been shown to greatly reduce symptoms.
In contrast, antibiotic treatments, given routinely by conventional, allopathic physicians to treat whooping cough, have never been shown to positively impact the course of the illness. Regardless of treatment received, most people recover completely from the whooping cough, giving them lifelong immunity to the disease. If they do become re-infected, subsequent courses of the illness are quite mild.
Tetanus can be prevented by thoroughly washing and cleaning the area of infection. The risk of contracting tetanus is quite low. Only 233 cases of tetanus were reported to the Center for Disease Control between 2001 and 2008. The incidence of tetanus declined by more than 95% between 1947 and 2008.
Diptheria is a very low risk disease, not widely seen in the United States since an outbreak in the 1970's. Between 1980 and 2010, 55 cases of diphtheria were reported to the Center for Disease Control.
Health consequences resulting from the Tdap vaccine include encephalitis, brain damage and death. A comprehensive report made by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) documents clearly the widespread health dangers associated with the Tdap vaccine. Tdap and DTap vaccines are currently used in the United States, replacing the DTP vaccine in 1996, but all three vaccines contain the dangerous pertussis toxin with unsafe additives.
As early as 1933, T. Madren reported that two babies died within minutes of vaccination with DPT. A study published in Pediatrics in 1981 revealed that children were experiencing brain damage as a direct result of the DPT vaccines. Research done by the Institute of Medicine in the 1990's confirmed that the DPT vaccines were responsible for brain damage. The pertussis toxin, aluminum, mercury and endotoxin contained in the DPT vaccines have been well-documented through scientific studies to cause permanent brain damage.
A search of the National Vaccine Information Center incidence reports for the DTap vaccine alone on July 21, 2013 showed 52,835 negative reactions were submitted. A 7/21/13 review of the reactions to the Tdap vaccine indicated 20,179 negative reactions.
As of August 2012, half of the 2,982 awards under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which totaled almost $2.5 billion dollars, were made to those damaged by the Tdap, DTap or DPT vaccines. Currently, children in the U.S. routinely receive 6 dosages of the DTap or Tdap vaccine at ages 2, 4, 6 months, 15-18 months, 4-6 years and at age 12.
Incidence of whooping coughs in vaccinated populations disproves the "theory" that vaccines prevent disease. Repeatedly, when there is an outbreak of whooping cough, population studies show that the majority of those who contract the illness are vaccinated. No actual research has ever shown that vaccines prevent disease, only that vaccines increase antibodies to a particular disease.
Renowned neurologist Dr. Russell Blaylock has done extensive research demonstrating that vaccines decrease cellular immunity, which is more important than antibodies in fighting disease. Studies comparing the health of children vaccinated to those unvaccinated consistently demonstrate superior health of unvaccinated children.
Unless individuals do their own research, they will be victims of the continued media propaganda and scare tactics used to promote vaccinations. Once toxins are unnaturally injected into the bloodstream, the known and unknown damage cannot be easily undone.
Posted: July 25, 2013
(http://www.wddty.com)A vaccine for meningitis B is not going to be added to the 26 vaccinations that a UK child will receive within the first 13 months of life. The UK's vaccine regulators do not believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the Bexsero vaccine is effective.
Although the new vaccine has been granted a licence by the European Commission, no country has included it in its vaccine schedule. The UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the vaccine, manufactured by Novartis, is not cost-effective, and does not offer enough protection; data they studied suggested it its effective against 73 percent of the different strains of the disease, which they argue is not good enough to justify routine vaccination. They also express concern that there is evidence that the immunity may wear off over time.
The UK vaccine schedule offers a vaccine against meningitis C, which is a rarer form of the disease; the B variety is responsible for around 90 per cent of cases of meningitis, which infects around 1,870 Britons a year.
The JCVI said in their interim position statement: "On the basis of the available evidence, routine infant or toddler immunisation using Bexsero is highly unlikely to be cost effective at any vaccine price based on the accepted threshold for cost effectiveness used in the UK and could not be recommended."
Novartis, the company which manufactures the drug, said it "was not asked for pricing information as part of the JCVI deliberation".
Sue Davie, Chief Executive of the Meningitis Trust/Meningitis UK, said: "This is extremely disappointing news after all our supporters and our hard work over decades to introduce a vaccine.
"But we're pleased to have the opportunity to respond and press our case...We understand the committee's concerns about impact and cost, but we believe this vaccine is safe and we know it will save lives. The more we delay the more lives are being lost."
The Department of Health's director of immunisation Professor David Salisbury said: "This is a very difficult situation where we have a new vaccine against meningitis B but we lack important evidence. We need to know how well it will protect, how long it will protect and if it will stop the bacteria from spreading from person to person. We need to work with the scientific community and the manufacturer to find ways to resolve these uncertainties so that we can come to a clear answer."
A person injected with Bexsero may experience unintended side effects including tenderness and swelling, fever, irritability, high fever, seizures, vomiting, dry skin, itchy rash, skin rash and paleness.
Posted: July 25, 2013
(http://www.nydailynews.com)The New York Assembly's Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection has scheduled a public hearing to debate the merits of a bill currently before the legislature that would require manufacturers to list whether their products contain genetically engineered ingredients.
The text of the bill, A.3525-A, states that the new law "provides for the labeling of food or food products that contain a genetically modified material or that are produced with a genetically modified material; defines terms; imposes penalties for false labels and misbranding; sets forth exemptions."
Similar measures have recently passed by the legislatures of Connecticut and Maine, but neither state will move forward with enforcement unless surrounding states, such as New York, follow suit and enact similar laws.
"In recent years, a consumer's ability to know if the food he or she eats contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has become a growing issue of contention," Jeffrey Dinowitz, the chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, said in a statement. "Legislators in several states, including New York, have introduced legislation that would require foods containing GMOs to be labeled to indicate the presence of GMOs. Consumer and food advocates argue that a labeling requirement would provide consumers with a better understanding of the foods they buy. Retail, agricultural, and biotechnology advocates contend that such labeling requirements would be unnecessary, costly, and perhaps unlawful. This hearing seeks to solicit information regarding scientific research and data on the health and safety of GMOs in foods, federal and state policy related to foods containing GMOs, and the potential economic and legal implications of requiring labels on foods containing GMOs."
The bill's primary sponsor, Manhattan Democrat Linda Rosenthal, told the Daily News that the primary issue is one of transparency for consumers.
"When it comes to what you put into your body, it's important that, as a consumer, you know as much as possible," Rosenthal said.
GMO seed manufacturer Monsanto, on the other hand, argues that there is no proof that genetically engineered foods are unsafe for human consumption.
"We oppose current initiatives to mandate labeling of ingredients developed from GM seeds in the absence of any demonstrated risks," the company says on its website. "Such mandatory labeling could imply that food products containing these ingredients are somehow inferior to their conventional or organic counterparts."
The hearing on the bill will take place at 10 a.m. on July 30 in the East Dining Room at Lehman College in New York City. Only those invited to testify will be able to speak, but citizens who wish to have their views included in the written record can submit it to the committee, and the general public is invited to attend the meeting.
Posted: July 25, 2013
(http://realestate.aol.com)The Detroit area remains one of the top 10 metros for foreclosed and vacated homes. Its abandoned residences often become hideouts for drug users and prostitutes, and occasionally scenes of murder. So it's no wonder that government officials want to simply tear down many of these homes. But in the community of Highland Park, Mich., several of the homes recently demolished were nearly new and never owned after a neighborhood revitalization project turned disastrous. And even the wreckers hired to do the job expressed shock at the waste.
"The project was supposed to transform a derelict section of Highland Park into a model neighborhood," reported Detroit TV station WXYZ. But a lot of the homes built just eight years ago are now abandoned, stripped, burned and now being demolished by the state as a part of its "Michigan Blight Elimination Program."
Just recently, several homes built this decade were marked for demolition alongside some 60-year-old homes. (See the demolition slideshow below.) "Four houses over, there were abandoned homes more than 30 years old, but they had me come take out a new one," Bill Koresky, the owner of Able Demolition hired to raze the homes, told AOL Real Estate. "I called the inspector. I said 'There is no way I can rip these down. There are new doors, new windows. The interior has not even been painted yet.' "
But Koresky says the inspector confirmed that the homes had to come down by order of the state. Not because of mold. Not because of bad soil. Not because of chemical contamination. But, according to news reports, because of alleged mismanagement of funds and poor planning. It turned out that not many people wanted to spend $150,000 on a 1,100-square-foot home in a distressed community. Then at least one of the financiers behind the project in Highland Park -- an incorporated city essentially surrounded by Detroit -- was charged with conspiracy and money laundering in connection with real estate deals in Ohio. And the state official running Highland Park's financial affairs also ran into legal trouble.
After the 2005 ground-breaking for the new properties in Highland Park -- a city that was forced to follow the financial supervision of the state since 1990 -- its emergency financial manager was replaced by Art Blackwell, who's now on probation after pleading guilty to mismanaging funds while serving as the emergency manager. In addition, the construction of the new units was being privately financed by Aryeh Schottenstein of Oak Park, Mich., who was accused of running a house-flipping and money-laundering scheme in Columbus, Ohio, at the same time that he was supposed to be financing the Highland Park project. He pleaded guilty, and in 2009 Schottenstein was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $3,740,173 in restitution to the victim financial institutions.
As if all that wasn't enough, WXYZ reported that the properties in the project that were bought and occupied were found by owners to be poorly constructed and subject to flooding. And the recent recession probably didn't help either.
The demolition of 24 homes in Highland Park was being paid for by a $13.8-million grant through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Despite the massive amount of resources wasted on aimlessly building and destroying new houses, 34,643 homeless people live in the Detroit Metro area and 36.2% of families in Detroit are living in poverty.
"Essentially, you and I are paying for the demolition with taxes," said Koresky in his phone interview with AOL Real Estate. "Parts of the homes at least could have been donated. Given to Habitat for Humanity. Big money was just being thrown away."
Posted: July 24, 2013
(http://www.whale.to/v/gardasil88.html)
(http://gaia-health.com)BMJ Case Reports has published the case report of a healthy 16-year-old Australian girl whose womanhood appears to have been stolen by Gardasil vaccinations. She became fully menopausal, her ovaries irrevocably shut down, without experiencing womanhood. That article focuses on the fact that Merck, Gardasil's developer, had to be aware of potential harm to ovaries and either hid research documenting it or simply didn't do it.
The article, Premature ovarian failure 3 years after menarche in a 16-year-old girl following human papillomavirus vaccination, draws direct attention to three primary facts:
1) The girl has been thoroughly examined and tested. There is no known explanation other than the series of three Gardasil vaccinations she had.
2)Ovarian death - premature menopause - is generally believed to result from an autoimmune disorder.
3) They were unable to obtain data on the histology of rat ovaries resulting from the Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent Vaccine (Gardasil), though it was performed on rat testes and made available.
These three facts are chilling, but further examination has shown that there's even worse. Adverse effects like premature menopause - and worse - could, and should, have been predicted.
Gardasil contains two ingredients that are known to cause some of the damage that is now being seen. They are polysorbate 80 (brand names Tween 80, Alkest, and Canarcel) and L-histidine. Polysorbate 80 has been shown in at least one study to do great harm to female reproductive organs. The risk from L-histidineis more subtle, as its absence is the issue, but it's likely more pervasive. The mechanism that would cause a lack of L-histidine is explained.
Polysorbate 80 is known to cause damage to female rats' reproductive system, and there is no reason to believe that the human reproductive system is spared. An article aout the delayed effects of neonatal exposure to Tween 80 (one brand name for polysorbate 80) on female reproductive organs in rats states:
Treatment with Tween 80 accelerated maturation, prolonged the oestrus cycle, and induced persistent vaginal oestrus. The relative weight of the uterus and ovaries was decreased relative to the untreated controls. Squamous cell metaplasia of the epithelial lining of the uterus and cytological changes in the uterus were indicative of chronic oestrogenic stimulation. Ovaries were without corpora lutea, and had degenerative follicles.
Surely it should come as no surprise that at least one girl's ovaries were lost after taking Gardasil vaccinations. It was predictable.
Polysorbate 80 can cause anaphylactic shock. A study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology concluded:
Polysorbate 80 is a ubiquitously used solubilizing agent that can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions.
The most frightening trait of polysorbate 80 may be that it crosses the blood-brain barrier and can take other substances with it. It is used for that purpose. The drugs loperamide and doxorubicin are coated with polysorbate for just this purpose - to drag them into the brain.
So what else can polysorbate 80 drag into the brain? Gardasil utilizes aluminum as an adjuvant, even though it's a dangerous neurotoxin. Injection of aluminum is associated with several neurological disorders, as is reported in Gaia Health and Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity and autoimmunity in pediatric populations, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and autism may all be associated with aluminum adjuvants in vaccines.
Can polysorbate open the blood-brain barrier to let aluminum in? No one really knows because no one has looked. There is, though, no legitimate reason to assume that it cannot.
Another Gardasil ingredient, L-histidine, a naturally-occurring amino acid, carries signficant risks, too, in the same manner that squalene does. It's a naturally-occurring substance in the human body, so injecting it could have the effect of causing an autoimmune response to that substance wherever it's found in the body.
A large part of one girls' life has been destroyed, and the only plausible explanation is that the cause is the Gardasil vaccination. This vaccine is sold as a cervical cancer preventative, though it has never been shown to prevent any cancer of any kind. Cancer prevention has never been more than a presumption, based on a possible connection between human papilloma virus and cervical cancer. No cause-and-effect has ever been documented.
The reports of deaths and debility from Gardasil keep pouring in. As this girl's plight demonstrates, Gardasil cannot be assumed to be safe. There is highly significant - not to mention suspicious - missing data.
We don't know, of course, whether Merck calculatedly avoided doing the studies on ovaries or is refusing to release data on such studies because of its damning nature. We do, though, know that the very fact that it's missing - especially in light of equivalent data on the male reproductive tract being available - must be treated as suspicious.
Certainly, the combination of one girl's loss of her ovaries, the probability of there being many others, and the utterly callous disregard for its potentially devastating effects, is more than enough reason to remove Gardasil from the market. Surely, it should be removed from governmental lists of mandated vaccines.
Posted: July 24, 2013
(http://www.care2.com)Thanks to companies like Monsanto and its friends in the federal government, it's nearly impossible to know whether foods and beverages contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Apparently, it's up to big corporations to decide what we eat, and not us.
Naked Juice, a subsidiary of Pepsi Co., recently settled a lawsuit alleging that it falsely advertised some of its juice and smoothie products as "all natural" and not genetically modified. While the company officially maintains its innocence, it has established a $9 million settlement fund for consumers who feel that they were duped by this marketing scam.
"Members of the putative nationwide class will each be eligible under the proposed agreement to recover a maximum of $45 dollars," explains Lexology.com. "The agreement will also require Naked Juice to establish a product verification program, hire or assign a quality control manager to oversee the independent testing process for the company's product line, establish a database to allow the electronic tracking and verification of product ingredients."
As part of the settlement, Naked Juice will also be forced to remove the term "All Natural" and all related statements from its packaging.
For those fighting for transparent labeling in the food industry, this is a big win, albeit a sad one. Unbeknownst to much of the public, terms like "natural" aren't regulated in any way, and can be slapped on just about any product that companies want to make seem healthy or environmentally-friendly. As EatDrinkBetter points out, "A wide assortment of products, ranging from Skinnygirl Cocktails to Frito Lay's SunChips to Wesson Oil, have been guilty of this marketing ploy."
Although Naked Juice will no longer be able to hide behind the natural, no-GMO label, there are undoubtedly millions of people who won't notice the difference, and will continue consuming their products thinking they're doing something beneficial for their bodies.
Posted: July 24, 2013
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk)Opting for cheap supermarket tea bags over artisan blends could have long-term health consequences, according to new research.
A study published in the journal Food Research International has found that cheap tea bags from supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco can push a person's fluoride intake over daily recommended levels and put them at a higher risk of bone and dental disease.
Experts have now called for supermarkets and tea manufacturers to consider stating fluoride concentration as part of the nutritional information found on food packaging.
Levels of fluoride found in 38 tea products were compared by PhD student Laura Chan, Professor Aradhana Mehra and Professor Paul Lynch from the University of Derby.
Using Ion Selective Electrode analysis - which analyses trace elements, such as fluoride, in a liquid - of the dry tea, and of the tea infusions brewed with boiling water for two minutes, the researchers compared the fluoride levels consumed by someone drinking the average intake of four cups or a litre of tea a day.
It is recommended that an adult does not consume more than three to four mg of fluoride per day.
Yet researchers discovered that economy blends of tea contained between 75 per cent and 120 per cent of the recommended daily intake.
On average, a litre of cheap supermarket tea contained six mg of fluoride.
Excessive intake of fluoride can cause a variety of health problems.
In addition to tea, fluoride can be found in some seafood, fluoride-enriched toothpaste, drinking water in some areas of the country and in processed foods using fluoridated water.
Less seriously dental fluorosis can occur, which causes white and brown spots appear on the enamel of the teeth, and results in an unsightly 'mottled' effect.
This can be the first sign that fluoride has poisoned enzymes in the body.
But it can also cause skeletal fluorosis, a crippling disease that causes symptoms including bone and joint pain, muscle weakness and gastrointestinal disorders.
This tends to occur in people who have routinely consumed 10 to 20mg of fluoride per day for 10 to 20 years or 2.5 to five mg per day for at least 40 years. In the most severe cases, the spine becomes completely rigid.
Excessive fluoride consumption has also been linked to osteoporosis.
A higher incidence of kidney stones has also been recorded in areas with high fluoride levels in drinking water.
Research has also linked excessive fluoride exposure to bone cancer in young men. A 1992 study found that osteosarcoma rates were three to seven times higher in fluoridated water areas than non-fluoridated areas.
Posted: July 24, 2013
(http://news.yahoo.com)The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on more than a dozen companies that market illegal treatments for diabetes, ranging from dietary supplements to prescription drugs sold online without a prescription.
The country's diabetes epidemic, which affects nearly 26 million Americans, has helped to make the U.S. market for prescription diabetes drugs the largest in the world, with sales of $22 billion last year. Sales have ballooned more than 60 percent in the last four years from $13.6 billion in 2008, according to health data firm, IMS Health. Regulators worry that consumers who buy unapproved natural products could put off getting costly allopathic medical care.
The FDA sent warning letters to 15 companies, both in the U.S. and abroad, ordering them to stop selling diabetes treatments which violate U.S. drug laws.
Three of the products targeted are marketed as "natural" supplements, but actually contain unlisted pharmaceutical ingredients. For example, Diexi, which is sold as a traditional Indian "herbal formula," actually contains metformin, the most common prescription drug used to treat diabetes. The product is sold by Amrutam Life Care, of Surat, India.
"Consumers should exercise caution before using products claiming to be herbal or all-natural alternatives to FDA-approved prescription drugs," the agency said in a statement Tuesday. "These products should be considered unsafe and should not be used."
Other products include genuine dietary supplements whose claims to treat or prevent diabetes have not been approved by the FDA. For example, Diabetes Daily Care is a capsule-based supplement containing cinnamon extract and other herbs. Its manufacturer, Nature's Health Supply Inc., claims it "safely and effectively improves sugar metabolism."
Under U.S. law, only FDA-approved medicines are permitted to make claims for treating or preventing disease.
The sudden attack on natural diabetic treatments is unwarranted as the FDA has not received any reports of injury or illness connected with the products, but claims to be taking action as a precautionary measure.
The FDA sent the warning letters to the companies last week, but posted them online Tuesday morning. The letters give each company 15 business days to reply and explain how they will come into compliance with U.S. law. FDA warning letters are not legally binding, but the agency can take companies to court if they are ignored.
Posted: July 23, 2013
(http://www.guardian.co.uk)Pre-dawn clashes between supporters and opponents of Egypt's ousted president near the main campus of Cairo University have left six dead, a senior medical official has said.
Khaled el-Khateeb, who heads the health ministry's emergency and intensive care department, said on Tuesday that the six died close to the site of a sit-in by supporters of Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the military on 3 July after a year in office.
The coup followed street protests by millions of Egyptians demanding that the Islamist president step down. His supporters are calling for his reinstatement and insist they will not join the military-backed political process until then.
In Qalioub, north of Cairo, three people were killed on Monday in clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi. Backers of the two sides also fought near the site of the main sit-in by Morsi supporters in an eastern Cairo district and in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled the regime of Morsi's authoritarian predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.
More than 80 people were injured on Monday, according to Khateeb.
Morsi's family denounced the military in a news conference on Monday, accusing it of "kidnapping" him, and European diplomats urged that he be released after being held incommunicado for nearly three weeks since the coup.
The Brotherhood has tried to use Morsi's detention to rally the country to its side, hoping to restore its badly damaged popularity. The interim government, in turn, appears in part to be using it to pressure his supporters into backing down from their protests demanding his reinstatement.
The interim president, Adly Mansour, repeated calls for reconciliation in a nationally televised speech late on Monday. "We ... want to turn a new page in the nation's book," he said. "No contempt, no hatred, no divisions and no collisions."
His speech marked the 61st anniversary of the 1952 military coup that toppled the monarchy and ushered in the start of decades of de facto military rule.
Posted: July 23, 2013
(http://www.reuters.com)The first U.S. citizen has been detained in China in connection with probes sparked by an unfolding corruption scandal in the drugs industry, as China widens the range of international firms and staff under the spotlight.
Police have also questioned two further Chinese employees from drug maker AstraZeneca in Shanghai, after a local sales representative was taken away for questioning earlier.
The unnamed American is the first U.S. citizen to be detained in connection with the investigations, and the second foreign national, after a British risk consultant linked with GlaxoSmithKline was held last week. GSK has been accused by China of funneling up to 3 billion yuan ($489 million) to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials.
"We are aware that a U.S. citizen has been detained in Shanghai. We are in contact with the individual and are providing all appropriate consular assistance," U.S. embassy spokesman Nolan Barkhouse said on Tuesday, when asked about the involvement of U.S. citizens in the widening probe. He declined to say which company the individual was associated with.
The latest moves by Chinese officials underline the country's tough stance on corruption and high prices in the pharmaceutical industry, as it unrolls wider healthcare access and faces an estimated $1 trillion healthcare bill by 2020.
"Momentum is gathering and if you are a big international firm, then you're a good example to be held up. This is a wake-up call for the rest of the industry," said Jeremy Gordon, director of China Business Services, a risk management company focusing on China.
AstraZeneca said that the Shanghai Public Security Bureau had asked on Tuesday to speak with two line managers linked to the sales representative questioned earlier.
"The Public Security Bureau is describing this as an individual case. We have no reason to believe it is related to other investigations," the company said in the statement.
The official Xinhua news agency, citing a statement from the Health Ministry on Tuesday, said 39 employees at a hospital in southern Guangdong Province would be punished for taking illegal kickbacks, totaling 2.82 million yuan ($460,367), from two drug makers between January 2010 and December 2012.
"The vice chairman of the hospital's trade union and two people in charge of the two pharmaceutical companies involved have had their cases transferred to judicial organs, while nine doctors who directly received kickbacks were dismissed, suspended or had their licenses revoked," the report said.
The companies involved were not identified in the report.
Shanghai police detained British man Peter Humphrey earlier this month. Humphrey runs an international business risk advisory firm, ChinaWhys, that has worked with drug companies, including GSK, two people familiar with the situation said this weekend.
Chinese police have detained four Chinese executives from GSK and the company's head of finance for China has also been prevented from leaving the country since the end of June.
Authorities have also visited the offices of Belgian drug maker UCB.
Posted: July 23, 2013
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com)A little more than a month after secret National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs were leaked to the public, one GOP congressman is making headway with his push to defund those initiatives.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) took to Twitter on Monday, applauding news that his amendment aimed at gutting the programs behind the seizure of millions of Americans' phone records was ruled in order.
Amash's amendment received bipartisan support from the start, including backing from Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) upon the bill's introduction in June. From the House Rules Committee's website:
"Ends authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. Bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215."
The National Security Agency kicked its lobbying into high gear against the amendment which will get a vote sometime this week.
NSA head Gen. Keith Alexander scheduled a last-minute, members-only briefing in response to the amendment, according to an invitation distributed to members of Congress this morning and forwarded to HuffPost. "In advance of anticipated action on amendments to the DoD Appropriations bill, Ranking Member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of the House Intelligence Committee invites your Member to attend a question and answer session with General Keith B. Alexander of the National Security Agency," reads the invitation.
The Amash amendment would put the House on record when it comes to NSA snooping. The language of the measure, which would be attached to the Pentagon's spending bill "Ends authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. Bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215."
Those interested in supporting the Amash initiative can visit Demand Progress, which has set up a petition page in anticipation of the amendment being introduced on Wednesday.
Posted: July 22, 2013
(www.reuters.com)The proportion of babies born with a defect called gastroschisis has nearly doubled since 1995, according to a large new study.
The cause of gastroschisis - which is a hole in the baby's abdomen - is unclear, although it's known to be more likely in the children of teen mothers. A mother's exposure to certain chemicals has also been tied to the malformation, though not conclusively.
"We have a pattern where the prevalence is very much highest among young women and it's growing more rapidly among that group than any other group," said Russell Kirby, a professor at the University of South Florida and the lead author of the study.
Kirby's study could not explain why the birth defect is becoming more common, and gastroschisis itself is not well understood.
The malformation involves an opening next to the belly button, through which the baby's intestines protrude.
Newborns with gastroschisis require immediate surgery to close the hole and put the organs back in place.
Most babies with gastroschisis survive, but Kirby said some children have problems with growth and development and there is not a lot of research about the long term outcomes for these kids.
To get a better sense of how the numbers have changed over time, Kirby and his colleagues gathered birth defect monitoring data from 15 states.
They found that among 13.2 million births between 1995 and 2005, there were 4,713 babies born with gastroschisis, which translates to about 3.5 out of every 10,000 babies.
This number grew steadily over the study period, however, starting out at 2.3 out of every 10,000 babies in 1995 and climbing to 4.4 out of every 10,000 infants in 2005.
The increase in gastroschisis primarily affected mothers under age 25, and especially under age 20, whereas those who gave birth in their 30s had no change in their risk of having a baby with the birth defect.
Mothers who had their babies in their early twenties experienced a 5.8 percent increase each year in the risk of having a child born with gastroschisis, Kirby's group reported in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Among these mothers, the number of babies born with gastroschisis went from 4 out of every 10,000 babies in 1995 to 7 in 10,000 babies in 2005.
Teen mothers saw a 6.8 percent yearly increase in the proportion of babies born with gastroschisis.
In 1995, there were 8 babies with gastroschisis out of every 10,000 babies born to women under age 20. By 2005, that number was 15 out of every 10,000 babies.
The proportion of babies with gastroschisis born to Asian women and Native American women remained steady over the study period.
White, black and Hispanic mothers, however, experienced a roughly four to six percent increased risk each year of having a baby with the malformation.
Researchers have not identified what's behind these increases.
A previous study of women in Washington state found that exposure to the weed killer atrazine was tied to an increased risk of having a baby with gastroschisis, although it did not show that the chemical caused the malformation (see Reuters Health story of February 8, 2010 here: reut.rs/l9aVTl).
Kirby speculated that it's possible nutrition could have something to do with the trend, but more research is needed to figure it out. "We know that there are influences of different vitamins and nutrients that definitely affect fetal development," he said. But as far as their relation to gastroschisis, "that's just a suspicion."
Posted: July 22, 2013
(http://www.peer.org)Washington, DC - Millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals from oil and gas drilling rigs are pumped for consumption by wildlife and livestock with formal approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to public comments filed July 9 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Contrary to its own regulations, EPA is issuing permits for surface application of drilling wastewater without even identifying the chemicals in hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") fluids, let alone setting effluent limits for the contaminants contained within them.
"Under the less than watchful eye of EPA, fracking flowback is dumped into rivers, lakes and reservoirs," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, pointing out that in both the current and the new proposed permits EPA ignores its own rules requiring that it list "the type and quantity of wastes, fluids, or pollutants which are proposed to be or are being treated, stored, disposed of, injected, emitted, or discharged." "Gushers of putrid, grayish water encrusted with chemical crystals flood through Wind River into nearby streams."
Surface disposal of water produced by oil and gas drilling is forbidden in the Eastern U.S. but allowed in the arid West for purposes of "agricultural or wildlife propagation," in the words of the governing federal regulation. Thus, the "produced water," as it is called, must be "of good enough quality to be used for wildlife or livestock watering or other agricultural uses."
In the last decade, fracking fluids often consisting of powerfully toxic chemicals have been included in this surface discharge. The exact mixture used by individual operators is treated as a trade secret. But one recent analysis identified 632 chemicals now used in shale-gas production. More than 75% of them affect the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems; 40-50% impact the kidneys and the nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems; 37% act on the hormone system; and 25% are linked with cancer or mutations.
"Amid all the controversy on this topic, there is one point of agreement: drinking fracking fluids is not a good idea," added Ruch, pointing to cases where cattle drinking creek water contaminated with fracking fluids died or failed to produce calves the following year. "The more than 30-year old 'produced water' exception was intended for naturally occurring fluids and muds from within the geologic formations, not this new generation of powerful chemicals introduced downhole."
PEER is asking the EPA to rewrite the permits to regulate all the chemicals being discharged and to determine whether the produced water is potable for wildlife and livestock. The public comments period on the proposed Wind Reservation permits closes on July 26, 2013.
Posted: July 22, 2013
(http://foodbabe.com)Recently, foodbabe.com posted an article in which the author investigated the ingredients found in beer. While obtaining information from the alcohol industry must have been a daunting task, Food Babe prevailed and published an article exposing the health risks that beer companies have been trying to keep covered up by lobbying against ingredient labeling laws.
Alcohol is metabolized by the body differently than all other calories you consume. Alcohol is one of the only substances that you consume that can permeate your digestive system and go straight into your bloodstream. It bypasses normal digestion and is absorbed into the body intact, where it goes straight into the liver.
Your liver is your main fat-burning organ. If you are trying to lose weight or even maintain your ideal weight, drinking alcohol is one of your worst enemies. The liver is going to metabolize alcohol first vs. the fat you want to get rid of - making weight loss even harder. Additionally, one of the primary functions of the liver is to remove environmental toxins from your body - if it is overtaxed with alcohol, the normal removal of these toxins becomes extremely diminished and can result in rapid aging, loss of libido, and other diseases.
So, inherently, alcohol by itself is not a healthy person's best friend - but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Beer, especially American beer, is made with all sorts of ingredients beyond the basic hops, malt and yeast. There are numerous other ingredients used to clarify, stabilize, preserve, enhance the color and flavor of beer.
Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, author of Appetite for Profit, and president of Eat Drink Politics told Food Babe from foodbabe.com that the reason that beer companies don't disclose ingredients is simple: they don't have to.
"Ingredient labeling on food products and non-alcoholic beverages is required by the Food and Drug Administration. But a whole other federal agency regulates beer, and not very well. The Department of Treasury - the same folks who collect your taxes - oversees alcoholic beverages. That probably explains why we know more about what's in a can of Coke than a can of Bud. You can also thank the alcohol industry, which has lobbied for years against efforts to require ingredient labeling."
Chemicals Additives in Beer
Food Babe was able to obtain a baseline list of "legal" additives allowed in beer from the book "Chemicals Additives in Beer" by the Center of Science and Public Interest. This list allowed her to ask specific questions about each beer she investigated. For example - beer sold here in America can contain several of the following ingredients:
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) - alcohol is already addictive with some people, but with MSG?! Holy smokes.
• Propylene Glycol (an ingredient found in anti-freeze)
• Calcium Disodium EDTA (made from formaldehyde, sodium cayanide, and Ethylenediamine)
• Many different types of sulfites and anti-microbial preservatives (linked to allergies and asthma)
• Natural Flavors (can come from anything natural including a beavers anal gland)
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• GMO Sugars - Dextrose, Corn Syrup
• Caramel Coloring (Class III or IV made from ammonia and classified as a carcinogen)
• FD&C Blue 1 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
• FD&C Red 40 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
• FD&C Yellow 5 (Made from petroleum, linked to allergies, asthma and hyperactivity)
• Insect-Based Dyes: carmine derived from cochineal insects to color their beer.
• Animal Based Clarifiers: Findings include isinglass (dried fish bladder), gelatin (from skin, connective tissue, and bones), and casein (found in milk)
• Foam Control: Used for head retention; (glyceryl monostearate and pepsin are both potentially derived from animals)
• BPA (Bisphenol A is a component in many can liners and it may leach into the beer. BPA can mimic the female hormone estrogen and may affect sperm count, and other organ functions.)
Newcastle, a UK brand, confessed to using caramel coloring that is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. If beer companies were required by law to list the ingredients, Newcastle would likely have to have a cancer warning label under California law because it is a carcinogen proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice.
GMO ingredients used in beer
Many of the beers questioned contained one or more possible GMO ingredients.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (Guinness - unable to provide an affidavit for non-GMO proof)
• Corn syrup (Miller Light, Coors, Corona, Fosters, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Stripe)
• Dextrose (Budweiser, Bud Light, Busch Light, Michelob Ultra)
• Corn (Red Stripe, Miller Coors Brand, Anheuser-Busch Brands)
When questioned about their use of GMO ingredients, Miller Coors admitted, "Corn Syrup gives beer a milder an lighter-bodied flavor. Hops add spicy aroma and bitter flavors. Yeast changes sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are no sugars, such as table sugars, added to our products with the exception of Sharp's, our non-alcohol brew. Small amounts of natural sugars are present in our products, but because they are in such small amounts, we do not test for them. Corn syrups may be derived from a mixture of corn (conventional and biotech)."
Pabst Blue Ribbon responded saying their corn syrup was "special" and "made of carbohydrates and some simple sugars like dextrose and maltose. The sugars are fermented into alcohol and CO2, and the carbohydrates, both from the corn syrup and the malt, remain in the beers as flavor, color and body components." Dextrose and maltose can come from a variety of substances that are sweet, but likely are derived from GMO corn because it is super cheap for a company to use corn instead of fruit or other non-GMO sources.
If you enjoy the occasional beer and wish to maintain your healthy lifestyle, choosing one without GMOs and additives is ideal. Unfortunately, most of the mainstream beers available have additives, but luckily, there are a few that don't. For example, Sierra Nevada, Heineken, and Amstel Light appear to be pretty clean (Though these companies still wouldn't disclose their full list of ingredients, they did say they use non-GMO grains, no artificial ingredients, stabilizers or preservatives).
In the end - if you decide to drink beer, you are definitely drinking at your own risk for more reasons than just the crazy ingredients that could be in them. The key point to remember is - if you like to drink beer and want to be healthy, drink it infrequently and quiz the beer companies for the truth. Find a beer that you can trust and stick with it.
Posted: July 22, 2013
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com)A Japanese utility said Monday its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is likely leaking contaminated water into sea, acknowledging for the first time a problem long suspected by experts.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, also came under fire Monday for not disclosing earlier that the number of plant workers with thyroid radiation exposures exceeding threshold levels for increased cancer risks was 10 times what it said released earlier.
Company spokesman Masayuki Ono told a regular news conference that plant officials have come to believe that radioactive water that leaked from the wrecked reactors is likely to have seeped into the underground water system and escaped into sea.
Nuclear officials and experts have suspected a leak from the Fukushima Dai-ichi since early in the crisis. Japan's nuclear watchdog said two weeks ago a leak was highly suspected and ordered TEPCO to examine the problem.
TEPCO had persistently denied contaminated water reached the sea, despite spikes in radiation levels in underground and sea water samples taken at the plant. The utility first acknowledged an abnormal increase in radioactive cesium levels in an observation well near the coast in May and has since monitored water samples.
"We are very sorry for causing concerns. We have made efforts not to cause any leak to the outside, but we might have failed to do so," he said.
Ono said the radioactive elements detected in water samples are believed to largely come from initial leaks that have remained since earlier in the crisis. He said the leak has stayed near the plant inside the bay, and officials believe very little has spread further into the Pacific Ocean.
Marine biologists have warned that the radioactive water may be leaking continuously into the sea from the underground, citing high radioactivity in fish samples taken near the plant.
Ono said that an estimated 1,972 plant workers, or 10 percent of those checked, had thyroid exposure doses exceeding 100 millisieverts - a threshold for increased risk of developing cancer - instead of the 178 based on checks of 522 workers reported to the World Health Organization last year.
Posted: July 18, 2013
(http://www.bbc.co.uk)At least 22 children have died and dozens more have fallen ill after eating lunch at a school in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.
The poisoning occurred in the village of Dharmasati Gandaman, 80km (50 miles) north of the state capital, Patna.
The free Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to tackle hunger and boost attendance in schools, but suffers from poor hygiene.
Angry parents joined protests against the deaths, setting at least four police vehicles on fire.
An inquiry has begun and 200,000 rupees ($3,370) in compensation offered to the families of each of the dead.
Twenty-eight sick children were taken to hospitals in the nearby town of Chhapra after the incident and later were moved to Patna.
A total of 47 students of the primary school fell sick on Tuesday after eating the free lunch.
There are fears the number of dead could rise as some of the children, all below the age of 12, are critically ill.
PK Shahi, the state's education minister, told BBC, "The doctors who have attended are of the tentative opinion that the smell coming out of the bodies of the children suggests that the food contained organo-phosphorus, which is a poisonous substance.
"Now the investigators have to find out whether organo-phosphorus was accidental or there was some deliberate mischief."
Mr Shahi acknowledged "that food is not being checked before it is being served".
He added that "the scale at which the operation is being carried out, serving food to 20 million children every day and that too in remotest village schools, checking food before it is served - that itself is a challenge".
Posted: July 18, 2013
(http://www.khou.com)A 54-year-old woman from Victoria, Texas is trying to find sense in a life-changing diagnosis that never should have happened.
Herlinda Garcia said she became "a whole different person" after she was diagnosed with Stage IV terminal Breast Cancer.
That diagnosis came after Garcia had a benign tumor removed from her left breast.
"When you're told you have stage four terminal cancer, that's it," Garcia said. "I put trust in the doctor."
Garcia underwent toxic chemotherapy for seven months. She recalls her physical health deteriorating and her mental health crumbling.
"Everything was swollen. I lost my eyebrows, my eyelashes," Garcia said. "It's really hard. I can't explain how I felt. It's like I was in a dream."
The 54-year-old part time civil process worker found herself falling into a depression. She said she was so sure her life was going to end, she gave away most of her belongings and made a bucket list.
"I wanted to give up on everything," Garcia said.
Garcia sought treatment for anxiety at Citizens Medical Center. Doctors performed some scans, and suddenly, there was a glimmer of hope.
Doctors suspected Garcia never had cancer.
A second opinion from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston confirmed that.
An investigation found that the Garcia's initial doctor had misread the lab results. He has since passed away, but Victoria County awarded Garcia $367,500 in damages from physical pain and mental anguish.
Garcia said, "I know I'm never going to feel the same because of what I went through. It changed my life." She hopes her story encourages everyone out there to always get a second opinion. You should never blindly follow anyone. Always ask questions and remember that it is up to you to protect your own health and well-being.
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