Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 2 November 2006
Health Supreme's News Grabs - alternative health news and interesting bites of -sometimes only slightly- related information ...
In this issue:
Patient groups accept pharma's money, purple corn antioxidants, olive oil 'waste', Codex Alimentarius, kids in Irish psych hospitals, measles virus kills cancer cells, depleted uranium - WHO suppressed study data, Pfizer's lipitor replacement found unsafe, birth control patch causes blood clots, DDT associated with miscarriages, flavoring agent causes lung disease in workers.
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Patient Groups Accept Lots of Drug Company Money
(from mercola.com)
The flow of cash between drugmakers and patients is the theme behind this interesting and controversial report in today's New Scientist. Fact is, a growing number of medical professionals now share the very same concerns I do that there's a crisis going on among patient groups, some of which are far too close to becoming extensions of drug company marketing departments themselves...
The Potential Health Benefits of Purple Corn
Purple corn (original from Peru) is botanically the same species as regular table corn. But it produces kernels with a deep shade of purple, traditionally used by the people of the Peruvian Andes to color foods and beverages. Anthocyanins are antioxidant coloring substances, responsible for the purple, violet, and red colors attending many plants with anit-inflammatory, cancer preventive and anti-obesity potential.
Researchers find the good oil in olive waste
New research by Charles Sturt University and the Heart Research Institute in Sydney suggests a beneficial new use of ‘waste’ from the production of olive oil that could be good for heart health.“Interestingly, olive oil is known as a good source of dietary antioxidants, yet only about 2 per cent of the antioxidants in olive fruit actually end up in the oil. The other 98 per cent ends up in the ‘waste’. Dietary antioxidants from red wine, tea, olive oil, and other sources are believed to protect the body from diseases such as atherosclerosis and cancer."
CODEX: WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOU AND YOUR HEALTH?
Codex is not just about nutritional supplements. In fact, it is the primary political battlefield where the war is being waged about who will regulate and control the global food supply from farm to fork. This 'war' is being waged by an increasingly tangled web of global authorities, big business and financial interests, and, as such, trade and profit are its prime goals – not human health.
Ireland: Nine-year-olds put in adult psychiatric care
Children as young as nine have been placed in adult facilities, despite warnings from patients' groups and psychiatrists that the practice is adversely affecting children.
Measles virus used to kill cancer cells
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center scientists opened the new clinical study using a vaccine strain of the measles virus to attack recurrent glioblastoma multiforme -- a largely untreatable brain tumor. "We are looking at better ways to treat some of the most lethal cancers," said Dr. Eva Galanis, oncologist and lead researcher on the glioblastoma multiforme project in the measles virus investigation. "We have shown in the laboratory and in several animal models that measles virus strains can significantly shrink glioma tumors and prolong animal survival."If the measles virus helps to keep the human body free of certain cancers, why are we so insistent that every child be vaccinated against measles, a largely harmless childhood illness that enhances the immunity of those who had and naturally overcame it? Just doesn't make any sense.
Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'
Both British and US troops have used depleted uranium in Iraq
UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has found. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001 said they posed only a small contamination risk. Dr Mike Repacholi, who oversaw work on the report, told Angus Stickler of BBC Radio Four's Today programme that depleted uranium was "basically safe". "You would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust to cause any adverse health effect," he said. But Dr Keith Baverstock, who worked on the project, said research conducted by the US Department of Defense suggested otherwise.
Pfizer drug found with serious side effect
Pfizer says the trials involving what is viewed as the company's most important pending drug confirm its increases blood pressure, The New York Times reported. Analysts say Pfizer, the world's largest drug company. Expects torcetrapib to replace the $13 billion in annual sales from the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, which loses patent protection in 2010.
Lipitor has so many serious side effects it should not even have been approved, much less be on the market until 2010!
Women sue OrthoEvra Birth Control Patch Maker
The lawsuit claims that Ortho-McNeil failed to properly investigate the product's safety and deceived the public about the severity of potential side effects, including strokes and severe blood clots. "This product should not be on the market," said Shawn Khorrami, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "When you put out a product that gives women more hormones than they need, then you're increasing their risk of developing those ailments."
A study of women in China reports that increases in DDT are associated with decreases in estrogen and progesterone levels at crucial times during the menstrual cycle. More than 500 menstrual cycles were studied totaling over 8,000 days. The results shed light upon earlier work showing an association between DDT and early spontaneous miscarriage. American Journal of Epidemiology.
Interesting in view of the WHO's recent recommendation to re-introduce the widespread use of DDT in Africa!
Struggling for air - Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated
A lean and fit 35-year-old Milwaukee man had been working at a local flavoring plant for just six months when he collapsed while playing basketball with his buddies. Doctors and scientists say the suspected culprit is a flavoring chemical called diacetyl, which is found naturally in low concentrations in many foods such as butter, but is artificially produced in plants across the country. Cheese factories, bakeries and candy and snack makers often use it, as well as many of the nation's food manufacturing giants.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Thursday November 2 2006
updated on Sunday December 5 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/11/02/health_supreme_newsgrabs_2_november_2006.htm