Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 23 November 2006
Health Supreme's News Grabs - alternative health news and interesting bites of related information ...
In this issue:
Mercury-free drugs, antibiotic and liver failures, low cholesterol deadly, aspartame at the UN, anti-supplement bill at US Senate, global warming debate not over, Codex prepares approval of GM animals as food, WHO urges pesticide ban to curb farmer suicides, expert doubts flu vaccine efficacy, cancer industry, paint kills bacteria and viruses, nutritional deficiencies and criminal behavior, reversing autism, cholesterol drugs not safe or effective, consumer drug advertising, cannabis reduces pharma drug dependency.
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FDA sued over mercury in medicines
On Oct 27, the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD) filed an amended complaint in U.S. federal court, disputing a Sept 26 FDA response defending the use of mercury in medications. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2006, asks the court to force the FDA to comply with existing law and regulations and provide proof of the safety and efficacy of mercury in drugs. The suit was filed because the FDA failed to answer issues raised in a citizen petition filed on Aug 4, 2004, by CoMeD representatives.
Antibiotic causes liver failures
The FDA approved Ketek [telithromycin] in 2004. The drug is used to treat respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, sinusitis and community-acquired pneumonia. Through April, the FDA received at least a dozen reports of acute liver failure, including four deaths, among people treated with Ketek. The FDA also knows of at least 23 other cases where patients suffered serious liver injuries after receiving the antibiotic.
Low cholesterol linked to higher death rate: study
In what scientists are calling a "cholesterol paradox," new research is linking low cholesterol with a higher death rate in people with heart failure -- the opposite of what researchers expected. A study of 10,701 patients with suspected heart failure found those with low cholesterol were 1.7 times more likely to die within 12 weeks of being hospitalized than people with normal cholesterol. Having very low cholesterol was nearly as dangerous as having very high cholesterol, says Dr. Periaswamy Velevan, a research fellow in cardiology at the University of Hull in England.
Aspartame: A Resolution to Create a New United Nations Undersecretary General for Nutrition
This is one of many desperate attempts to bring the dangers of the artificial sweetener Aspartame to public attention, after health authorities the world over have refused to contradict the politically forced (by Donald Rumsfeld) approval of the sweetener over the objection of the FDA's own scientists.
Lame Duck Congress Threatening To Pass Anti-Supplement Bill
Now that the election is over, there is an attempt to attach a new law onto an existing bill that would give the FDA greater powers to remove dietary supplements from the marketplace and put a heavy burden on smaller dietary supplement companies. This ominous Senate Bill - S.3546 - is deceptively titled Dietary Supplement and Non-Prescription Drug Consumer Protection Act. The charade behind this title is that it would largely function to protect pharmaceutical companies against the low cost competition they are encountering from makers of natural alternatives to their toxic drugs.Life Extension has set up a super-convenient email network that enables consumers to readily identify their members of Congress and then send them prepared messages urging them to vote NO on S.3546. http://capwiz.com/lef/issues/alert/?alertid=9020286&type=CO
Man-made Global Warming - The Debate is not over!
Global warming is going to wreak havoc with the world economy. That is the latest dire prediction based on the idea that our use of fossil fuels and our production and release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is responsible for an increase-to-come in temperatures. We've got to act now, we are being told. There is a strong consensus that we're in for some heavy heat and that industry is to blame for it. So energy use must be curtailed and polluters must be made to pay. UN General Secretary Kofi Annan says that there is "a frightening lack of leadership" regarding the steps to take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions...
Codex Alimentarius Prepares Approval of GM Food Animals
Heritable alteration or genetic modification (GM) of food animals has been achieved since the early 1980s, mostly by injecting naked DNA. Between 1 and 20 million copies of the transgene (gene to be integrated into the animal genome) are injected into the embryo pronucleus (the nucleus before fertilization) or into the egg cytoplasm, with at most about one percent of injected embryos becoming transgenic animals. The transgenes integrate randomly, though rare instances of homologous recombination with host genes may occur.
WHO urges ban on some pesticides to curb suicides
The World Health Organization coordinator of mental and brain disorders, Jose Bertolote, presented studies that implicate pesticides, especially organophosphates, a class of highly acutely toxic chemicals, as a leading cause of preventable suicides. "We have very good studies interviewing people between the act of ingesting pesticides and their deaths. More than 95% are desperate when they learn they are going to die," according to Bertolote. People who attempt suicide with pesticides tend to be rural folk who would have died by the time their families get them to hospital. "If in despair you drink pesticide, you die in three hours and the vast majority of these people did not have the intention to die and they did not know it would be so lethal ... all they wanted was some attention," said Bertolote.
Expert casts doubt on flu vaccine
Tom Jefferson, co-ordinator of the vaccines field of the highly-respected Cochrane Collaboration, called for an "urgent" re-evaluation of vaccination campaigns. There is little clinical evidence that the vaccines have an effect on things like hospital stay, time off work, death in healthy adults or even those with conditions like asthma and cystic fibrosis, he said. Vaccines given to children under the age of two have the same effect as if they were given a dummy drug, he added.
Secret ties to industry and conflicting interests in cancer research
Swedish researchers report that Sir Richard Doll, co-author of a famous paper minimizing the role of chemicals in causing cancer, failed to disclose his industry funding for work on vinyl chloride, dioxin and phenoxy herbicides in papers published that were relevant to industry interests. According to the Swedish researchers, documents they have unearthed reveal that Doll had a longterm financial relationship with Monsanto from the 1970s to the 1990s, worth up to a thousand pounds a day. He also took money from Dow, ICI and the American Chemistry Council. The researchers provide examples of other scientists who failed to disclose financial interests.
Newly created paint kills Bacteria and Viruses
Until now, killing bacteria and viruses has involved using toxic chemicals. This new paint, described today in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, relies on structural properties to destroy the pathogens instead. The researchers developed a polymer coating that forms spiky structures as it dries. The spikes, which each consist of 12 carbon atoms pointing directly up from the surface, work on the fatty outer envelope of the flu virus "like a needle popping a balloon", explained Kablinov. When its protective envelope is destroyed, the virus is rendered inactive. The spikes also kill bacteria, rupturing their cell membrane.Imagine hospitals without places where bacteria can hide to infect patients - that simple paint could help eliminate one of the major causes of death as, according to this article, Hospital Infections Kill More Than Cars, AIDS and Breast Cancer
Research with British and US offenders suggests nutritional deficiencies may play a key role in aggressive behaviour
... the new research calls into question the very basis of criminal justice and the notion of culpability. It suggests that individuals may not always be responsible for their aggression. Taken together with a study in a high-security prison for young offenders in the UK, it shows that violent behaviour may be attributable at least in part to nutritional deficiencies. Although no one is suggesting that poor diet alone can account for complex social problems, the former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham says that he is now "absolutely convinced that there is a direct link between diet and antisocial behaviour, both that bad diet causes bad behaviour and that good diet prevents it."
Reversing autism and seizures - Jonathan's story
Today, a little over 1 year from the start of a journey, Jonathan is a normal and happy boy. His behavior is excellent and he has even been awarded "Student of the Week" numerous times in his class. "There are no problems with his behavior. None. He doesn't hit other children - he's very kind to them. He compliments his teachers. He's a model student. Everybody in their family is shocked at the amazing changes."
Cholesterol Drugs Neither Safe Nor Effective
On October 3, 2006, after extensive review of all studies relating to cholesterol-lowering benefits by statin drugs, scientists reporting in the Annals of Internal Medicine pulled the rug out from under the current government-sanctioned cholesterol levels for reducing cardiovascular disease. Their conclusion, “current clinical evidence does not demonstrate that titrating lipid therapy to achieve proposed low LDL cholesterol levels is beneficial or safe.” This is not a trivial issue. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on the cholesterol drug scam...
Big Pharma's Battle Over Direct to Consumer Advertising
By Evelyn Pringle
Big Pharma has Americans running to the doctor demanding the latest advertised drug to treat the latest promoted disorder based on the latest commercial they see on TV. According to a report by CBS News on October 22, 2006, the United States makes up just 5 percent of the world's population, "but it accounts for a whopping 42 percent of the world's spending on prescription drugs — more than $250 billion just last year."
Marijuana, the Anti-Drug
The extent to which medical cannabis users discontinue or reduce their use of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs is a recurring theme in a recent survey of pro-cannabis (PC) California doctors. The drug-reduction phenomenon has obvious scientific implications. Medicating with cannabis enables people to lay off stimulants as well as sedatives - suggesting that the herb's active ingredients restore homeostasis to various bodily systems. (Lab studies confirm that cannabinoids normalize the tempo of many other neurotransmission systems.) The political implications are equally obvious. Legalizing herbal cannabis would devastate the pharmaceutical manufacturers and allied corporations in the chemicals, oil, "food," and banking sectors. Put simply, the synthetic drug makers stand to lose half their sales if and when the American people get legal access to cannabis.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Wednesday November 22 2006
updated on Thursday December 16 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/11/22/health_supreme_newsgrabs_23_november_2006.htm