Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 11 December 2006
Health Supreme's News Grabs - selected health news and bits of related information ...
In this issue:
Mental Illness Epidemic in the US; GM potatoes to be planted in the UK; Monsanto cited by India State government for overpricing of Bt cotton; FDA stent experts have financial ties to industry; Alzheimer's researcher's conflict of interest; selling influenza vaccines; FDA says no new limits on mercury; blood plasma from seawater; honey in medicine; nutrients inhibit cancer spread; supplement industry associations compromised; US bill on supplements being opposed; EPA closes libraries; illegal DIME weapons used in Gaza; UK scientist was paid by chemical industry while advising world on chemical risks; researcher pleads guilty to being paid by Pfizer without authorization; the spanish flu and biological experiments.
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Mental Illness Epidemic Hits US
Critics say it seems odd that drug makers would be pouring money into studies to increase the use of SSRIs by finding new "disorders" to add to the DSM, at the very same time that stronger warnings to doctors and consumers on the use of the drugs are being considered.
Non-Food GM potatoes to be commercialized in 2007
The first commercial crop of genetically modified potatoes will be planted in 2007. BASF's Amflora potatoes, which have been modified to be particularly suited for the production of papers and adhesive, are not intended for human consumption. In contrast to conventional potatoes, they contain only amylopectin, as opposed to both amylopectin and amylose starches.
UK: Scientist warns over GM potato trials
"If these potatoes are going to be grown on a large scale then it is almost impossible to avoid genetic contamination," he said."Sooner or later the same gene will get into our common potato. There is no demand for genetic modification in this country and it could be the death knell for the potato because it is not going to be bought by the general public."
He added that he felt the Government had approved the trials in order to change the public's negative attitude about genetic modification.
India: Monopolies Commission Sues Monsanto over Price of Cotton Seed
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has asked Monsanto, US seed multinational to respond within four weeks to the Andhra Pradesh government's contention that it was liable to pay compensation to the farmers for selling Bt cotton seeds at exorbitant prices.
In response, Monsanto said that its Indian subsidiary Mahyco - Monsanto Biotech was responsible for operations in the country. Opposing Monsanto's contention, the state government had said the US company has a controlling stake in its sister concern and demanded refund of the excessive money paid by cotton growers on the company's Bt cotton seeds.
FDA Stent Experts Have Financial Ties to Industry
Six physicians with financial ties to Johnson & Johnson and other heart-device makers will be advising U.S. regulators whether to restrict the use of some products because of potentially lethal side effects. To allow the doctors to participate in the review, the FDA is waiving rules that bar panelists in matters affecting companies in which the experts have stock ownership or consulting contracts. Herman Gold, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a Harvard Medical School associate professor: "The FDA has been asleep at the switch with regard to the safety'' [of stents].
Top Alzheimer's researcher charged with felony criminal conduct for secret financial ties to Pfizer
Pearson "Trey" Sunderland III, former chief of the Geriatric Psychiatry Branch of the NIH, was charged with one misdemeanor count for accepting $285,000 in undisclosed consulting fees from Pfizer. Sunderland -- who faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine -- has waived the grand jury indictment process, indicating he may consent to a plea agreement.
Flu Vaccines - Open Season
For all the frantic, unvaccinated citizens fearing the "upcoming" peak of flu season-rest assured, coming down with a flu infection is the least of your worries. Despite the governments statements urging individuals to vaccinate their children, the threat of an infantile influenza fatality is just about as serious as the dreaded hangnail.
FDA rejects new limits on mercury in vaccines
“Only a small number of licensed and approved products still contain thimerosal, and the available evidence supports FDA’s conclusion that all currently licensed vaccines and other pharmaceutical drug products containing thimerosal are safe,” Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, the FDA’s assistant commissioner for policy, wrote in denying the petition.“We’re not accepting that answer,” said Dr. Mark Geier, one of the petitioners. The group now plans to seek a court order that would force the FDA to withdraw thimerosal from all vaccines and medicines unless the agency can show the preservative is safe, Geier said.
The fight to remove toxic mercury from vaccines has been going for decades. Still the FDA can say "it's safe". One wonders what the FDA is set up to protect - people's health or the profits of chemical and pharmceutical industry giants.
Seawater Could be Blood Plasma Substitute
Trials were run on stray dogs to test ocean plasma (diluted, cold-filtered ocean water) as a transfusion substitute. In one experiment, René Quinton and his medical team drained a dog of all of its blood and replaced it with isotonic (diluted) seawater. The dog should have died immediately, one would think, but the dog lived. On day two after the transfusion, 50 per cent of the blood components had reappeared. By day four, almost 100 per cent of the missing blood components were restored.
UK Nursing Magazine Outlines Evidence for Use of Honey in Wound Care
Honey is known to have anti-inflammatory properties and case studies have demonstrated its usefulness on non-healing wounds. A laboratory study on the effect of honey on cells implicated in prolonged inflammation demonstrated that the honey was able to modulate the activity of monocytes to release growth factors and anti-inflammatory agents, although how this is achieved is not yet understood.
Honey treats most diseases in Yemen
Singers have long used honey to soothe their vocal chords. Dieters use it instead of sugar because it satisfies their sweet tooth and keeps them full longer. Even the Quran lauds the salubrious effects of honey. “And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men’s) habitations; There issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men,” says the passage, written 1,400 years ago.
Proprietary Nutrient Mixture Inhibits Renal Cancer Spread
(Press Release)
Specific Combination of Lysine, Proline, Arginine, Ascorbic Acid, and Green Tea Extract Stops the Ability of Kidney Cancer Cells to Spread
BIG PHARMA TROJAN HORSES PERMEATE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY
This legislation may drastically reduce the availability of therapeutic supplements by linking them with adverse effects actually caused by drugs. True, health food stores are not likely to close. They will keep selling the lower quality Big Pharma brands, like One-A-Day (Bayer) and Centrum (Wyeth).
S. 3546/H.R. 6168 (AER BILL) HAVE NOT YET PASSED & SHOULD NOT
7 December 2006 - NHF HIGH PRIORITY ALERT - ACT NOW
Sources tell us that Hatch plans on passing the AER bill in the Senate on Thursday (12/7/06) in order to get this passed in the House on the suspended calendar without a hearing. It is imperative that we deluge John Boehner (House Majority leader) with e-mails, calls, and letters opposing the passage of this harmful legislation.
The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun closing its nationwide network of scientific libraries, effectively preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing vast amounts of data and information on issues from toxicology to pollution. Several libraries have already been dismantled, with their contents either destroyed or shipped to repositories where they are uncataloged and inaccessible.
US and Israel targeting DNA in Gaza?
Part 1 of 3: The DIME bomb, yet another genotoxic weapon
It's been almost five months since the first report that Israeli drone aircraft have been dropping a 'mystery weapon' on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Since then, news media around the world have run stories depicting the strange and 'horrific' wounds inflicted by the new bomb. The international press has spoken with Palestinian doctors and medics who say Israel's new device is a kind of chemical weapon that has significantly increased the fatality rate among the victims of Israeli attacks. Combined with photographs of the victims and testimony from attending doctors, this evidence points to the use of Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME).DIME is an LCD ('low collateral damage') weapon developed at the US Air Force Research Laboratory. Publicly, it is slated for initial deployment in 2008. DIME bombs produce an unusually powerful blast within a relatively small area, spraying a superheated 'micro-shrapnel' of powdered Heavy Metal Tungsten Alloy (HMTA). Scientific studies have found that HMTA is chemically toxic, damages the immune system, rapidly causes cancer, and attacks DNA (genotoxic).
Nonstick chemicals may pose a threat
They're found in floor waxes and shampoos. They're used in many fast-food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags. They coat pizza boxes, carpets and frying pans. And they're in people. They're perfluorochemicals. While you may not recognize the word, you probably know the brand names: Teflon, Stainmaster, Gore-Tex.You are exposed to those compounds every day, and there is mounting concern that they may cause a variety of health problems. A panel of scientists selected by the Environmental Protection Agency concluded this year that a perfluorochemical used in nonstick cookware is a likely cancer-causing agent.
Sir Richard Doll - Smoking and Cancer Alarm False
Doll wins a place in Hell's Hall of Shame.
Sir Richard Doll celebrated epidemiologist who established that smoking causes lung cancer, was receiving a consultancy fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from Monsanto, then a major chemical company and now better known for its GM crops business.
Researcher pleads guilty to taking fees
As part the agreement reached Friday, Pearson Sunderland III, chief of geriatric psychiatry of the National Institute of Mental Health, will be sentenced to two years of supervised probation and must forfeit $300,000, the Baltimore Sun said. Charged with conflict of interest, Sunderland admitted to accepting about $285,000 from Pfizer Inc. without authorization.
Was The 'Spanish Flu' Epidemic Man-Made?
In 1948 Heinrich Mueller, the former head of the Gestapo, told his CIA interrogator that the most devastating plague in human history was man-made. Mueller said the flu started as a US army bacteriological warfare weapon that somehow infected US army ranks at Camp Riley KS in March 1918, and spread around the world.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday December 10 2006
updated on Tuesday December 21 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/12/10/health_supreme_newsgrabs_11_december_2006.htm