Bacteria-R-Us and The Myth of the Innocent Civilian - NewsGrabs 4 November 2007
Health Supreme's NewsGrabs are a selection of alternative health and other underprivileged news. Find what you may have missed in your everyday reading - watch out for NewsGrabs on weekends.
Here is another week's worth of interesting stories collected for you:We Are Human-Bacteria Hybrids -
Killing Germs May Be Hazardous -
Chemical stops cancer, heart disease -
Video: Time to Heal - Raw Food -
Folic acid fortification warning -
End Electroshock for Unruly Kids -
U.S. Health Reform Campaign -Kickbacks for Medical Devices -
Open Access Bill Advances -
Thumbs Down on Mercury Fillings -
No Evidence Iran Building Nuclear Weapons -
The Myth of the Innocent Civilian
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People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid
Most of the cells in your body are not your own, nor are they even human. They are bacterial. From the invisible strands of fungi waiting to sprout between our toes, to the kilogram of bacterial matter in our guts, we are best viewed as walking "superorganisms," highly complex conglomerations of human cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses.Luckily for us, the bacteria are on the whole commensal, sharing our food but doing no real harm. (The word derives from the Latin meaning to share a table for dinner.) In fact, they are often beneficial: Our commensal bacteria protect us from potentially dangerous infections. They do this through close interaction with our immune systems.
As we are starting to find out, micro-organisms are not our enemies. The overwhelming majority of them is friendly, "commensal". This will mean we are looking at a change the direction in medicine from anti-bacterial to neutral or even pro-bacterial. When you have a great many allies, does it make sense to go out and slaughter them? Surely not. So why are we insisting on killing the maximum number of bacteria we possibly can?
Caution: Killing Germs May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Behold yourself, for a moment, as an organism. A trillion cells stuck together, arrayed into tissues and organs and harnessed by your DNA to the elemental goals of survival and propagation. But is that all? An electron microscope would reveal that you are teeming with other life-forms. Any part of your body that comes into contact with the outside world-your skin, mouth, nose and (especially) digestive tract-is home to bacteria, fungi and protozoa that outnumber the cells you call your own by 10, or perhaps a hundred, to one.
Official: organic really is better
The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease, Britain’s biggest killers. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc.
INTRAVENOUS VITAMIN C and CANCER
If large amounts of vitamin C are presented to cancer cells, large amounts will be absorbed. In these unusually large concentrations, the antioxidant vitamin C will start behaving as a pro-oxidant as it interacts with intracellular copper and iron. This chemical interaction produces small amounts of hydrogen peroxide.Because cancer cells are relatively low in an intracellular anti-oxidant enzyme called catalase, the high dose vitamin C induction of peroxide will continue to build up until it eventually lyses the cancer cell from the inside out! This effectively makes high dose IVC a non-toxic chemotherapeutic agent that can be given in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments. Based on the work of several vitamin C pioneers before him, Dr. Riordan was able to prove that vitamin C was selectively toxic to cancer cells if given intravenously. This research was recently reproduced and published by Dr. Mark Levine at the National Institutes of Health.
Doctors Say, Raise the RDAs Now
"Government-sponsored nutrient recommendations, such as the US RDA/DRIs, are not keeping pace with recent progress in nutrition research. While current official recommendations for vitamin A, iron, calcium, and some other nutrients are generally adequate, the public has been asked to consume far too little of many other key nutrients. Inadequate intake, and inadequate standards to judge intake, have resulted in widespread nutrient inadequacy, chronic disease, and an undernourished but overweight population."
Chemical in red wine, fruits and vegetables stops cancer, heart disease, depending on the dose
At relatively low doses, the French researchers found that the same polyphenols play a beneficial role for those with diseased hearts and circulatory systems by facilitating blood vessel growth. The amount of polyphenols necessary for this effect was found to be the equivalent of only one glass of red wine per day or simply sticking to a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables containing polyphenols. This diet is known as the “Mediterranean Diet.”According to the authors, the amount of polyphenols necessary to obtain an anti-cancer effect is the equivalent of drinking about a bottle of red wine each day. This amount of daily alcohol consumption obviously is unhealthy, but the research suggests that polyphenols extracted from plants or red wine could be converted into a pill that is highly likely to be safe.
Video: Time to Heal - Is Raw Food going to do it?
Maybe the old adage "you are what you eat" is really true and we shouldn't boil or fry our food, if we don't want to end up half dead and with all kinds of problems. Markus Rothkranz has become a very visible promoter of a world-wide and quite vigorous movement of people who want us all to get back to basics - at least in the way we prepare out food.
Folic acid fortification warning
Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, a B vitamin found in a wide variety of foods including liver and green leafy vegetables. But while folates are broken down in the gut, the latest research shows that folic acid is metabolised in the liver. The researchers warn that the liver is an easily saturated system, and mandatory fortification could lead to significant unmetabolised folic acid entering the blood.
This article is interesting as it makes a point that there is a difference between a natural substance (folate) and a synthetic 'equivalent' (folic acid) in how the human body deals with it. The natural one is absorbed in the intestine, while the synthetic one necessitates intervention of the liver to transform it into something useful.It always seems to be the synthetic form of vitamins, not what we find in food, that is potentially problematic. An example is the scare over beta carotene, coming from one study that used synthetic beta carotene in association with synthetic vitamin A and found a slight increase in lung cancer in heavy smokers. Yet, health authorities have been stampeded into action and are limiting dosages of beta carotene in supplements - not just the synthetic kind but the natural one as well.
World Experts Demand End to Child Drugging in the US
"I never would have allowed my child to be placed on a drug with no proven efficacy and a history of possible harm," Ms Downing stated. She described how she tried to contact doctors at the FDA numerous times to express her concerns, and no one was ever available to speak to her. She filed a complaint with MedWatch on March 18, 2004, and, "I am still waiting for my reply," she stated."One would think that the FDA would support the needs of Americans over the greed of the various pharmaceutical corporations," she said, "but that continues to be a pipe dream of mine rather than a reality."
APA Should End Electroshock for Unruly Kids
The Judge Rotenberg Center pursues a course of aversive therapy that uses electrodes attached to a child's body, giving "bee sting" jolts of electricity for such infractions as mouthing off, slouching, nagging, swearing and failure to maintain a neat appearance. They use other forms of aversion therapy as well.Some of you may know this. The use of electric shocks in an attempt to modify behavior in a certain class of sex crime has been tried for at least 30 years with nil success. Where challenged (10 states), this method has been largely been disallowed as "cruel and unusual punishment". To do this sort of thing to a child who may have the mental age of 3 or 4 (as cited in a court document I read about this place) is beyond human comprehension.
I am asking you to sign on to this open letter to the American Psychological Association to act in accordance with its 'Resolution Against Ture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment' and take a stand against The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center. This place must be shut down.
UN Observer: U.S. 2007 Health Reform 90 Day Campaign
Author/Columnist, David Lawrence Dewey has joined forces with Greta Nuernberger Ferebee, a housewife from Florida in the gathering of signatures for the 2007 Health Reform 90 Day Campaign to get our elected representatives in Washington to force the FDA to ban SUCALROSE, ASPARTAME, NEOTAME, MSG, HYDROGENATED OILS, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP and all artificial and chemical preservatives, additives and dyes which are added in large quantities to the American food supply.
In Pakistan, Write 200 Scrips And You Get A Car
Depending upon the country in which you work, you may instead receive an air conditioner, a washing machine, a camera or a cow. Whatever one’s pleasure, drugmakers are targeting docs in developing countries with dinners and gifts as incentives to prescribe their meds, according to a new report from Consumers International, an umbrella organization of consumer groups.The developing world, in other words, has become an easy target, and the Consumers International report says self-regulation by drugmakers isn’t working, citing ads that would be considered misleading in Europe, as well as heavy promotion to docs, The Guardian reports. “Up to 50 percent of medicines in developing countries are inappropriately prescribed, dispensed or sold,” the report says.
UK: Prescription medicines
While the number of deaths from suspected adverse reactions to prescription drugs has more than doubled in the past 10 years to 973 last year, medical experts warn that as few as one in 10 deaths and other serious complications are being reported.Experts are calling for a revamp of the current warning systems designed to alert doctors to potentially lethal prescription drug treatments. They believe tens of thousands of patients suffer life-threatening, disabling or other serious reactions that need hospital treatment because of a failure to spot and report many dangerous side effects and drug interactions quickly enough.
Kickbacks for Medical Devices
... five big makers of medical device implants in late September reached a $310 million agreement to resolve charges that they paid kickbacks to docs that included sham consulting fees, bogus royalty payments and trips to tourist spots. The companies - Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy, Biomet Orthopedics, Smith & Nephew, Stryker and Zimmer Holdings - account for almost 95 percent of the market in hip and knee implants.As part of their deal with the US Department of Justice, the companies agreed to post on their websites payments made to their consultants and, so far this year, there were 47 cases where payments exceeded $1 million, Dow Jones reports. Zimmer notched 21 payments greater than $1 million and DePuy made the biggest - more than $6.7 million to $6.75 million to Thomas Thornhill, who chairs the department of orthopedic surgery at Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston.
Open Access Bill Advances despite Publisher Protests
Free public access to all published articles produced from National Institutes of Health-funded research moved one step closer to reality last week. The bill, pushed by a coalition of more than 200 academic libraries, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and many academic societies, was included in the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill that overwhelmingly passed the Senate. The House has already passed a similar measure.
Comment of a friend: While the NIH spends billions of taxpayer dollars each year on studies, the only persons with full access to these articles are subscribers to the various journals in which these appear. Hell. They are spending my money. Why should I not have access to this material should I choose to do so?
Has Psychiatry Earned Its Unpopularity?
Is the partnership between the APA and Big Pharma a "no-strings" relationship? The American Journal of Psychiatry is published by the APA. In September 2007, attempting to reverse declining antidepressant prescriptions in young people, an American Journal of Psychiatry study unjustifiably concluded that increased suicide was caused by decreased antidepressant use. This time The New York Times and others nailed APA's journal for its data dishonesty; and The Boston Globe reported that Pfizer, makers of the antidepressant Zoloft, had contributed $30,000 to that American Journal of Psychiatry study. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Wall Street Turns Thumbs Down to Mercury Fillings
A stunning report by Bank of America Securities advises that dental products company Dentsply, the #2 manufacturer of mercury fillings, realign its operations to sell only the resin and other filling materials. The report came after the latest ADA meeting in San Francisco, where the buzz throughout the meeting was whether mercury fillings would be banned or phased out.
U.N.Nuclear Watchdog Says: No Evidence Iran Building Nuclear Weapons
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday he had no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons and expressed concern that escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring disaster. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has raised the prospect of "serious consequences" if Iran were found to be working toward developing a nuclear weapon. Last week, the Bush administration announced harsh penalties against the Iranian military and state-owned banking systems in hopes of raising pressure on the world financial system to cut ties with Tehran.
This sounds like Iraq all over again. No weapons of mass destruction, but a firm determination of the neo-cons controlling the US administration to enter yet another offensive war, another adventure with highly uncertain outcome. At a certain point, even a vastly superior military force such as the one at the command of Bush and Co. will run into serious trouble.
The Myth of the Innocent Civilian
"The Myth of the Innocent Civilian", questions the relationship that people have with artificial entities such as governments and corporations. An artificial entity does not spring into existence on its own, has no will or intelligence of its own and cannot be held accountable for "behavior". Only people can reason, act and take responsibility.In exchange for a variety of benefits, citizens submit to "government" demands which include all manner of taxation, licensing, and even compelled servitude. Great numbers of citizens are even directly employed by government. Yet when confronted with evidence of gross misdeeds commited in the name of government, citizens typically do not see themselves as accountable or responsible in any way.
- - -More information out there...
There is much I cannot cover but other sources for this kind of information exist and are active.
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The Alternative Medicine Yahoo Group is another great place to get information on what is happening in the world of nutrition and other natural health options.
For the influence of electromagnetic waves from radio, mobile phones and other radio emitting devices, check out the emfrefugee group on Yahoo.
If you are interested in a different take on the news that isn't health centered but is certainly fun, check out Robin Good TV News.
Some more sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't find on tv:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.stratfor.com/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://rawstory.com/
http://www.truthout.org/
And remember ..."The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition."
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday November 4 2007
updated on Wednesday August 15 2012URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/11/04/bacteriarus_and_the_myth_of_the_innocent_civilian_newsgrabs_4_november_2007.htm