IMF Loan Conditions Worsen Health - NewsGrabs 19 October 2008
IMF economic conditions worsen health in developing nations
In their article The IMF and Tuberculosis David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu cite evidence that the IMF's anti-inflation conditions attached to loans actually routinely worsen the health of populations in countries that receive the IMF's financial help. The study examined statistics of tuberculosis deaths in countries that received IMF loans and compared them to the same statistics from countries that received similar loans but without the IMF conditions.How did the IMF respond to these findings?
"We were surprised that the IMF's first response was to call our study 'phony science' even though our study used the same scientific methods as those of the IMF's staff and was reviewed by five anonymous and independent experts in tuberculosis, statistics, and economics prior to publication at one of the world's premier medical journals," say the authors.
Consumers ask EU Heads of State Accept Irish Referendum
La Leva di Archimede is in favour of a Europe for the people where the voice of citizens counts. Naturally, this means that the voice of the Irish people, expressed in a referendum, should be listened to. "Had other nations held a similar referendum," says Sepp Hasslberger, La Leva's president, "I am sure the Irish would not be alone in having said 'no' to the treaty. The Dutch and the French and several others would have joined them in a 'no' vote. Will Heads of State deepen the democratic deficit of Europe, or will we finally see a new democratic trend?"
Pediatricians say double vitamin D dose
"We are doubling the recommended amount of vitamin D children need each day because evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits," said Dr. Frank Greer, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which released the new guideline recommendations at a meeting in Boston."Supplementation is important because most children will not get enough vitamin D through diet alone," Greer said in a statement.
Parkinson's linked to vitamin D
A US team found 55% of Parkinson's patients had insufficient levels of vitamin D, compared to 36% of healthy elderly people.Previous studies have shown that the part of the brain affected most by Parkinson's, the substantia nigra, has high levels of the vitamin D receptor, which suggests vitamin D may be important for normal functions of these cells.
Scientists develop new cancer-killing compound from salad plant
Researchers at the University of Washington have updated a traditional Chinese medicine to create a compound that is more than 1,200 times more specific in killing certain kinds of cancer cells than currently available drugs, heralding the possibility of a more effective chemotherapy drug with minimal side effects. The new compound puts a novel twist on the common anti-malarial drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant.The artemisinin compound takes advantage of cancer cell’s high iron levels. Artemisinin is highly toxic in the presence of iron, but harmless otherwise. Cancer cells need a lot of iron to maintain the rapid division necessary for tumor growth.
Turmeric for cancer?
Synthetic molecules derived from curcumin, main ingredient of Indian spice turmeric, can help kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading, say researchers at Ohio State University.Curcumin has long been known for its multiple disease-fighting features, including anti-tumour properties. “Newer evidence describes how curcumin interacts with certain proteins to generate anti-cancer activity inside the body.
Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Junk Food and More Drugs
The NY Times Magazine's cover story, "The Bipolar Kid" (September 14, 2008), is a very bleak article. While emphasizing the miseries of living with such a child, Jennifer Egan's article offers little hope except for ever-increasing doses of lithium. Long on discussions of definitions and diagnoses, it is remarkably short on treatment alternatives. Not a word about diet. Not a word about vitamins. Indeed, in this 9,500 word feature, describing the daily life of an out-of-control, beyond-ADHD boy, the word "nutrition" is not mentioned at all. Neither are the words "sugar" or "caffeine."What astounding omissions. Pediatrician Lendon H. Smith, M.D., nationally famous as "The Children's Doctor," was very plain in stating that sugar causes profound mood disorders. He specifically advised parents to give their children a "sugarless diet without processed foods."
Antibiotics Put 142,000 Into Emergency Rooms Each Year
U.S. Centers for Disease Control Waits 60 Years to Study the Problem
Common antibiotics, the ones most frequently prescribed and regarded as safest, cause for nearly half of emergencies due to antibiotics. And, incredibly enough, people in the prime of life - not babies - are especially at risk. The study authors reported that "Persons aged 15-44 years accounted for an estimated 41.2 percent of emergency department visits. Infants accounted for only an estimated 6.3 percent of ED visits." They also found that nearly 80% of antibiotic-caused "adverse events" were allergic reactions.
Aspirin does not prevent heart attacks in patients with diabetes
Patients with diabetes are two to five times more likely to suffer from heart disease than the general population and heart disease is a major cause of death in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes. Although there is considerable evidence showing no protective benefit of aspirin in high risk patients without heart disease, guidelines are inconsistent and aspirin is commonly prescribed for the primary prevention of heart disease in patients with diabetes and with peripheral arterial disease.But aspirin is one of the top 10 causes of adverse drug events reported to the Commission on Human Medicines. It causes gastrointestinal bleeding and the risk of bleeding increases with age and prolonged use.
Most health workers skip flu shot
"I rarely get sick. The only thing I could narrow it down to is that I had gotten this shot," said Taylor, who works at University Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. "I know that it's not a live virus. It just seemed pretty coincidental."Of course relying on personal experience is called "faulty logic" and the authority on vaccinations says ... getting vaccinated for the flu should be standard for doctors and nurses, just like washing their hands. Our health system has lost the power of observation!
Texas State Medical Board targets doctor for 'Environmental Medicine'
Dr. William Rea says he has treated more than 30,000 people, from all over the world, who believe the world around them has made them sick. Very sick."Lots of times they know what's wrong with them, but they haven't been able to get any help," Rea said. "And they're looking for solutions to their problems."
... and so the medical board moves to close a clinic - one of the very few in the world - where people who are especially sensitive to pollution can find help. Great work Texas officials, the chemical companies will be pleased.
Coroner Blames Celexa For Man's Suicide
"A postal driver who was prescribed an anti-depressant 'wonder drug killed himself four weeks later, an inquest heard. Hampstead-born Ian Fox, 65, died in July after throwing himself in front of a train at Finchley Road Tube station.""He had been prescribed the anti-depressant Citalopram [Celexa] for just one month before taking his life and he had expressed a wish to come off it, complaining of confusion and anxiety."
Nigeria: Can This Man Cure Aids?
AIDS is said to be the terminal state of people who are infected with HIV. Health authorities, both in the country and elsewhere fear that it has no known cure, except by the use of anti-retrovirals which helps people living with HIV manage their condition. But Ojeih scoffs at this. "HIV is a western policy, aimed at thinning out Africa," he says."Ask Robert Gallo, the man who they said discovered HIV virus if he has ever seen the virus with his own eyes. The truth is that nobody has ever seen it. In the last 10 years I have put a N10 million reward for anybody who can show and prove to me what HIV looks like, but nobody has come forward to claim it. The money is still there for anybody who wants to claim it. All you need to do is isolate and show me the virus," adds Ojeih.
The Agrofuels Hoax: The Perils of the Coming Sugar Economy
Advocates of converging technologies promise a greener, cleaner post-petroleum future, where the production of economically important compounds depends not on fossil fuels but on biological manufacturing platforms fueled by plant sugars. It may sound sweet and clean. But the "sugar economy" will be the catalyst for a corporate grab on all plant matter as well as the destruction of biodiversity on a massive scale.
How Environmental Groups Sometimes Do Corporations' Dirty Work
In her recently released book Green Inc., Christine MacDonald tells the story of how the biggest perpetrators of public relations "greenwash" are often the greens themselves. For example, MacDonald shows us Conservation International cosying up to soya barons in Brazil, and environmental groups providing green cover as big-name retailers like Wal-Mart buy up the products of illegal logging.The environmental organisations say this is all in a good cause, that these are necessary compromises in the wider quest to encourage green global capitalism.
The madness of current Copyright legislation
A mother sees her 13-month old son dancing, films it, and puts the video on YouTube. Today she’s a criminal, and Universal wants her to pay up to $150,000 in copyright damages.This case study by Lawrence Lessig is described in the Wall Street Journal.
“Universal’s lawyers insist to this day that sharing this home movie is willful copyright infringement under the laws of the United States. On their view of the law, she is liable to a fine of up to $150,000 for sharing 29 seconds of Holden dancing. Universal declined to comment.
How is it that sensible people, people no doubt educated at some of the best universities and law schools in the country, would come to think it a sane use of corporate resources to threaten the mother of a dancing 13-month-old? What is it that allows these lawyers and executives to take a case like this seriously, to believe there’s some important social or corporate reason to deploy the federal scheme of regulation called copyright to stop the spread of these images and music? “Let’s Go Crazy” indeed!
Intellectual Property: Lessig In Defense of Piracy
We can’t stop our kids from using these tools to create, or make them passive. We can only drive it underground, or make them “pirates.” And the question we as a society must focus on is whether this is any good. Our kids live in an age of prohibition, where more and more of what seems to them to be ordinary behavior is against the law. They recognize it as against the law. They see themselves as “criminals.” They begin to get used to the idea.That recognition is corrosive. It is corrupting of the very idea of the rule of law. And when we reckon the cost of this corruption, any losses of the content industry pale in comparison.
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A few sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't necessarily find on your tv or in the papers:
http://therealnews.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
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 October 19 2008
updated on Wednesday August 15 2012URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2008/10/19/imf_loan_conditions_worsen_health_newsgrabs_19_october_2008.htm