Saturday October 8th 2022.

Big Pharm promotes the idea that Statin drugs prevent heart attacks by lowering cholesterols. This reputableNeuro Physcist debunks the idea that Cholesterol is the major cause of heart attacks.

 

Saturday July 30 2022

News has come to hand that elements of poisonous pesticides are now being found in the urine of individuals, possibly the cause of serious diseases. See this excerpt from Dr Mercola.

“More than 80% of U.S. children and adults, ages 6 years and up, have detectable levels of the herbicide glyphosate in their urine, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.^1,2 Out of 2,310 urine samples that were collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1,885 contained glyphosate levels at or above the detection limit.

Glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup, is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. agricultural sector and the second most used herbicide in the home and garden sector. Its use increased more than 200-fold since 1974, according to the CDC.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015, and significant additional health concerns have been raised, with research linking glyphosate to fatty liver disease⁵ and kidney disease.”

 

Saturday July 15th 2022

Between the year 2000 and 2020 more than 1.3 million Australians were diagnosed with Diabetes including types 1 & 2 (and excludes gestational diabetes) according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Today an average of 175 cases are diagnosed every day!

Wednesday August 28th 2019

Just in today. Johnson and Johnson, well know pharmacuetical manufacturer has been fined $572 million.

Apparently the Cleveland County Court accused the company of “contributing to the widespread use of highly addictive ” opiod painkillers, the use of which has “ravaged the state of Oklahoma” (Adelaide Advertiser 28/8/19)

According to the Mayo Clinic,

“At lower doses, opioids may make you feel sleepy, but higher doses can slow your breathing and heart rate, which can lead to death. And the feelings of pleasure that result from taking an opioid can make you want to continue experiencing those feelings, which may lead to addiction.”

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegaldrug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin^®), hydrocodone (Vicodin^®), codeine, morphine, and many others.

Extreme care needs to be taken when these are prescribed. Better still refrain fron using them

Wednesday 28th August 2019

The Heart Foundation has changed it’s dietry rules for the first time since 2013.

It has abandoned it’s limit on certain foods such as eggs (for “healthy people”) which were previously restricted to seven eggs per week. Full cream milk has also been given a reprieve and now receives the heart Foundations “tick” of approval.

Although no authorities in the Heart Foundation are admitting to pressure from the emergence of the paleo diet and the others, vast numbers of people are convinced that the experts have got it wrong anyway and are giving up “Lite” foods (lite milk, lite yogurht, lite everything) and exchanging them for more wholesome foods – as being advertised in the High Fat – Low Carb movement.

I believe this is the better way to go but would probably agree with the Heart Foundation to restrict the processed meats which are high in nitrates.

 

Tuesday July 30th 2019

According to  recent reasearch as published in the Journal of Endocrinology, “Prenatal caffein exposure induces liver developmental dysfunction in offspring rats.”

The researchers understood that, “Caffeine is a xanthine alkaloid that is widely present in coffee, tea, soft drink beverages, food and some analgesic drugs, making it one of the most frequently ingested psychoactive substances worldwide” (Brent et al 2011)

Their tests showed that pregnant rats given caffeine delivered baby rats had impaired liver development, altered growth and below average birth weights.

The study, whilst using rats, nevertheless revealed the possible connection and danger with prenatal mothers over indulging in caffein which may cause liver damage in the children. 

Journal of Endocrinology. Vol 242/Issue 3

Wednesday July 17th 2019

A new study suggests that drinking sugary drinks, especially excessively can increase your chances of getting cancer.

“The link was suggested by a study, published in the British Medical Journal, that followed more than 100,000 people for five years.

The team at Université Sorbonne Paris Cité speculate that the impact of blood sugar levels may be to blame.”

Although the research is miles away from being “definitive” it  is looking at all sorts of sugar laden drinks (drinks with 5% of sugar) including,

That included fruit juice (even with no added sugar), soft drinks, sweetened milkshakes, energy drinks and tea or coffee with sugar stirred in.

How big is the cancer risk?

The study concluded that if persons drank an extra 100ml of sugary drinks a day, that’s about two extra cans a week, they increase the chance of contracting cancer by about 18%!

Conclusion.

The evidence is mounting on all sides and in research after research that the intake of sugar is a dangerous addition to human nutrition.

Wednesday 17th. July 2019

This report is somewhat humrous because it deals with,

“How doctors got it wrong: 3 ‘conditions’ they no longer recognize”.

These, in order are three medical conditions recognised by medicos in the late 1800’s.

They are, (1)“Bicycle Face: A Physiognomic Implosion”, (2) “Female Hysteria: A Nervous Disease and (3)“Dysaesthesia Aethiopica: A Hebetude”.

The first ( Bicycle Face: A Physiognomic Implosion”) relates to cycling which was becoming popular, especially among women. But this activity was frowned upon by some. Consider this article:

“The cycling season will be coming on soon, and there is every reason to suppose that more people than ever will take advantage of it — women especially.” This is the first sentence of an article called “The dangers of cycling,” published by Dr. A. Shadwell in 1897, in the National Review.

Allegedly, this doctor coined the expression “bicycle face” to describe a pseudo medical condition — with mainly physiological symptoms — that affected women cyclists in the early days of cycling in the 1800s. In his article, Shadwell claimed that this “condition” caused a “peculiar strained, set look,” as well as “an expression either anxious, irritable, or at best stony” in the rider.

This of course reflected the bias women suffered in many aspects of life i 1800’s which thankfully is not evident today. 

As noted above it was called, “Female Hysteria: A Nervous Disease .” As the report suggested,

“The fake mental condition that researchers have referred to as “female hysteria” has had a long and fraught history. It has roots in mistaken ancient beliefs, such as that in the “wandering womb,” which alleged that the uterus could “go wandering” through the female body, causing mental and physical problems.” (!!! Editor)

Because of these widespread  beliefs women were treated as a different species and subject to ridiculous medical treatments

 Little by little, a complex image of this nebulous mental condition emerged. Typically, doctors diagnosed women with hysteria, as they considered women more sensitive and easily influenced.

A hysteric woman might exhibit extreme nervousness or anxiety but also abnormal eroticism. For this reason, in 1878, doctors invented and started to use vibrators on their patients, believing that this — often enforced — stimulation could help cure hysteria.

It took a long time for doctors to give up on hysteria as a valid diagnostic, and they kept changing their minds. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) did not include hysteria in their first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I), which appeared in 1952. However, the “condition” made an appearance in the DSM-II in 1968, and finally left the stage of psychiatry for good in 1980 when the APA published the DSM-III.

Instead, the APA replaced this elusive “condition” that aimed to encompass too many symptoms with an array of distinct psychiatric conditions, including somatic symptom disorder (previously “somatoform disorder”) and dissociative disorders.

The third condition, as above, was known as, Dysaesthesia Aethiopica: A Hebetude”.

This was not a bias against women but against black slaves. 

Nineteenth-century medicine did not just “target” women, however. Slavery was still widespread in the U.S. throughout the first half of the 19th century, and some doctors made victims of slavery also victims of  scientific racism…………..Dysaesthesia aethiopica was supposed to render enslaved people less likely to follow orders and make them sleepy. It also supposedly led to the development of lesions on their skin, for which Cartwright prescribed whipping. The lesions were, most likely, the result of violent mistreatment at the hands of slave owners in the first place.

Enough said about these ancient practices – but unfortunately human bias still exists in many places – a sad fact of life.

Reports from Medical News Today

 

Wednesday July 3rd 2019

New research warns that, after completing breast cancer treatment, women aged 45 and over have a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

According to the world Health Organization Breast Cancer is the most prevalent form of cnacer suffered by women, yet the most treatable.

However

“A new study from the Botucatu Medical School at Paulista State University in Sao Paulo, Brazil, confirms that women of more than 45 years of age who have undergone breast cancer treatment have a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

The study’s findings — which appear online ahead of print in the journal Menopause of the North American Menapause Society (NAMS) — also explain why women who have experienced breast cancer are more at risk of heart disease.”

 

Apprently,

 “many women go on antiestrogens if they have an estrogensensitive breast cancer. Loss of estrogen may be associated with higher risk of heart disease,” Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, the executive director of NAMS — although not involved in the current study.

Medical News Today

Monday 24th June 2019

Prescription to Get Back to Nature?

The Scientific Reports journal has suggested that doctors should prescribe that patients get back to two hours of involvement in nature every week. This involves walking, cycling and most forms of exercise.

The study was based on data received from 20,000 people.

From our perspective this is precisely what eveyone needs, especially those in jobs that require them to sit down every day. And young people involved in too much “screen watching” would also be great candidates

Health Guidance Rules Missing From Alcoholic Labels

Wednesday June 12th 2019

The BBC reported that the alcoholic industry had not yet updated information on alcoholic beverage labels to warn consumers against the dangers of drinking more than was safe.

According tothe BBC Health (10th June), “Health advice on how much adults could safely drink in a week was cut significantly in 2016, from 28 units a week for men and 21 for women, to 14 for both.” This would suggest that consumers should drink no more than two units a day, otherwise they put their health at risk.

 

Published Tuesday 21 May 2019

Brain Study May Explain why Depression is More Common in Women than Men

Researchers have scanned the brains of 115 participants and found that inflammation can lead to a loss of pleasure — called anhedonia — in women but not in men.

Depression, the “leading cause of disability worldwide,” is far more prevalent in women than it is in men. Worldwide, over 300 million people live with depression.

Among young people aged between 14 and 25, females are more than twice as likely to have depression as males.

Although these differences become less pronounced in later adulthood, global estimates still show a 1.7-fold increase in the prevalence of depression among women, compared with men.

Anhedonia is one of the hallmarks of major depressive disorder. Anhedonia describes the inability to derive joy or pleasure from activities that used to feel enjoyable.

On a neurological level, anhedonia presents itself as reduced activity in the brain’s reward processing area, called the ventral stratum.

New research sheds light on how the sex differences in depression manifest themselves in the brain. Specifically, scientists show how inflammation affects the brain’s response to rewards differently in men and women.

Naomi Eisenberger, Ph.D., a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the senior author of the paper, which appears in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

Anhedonia as a response to inflammation

Prof. Eisenberger and colleagues administered either a low dose of an endotoxin — in order to induce inflammation — or a placebo to depression-free men and women.

In total, the study included 115 participants, 69 of whom were female. The researchers randomly assigned the participants to either the control/placebo group or the low-dose endotoxin group. (Medical News Today – by  Ana Sandoiu)

Vitamin C in Food

  

 

Group of fruits containing vitamin C

Vitamin C in Food

A recent research collaboration between ” Dr. Harri Hemilä of the University of Helsinki in Finland and Dr. Elizabeth Chalker of the University of Sydney in Australia ” has discovered that patients who are taking vitamin C ” reduced time spent in the intensive care unit (ICU) by an average of 8 percent.”

“Vitamin C could be a cost-effective way to reduce the time that patients spend in intensive care. This was the conclusion of a recent analysis of evidence from published trials. “

Catherine Paddock PhD

This shows that Vitamin C plays a more important role in human health than many of the present day medicos give credit for it – and upholds out earlier article on Vitamin C the Wonder Vitamin Read here

How to Reduce

Blood pressure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latest news suggests that early morning exercise reduces blood pressure in the 55 to 80 year age group according to the University of Western Australia.

This is in line with research over the world where it has been found that high intensity resistance training has a positive effect on cardiovascular health to reduce blood pressure.

Scientists are discovering that regular gym work for those over fifty can slow down the aging process and rejuvenate health.

Dr.Simon Melov of the Buck Institute for Age Research north of San Francisco believes that people are becoming unnecessarily feeble before their time. This is probably because most of the ageing population become inactive and refrain from muscular activity.

 Melov and other researchers suggest that resistance training (weight lifting) rejuvenates muscles and strengthens bones.

In fact recent research demonstrates that resistance exercise stimulates “gene activity” in muscle cells (BBC News) and not only makes muscles stronger but younger as well. In one Canadian study a mixture of  65 years+ and 20-35 year olds were given twice weekly resistance training workouts of an hour long over six months. Before the study the 65+ group were about 60% weaker than their younger participants but by the end of the period the 65+ group had significant gains in strength

Danger of Smoking

in Pregnancy!

 

 

 

Smoking is dangerous in pregnancy

A recent report suggests that mothers who smoke during pregnancy may harm their daughter’s fertility in the future.

Women have been warned about the risks of smoking for years. With offspring at risk of heart defects, fertility damage for daughters and a host of other health problems.

Scientists at the Cambridge University have now discovered the damage is even more far reaching than thought and could even put grandchildren at risk.

Smoking during pregnancy can cause a baby to be born too early or to have low birth weight—making it more likely the baby will be sick and have to stay in the hospital longer. A few babies may even die. Smoking during and after pregnancy is a risk factor of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Government Paper

A lot more information exists on the net and elsewhere about the dangers of smoking whilst pregnant. (And this applies to fathers who smoke in the house with a partner who is pregnant.

It doesn’t take an Einstein to appreciate the danger and exercise a little will-power and stop smoking.

MEDITATION

 

 

 

 

Meditation

Meditation has been around for hundreds of year and probably longer. But is it really beneficial?

The pose the young lady in the photo shows is the typical identifier of meditation but its not necessary to conform to be able to meditate.

Meditation has been performed by numerous religious groups as well as mental wellness practitioners to help focus or establish mental tranquility. Meditation is not to be confused with prayer. Prayer is communication with God where meditation remains within.Each has a different purpose and both can be calming. A person whose mind is in turmoil can use mediation to calm down, refocus on important issues. A person in prayer can do the same but leave matters to the Higher Power in their lives.

Now scientists are starting to look at how meditation affects the mind and if there is a real correlation between it and mental health.

Practicing meditation or mindfulness techniques is, at least anecdotally, supposed to smooth your way to a happier, more healthful life. But what does science say about these practices?

Medical News Today

Apparently it’s early days before any hard facts are arrived at but that doesn’t have to stop a busy person to make time and a place to use it to calmly focus on an issue, a work place or family problem, or life in general instead of making decisions in the stress of a moment.