- - European weblog on food, health and environment
The 21st century - time to wake
up….
Cancer to be the leading cause of death in
2010 through deadly cocktail of toxins ? We destroy our lungs with cigarettes, feed our
kids fast sugars. trans fats, salt, artificial flavors and colors, chemical sugars,
vaccines, etc. Then we wonder how it is that an increasing percentage of the population
develops chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, cancer, food intolerances,
skin problems and bowel problems. Mercury in fish and thermometers poses a problem for
most, but in tooth fillings or flu shots it doesn't seem to be a problem. Where's the
logic in that? We have the same ambivalence about antibiotics, the 'wonder drug' for
bacterial infections but also the great killer of your intestinal flora. Never mind that
friendly gut bacteria play a crucial role in maintaining long-term health. According to
ancient Chinese wisdom death resides in the bowels.
Profound immune system discovery
opens door to halting destruction of lupus
A researcher funded by the Lupus Research Institute has discovered an entirely new and
powerful molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response of the immune system.
The major finding, reported in the Dec. 14 issue of the journal Cell, means that new
methods can now be pursued to shut down uncontrolled inflammation, restore immune system
regulation, and treat chronic autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
Green tea may protect brain cells
against Parkinson's disease
Does the consumption of green tea, widely touted to have beneficial effects on health,
also protect brain cells? Authors of a new study being published in the Dec. 15 issue of
Biological Psychiatry share new data that indicates this may be the case.
Heavy traffic makes breathing a
burden in children
Exposure to traffic pollution may increase respiratory problems and reduce lung volumes
in children with asthma, according to researchers who studied the effects of road and
traffic density on children's lung function and respiratory symptoms in the border town of
Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
A clear, direct link between obesity and colorectal cancer, the second most common form
of cancer in Australia with more than 12,000 new cases each year, has been shown in a new
analysis by the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia.
Another 'smart' cancer drug can
have toxic effects on the heart
Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib, may be associated with cardiac
toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(Boston) and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia). Sunitinib is one of several new
"smart" cancer drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors that targets specific
signaling molecules inside cancer cells that aid cancer spread, and was originally thought
to be relatively free of cardiac side effects.
Study Links Blood Transfusions to
Surgery Complications in Women
Women die and get infections more often than men after heart surgery because they tend
to receive more blood transfusions, which boost the risks of bad
outcomes, according to a study published in the December Journal of Women’s Health.
Experts call for better research
into link between women's hormones and mood disorders
In a recently published study, women's health experts from the University of Alberta
argue there is an urgent need for carefully designed, gender-specific research to better
understand the relationship of female sex hormones to mood states and disorders. "The
reasons for the gender disparity in rates of depression are not completely
understood," says Kathy Hegadoren, the Canada Research Chair in Stress Disorders in
Women at the University of Alberta.
Pioglitazone lowers cardiovascular
risk in diabetic patients with kidney disease
A new study confirms that chronic kidney disease increases the already-high risk of
serious cardiovascular events in diabetic patients with damage to the large blood vessels
and suggests that treatment with the antidiabetic drug pioglitazone may help to lower this
risk, reports the January Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Too much fructose could leave
dieters sugar shocked
Dieters should focus on limiting the amount of fructose they eat instead of cutting out
starchy foods such as bread, rice and potatoes, report University of Florida researchers,
who propose using new dietary guidelines based on fructose to gauge how healthy foods are.
Research unveils new hope for
deadly childhood disease
Investigators at the University of Rochester have uncovered a promising drug therapy
that offers a ray of hope for children with Batten disease -- a rare neurodegenerative
disease that strikes seemingly healthy kids, progressively robs them of their abilities to
see, reason and move, and ultimately kills them in their young twenties. The study,
highlighted in the January edition of Experimental Neurology, explains how investigators
improved the motor skills of feeble mice that model the disease.
Active compounds found in Ganoderma
lucidum fungus with potential to treat prostate cancer
A new development in the fight against cancer: Recent research at the University of
Haifa found that molecules found in common fungus Ganoderma lucidum aid in suppressing
some of the mechanisms involved in the progression of prostate cancer. The main action of
the fungus: disrupting androgen receptor activity and impeding the proliferation of
cancerous cells.
Experts urge complete global access
to iodized salt; prevents IQ loss and brain damage in babies
The Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency at the UN Wednesday will
urge renewed international commitment to prevent loss of IQ due to fetal brain damage by
facilitating access to iodized salt for the final 30 percent of world households that
don’t yet have it -- most of them found in just 20 countries.
A new study published in the online open access journal, BMC Medicine, has revealed
that arthroscopic surgery combined with exercise is no better than exercise alone in
alleviating chronic knee pain.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs and the
risk of hemorrhagic stroke
People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs such as atorvastatin after a stroke may be at
an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke, or bleeding in the brain, a risk not found in
patients taking statins who have never had a stroke. The research is published in the Dec.
12, 2007, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of
Neurology.
In a study in Nature, Brandeis University biophysicist Dorothee Kern and collaborators
pull back the curtain on the secret lives of enzymes, the ubiquitous proteins that
catalyze chemical reactions in the cell.
New computational technique can
predict drug side effects
Early identification of adverse effects of drugs before they are tested in humans is
crucial in developing new therapeutics, as unexpected effects account for a third of all
drug failures during the development process. Now researchers at the University of
California-San Diego have developed a novel technique using computer modeling to identify
potential side effects of pharmaceuticals, and have used the technique to study a class of
drugs that includes tamoxifen.
Neurotransmitters in biopolymers
stimulate nerve regeneration
Research reported Dec. 11 in the journal Advanced Materials describes a potentially
promising strategy for encouraging the regeneration of damaged central nervous system
cells known as neurons. The technique would use a biodegradable polymer containing a
chemical group that mimics the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to spur the growth of
neurites, which are projections that form the connections among neurons and between
neurons and other cells. The biomimetic polymers would then guide the growth of the
regenerating nerve.
Novel treatment strategies for major depression with broader treatment success or a
more rapid onset of action would have immense impact on public health, a new study
published in the Dec. 1 issue of Biological Psychiatry explains.
Study finds gene linked to
aggressive prostate cancer
Results from two genome-wide association studies have identified a genetic variant of
the DAB2IP gene that is associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Research
teams from the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Wake Forest University School of
Medicine, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions made the discovery jointly.
Obesity reduces chances of
spontaneous pregnancy in women who are subfertile but ovulating normally
A new study of obesity and the probability of pregnancy has shown that a woman's
chances of a spontaneous pregnancy steadily decrease the fatter she is. For every BMI unit
above 29 kg/m2, the probability of pregnancy was reduced by four percent, according to the
research published in Human Reproduction journal.
New "Juice Feasting"
Emerging as Phytonutrient-Rich Disease-Fighting Nutritional System
It's rare for something to come along that impresses me so much as a healing modality
that it instantly changes my own life habits. But I've recently been introduced to a
plant-based medicinal modality that's so incredibly effective at preventing and reversing
disease that I believe it is "the" cure for cancer society has been looking for.
And in this article, I'm going to share with you what I know about this system.
New Evidence for the Protective
Effects of Fruits and Veggies
The age-old refrain, "Eat your vegetables!" gets scientific support as
researchers present the latest findings on cancer prevention at the American Association
for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer
Prevention, being held December 5 - 8 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, researchers
present new data that demonstrate how diets full of raw vegetables -- particularly
broccoli sprouts -- and black raspberries could prevent or slow the growth of some common
forms of cancer.
Lupeol Compound in Fruits Found to
Destroy Cancer Tumors in the Head and Neck Faster Than Chemotherapy Drugs
A chemical that naturally occurs in certain fruits such as grapes, mangoes and
strawberries may be able to suppress the growth and spread of head and neck cancers,
according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Hong Kong and published
in the journal Cancer Research.
Berries and Onions Slash Pancreatic
Cancer Risk By Up To 59 Percent
A high intake of the flavonols found in certain fruits and vegetables can decrease the
risk of developing pancreatic cancer a quarter in non-smokers, and more than twice that in
smokers.
High Cost of Energy - Study Shows
Energy Drinks Can Be Harmful
It seems energy can be found everywhere these days. Energy in a can, energy in a cup,
energy in a bottle. . .Wherever it is, people are looking for it because, well, we seem to
be lacking it. Generally speaking, synthetic energy enhancement can have some long term
health consequences, one of which is a dependence on whatever substance it is that's
giving you that extra boost. In fact, new research from Wayne State University says that
one of the most popular - and easy to find - energy enhancers can pose health risks to
people with heart conditions: energy drinks.
Fluoride and triclosan are toxic ingredients that are contained in most commonly used
toothpastes (http://www.newstarget.com/017804.html). If we want to avoid these products,
what toothpastes help protect our teeth from cavities and are also healthy for us? Perhaps
we should take a leaf out of the papyrus manuscripts of the Egyptians where the earliest
reference to a toothpaste was found from the 4th century AD
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste) . The toothpaste consisted of a mixture of salt,
pepper, mint leaves and orris.
In this groundbreaking book, the result of seven years of research in every science
connected with the impact of nutrition on health, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes
shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.
For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that
the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet with more and more
people acting on this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and
diabetes. Taubes argues persuasively that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates (white
flour, sugar, easily digested starches) and sugars–via their dramatic and longterm
effects on insulin, the hormone that regulates fat accumulation–and that the key to
good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. There are good calories,
and bad ones.
Good Calories
These are from foods without easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. These foods can
be eaten without restraint. Meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy
vegetables.
Bad Calories
These are from foods that stimulate excessive insulin secretion and so make us fat and
increase our risk of chronic disease—all refined and easily digestible carbohydrates
and sugars. The key is not how much vitamins and minerals they contain, but how quickly
they are digested. (So apple juice or even green vegetable juices are not necessarily any
healthier than soda.) Bread and other baked goods, potatoes, yams, rice, pasta, cereal
grains, corn, sugar (sucrose and high fructose corn syrup), ice cream, candy, soft drinks,
fruit juices, bananas and other tropical fruits, and beer.
Taubes traces how the common assumption that carbohydrates are fattening was abandoned
in the 1960s when fat and cholesterol were blamed for heart disease and then
–wrongly–were seen as the causes of a host of other maladies, including cancer.
He shows us how these unproven hypotheses were emphatically embraced by authorities in
nutrition, public health, and clinical medicine, in spite of how well-conceived clinical
trials have consistently refuted them. He also documents the dietary trials of
carbohydrate-restriction, which consistently show that the fewer carbohydrates we consume,
the leaner we will be.
With precise references to the most significant existing clinical studies, he convinces
us that there is no compelling scientific evidence demonstrating that saturated fat and
cholesterol cause heart disease, that salt causes high blood pressure, and that fiber is a
necessary part of a healthy diet. Based on the evidence that does exist, he leads us to
conclude that the only healthy way to lose weight and remain lean is to eat fewer
carbohydrates or to change the type of the carbohydrates we do eat, and, for some of us,
perhaps to eat virtually none at all.
The 11 Critical Conclusions of Good Calories, Bad Calories:
1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease.
2. Carbohydrates do, because of their effect on the hormone insulin. The more
easily-digestible and refined the carbohydrates and the more fructose they contain, the
greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.
3. Sugars—sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup specifically—are
particularly harmful. The glucose in these sugars raises insulin levels; the fructose they
contain overloads the liver.
4. Refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are also the most likely dietary causes of
cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the other common chronic diseases of modern times.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating and not sedentary
behavior.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter any more than it causes a
child to grow taller.
7. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry.
8. We get fat because of an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal
regulation of fat tissue and fat metabolism. More fat is stored in the fat tissue than is
mobilized and used for fuel. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat
tissue reverses this imbalance.
9. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated, we
stockpile calories as fat. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue
and burn it for fuel.
10. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause
obesity. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the
amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.
11. The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.
Good Calories, Bad Calories is a tour de force of scientific investigation–certain
to redefine the ongoing debate about the foods we eat and their effects on our health.
ISBN:
978-1-4000-4078-0 (1-4000-4078-7)
Video - David Wolfe on Vegetables
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis:
Politics, Medicine and Science
In 1997 Professor Hooper had become involved with the GWVs (Gulf War Veterans) many of
whom had been given a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Then his interest in Gulf War
Syndrome (GWS) escalated to additional involvement with MECFS, MCS (Multiple Chemical
Sensitivity) and Fibromyalgia, which have many features in common with GWS.
Organophosphate poisoning is also part of this story. The challenge is that these are all
complex chronic multi-system and multi-organ illnesses which are puzzling because the
results of routine laboratory tests are strikingly normal. (A show of hands amongst the
audience revealed that we are all ‘completely normal’!) The other explanation
is, said Professor Hooper, that if you are not ‘normal’ you are
‘crackers’, and this unfortunately is how people with M.E. have been labelled:
because the tests are ‘normal’, the illness is ‘all in your mind’. It
is important to be clear about terminology. People with M.E. have a neurological illness.
The World Health Organisation clearly classifies myalgic emcaphalomyelitis under the
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 – G93.3 as a neurological disorder,
meaning muscle pain with inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. However, the allowed
names currently are Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Researchers led by Penn vet uncover
the delicate protein balance behind the immune system response
A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
has identified the protein interactions involved in the immune system process that fights
infection yet, in certain inflammatory diseases, runs amok and attacks friendly tissue.
Chemicals used as fire retardants
could be harmful, UC-Riverside researchers say
Margarita Curras-Collazo's lab at the University of California-Riverside has done
research that shows that polybrominated diphenyl ethers, chemicals used as fire
retardants, disrupt mechanisms that are responsible for releasing hormones in the body.
Moreover, her lab has shown that like polychlorinated biphenyls, whose manufacture in the
US was discontinued in 1977, PBDEs alter calcium signaling in the brain.
MDs' reactions to pharma marketing
influenced by brand, side effects: Management Insights
A study of pharmaceutical companies' marketing to physicians shows that doctors are
most influenced by brand preference and marketing that addresses the problems of drugs
with many side effects, according to the Management Insights feature in the current issue
of Management Science, the flagship journal of the Institute for Operations Research and
the Management Sciences.
Abdominal obesity is a strong independent risk factor for heart disease, and using the
waist-hip ratio rather than waist measurement alone is a better predictor of heart disease
risk among men and women, researchers reported in a study published in Circulation:
Journal of the American Heart Association.
Video - The Quality of
Calories: What Makes Us Fat and Why Nobody Seems to Care
Gary Taubes is a science journalist who has been published in the Atlantic Monthly,
Discover, Esquire, GQ, Science, and many others. He has won the National Association of
Science Writers Science in Society Award three times. His 2001 article, "The Soft
Science of Dietary Fat," published in Science, was followed by "What if It's All
Been a Big Fat Lie?" which saw print in 2002 in the New York Times Magazine. His
book, Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight
Control, and Disease, has just been released.
Modern medicine is firmly founded on the “Germ Theory of Disease” promulgated
by Louis Pasteur in the 1860’s. Pasteur’s 140-year-old theory is still the
medical paradigm upon which Western medicine fights disease as we enter the 21st century.
OHSU Cancer Institute researcher
develops test for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia
Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher Jeff Tyner, Ph.D.,
has created a way to identify proteins that are candidates for targeted therapy in acute
myeloid leukemia using an assay that yields results in just four days.
Belief, disbelief and uncertainty
activate distinct brain regions
A new study found that belief, disbelief and uncertainty activate distinct regions of
the brain, with belief/disbelief affecting areas associated with the
pleasantness/unpleasantness of tastes and odors.
Growth factor receptor affects
prostate cancer progression
Breeding mice with a gene for a cellular receptor that can be turned on and off-at
will-not only enabled researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston to show how
prostate cancer progresses, but also provides a model for studying when a drug targeting a
gene will have an effect on the cancer.
The Israeli doctor involved in a recent international study that has found a link
between cellular phones and cancer says she believes cell-phone use should be limited
among children.
Children under five years old living near nuclear power stations have contracted cancer
at a greatly higher rate than the national average, a study by the German government said
Saturday.
Why People With Schizophrenia Have
Lower Rates Of Cancer
A series of studies presented December 8 at the American College of
Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) annual meeting elucidates evidence that there is a genetic
link between schizophrenia and cancer.
Depression nearly triples the risk of death following a heart attack, even when
accounting for other heart attack risk factors, according to research presented today at
the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting, which showed that among
360 depressed, post myocardial infarction patients followed for more than six years, those
who did not recover from their depression in the first six months were more than twice as
likely to die.
Antibacterial chemical disrupts
hormone activities
A new UC Davis study shows that a common antibacterial chemical added to bath soaps is
an endocrine disruptor that can alter hormonal activity in rats and in human cells in the
laboratory -- and does so by a previously unreported mechanism.
Chemical sensitivities and
chlorella detoxification
The first thing that hits my mind is that
chlorella is a 2-billion-year-old organism or older. That means it has survived every
catastrophe on earth through all the generations. It is a tremendous survivor. How do you
become a tremendous survivor? Obviously, you have to be able to repair your genetics. The
growth factors come into play there. There are organisms out there -- little bacteria that
you can hit with radiation that would kill anybody else -- and they will so quickly repair
their genes. You have to have the nutrients in your body -- those growth factors -- to do
that regeneration. As you know, chlorella can quadruple itself in 20 hours. I do not know
anything else that can do that. That is indicative of the growth factors. In Japan, when
they gave them to children and young animals, they grew like crazy. Not abnormally, but
they just grew rapidly. In Dr. Jensen's book about chlorella you can see rabbits,
chickens, and birds, and when they gave them those growth factors, those animals at the
same age as the placebos were twice as big.
Scientists Cure Mice Of Sickle Cell
Using Stem Cell Technique
Using a recently developed technique for
turning skin cells into stem cells, scientists have cured mice of sickle cell anemia --
the first direct proof that the easily obtained cells can reverse an inherited,
potentially fatal disease.
McDonald's Marketing Focused On
Children, New Report States
A new report released by Corporations and
Health Watch, earlier this month, exposes the marketing tactics of McDonald's. According
to the report entitled "McDonald's and Children's Health: The Production of New
Customers, "the world's largest fast food chain uses cartoons, toys, schools,
charities and even parents to reach its youngest customers.
U.S. lawmakers have begun to criticize the
practice of adding carbon monoxide to meat in order to stabilize its color and keep it
looking fresh longer.
Key behavior ranging from better
concentration to improved word use tends to occur when a child with autism has a fever,
scientists report in an unusual investigation published yesterday.
New findings that attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder may stem from a developmental delay that children could outgrow,
rather than a cognitive deficit, have raised questions for parents of the 4.4 million
children diagnosed with the disorder.
Scientists have identified genes linked to
psoriasis and lupus, diseases triggered by immune responses that cause painful
inflammation, separate studies say.
The researchers also found 'overdosing' on
oils rich in omega 6, such as sunflower oil - (omega 6 fats are known to be helpful for
keeping blood cholesterol levels down) - could have the reverse effect, possibly doubling
the risk of developing dementia.
Waistline Growth On High-carb Diets
Linked To Liver Gene
Experts have been warning for years that
foods loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and other processed carbohydrates are making us
fatter. Now, a University of Wisconsin-Madison study has uncovered the genetic basis for
why this is so.
MORE than 17 girls a week have been
experiencing adverse reactions such as seizures and numbness after taking cervical cancer
vaccine Gardasil since it became widely distributed in April.
Carb consumption presents potential
link to diabetes risk
Researchers urge students to begin watching
diet and weight now, following recent findings that suggest intake of foods with a high
glycemic index may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Starchy foods such as white rice and bread
raise the likelihood of diabetes for both black and Chinese women, but adding some
whole-grain foods may reverse the risk, researchers reported.
Dr. Sarah Janssen, a physician and
scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, says
that she frequently sees patients complaining of symptoms related to toxic levels of mold,
lead, formaldehyde and tobacco smoke. The sources of these toxins and poisons are often
easy to isolate - a leaking roof can cause mold, houses built before 1978 may have lead
paint and plywood can off-gas formaldehyde.
Now comes news, from a study reported in
the Canadian Medical Association Journal, that a sampling of pig farms in Canada found a
quarter of all swine to be infected with MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus.
The headlines about staph infections are
spreading awareness that overuse of antibiotics has made some bacteria resistant to drugs.
The trend poses a threat to everyone, as dangerous infections become increasingly
prevalent and challenging to treat.
This is the first study to tease out the
different types of hematopoietic cancers as they relate to pesticide use in the home.
Other studies have found a link between parents' occupational exposure to pesticides and
childhood cancers, but few of the parents in the French study were exposed to pesticides
at work or through farming. Whether a family was rural or urban didn't alter a child's
risk of developing cancer.
Prevalence of Self-Reported
Diabetes and Exposure to Organochlorine Pesticides
This study suggests that higher serum
levels of certain organochlorine pesticides may be associated with increased prevalence of
diabetes. Additional studies with more extensive clinical assessment are needed to confirm
this association.
Ontario's Liberal government will introduce
legislation Wednesday to ban trans fats in school cafeterias and take steps towards
banning junk food in high schools.
More Studies on the Effects of
Statins on the Incidence of Prostate Cancer
Three new studies on the effects of statins
on the risk of developing prostate cancer were published in the November, 2007 issue of
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
EU caught in quandary over GMO
animal feed imports
Europe faces a stark choice between empty
supermarket shelves or feeding its animals so long as it keeps up a slow rate of approving
new genetically modified (GMO) crops suitable for feed use, industry sources warn.
Chemical in Nail Polish, Lipstick
Linked to Breast Cancer
A chemical commonly used to soften plastic
and in lipstick, nail polish and other household items has been found to interfere with
the development of healthy breast tissue, which could lead to breast cancer, according to
a new study.
