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.
Read
full introduction article here
Ron Fonteine
News - week 53 - 2007
Osteoarthritis risk linked to
finger length ratio
People whose index finger is shorter than
their ring finger are at higher risk of osteoarthritis, a new University of Nottingham
study has found.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/press-releases/index.phtml?
menu=pressreleases&code=OSTE-03/08&create_date=03-jan-2008
No link between acid reflux and survival
Study provides reassuring evidence that
people with acid reflux symptoms do not have an increased risk of death, finding no
difference in survival rates between sufferers and nonsufferers.
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/press/pressitem.asp?ref=1575
Mom's obesity during conception phase may set the stage for offspring's obesity
risk
Researchers have examined whether fetal
exposure to gestational obesity leads to a self-reinforcing viscious cycle of excessive
weight gain and body fat which passes from mother to child. The results of a new study
suggest they do.
http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/index.htm
A Human Hormone Blocker Is Found To Help Prevent Obesity And Diabetes During
Animal Testing
A new study finds that a chemical found in
the body is capable of promoting weight loss, improving insulin resistance and reversing
diabetes in an animal model. The hormone is gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor
blockade.
http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/08/2.htm
First-ever study to link increased mortality specifically to carbon dioxide
emissions
A Stanford scientist has spelled out for
the first time the direct links between increased levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere and increases in human mortality, using a state-of-the-art computer model of
the atmosphere incorporating scores of physical and chemical environmental processes. The
new findings, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, come to light just after
the Environmental Protection Agency's recent ruling against states setting specific
emission standards for this greenhouse gas.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/co-010908.html
Novel anticancer strategy moves from laboratory to clinic
Researchers have developed a novel
anti-tumor compound that represents a distinct strategy: targeting one of the most
important "intercept points" for cancer cells.
http://www.whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?announcement_id_seq=12785
Lung Cancer Cells' Survival Gene Seen as Drug Target
One of the deadliest forms of cancer
appears to carry a specific weakness. When a key gene called 14-3-3zeta is silenced, lung
cancer cells can’t survive on their own, researchers have found.
The gene is a potential target for selective anti-cancer drugs, says Haian Fu, PhD,
professor of pharmacology and of hematology and oncology at Emory University School of
Medicine and Emory Winship Cancer Institute.
http://www.whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?announcement_id_seq=12784
Thyroid treatment no 'quick fix' for weight loss in children
Parents of overweight children often desire
a 'quick fix' for the problem and request thyroid tests, but, unfortunately, screening for
hypothyroidism is not the answer, says a new study.
http://news.uky.edu/news/display_article.php?artid=3017
Gene dose affects tumor growth
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Ohio State
University have found that the number of copies of a particular gene can affect the
severity of colon cancer in a mouse model. Publishing in the Jan. 3 issue of Nature, the
research team describes how trisomy 21, or Down syndrome in humans, can repress tumor
growth.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/jhmi-gda010308.php
Data About Zetia Risks Was Not Fully Revealed
New evidence shows that the drug makers
Merck and Schering-Plough have conducted several studies of their popular cholesterol
medicine Zetia that raise questions about its risks to the liver, but the companies have
never published those results.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/business/21drug.html?_r=2
&pagewanted=1&hp&oref=slogin
Pray for, be kind to all God’s animals, Church urged
PETA says slaughterhouses are among
“the most violent places on Earth ... it’s ironic that the celebration of the
[birth] of the Son of God is a feast of slaughtered pigs, cows, chicken and animal
flesh.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20071231-109554/
Pray_for_be_kind_to_all_Gods_animals_Church_urged
Jefferson scientists find protein potential drug target for treatment-resistant
prostate cancer
Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer
Center in Philadelphia have found that a signaling protein that is key to prostate cancer
cell growth is turned on in nearly all recurrent prostate cancers that are resistant to
hormone therapy. If the findings hold up, the protein, called Stat5, may be a specific
drug target against an extremely difficult-to-treat cancer.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/tju-jsf122807.php
Bright light therapy eases bipolar depression for some
Bright light therapy can ease bipolar
depression in some patients, a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study has
found. Women with bipolar depression were given light boxes and instructed on how to use
them at home. Using the light boxes daily for two-week stretches of 15, 30 and 45 minutes,
some patients responded extremely well to the light therapy and their symptoms of
depression disappeared.
http://www.upmc.com/Communications/MediaRelations/NewsRelease
Archives/2008/January/SitBrightLightBipolar.htm
Gene therapy can reduce long-term drinking among rodents
In this issue: Certain genetic factors may
both increase and protect against the risk of developing alcoholism; The aldehyde
dehydrogenase (ALDH2*2) allele is considered protective against alcoholism; and
Intravenous administration of an anti-Aldh2 antisense gene can curtail long-term drinking
among rodents.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/ace-gtc122807.php
Walk away menopausal anxiety, stress and depression
With more menopausal women seeking natural
therapies to ease symptoms, a new study has found that simply adding a brisk walking
routine can reduce a variety of psychological symptoms such as anxiety, stress and
depression.
http://develop.temple.edu/newsroom/embargo/menopause.htm
Scripps Research scientists discover remarkable editing system for protein
production
Even small mistakes made by cells during
protein production can have profound disease effects, but the processes cells use to
correct mistakes have been challenging to decipher. Recent work by scientists at The
Scripps Research Institute, however, has uncovered two surprising new methods for such
editing.
http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/010208.html
Protein a possible key to allergy and asthma control
Activating a protein found on some immune
cells seems to halt the cells' typical job of spewing out substances that launch allergic
reactions, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings could eventually
lead to new treatments for allergic reactions ranging from annoying bouts of hay fever to
deadly asthma attacks.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_02_08.html
Protein's new role discovered in autoimmune disease
A chemical messenger has been shown to have
a previously unknown major role in autoimmune diseases like arthritis and lupus.
Investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found interleukin 17 plays a
major role on shaping B cells' ability to create more and more disease-causing antibodies,
which may generate new ideas in the ongoing search for better drug targets.
http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=115821
Researchers seek to make cavity-causing bacteria self-destruct
Bacteria that eat sugar and release
cavity-causing acid onto teeth may soon be made dramatically more vulnerable to their own
acid. Researchers have identified key genes and proteins that, if interfered with, can
take away the ability of a key bacterial species to thrive as its acidic waste builds up
in the mouth.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uorm-rst010208.php
Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining concentrations of
25-hydroxyvitamin D
Researchers from Boston University School
of Medicine have found that vitamin D2 is equally as effective as vitamin D3 in
maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D status. The study appears online in the December 2007
issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news/releases/display.php?id=1489
Drug industry spends nearly twice as much on marketing than on research and
development
The pharmaceutical industry spends almost
twice as much on the marketing and promotion of drugs than on research and development,
according to a new analysis in this week's PLoS Medicine.
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-
document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050001
Einstein researchers discover important clue to the cause of Parkinson's
disease
A glitch in the mechanism by which cells
recycle damaged components may trigger Parkinson's disease, according to a study by
scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The research,
which appears in the Jan. 2 advance online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation,
could lead to new strategies for treating Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative
diseases.
http://www.aecom.yu.edu/home/news/PRdetails.asp?isPR=1&id=395
New discovery could reduce the health risk of high-fat foods
Just as additives help gasoline burn
cleaner, a research report published in the January 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal
shows that the food industry could take a similar approach toward reducing health risks
associated with fatty foods. These "meal additives" would be based on work of
Israeli researchers who discovered that consuming polyphenols (natural compounds in red
wine, fruits, and vegetables) simultaneously with high-fat foods may reduce health risks
associated with these foods.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/foas-ndc122107.php
Just 4 months of hormone therapy can delay prostate cancer growth by up to 8
years
Researchers report that just four months of
hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer
growth by as much as eight years -- especially the development of bone metastases -- and
increased survival in older men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer. This
"neoadjuvant" hormonal therapy may allow men most at risk of developing bone
metastases avoid long-term hormonal therapy later on.
http://www.asco.org/ASCO/News/Cancer+News?&reuterview=
detail_view&reutersid=7726
Nonfat milk linked to prostate cancer
The amount of calcium and vitamin D in the
diet appears to have little or no impact on the risk of prostate cancer, but the
consumption of low-fat or nonfat milk may increase the risk of the malignancy, according
to the results of two studies published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
http://www.asco.org/ASCO/News/Cancer+News?&reuterview=detail_
view&reutersid=7706
Luxembourg Appeal to ban mercury in
dental fillings
Towards an International Ban on Mercury in
Dental Amalgam
Sign: www.akut.lu/appeal.htm
Akut asbl
137, rue de Mühlenbach
L - 2168 Luxembourg
Tél.: 22 33 75
Fax: 22 28 73
E-mail: info@akut.lu
Ditta
Tampa Researchers Find Caffeine Eases Alzheimer's Effects
Given the already widespread use and
acceptance of coffee in moderate amounts," they wrote, "long-term coffee intake
could be a viable strategy" for reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/28/tampa-researchers-find-
caffeine-eases-alzheimers-e/
Observation on therapeutic
effect of point pressure combined with massage on chronic fatigue syndrome
Pressing acupoints and massage can
effectively improve clinical symptoms of the patient with chronic fatigue syndrome.
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/8595
High-Carb, Low-Fat Junk Diet
Has Made Us 'More Fat, Diabetic, And Heart-Diseased'
The main villains of obesity, diabetes, and
heart disease are industrial foods - corn oil, corn syrup, white flour, and trans fats.
Don’t eat them. The good guys are omega-3 fats in foods like wild cold-water fish;
whole eggs; and natural fats, including saturated fats, like coconut oil, and unsaturated
ones, like olive oil. If you eat traditional fats rather than industrial ones, you’ll
be fine.
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=8015
Ellis Research on B-6 Still
Relevant
Dr. Ellis noted that 25 milligrams daily
should be a minimum consumption amount of this essential nutrient though the government
recommends less than 10 per cent of that amount. Ellis routinely recommended 200
milligrams daily. His exhaustive research and extensive applications of that work with
this nutrient verifies his recommendation. This nearly half century through two centuries
of research and actual use also reveals the buffoonery of the Institute of Medicine which
is chief adviser to the government that has recently suggested an Upper Limit of 100
milligrams daily ingestion.
http://www.healthtruthrevealed.com/full-page.php?id=14363635212&&page=article
Video games reduce blood
flow to the brain
People who spend too much time playing
video games, especially violent video games, may risk damaging brain function and affect
their learning and emotional control, a study released yesterday showed
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/12/27/2003394285
Just eat what your
great-grandma ate
Great-Grandmother never cooked with guar
gum, carrageenan, mono- and diglycerides, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, modified food
starch, soy lecithin and any number of other ingredients found in processed food. She
would never eat cotton, but cottonseed oil is commonplace in all sorts of the "edible
foodlike substances" found in supermarkets today.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/28/RVV2TU4DG.DTL
Diets of Alzheimer's
patients lack many nutrients
People with Alzheimer's disease eat less
nutritiously than their peers without dementia, even in the early stages of the disease,
new research from Canada shows.
http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/news-197981-66.html
Fungus a homegrown conflict
The tenant, Kathryn Remington, 51, said
moldy conditions in her apartment have given her migraine headaches and made her cough up
blood. She has sent spore samples to be tested at a laboratory and grown seven different
fungi in petri dishes, including some reputedly toxic molds. She has extensively
photographed the problem and has been prescribed antibiotics for mold-related illness by
two doctors.
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071223News005.asp
NZ study finds way to stay
thin after dieting
A New Zealand researcher has devised an
antidote for the over-indulgence of Christmas that will be weighing heavily on many
tummies today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=500830&objectid=10484268
Prostate Tumor Growth
Determined By High Carb Diet
A diet high in refined carbohydrates, like
white rice or white bread, is associated with increased prostate tumor growth in mice.
http://www.topcancernews.com/news/1452/1/Prostate-Tumor-
Growth-Determined-By-High-Carb-Diet
Short, cold showers may
stimulate a part of the brain stem
Jumping into a cold shower could give your
grey matter just the boost needed to spark it into a festive mood, claims an American
brain-scanning expert.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3082740.ece
Does Monthly Fasting Help
Your Heart?
People who skip meals once a month are 40
percent less likely to have clogged arteries as those who do not fast regularly, according
to Utah researchers.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/27/
does-monthly-fasting-help-your-heart.aspx
2 genes are important key to
regulating immune response
A research team at Weill Cornell Medical
College in New York City has identified two genes that may be crucial to the production of
an immune system cytokine called interleukin-10 (IL-10).
http://news.med.cornell.edu/wcmc/wcmc_2007/12_28c_07.shtml
Physician-scientist urges
improved drug regulation to ensure heart safety of non-heart drugs
Current regulatory policies should be
strengthened to ensure acceptable cardiovascular safety of drugs developed primarily for
non-cardiovascular medical problems, according to a recent presentation made by Dr.
Jeffrey Borer, an authority in cardiovascular medicine and surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.
http://news.med.cornell.edu/wcmc/wcmc_2007/12_28_07.shtml
Knocking Out Superbugs With
Antimicrobial UMF Honey
As a dressing, UMF honey reduces
inflammation, swelling, and pain quickly; this healing occurs much faster in conditions
where standard antibiotic and antiseptic treatment was not working. Another benefit is
that while antiseptics cause tissue damage, honey doesn't and additionally, honey promotes
healing. According to information released by the Honey Research Unit at the University of
Waikato, there are many reports of Staphylococcus being completely inhibited by UMF honey.
http://www.newstarget.com/022430.html
Cell Phone Radiation
Triggers Measurable Brain Cell Changes in Mere Minutes
As little as 10 minutes on a cell phone can
trigger changes in brain cells linked to cell division and cancer, suggests a new study
conducted by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and published in
the Biochemical Journal.
http://www.newstarget.com/022429.html
Prevent Cancer By Letting Go
Of Excess Fire Energy (Acidity)
An article released by a group of top
scientists from around the world presents "convincing" evidence that excess body
fat along with alcohol and red and processed meat consumption lead to an increased risk
for many types of cancer, including those affecting the breast, bowel and pancreas.
http://www.newstarget.com/022428.html
Sea Cucumber Protein Used to
Inhibit Development of Malaria Parasite
Scientists have genetically engineered a
mosquito to release a sea-cucumber protein into its gut which impairs the development of
malaria parasites, according to research out today (21 December) in PLoS Pathogens.
Researchers say this development is a step towards developing future methods of preventing
the transmission of malaria.
Malaria is caused by parasites whose lives begin in the bodies of mosquitoes. When
mosquitoes feed on the blood of an infected human, the malaria parasites undergo complex
development in the insect’s gut. The new study has focused on disrupting this growth
and development with a lethal protein, CEL-III, found in sea cucumbers, to prevent the
mosquito from passing on the parasite.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=526124
The Unlikely Tale of
Hospital-Acquired Infections, Clothing and Faith
In response to ongoing public and
parliamentary concerns about the frequency with which patients acquire infections whilst
in hospital, Alan Johnston, England’s Secretary of State for Health, recently
announced a range of new measures aimed at reducing risk of transmission of
methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and clostridium difficile (C. Diff)
infection. Included amongst these were guidelines on dress code for hospital staff and
students that are posing an important though completely predictable concern amongst some
minority faith members of staff and their employing organisations. As of January 2008,
hospitals will require staff to adopt a ‘bare below the elbows’ attire, this
being predicated on the belief that such measures will reduce the risk of transmitting
infections via contaminated sleeves, cuffs, cufflinks and watches.
http://www.plos.org/cms/node/302
Light powered platinum more
targeted & 80 times more powerful than similar cancer treatments
Researchers from the Universities of
Warwick, Edinburgh, Dundee and the Czech Republic’s Institute of Biophysics have
discovered a new light-activated platinum-based compound that is up to 80 times more
powerful than other platinum-based anti-cancer drugs and which can use "light
activation" to kill cancer cells in much more targeted way than similar treatments.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/light_powered_platinum/
Liver damage 'could be
reversed'
Some liver damage caused by heavy drinking
or hepatitis could be halted or even reversed, claim researchers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7152415.stm
[
News of week 52 ]
