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Climate change to worsen childhood asthma

September 1, 2011 Comments off
Girl with asthma nozzle.jpg
Climate change ‘to worsen childhood asthma in future’ (Thinkstock photos/Getty images)
Climate change may trigger a surge in asthma-related health problems in children and more emergency room (ER) visits in the next decade, according to a new study.Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers found that the changing levels of ozone could lead to a 7.3 percent increase in asthma-related emergency room visits by children, ages 0-17.Lead researcher Perry Sheffield, MD, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine, and her colleagues used regional and atmospheric chemistry models to reach its calculations.

“Our study shows that these assessment models are Read more…

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Research Finds Average TV Viewing Cuts Nearly 5 Years from Life Span

August 16, 2011 Comments off

Grant Lawrence–Bodhi Thunder

A child watching TV.…Based on these figures, and expected deaths from all causes, the authors calculated that an individual who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching TV can expect to live just under five fewer years than someone who does not watch TV….

Daily TV quota of 6 hours could shorten life expectancy by 5 years

Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: A life table analysis

Source: Eureka Alert

Watching TV for an average of six hours a day could shorten the viewer’s life expectancy by almost five years, indicates research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The impact rivals that of Read more…

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Hand sanitizers may increase norovirus risk

August 11, 2011 Comments off

cmaj

Of the 45 facilities that reported preferential use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in a recent survey, 53% experienced a confirmed outbreak of norovirus, compared with 18% of the 17 facilities that used hand sanitizers less often than soap and water.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers may not be the panacea for hand hygiene they were once supposed, as mounting research indicates they may not be effective substitutes for soap and water, and in some cases may actually increase the risk for outbreaks of highly contagious viruses in health care settings.

Public health experts, however, say more rigorous investigations will be necessary to trump the convenience of using hand sanitizers, among other benefits, or substantially alter existing recommendations that strongly encourage their use by health care professionals.

It’s widely recognized that improper use of antibiotics contributes greatly to the development and spread of super bugs in health care settings, but the link between hand sanitizers and Read more…

Global Effort To Outlaw Vitamins Now Underway

February 8, 2011 Comments off

(NaturalNews) The global effort to outlaw herbs, vitamins and supplements is well under way, and in just four months, hundreds of herbal products will be criminalized in the UK and across the EU. It’s all part of an EU directive passed in 2004 which erects “disproportionate” barriers against herbal remedies by requiring them to be “licensed” before they can be sold.

It’s called the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD), Directive 2004/24/EC.

The licensing requirements, however, were intentionally designed to make sure that virtually no herbs could ever meet them. It costs from $125,000 to $180,000 to license a single herb with the EU, and since herbs cannot be patented and don’t have the monopolistic pricing found in pharmaceuticals, there’s simply not enough profit margin in most herbs to justify such huge expenditures from any one company.

But that’s sort of the point. Governments of the world have been conspiring with the pharmaceutical industry for decades to destroy the competition by outlawing nutritional supplements, herbal remedies and many other forms of natural medicine.

They really are coming for your natural medicine

Some people in the USA are still skeptical that Read more…

99% of Pregnant Women in US Test Positive for Multiple Chemicals Including Banned Ones, Study Shows

January 18, 2011 Comments off

The bodies of virtually all U.S. pregnant women carry multiple chemicals, including some banned since the 1970s and others used in common products such as non-stick cookware, processed foods and personal care products, according to a new study from UCSF. The study marks the first time that the number of chemicals to which pregnant women are exposed has been counted.

Analyzing data for 163 chemicals, researchers detected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phenols, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate in 99 to 100 percent of pregnant women. Among the chemicals found in the study group were PBDEs, compounds used as flame retardants now banned in many states including California, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane ( DDT), an organochlorine pesticide banned in Read more…

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