June 22, 2009

Cottonseed-based drug shows promise in treating severe brain cancer
NewsRx.com 06-19-09
An experimental drug derived from cottonseed shows promise in treating the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, widely considered the most lethal brain cancer, said researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (see also University of Alabama at Birmingham).
The new results are from a Phase II clinical trial of AT-101, a pill manufactured from a potent compound in cottonseed that overcomes the abnormal growth patterns of tumor cells. This cottonseed-based agent must be properly dosed and monitored by physicians.
In clinical tests, AT-101 halted the cancer's progression in many of the 56 patients, said John Fiveash, M.D., an associate professor in the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology and the lead researcher on the new study.
Despite undergoing other treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, the trial patients' brain cancer had begun to grow again prior to starting AT-101 treatments. The trial-monitored patients took only AT-101 daily for three out of four weeks. Glioblastomas are more common in adults and are considered fast-growing brain tumors that are very difficult to treat, Fiveash said.
"After getting this drug some of these patients went many months without any new growth in their tumors," Fiveash said. "We are able to do that with a well-tolerated oral medication, and that is a major benefit." His initial results will be presented May 30 during the poster discussion of central nervous system tumors at the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Fiveash said the drug would likely work best in combination with radiation and chemotherapy to boost the cancer-fighting properties of those treatments. Also, investigators are trying to learn which patients are most likely to benefit from AT-101.
Keywords: Brain Cancer, Brain Carcinoma, Chemotherapy, Clinical Trial Research, Drug Development, Drug Therapy, Glioblastoma, Oncology, Surgery, Therapy, Treatment, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
This article was prepared by Surgery Litigation & Law Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Surgery Litigation & Law Weekly via NewsRx.com.
To see more of the NewsRx.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.newsrx.com .
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8411&Section=Disease

More positive evidence for lutein and zeaxanthin in macular degeneration

Life Extensions  June 22, 2009
In their presentation in Belfast, Ireland on June 19, 2009, Professor Usha Chakravarthy of Queen’s University Centre of Vision and Vascular Science and Dr Stephen Beatty of the Waterford Institute of Technology reported that a supplement containing high amounts of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin in addition to the antioxidant nutrients zinc and vitamins C and E, helped preserve macular pigments in patients with age related macular degeneration (AMD), retarding the progression of early to late stage disease. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss among older individuals residing in western nations.
Professor Chakravarthy and colleagues administered the nutritional supplement or a placebo to 433 participants with early macular degeneration enrolled in centers in Belfast and Waterford, Ireland. The subjects, whose average age was 77 upon enrollment, were followed from October, 2004 to March, 2008.
While participants who received the placebo experienced a steady decline in protective macular pigments, these pigments were preserved in those who received lutein and zeaxanthin. "Late AMD causes severe sight loss and has a huge economic impact both in terms of the effects of sight loss itself and in terms of the expensive treatments that are needed to deal with the condition,” Dr Chakravarthy stated. "Up to 500 people a year in Northern Ireland will lose sight in one or both eyes as a result of late AMD . . . Prevention of progression to late AMD can result in a reduced financial and societal burden."
"These findings are important because this is the first randomized controlled clinical trial to document a beneficial effect through improved function and maintained macular pigments,” he noted. “Further research is needed to confirm these findings."
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2009_06.htm#positive-evidence-lutein-zeaxanthin-macular-degeneration

Locations of internal organs a mystery to many
Last Updated: 2009-06-19 13:41:49 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite the proliferation of medical information on the Internet and elsewhere, people's anatomical knowledge is no better than it was 40 years ago, according to a study from the UK.
While most people who participated in the study knew where their intestines and bladder were, less than a third could pinpoint the location of their pancreas, kidneys or gallbladder on an outline of a human figure, Dr. John Weinman of Kings College London and his colleagues found. The findings were virtually identical to those from a similar study done in 1970.
In a certain way, there's no reason for a person to know the precise locations of his or her internal organs, Weinman noted in an interview. "The important thing is that they understand the nature of their problem and they understand what their treatment is and so on," he said.
At the same time, he added, misconceptions about the location of certain organs --especially if a person has an illness affecting one of these organs, or symptoms that they think come from that organ -- can influence the way they think about their illness and how they take care of themselves. "That sort of misunderstanding could be quite tricky for patients," the researcher said.
Weinman and his team set out to replicate the 1970 study, in which people were asked to identify the location of eight different internal organs. For each organ, study participants were presented with four outlines of a male figure, each showing a different possible location of the organ. Weinman and his colleagues added three more organs (pancreas, gallbladder, and ovaries) and used outlines of a female figure for locating these organs. They also investigated whether patients with diseases involving a particular organ had better knowledge of its location than the general public.
A total of 722 people participated in the study, including roughly 100 people each with cardiac disease, respiratory illness, kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes or gastrointestinal problems.
In the 1970 study, participants' average percent of correct answers for all of the organs was 51.4 percent; for the current study, it was 52.5 percent. Only people with liver disease and those with diabetes were any better than the general public at locating their liver or pancreas, respectively.
Overall, men and women scored about the same for each organ, although women performed significantly better on the organs for which a female outline was used. While, not surprisingly, more women knew where the ovaries were, women were also more likely to get the gallbladder (40.6 percent for women vs. 30.1 percent for men) and pancreas (43.6 percent vs. 28.3) right. It's possible that the use of a male figure could have biased the results in men's favor, the researcher said, but more research would be needed to figure this out.
When doctors use anatomical terms with patients, according to Weinman, it would be helpful for them to ask the patient where he or she thinks that organ or structure is located. "It's a sort of way for the doctor to check with the patient and make sure they've got a shared understanding of the problem," he said.
Lack of shared understanding can lead to gaps in doctor-patient communication, Weinman added, which can make patients less satisfied with care -- and less likely to comply with recommendations for self-care. Most major health problems people have today, the researcher noted, require self-management, and a patient's perception of their illness and their relationship with their doctor have a lot to do with whether they will do this effectively.
SOURCE: BMC Family Practice, online June 11, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/06/19/eline/links/20090619elin019.html

Habits explain poor women's worse cancer outcome
Last Updated: 2009-06-19 13:48:49 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women of lower socioeconomic status (SES) are less likely to survive after a cancer diagnosis largely due to unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking, that are more common among less educated, poorer individuals, Norwegian researchers report.
"According to our study, we see that low SES is not a risk factor itself, it is the underlying lifestyle or behaviour that matters," Dr. Tonje Braaten of the University of Tromso told Reuters Health.
While cancer survival is known to be worse for people of lower socioeconomic status, it hasn't been clear exactly why, Braaten and her team note in the journal BMC Public Health.
To investigate, they analyzed data on 91,814 women from the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study who answered a questionnaire between 1996 and 1998. By the end of 2004, 3,899 of the women had been diagnosed with cancer and 919 had died from the disease.
As the cancer patients' socioeconomic status as measured by years of education or household income rose, their risk of dying from the disease decreased, Braaten and her colleagues found. Education appeared to play the strongest role, and was closely linked to whether or not a woman smoked.
Some researchers have suggested that cancer is less likely to be diagnosed early, when it is most treatable, among poorer, less educated people, while worse quality of cancer care has also been proposed as a factor explaining the mortality-socioeconomic status link.
The current findings didn't consistently support these hypotheses, the researchers say, but instead provide evidence that lifestyle factors drive the relationship. They point out that smoking accounted for half of the increased risk of dying seen among the least educated women compared to the most educated.
"We know that lifestyle factors strongly affect the risk of getting cancer," Braaten noted, "but now we find that lifestyle prior to cancer diagnosis also may affect your likelihood of surviving from cancer."
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online June 8, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/06/19/eline/links/20090619elin004.html

Healthiest eaters spend more per calorie
Last Updated: 2009-06-19 14:25:19 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More educated people eat healthier -- and more expensive -- food than less educated individuals, regardless of how much money they make, suggests new research appearing in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Wealthier, more educated people are at lower risk of many health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, Drs. Pablo Monsivais and Adam Drewnowski of the University of Washington in Seattle note in their report. They also eat more healthily, and it has been difficult to figure out whether their higher-quality diet, higher socioeconomic status, or a mix of both account for their better health.
To investigate, Monsivais and Drewnowski looked at energy density and diet costs in 103 women and 61 men. Energy density is the amount of energy contained in a given food by weight, for example the number of calories per gram. Less energy-dense foods such as fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products tend to be more nutritious than more energy-dense foods like fast food and candy.
The researchers found among both men and women that those with the least energy-dense diets consumed more nutrients, and they spent more per calorie. Those with the most energy-dense diets had lower intakes of micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals, and ate less fiber and more fat. Calorie by calorie, their diets were cheaper.
The amount of money a person spent on food each day had no consistent relationship with his or her income, but when the researchers looked at spending on a calorie-by-calorie basis, they found that cost per calorie increased with income.
It also rose with education. People who did not have a bachelor's degree spent about $7 for every 2,000 calories they ate, compared to $8 for people with postgraduate degrees.
Individuals with household incomes below $50,000 spent about $7.60 for every 2,000 calories, while those who made more than $105,000 spent $8.45. Further analysis demonstrated that education was a stronger factor in the relationship than household income.
Nutrition is closely related to health, and diet is also "intimately linked" to socioeconomic status, the researchers note. "The findings reported here raise the possibility that the higher monetary cost of nutritious diets may provide one explanation for these observations," they conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, May 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/06/19/eline/links/20090619elin003.html

Green tea’s anti-prostate cancer potential gains support

Nutraingredients.com, 22-Jun-2009

Consuming green tea may reduce levels of compounds linked to prostate cancer progression, according to findings of a small study with 26 men with prostate cancer.
A concentrated extract consumed daily for an average of 34 days was associated with significant reductions in the blood levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA), say the new results from Louisiana State University (LSU).
The new study, published online in Cancer Prevention Research, reports the effects of green tea extracts in the form of Mitsui Norin's commercial Polyphenon E (PE). The extract contained 800 mg of EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) and lesser amounts of epicatechin, epigallocatechin, and epicatechin-3-gallate. The total tea polyphenol dose was 1.3 grams.
"The investigational agent used in the trial, Polyphenon E may have the potential to lower the incidence and slow the progression of prostate cancer," said lead researcher, Professor James Cardelli.
The LSU researchers recruited 26 men, aged between 41 and 72. The men all had diagnosed prostate cancer and were scheduled for radical prostatectomy. The men consumed four capsules per day of the green tea extract, equivalent to 12 cups of tea, until the day before surgery. The average supplementation period was 34.5 days.
Findings showed a significant reduction in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent, according to the researchers.
“Our results show a significant reduction in serum levels of PSA, HGF, and VEGF in men with prostate cancer after brief treatment with EGCG (Polyphenon E), with no elevation of liver enzymes,” wrote the researchers. “These findings support a potential role for Polyphenon E in the treatment or prevention of prostate cancer,” they concluded.
The researchers are reportedly continuing their study in this area with an investigation into why some patients responded better than others. Cardelli suggested that additional controlled clinical trials should be done to see if combinations of different plant polyphenols were more effective than Polyphenon E alone.
"There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression," said Cardelli.
Commenting on the findings, William Nelson, professor of oncology, urology and pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, said: "Unfortunately, this trial was not a randomized trial, which would have been needed to be more sure that the observed changes were truly attributable to the green tea components and not to some other lifestyle change (better diet, taking vitamins, etc.) men undertook in preparation for surgery.
“[However,] this trial is provocative enough to consider a more substantial randomized trial,” he added.
Global tea market
The global tea market is worth about €790 (£540, $941) million, with green tea accounting for about 20 per cent of total global production, while black tea accounts for about 78 per cent.
Green tea is said to contain over four times the concentration of antioxidant catechins than black tea (green tea leaves that have been oxidized by fermentation), about 70 mg catechins per 100 mL compared to 15 mg per 100 mL for black tea.
Consumer awareness of the benefits of green tea and green tea extracts continues to rise with growing numbers of studies, from 430 papers in 2000 to almost 1500 in 2003, reporting benefits of the main compounds, catechins.
This has seen European demand surge, having reached 500 metric tonnes in 2003. Companies such as DSM, with its Teavigo boasting 95 per cent purity of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and Taiyo International, with its Sunphenon claiming more than 90 per cent purity, position themselves firmly in specific catechin markets.
Source: Cancer Prevention Research Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0167v1 “Tea Polyphenols Decrease Serum Levels of Prostate-Specific Antigen, Hepatocyte Growth Factor, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Prostate Cancer Patients and Inhibit Production of Hepatocyte Growth Factor and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor In vitro” Authors: J. McLarty, R.L.H. Bigelow, M. Smith, D. Elmajian, M. Ankem, J.A. Cardelli
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Green-tea-s-anti-prostate-cancer-potential-gains-support

Why do Buddhist monks sleep upright?
A group of Buddhist monks recently emerged from four years in isolation in a retreat in Scotland, having spent their nights sleeping in an upright position. Why?
The monks at the Samye Dechen Shing Buddhist retreat in Dumfriesshire are supposed to sleep upright in a "meditation box". For less than five hours.
We've all fallen asleep in armchairs, but it seems a different proposition to sit bolt upright every night for four years.
According to Buddhist monks, it is possible to sleep that way, but it's not for the uninitiated.
"If somebody is diligent they make a lot of effort to sit upright," says Ani Lhamo, secretary to the abbot at the Samye Ling monastery, which owns and runs the retreat.
"The aim is definitely to sit upright and reduce the need for sleep. If the person is strongly motivated and healthy and strong there is no reason why not."
THE ANSWER 
   It is possible to sleep upright
   But in deep, dreamy REM sleep muscle tone is lost
   The monks may get around this by the way they sit
   Or it may be that they constrain their REM sleep
For those spending the four years on retreat the aim is to spend as much time meditating as possible.
"If possible, if somebody is well-attuned to that kind of thing, they can develop the amount of time eventually to be able to use the sleeping time [for meditation]. Also if you are more upright when you sleep, when you wake up you haven't slept so deeply, and it is easy to wake up quickly and get going."
Bedtime at the retreat is 11pm and the gong goes at 3.45am when the monks are supposed to start praying and meditating.
Of course, we don't need to be supine to be asleep.
"We can sleep in a chair. We can sleep standing up but we are not as good at it as other creatures, for example birds," says Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at Surrey University.
Soldiers on sentry duty are among those who have been known to take 40 winks standing up, but if we enter the deeper, dreamy phase of sleep it starts to become difficult to remain upright.
"In Rapid Eye Movement sleep we lose the tone in our muscles which makes it difficult to stand up or even sit up," says Prof Dijk.
Dr Neil Stanley, sleep expert at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, says sleeping upright may be easier for those who have a different concept of comfort.
"It is possible. In order to sleep you need to be safe and comfortable. We all know we can nod off in front of the TV. When you go into dreaming sleep you lose all muscle tone.
"But I imagine [the monks] are sitting in a posturally correct way and are not going to slip and slither off their chair and that they could have a perfectly good night's sleep."
It's not easy to verify the sleep patterns of the monks. They are in individual rooms at the retreat, and although the gong goes at 3.45am nobody comes around to check they are awake.
Prof Dijk says there have been studies where professed short sleepers, when observed over 24 hours, turned out to be getting more sleep than they had stated.
But at the Buddhist retreat it may all just be a question of dedication.
"In the beginning I had a lot of sore knees," says Ani Lhamo. "It suited me better than lying in a bed in the end."
But for anybody thinking of starting to sleep upright, and only for a brief period, there are dangers in short duration sleep.
"There is a large body of epidemiological literature suggesting that there are associations between short sleep duration and a number of negative health outcomes including cardiovascular disease," says Prof Dijk.
These negative effects are noticed in those who regularly sleep for less than six hours, but also those who regularly sleep more than 10 hours. The effects of reducing only REM sleep are not known.
"If you are artificially constraining sleep that can cause problems - heart disease and depression," says Dr Stanley. "That may be taken care of by the fact that these people are meditative - they don't have the stresses of 21st Century living to contend with in their lifestyle.
"I wouldn't have thought that poor sleep is going to be a huge, huge problem for them. But it isn't recommended for the man in the street."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8112619.stm

SSRI Antidepressants Linked To Male Infertility
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  June 22, 2009 

(NaturalNews) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning a few years ago that pregnant women taking the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant paroxetine risk giving birth to infants with major birth defects, including heart abnormalities (http://www.naturalnews.com/021225_P...). Now comes word that the same drug (sold as Paxil, Paxil CR, Seroxat, Pexeva, and generic paroxetine hydrochloride) carries another danger that could keep babies from being born in the first place. A new study just published in the online edition of the journal Fertility and Sterility concludes as many as fifty percent of all men taking the antidepressant could have damaged sperm and compromised fertility.

New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center researchers followed 35 healthy male volunteers who took paroxetine for five weeks. Then sperm samples from the men were studied using an assay called terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) to evaluate whether there were missing pieces of genetic code in the sperm DNA. This condition, know as DNA fragmentation, is associated with reproductive problems.

The results? The percentage of men with abnormal DNA fragmentation soared from less than 10 percent to 50 percent while taking the antidepressant. This is a crucial finding because DNA fragmentation has long been known to correlate with an increased risk of birth defects, poor fertility and unsuccessful pregnancy outcomes -- even when high tech, extraordinarily expensive fertility enhancing techniques such as in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection are used.

The study, one of the first scientific investigations into the effect of SSRIs on sperm quality, also confirmed that paroxetine impairs sexual function. More than a third of the research subjects reported significant changes in erectile function and about half had difficulty ejaculating. 

"It's fairly well known that SSRI antidepressants negatively impact erectile function and ejaculation. This study goes one step further, demonstrating that they can cause a major increase in genetic damage to sperm," Dr. Peter Schlegel, the study's senior author and chairman of the Department of Urology and professor of reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, explained in a statement to the media. "Although this study doesn't look directly at fertility, we can infer that as many as half of men taking SSRIs have a reduced ability to conceive. These men should talk with their physician about their treatment options, including non-SSRI depression medications."

The scientists could not identify the exact way the SSRI caused the DNA fragmentation, but the evidence strongly suggests the drug slows sperm as it moves through the male reproductive tract from the testis to the ejaculatory ducts. When this happens, the sluggish sperm grows old and its DNA becomes damaged. 

"This is a new concept for how drugs can affect fertility and sperm. In most cases, it was previously assumed that a drug damaged sperm production, so the concept that sperm transport could be affected is novel," Dr. Schlegel stated.

The study contains some good news for men currently on Paxil and related drugs who may be concerned about their fertility. All the changes the researchers found appeared to be totally reversible. Specifically, normal levels of sexual function and DNA fragmentation both returned to normal one month after discontinuation of the drug. 
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026483_SSRI_fertility_DNA.html

Falling Economy Spurs Home Gardening Boom
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  June 22, 2009 

(NaturalNews) The economic downturn has led to a concurrent resurgence in the popularity of backyard food gardening, according to industry surveys and analysis of this year's seed orders.

"People's home grocery budget got absolutely shredded, and now we've seen just this dramatic increase in the demand for our vegetable seeds," said George Ball of Burpee Seeds, the country's biggest mail-order seed company. "We're selling out. I've never seen anything like it."

According to a seed sales analysis and telephone survey conducted by the National Gardening Association, more than 50 percent of U.S. residents have already planted food gardens, and another 20 percent plan to do so this year as a way of saving on grocery bills. Seed companies have begun selling out of popular vegetable such as tomatoes, peppers, and onions, while sales of ornamental flowers have plummeted.

According to a Burpee Seeds study, a $50 investment in gardening supplies can translate into $1,250 worth of food savings per year. During a recession, that's a significant incentive. Even the National Gardening Association's more conservative estimate of a $500 return is apparently enough for many new gardeners. Burpee recorded a 20 percent increase in sales in 2008, inspiring it to offer a first-time gardeners' kit called "The Money Garden." Within the two months, the company sold 15,000 of them.

Community gardens have also seen an upsurge in popularity. According to Lonnie Brundage, who runs the membership list for the Long Beach Community Garden, the waiting list for garden plots has practically quadrupled.

"You figure if they can use our community garden year-round they can save $2,000 or $3,000 or $4,000 a year," she said. "It doesn't take a lot for it to add up."

Some, such as accountant Adriana Martinez, have found wider meaning in gardening. In addition to cutting her monthly grocery bill to $40, Martinez says she is reassured knowing where her food comes from. Gardening has also brought her closer to her neighbors through a neighborhood vegetable cooperative.

"We're helping to feed each other," she said, "and what better time than now?"
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026480_gardening_home_gardening_food.html

Prostate Cancer Screenings Essentially Useless
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  June 19, 2009 

(NaturalNews) Regular prostate cancer screening has no effect on the risk of death from the disease, according to a large-scale, long-term study conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"There was little or no scientific evidence that it saved lives," said Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which measures blood levels of a protein produced by the prostate gland, has been controversial as a cancer screening test since it first became popular in the 1990s. At the time, Brawley was one of many scientists who raised concern over the usefulness of the test.

"I can say firsthand that some American screening advocates were vicious in their attacks on those who dared question prostate cancer screening," Brawley said. Some lay and physician advocates had a religious-like fervor for screening."

In the current study, part of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, researchers looked at rates of prostate cancer and prostate cancer death among 76,693 men, half of whom were assigned to undergo PSA screening once per year. The other participants were assigned to continue with regular health care practices and not advised regarding prostate screening. The participants were then followed for seven to 10 years each.

The current results are considered preliminary and the study is still ongoing. By its conclusion, all participants will have been followed for 13 years each.

In the preliminary analysis, the overall rate of prostate cancer death among participants "was very low and did not differ significantly between the two study groups," the researchers wrote. An independent review committee has endorsed the findings and recommended their publication.

Because most prostate cancers are slow growing, many men may die of other causes without ever experiencing symptoms from an active cancer. Neither the PSA test nor a biopsy, however, is able to determine whether a cancer is slow-growing or aggressive.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against prostate cancer screening in men above the age of 74.
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026477_cancer_Prostate_prostate_cancer.html

FDA Threatens to Seize All Natural Products that Dare to Mention H1N1 Swine Flu
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews.com  June 18, 2009 

(NaturalNews) In an effort to censor any online text that might inform consumers of the ability of natural products to protect consumers from H1N1 influenza A, the FDA is now sending out a round of warning letters, threatening to "take enforcement action... such as seizure or injunction for violations of the FFDC Act without further notice."

"Firms that fail to take correction action," the FDA warns, "may also be referred to the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations for possible criminal prosecution for violations of the FFDC Act and other federal laws."

The message is crystal clear: No product may be described as protecting against or preventing H1N1 infections unless it is approved by the FDA. And which products has the FDA approved? Tamiflu (the anti-viral drug that most people will never have access to), and soon the new H1N1 vaccine that's being manufactured at a cost of one billion dollars (paid to Big Pharma by the taxpayers). This vaccine, of course, will be utterly useless because H1N1 will undoubtedly mutate between now and the time the vaccine is ready, rendering the vaccine useless.

In other words, according to the tyrants at the FDA, the only products that may be marketed alongside the term "H1N1" are those products that either don't work or aren't available to most people. Anything that really works to prevent influenza infections -- such as natural anti-virals, medicinal herbs, etc. -- is banned from even mentioning H1N1 without the threat of being criminally prosecuted.

Note: I reveal the five most powerful natural anti-viral remedies in a free report you can read here: http://www.naturalnews.com/RR-FiveB...

Such are the operations of our U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- a criminal organization that's working hard to do what every criminal organization does: Eliminate the competition! As the defender of Big Pharma, the FDA is also the destroyer of knowledge that seeks to remove educational statements from the internet. Truth has nothing to do with it -- it is verifiably true that anti-viral herbs, probiotics and other natural products help protect consumers from influenza -- but the FDA cannot allow such statements to remain online for the simple fact that people might become informed. And that, it seems, would be a dangerous precedent.

If people were informed about the healing and protective powers of herbs, they would no longer remain enslaved by the medical establishment. Profits would be lost. Power would evaporate. This is why people can never be allowed to attain any real knowledge about herbs, superfoods or nutritional supplements. And the FDA will threaten people with imprisonment just to make sure they don't dare publish knowledge that the FDA does not want the people to see.
Targeted by the FDA
Who is being attacked and threatened by the FDA? Lots of companies offering highly-effective natural remedies. You can see a list of some of the companies being targeted right here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

Byron Richards' company Wellness Resources, a favorite target of the FDA (no doubt because Richards wrote a book attacking the FDA), is also targeted in this censorship campaign. You can see the FDA's ridiculous complaint against his company here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

The FDA sends similar letters to other companies, invoking terrorizing language designed to scare companies into self-censorship. This is the FDA's key strategy, and it largely works: Most companies are scared to death to take a stand against the FDA because the ones that do end up being shut down, with their owners arrested at gunpoint and thrown in prison.

This is how natural medicine advocates are treated in the United States of America, the "land of the free and the home of the brave." (It is really the land of the enslaved and the home of the cowards who don't even have the courage to protest in the streets anymore...)

This is how the FDA secretly intimidates the natural products industry: It sends threatening letters to anyone who dares tell the truth about a natural product they sell. While pharmaceuticals can openly and brazenly lie about their supposed benefits, natural product companies aren't even allowed to state obvious truths about their products! (Like "Vitamin C helps prevent colds" or "Omega-3 oils improve moods.")

Note, carefully, that the FDA openly brands the people promoting natural anti-viral products as "criminals." The language from the FDA's own website says it is listing "Web sites that are illegally marketing unapproved, uncleared, or unauthorized products in relation to the 2009 H1N1 Flu Virus."

In reality, this FDA list is a really good list of highly effective natural products that can protect you from Swine Flu. Many of the companies on the list, in fact, offer products that are far more effective than any vaccine or Big Pharma anti-viral drug. And that, by the way, is precisely why the FDA must accuse these companies of being criminals: Products that effectively compete with Big Pharma's drugs simply cannot be allowed to exist in the marketplace!

This is all about destroying the competition, limiting consumer options and censoring truthful health information on the internet.

And it's all paid for by your tax dollars, by the way. This is a government operation taking place under the Obama Administration, which apparently continues in the Bush Administration's footsteps when it comes to destroying the natural products industry and leaving consumers helpless in the next great pandemic.
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026473_the_FDA_H1N1_natural_products.html

"Psychiatric diagnoses are less reliable than star signs"

The psychologist Richard Bentall says that psychiatrists dish out drugs but ignore the value of good relationships

The Times Online, UK June 22, 2009
Complain to your doctor about a mental health problem and you will probably leave the surgery with a prescription for drugs, despite increasing doubts about their effectiveness and fears about side-effects. The prevailing wisdom is that psychiatric disorders are genetically based brain diseases, biological abnormalities that can be controlled with medication. Every year, doctors in England dole out 31 million prescriptions for antidepressants alone.
It is a state of affairs that makes Richard Bentall furious. In 2004, Bentall, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Bangor, wrote Madness Explained, in which he argued that hearing voices, hallucinations and other symptoms of “severe” mental illness are just exaggerations of quirks experienced by us all. That won him the British Psychological Book Of The Year award. Now, in Doctoring The Mind: Why Psychiatric Treatments Fail, he criticises mental health services, and psychiatry in particular.
Doctoring the Mind paints a stark picture of a mental health system riddled with corruption and incompetence, in which shrinks live it up on pharmaceutical company cash while patients are disrespected, dehumanised and drugged to the eyeballs. Like the legendary “anti-psychiatrist” R.D. Laing before him, Bentall believes that people with mental health problems need understanding, support and respect. Unlike Laing, he offers evidence to back his claims, declaring himself a “rational anti-psychiatrist”.
“I am committed to the scientific world-view,” the 53-year-old says, his urgent voice rising above the rush-hour clatter of the station café in which we meet. “But the evidence doesn’t support the hardline biomedical view behind most psychiatric practice.” He takes a sip of coffee, then continues. “More alarmingly, the treatments based on it are not very effective. Outcomes for psychiatric disorders are no better than in the Victorian period.”
So what is the answer? In Bentall’s view, we need nothing less than a wholesale culture-change in our approach to mental illness. He says that psychiatric diagnoses are less reliable than star signs (“at least with star signs you can agree on who has which sign. Psychiatric diagnoses are unreliable and largely invalid”) and that patients are more likely to recover in countries where there are virtually no services: “If you’re going to go mad, do it in Nigeria because you have a better chance there than in London. I’ve had numerous PhD students doing research with patients who have been told ‘you’re the first person to take me seriously’. That’s a shocking indictment of the way the psychiatric system works. In Nigeria, people with severe mental illness tend to be looked after in an extended family system or by supportive religious leaders who tell them not to worry about hearing voices.”
Therein lies the key. According to Bentall, the evidence supports a treatment model that relies on supportive relationships rather than pills. “What works is being kind and listening to people, encouraging them to be optimistic and treating them with respect. The tragedy of psychiatry is that it makes patients feel that they are objects to be chemically tinkered with by a bunch of arrogant people in suits.”
For anxiety and depression, he says, and perhaps for more complex complaints, psychotherapy is at least as effective as medication. “But,” he laments, “the words you will almost never hear from a psychiatrist are ‘the drugs didn’t work, let’s try something else’. What you’ll hear is ‘the drugs didn’t work as well as we’d like, let’s try another drug or more of the same drug’.”
This potentially condemns patients to a lifetime on medication of questionable effectiveness and with strong side-effects. Anti-psychotics, says Bentall, may lead not only to lethargy and weight gain but to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and early death (“these are drugs that don’t get sold on street corners. They are very unpleasant to take”). Perhaps it is understandable, then, that most people with “problems”, even supposedly severe ones, prefer to keep their symptoms to themselves.
“The biomedical model has led to a disrespect of the patient,” Bentall continues. “I have sat in rooms where a psychiatrist has told a patient ‘you’ll be ill for the rest of your life’. That creates hopelessness — and it’s also not true. Psychotherapy encourages them to be optimistic, to feel that they are being cared for and listened to. But psychiatrists don’t usually do psychotherapy — they may see someone for 15 minutes once every three months. Yet there is good evidence that the therapeutic alliance is very powerful, so the first thing to establish in any psychiatric intervention is a good-quality relationship.”
Bentall may be rational but his rage is palpable. He will deliver a broadside at the barest prompting, sometimes for ten minutes or more, with barely a pause for breath.
He stresses that he doesn’t think that “everyone with a medical qualification has horns” — he has many psychiatrist friends and accepts that they work under severe constraints. But, he says, psychiatry has long suffered from a crisis of identity, to which it responds by trying to present itself as a “proper” branch of medicine, or, as he puts it, “establishing credibility in the eyes of anaesthetists and neurosurgeons when perhaps they should have been thinking more about what their patients thought of them”. He dreams of a system in which psychiatrists “celebrate the fact that they are not like other doctors”.
That goal may be a long way off. “Psychiatrists are often less concerned about relationships than other medical specialties. When I was working at a medical school in Liverpool, gynaecologists were always asking us to run workshops on how to relate more effectively to patients. We never had a request like that from psychiatry.” He believes that the only hope is a genuine revolution: “If mental health professionals could be sacked for not establishing good relationships with patients, there would be a big sea-change. Some psychiatrists are not good at it and, frankly, should be advised to seek alternative careers.”
I wonder about Bentall’s career. Why would someone devote his working life to a system that he finds so frustrating? He says that his interest in the mind was sparked at public school, where he passed a “fairly unhappy” youth. “I spent quite a lot of my adolescence depressed,” he says. “At one point I was prescribed antidepressants.” After receiving his first degree and a PhD from Bangor, he did clinical training in Liverpool, took an MA in healthcare philosophy and had a spell as an NHS forensic psychologist before returning to Liverpool and eventually securing professorships there, in Manchester and now back in Bangor.
He has a clinical practice but his first love is research. “I find it immensely exciting when data about some apparently incomprehensible psychological process comes in,” he says. “I sit at my computer, trying to make sense of it.” He smiles. “I think I may have a slightly autistic side.”
The humour fades when we discuss the many studies carried out by pharmaceutical companies, most of which he considers “completely worthless or very close to it”. He cites the case of antidepressants such as Prozac, which were thought until recently to be highly effective. “They seem to work because drug companies publish studies where the antidepressant wins and don’t publish studies where the antidepressant doesn’t win,” he says. “But if you add unpublished trials to the mix you’ll find no such thing.”
I mention a recent analysis that did just that, using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain missing data. It indicated that SSRI antidepressants barely work better than a dummy pill. Bentall nods in agreement. “But prescriptions have tripled in the past decade,” he says, “because drug companies spend so much on marketing.”
He is even more indignant about psychiatrists who accept all-expenses-paid trips to drug company conferences, agree to put their names to pharmaceutical research that they did not conduct and take huge consultancy fees for advice and support — all of which makes the prescription of that company’s products more likely. “There is no other word for it but bribery. Why haven’t psychiatrists stood up to this? They sign up to the Hippocratic oath and tell us that they have the highest ethical standards. They should be outraged; instead they are largely colluding.”
When it comes to the promotion of anti-psychotic drugs for children, supposedly to control difficult behaviour, Bentall finally boils over. “I know what these drugs do and it’s outrageous,” he storms. “There’s no way in a million years that any child I had anything to do with, under any circumstances, would come close to an anti-psychotic. There’s no clinical basis for it, and from what we know of the pharmacology they are clearly bad things to be putting into developing brains. Drug companies are bribing American child psychiatrists with huge research grants to advocate this kind of treatment, and it’s beginning to happen in the UK. I don’t know how else to put it but that people are being bribed to poison children — and accepting the bribe.”
Doctoring the Mind is pessimistic about the prospect of change. Bentall says that psychiatry and drug companies “have a vested interest in keeping things are they are”. But he remains inspired by the times when services work well. After a divorce as a young man, he was referred for therapy with a psychiatrist.“I was terrified,” he admits, “but I was given excellent treatment. Sadly, that’s not the norm.”
Doctoring the Mind: Why Psychiatric Treatments Fail by Richard P. Bentall is published by Allen Lane on June 25 at £25. To order it for £22.50 inc p&p, call 0845 2712134 or visit timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst
Mental health facts
Every year, one British adult in four experiences a mental disorder every year. Only a quarter of those people receive treatment for it.
A person with a severe mental health problem is four times more likely than average to have no close friends.
By 2020, depression is predicted to become the second highest cause of premature death, second only to heart disease.
About 30 per cent of GP consultations are for a mental health problem. Mental health problems costs the UK an estimated £98 billion a year in economic and social costs.
In 2004, £854 million was spent on drug prescriptions for mental health.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article6538213.ece

Americans struggle to pay for healthcare: study
Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:40am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are struggling to pay for healthcare in the ongoing economic recession, with a quarter saying they have had trouble in the past 12 months, according to a survey released on Monday.
Baby boomers -- the generation born between 1946 and 1964 -- had the most trouble and were the most likely to put off medical treatments or services, said researchers at Center for Healthcare Improvement, part of the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters.
The study, available here, found that 17.4 percent of households reported postponing or delaying healthcare over the past year.
The U.S. Congress is working on a way to cover more of the 46 million people who lack health insurance, lower costs and coordinate care better. President Barack Obama has made it one of his administration's top priorities.
Americans pay more per capita for healthcare than people in any other country, yet have high rates of infant mortality, diabetes, untreated heart disease and other conditions. Americans are often dissatisfied with their access to care.
Thomson Reuters -- the parent company of Reuters news agency -- used its annual Pulse survey that queries 100,000 households to get information about health behavior.
Gary Pickens, George Popa and colleagues at the Michigan-based center interviewed more than 6,000 people in March and April about job losses, what healthcare they had used and their plans for future treatment.
UNEMPLOYMENT FACTOR
"April numbers showed a significant increase in the percentage of households in which a member had lost a job in the last three months (13.5 percent)," the researchers wrote. In March, 11 percent said they had lost jobs.
"The percentage of households that had difficulty in paying for care in the last year was statistically unchanged between March and April (about 25 percent)."
They found 40 percent of all households planned to postpone care in the coming three months, with about 15 percent planning to put off routine doctor visits.
People born before 1946 were the least likely to delay care, probably because most can take part in Medicare, the federal health insurance plan for the elderly, the researchers found.
Baby Boomers were four times more likely than seniors to have trouble paying for healthcare, according to the report.
People born after 1984 were also unlikely to put off care, probably because they are too young to need much medical attention, the researchers said.
Income was also a big factor -- homes where people made less than $50,000 a year were three times as likely to say they had trouble paying for medical bills as homes with combined incomes of $100,000 or more.
"It is important for healthcare providers, employers and policymakers to consider how the economy and healthcare policies affect demographic segments differently," Pickens said in a statement.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55L0C120090622

Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Associated With Poor Sleep In Women
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) — Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) negatively affect women's sleep, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Sleep is further impaired by pain, depression and poor adherence to RA medications.
Results indicate that length of time since RA diagnosis, RA disease activity, level of pain, depression symptoms and adherence to medications for RA may cause women suffering from the disease to have poor sleep quality.
According to lead author Faith Luyster, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, Pa., findings emphasize the need for further research concerning poor RA medication adherence and sleep quality.
"Treating depression in women with RA may not only improve sleep but may also improve pain and adherence to medications," said Luyster.
The study involved 133 women with RA; their average age was 56 years, and they were primarily Caucasian, married, had at least a high school education, were not depressed and had RA for 14.76 years. A majority of participants (71 percent) reported poor sleep quality. Pain and depression were measured through subjective reports, and medication adherence was measured objectively with an electronic medication monitor on medication bottle caps.
Sleep disturbances and depression are more prevalent in women in the general population. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), women face many challenges that interfere with their sleep quality and duration.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610091341.htm

Brain Detects Happiness More Quickly Than Sadness
ScienceDaily (June 21, 2009) — Our brains get a first impression of people's overriding social signals after seeing their faces for only 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds). Whether this impression is correct, however, is another question. Now an international group of experts has carried out an in-depth study into how we process emotional expressions, looking at the pattern of cerebral asymmetry in the perception of positive and negative facial signals.
The researchers worked with 80 psychology students (65 women and 15 men) to analyze the differences between their cerebral hemispheres using the "divided visual field" technique, which is based on the anatomical properties of the visual system.
"What is new about this study is that working in this way ensures that the information is focused on one cerebral hemisphere or the other", J. Antonio Aznar-Casanova, one of the authors of the study and a researcher at the University of Barcelona (UB), tells SINC.
The results, published in the latest issue of the journal Laterality, show that the right hemisphere performs better in processing emotions. "However, this advantage appears to be more evident when it comes to processing happy and surprised faces than sad or frightened ones", the researcher points out.
"Positive expressions, or expressions of approach, are perceived more quickly and more precisely than negative, or withdrawal, ones. So happiness and surprise are processed faster than sadness and fear", explains Aznar-Casanova.
The two faces of the brain
This research study adds to previous ones, which had revealed asymmetries in the way the brain processes emotions, and enriches the international debate in cognitive-emotional neuroscience in terms of how to define the exact way in which human beings process these facial expressions.
People make deductions from the expressions on people's faces. "These inferences can strongly influence election results or the sentences given in trials, and have been studied before in fields such as criminology and the pseudoscience of physiognomy", the neuroscientist tells SINC.
Two theories are currently "competing" to explain the pattern of cerebral asymmetry in processing emotions. The older one postulates the dominance of the right hemisphere in the processing of emotions, while the second is based on the approach-withdrawal hypothesis, which holds that the pattern of cerebral asymmetry depends upon the emotion in question, in other words that each hemisphere is better at processing particular emotions (the right, withdrawal, and the left, approach).
"Today there is scientific evidence in favour of both these theories, but there is a certain consensus in favour of the lateralisation of emotional processing predicted by the approach-withdrawal hypothesis", concludes Aznar-Casanova.
Alves et al. Patterns of brain asymmetry in the perception of positive and negative facial expressions. Laterality Asymmetries of Body Brain and Cognition, 2008; 14 (3): 256 DOI: 10.1080/13576500802362927
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617080118.htm

New Supplement May Help Slow Sight Loss In Elderly
ScienceDaily (June 21, 2009) — Queen's University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people.
The supplement may help those affected by the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research programme has found.
Professor Usha Chakravarthy, from Queen's Centre of Vision and Vascular Science (CVVS), co-ordinated the study, which looked at nutritional supplements for patients with early age-related macular (AMD) degeneration and found they helped sharpen vision.
Details of the findings are being presented in Belfast June 19 by Professor Chakravarthy and Dr Stephen Beatty, Head of Vision Research at the Waterford Institute of Technology.
They co-designed the study and the antioxidant supplement was developed with the advice of Professor Ian Young from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's and scientists in eyecare companies Dr Mann Pharma and Bausch and Lomb.
AMD is an incurable eye disease which causes blurring of central vision because of its effects on the macula, the central part of the retina.
Over 400 people across Ireland took part in clinical trials investigating whether carotenoids, rich antioxidants which are found in fruit and vegetables, could prevent progression to the more serious late AMD.
When the eye disease progresses to late AMD patients are unable to read, watch television or recognise people's faces as they only have peripheral vision, not central vision.
Professor Chakravarthy, who is also a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at the Royal Hospital in Belfast, said: "Late AMD causes severe sight loss and has a huge economic impact both in terms of the effects of sight loss itself and in terms of the expensive treatments that are needed to deal with the condition.
"Up to 500 people a year in Northern Ireland will lose sight in one or both eyes as a result of late AMD.
"We wanted to carry out the study as prevention of progression to late AMD can result in a reduced financial and societal burden."
As the macula of the eye is very rich in antioxidants the researchers wanted to see if a supplement called CARMA (Caroteneoids and Co-antioxidants in Age-related Maculopathy) containing the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin could help slow down AMD.
The supplement also contained vitamins C,E and Zinc, which had been used in a previous study.
The latest study showed that intake of high levels of both carotenoids preserved the macular pigments, slowing down the progression from early AMD to late AMD.
In contrast, the macular pigments of participants in a placebo group declined steadily.
Dr Chakravarthy added: "These findings are important because this is the first randomised controlled clinical trial to document a beneficial effect through improved function and maintained macular pigments.
"Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to identify the numbers needed to treat to prevent 1 case from progressing from early to late AMD."
The study was funded by Dr Mann Pharma and Bausch and Lomb and sponsored by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619082129.htm

American Medical Association Passes Resolution Supporting Sustainable Food System---Health Care Role in Prevention and Food-Related Health Emphasized
PR Newswire 06-18-09
CHICAGO, June 17, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The American Medical Association (AMA) has approved a new policy resolution in support of practices and policies within health care systems that promote and model a healthy and ecologically sustainable food system. The resolution also calls on the AMA to work with health care and public health organizations to educate the health care community and the public about the importance of healthy and ecologically sustainable food systems that "provide food and beverages of naturally high nutritional quality." The policy was approved today at the 158th annual meeting of the AMA in Chicago, IL.
"As our country wrestles with health care reform, the role of health care providers and facilities in providing education and leadership to help the population understand the link between the way we produce food and individual health is significant and cannot be overstated," said Jamie Harvie, director of the Health Care Without Harm Sustainable Food Work Group. "Preventing disease is paramount in the provision of health care. Hospitals, physicians and nurses are ideal leaders and advocates for creating food environments that promote health. This policy is an important contribution to a prevention-based healthcare delivery system."
The AMA's new Sustainable Food policy builds on a report from its Council on Science and Public Health (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/475/refcomd.pdf), which notes that locally produced and organic foods "reduce the use of fuel, decrease the need for packaging and resultant waste disposal, preserve farmland ... [and] the related reduced fuel emissions contribute to cleaner air and in turn, lower the incidence of asthma attacks and other respiratory problems." Industrial food production is a significant contributor to increased antibiotic resistance, climate change, and air and water pollution.
The new AMA policy states:
-- That our AMA support practices and policies in medical schools,
hospitals, and other health care facilities that support and model a
healthy and ecologically sustainable food system, which provides food
and beverages of naturally high nutritional quality.
-- That our AMA encourage the development of a healthier food system
through the US Farm Bill and other federal legislation.
-- That our AMA consider working with other health care and public health
organizations to educate the health care community and the public about
the importance of healthy and ecologically sustainable food systems.
"Physicians now recognize that one cannot easily separate the health of food from how healthfully that food is produced," said Dr. David Wallinga, an attendee at the meeting, the Wm. T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellow in Food Systems and Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and a member of Health Care Without Harm. "The profligate use of antibiotics and fossil fuels in today's food system, for example, is directly linked to climate change and to the epidemic of antibiotic resistant infections, in hospitals and in communities. "
President Obama, who spoke to the AMA meeting on June 15th, reiterated the importance of developing a sustainable healthcare system that leads to better patient outcomes. "If doctors have incentives to provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments, and tests that drive up costs," Obama stated. During his visit with AMA he spoke on the White House victory garden, which was planted to help educate children on the importance of fresh healthy food.
In addition to providing fresh, nutritious food choices, health care food services across the country are implementing new initiatives such as sourcing organic food and meat produced without the use of antibiotics, buying locally produced foods, and sponsoring farmers markets and food boxes for staff. More than 240 hospitals have signed the HCWH Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge. Signers pledge to work toward developing sustainable food systems in their facilities. In Congress, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) has introduced a "Blueprint for Health," legislation that calls for incentives to prevent chronic diseases, including investments in healthy and sustainable local and regional food systems.
HCWH is an international coalition of more than 430 organizations in 52 countries, working to transform the health care industry worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information on HCWH, see www.noharm.org.
SOURCE Health Care Without Harm
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8402&Section=Nutrition

Isoflavones are safe and effective, say academics

Nutraingredients.com, 18-Jun-2009

Emerging human studies in isoflavones demonstrating the “modest but valuable benefit for menopause relief” presented at a symposium of almost 20 isoflavone experts in Italy should dismiss animal studies that have questioned the safety of the antioxidants, according to the US Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).
The scientists examined studies collected in the past 20 years, as well as newer trials, and came away concluding the soy and red clover-derived isoflavones do not increase the risk of breast cancer and can offer very real relief to post-menopausal women.
“Some of the yet-to-be published material is very high-profile data that cannot be ignored,” Douglas MacKay, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at CRN, told NutraIngredients-USA.com this morning.
“This data should put the doubts that have risen around negative results of some animal trials to rest. It really clarifies the benefit which, although modest, is highly valuable to the large numbers of post-menopausal women. It’s a great tool for women.”
Although much of the science remains unpublished, it has been sent to a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) working group that is investigating isoflavones this year.
A public comment period will close at the end of this month and the working group is due to deliver its findings at the end of the year.
The symposium
The gathering in Milan looked at isoflavones and breast cancer one day and isoflavones and menopause the other.
“According to the science presented at this meeting, isoflavones do not have an effect on breast cell proliferation or breast tissue density, which are two well-established biomarkers of breast cancer risk,” said long-time soy researcher, Mark Messina, PhD.
“In fact, epidemiologic data presented at the meeting showed that exposure to isoflavone-rich soyfoods may improve the prognosis of breast cancer patients. Further, new findings strongly indicated that certain results from some animal studies that have raised concern about the impact of isoflavones on breast cancer are not applicable to humans.”
One review and meta-analysis presented at the meeting concluded isoflavones alleviate hot flash frequency and severity with an overall improvement of about 50 percent.
It is expected much of the material presented at the meeting will be available for publication in coming months.
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Isoflavones-are-safe-and-effective-say-academics

Antioxidants plus exercise may boost bones in older women

Nutraingredients.com, 19-Jun-2009

A combination of antioxidant supplements and resistance training may protect against bone loss in postmenopausal women, suggests a new study from Canada.
Women receiving a combination of vitamins C and E, and exercise did not experience any bone loss during a six-month period, while women receiving placebo did experience detrimental bone loss, according to findings published inOsteoporosis International.
“These results are interesting because this is the first study to examine the combination of these interventions in healthy elderly women suggesting another effective strategy to delay age-related BMD loss,” wrote the researchers, led by Isabelle Dionne, PhD, from the University of Sherbrooke.
However, the researchers cautioned that, since this is a pilot study, it would be inappropriate to make “formal nutritional recommendations”.
“Further research is needed to determine appropriate recommendations for this population especially since nutrition and exercise are two effective and accessible strategies towards health maintenance in the aging population,” they added.
Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass, which leads to an increase risk of fractures, especially the hips, spine and wrists. An estimated 75 million people suffer from osteoporosis in Europe, the USA and Japan.
Women are four times more likely to develop osteoporosis than men.
The bare bones of the study
Dionne and her co-workers recruited 34 postmenopausal women with an average age of 66.1, and an average BMI of 25.98 kg/m2, and randomly assigned them to one of four groups: placebo and no exercise; antioxidants (600 mg vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) and 1,000 mg vitamin C daily) and no exercise; placebo plus exercise; and antioxidants plus exercise, for 6 months.
Measures of the bone mineral density (BMD) of the hip (femoral neck) and spine (lumbar spine) revealed that only the placebo and no exercise group experienced significant bone loss at the lumbar spine. The BMD of both sites remained constant in all the other groups. No additional effect was observed when antioxidants were combined with exercise.
Commenting on the possible mechanism, Dionne and her co-workers stated that a previous study has indicated a decrease in bone resorption following antioxidant supplementation.
“Antioxidants may reduce the damaging effects of oxidative stress on bone mass by reducing the up-regulated osteoclastic differentiation and enhancing the down-regulated osteoblastic differentiation,” they said. Osteoclasts are cells which break down bone, leading to resorption and weakening.
“Our results suggest to further investigate the impact of antioxidant supplements on the prevention of osteoporosis,” they concluded.
Antioxidants and bones
Earlier this year, a study funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service reported that an increased intake of carotenoids, and particularly lycopene, was associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine in women and at the hip in men.
Writing in the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Tufts University, Hebrew SeniorLife, and Boston University, stated: “It is therefore possible that carotenoids explain part of the previously observed protective effects of fruit and vegetable intake on BMD.”
Source: Osteoporosis International July 2009, Volume 20, Number 7, Pages 1253-1258
“Effect of antioxidants combined to resistance training on BMD in elderly women: a pilot study”
Authors: A. Chuin, M. Labonté, D. Tessier, A. Khalil, F. Bobeuf, C. Y. Doyon, N. Rieth and I. J. Dionne
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Antioxidants-plus-exercise-may-boost-bones-in-older-women

'Something different" happening with new flu - CDC
Last Updated: 2009-06-19 9:11:17 -0400 (Reuters Health)
*Up to 7 percent of population sick in heavily hit areas
*Flu season could last all year this year in US
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new strain of H1N1 flu is causing "something different" to happen in the United States this year -- perhaps an extended year-round flu season that disproportionately hits young people, health officials said on Thursday.
An unusually cool late spring may be helping keep the infection going in the U.S. Northeast, especially densely populated areas in New York and Massachusetts, the officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
And infections among healthcare workers suggest that people are showing up at work sick -- meaning that workplace policies may be contributing to its spread, the CDC officials said.
The new strain of swine flu is officially a pandemic now, according to the World Health Organization.
So far the virus is causing mild to moderate disease, but it has killed at least 167 people and been confirmed in nearly 40,000 globally.
The United States has been hardest hit, with upward of 100,000 likely cases and probably far more, with 44 deaths and 1,600 hospitalized.
"The fact that we are seeing ongoing transmission now indicates that we are seeing something different," the CDC's Dr. Daniel Jernigan told a news briefing.
"And we believe that that may have to do with the complete lack of immunity to this particular virus among those that are most likely affected. And those are children," Jernigan added.
"The areas of the country that are most affected, some of them have very high population densities, like Boston and New York. So that may be a contributor as well. Plus the temperature in that part of the country is cooler, and we know that influenza appears to like the cooler times of the year for making transmission for effective."
Jernigan said in areas that are the most affected up to 7 percent of the population has influenza-like illness.
SUMMER OF FLU
"The United States will likely continue to see influenza activity through the summer, and at this point we're anticipating that we will see the novel H1N1 continue with activity probably all the way into our flu season in the fall and winter. The amount of activity we expect to be low, and then pick up later."
One worrying pattern: healthcare workers are being infected, and most reported they did little or nothing to protect themselves, the CDC's Dr. Mike Bell said.
People coming into emergency departments or clinics need to be checked right away for flu symptoms and anyone working with such a patient needs to wear a mask, gloves and eyewear, Bell said.
"We're beginning to see a pattern of healthcare personnel-to-healthcare personnel transmission in some of the clusters, which is also concerning, because it gets to the issue of people showing up to work sick," Bell said.
Doctors, nurses and technicians who have flu can spread it to vulnerable patients, Bell noted.
As of May 13, the CDC said it had received 48 reports of healthcare workers infected with swine flu.
Detailed case reports on 26 showed that 13 were infected in a healthcare setting such as a clinic or hospital and 12 caught it from infected patients, the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.

FDA Threatens to Seize All Natural Products that Dare to Mention H1N1 Swine Flu
by Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor   June 19, 2009

(NaturalNews) In an effort to censor any online text that might inform consumers of the ability of natural products to protect consumers from H1N1 influenza A, the FDA is now sending out a round of warning letters, threatening to "take enforcement action... such as seizure or injunction for violations of the FFDC Act without further notice."

"Firms that fail to take correction action," the FDA warns, "may also be referred to the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations for possible criminal prosecution for violations of the FFDC Act and other federal laws."

The message is crystal clear: No product may be described as protecting against or preventing H1N1 infections unless it is approved by the FDA. And which products has the FDA approved? Tamiflu (the anti-viral drug that most people will never have access to), and soon the new H1N1 vaccine that's being manufactured at a cost of one billion dollars (paid to Big Pharma by the taxpayers). This vaccine, of course, will be utterly useless because H1N1 will undoubtedly mutate between now and the time the vaccine is ready, rendering the vaccine useless.

In other words, according to the tyrants at the FDA, the only products that may be marketed alongside the term "H1N1" are those products that either don't work or aren't available to most people. Anything that really works to prevent influenza infections -- such as natural anti-virals, medicinal herbs, etc. -- is banned from even mentioning H1N1 without the threat of being criminally prosecuted.

Note: I reveal the five most powerful natural anti-viral remedies in a free report you can read here: http://www.naturalnews.com/RR-FiveB...

Such are the operations of our U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- a criminal organization that's working hard to do what every criminal organization does: Eliminate the competition! As the defender of Big Pharma, the FDA is also the destroyer of knowledge that seeks to remove educational statements from the internet. Truth has nothing to do with it -- it is verifiably true that anti-viral herbs, probiotics and other natural products help protect consumers from influenza -- but the FDA cannot allow such statements to remain online for the simple fact that people might become informed. And that, it seems, would be a dangerous precedent.

If people were informed about the healing and protective powers of herbs, they would no longer remain enslaved by the medical establishment. Profits would be lost. Power would evaporate. This is why people can never be allowed to attain any real knowledge about herbs, superfoods or nutritional supplements. And the FDA will threaten people with imprisonment just to make sure they don't dare publish knowledge that the FDA does not want the people to see.
Targeted by the FDA
Who is being attacked and threatened by the FDA? Lots of companies offering highly-effective natural remedies. You can see a list of some of the companies being targeted right here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

Byron Richards' company Wellness Resources, a favorite target of the FDA (no doubt because Richards wrote a book attacking the FDA), is also targeted in this censorship campaign. You can see the FDA's ridiculous complaint against his company here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

The FDA sends similar letters to other companies, invoking terrorizing language designed to scare companies into self-censorship. This is the FDA's key strategy, and it largely works: Most companies are scared to death to take a stand against the FDA because the ones that do end up being shut down, with their owners arrested at gunpoint and thrown in prison.

This is how natural medicine advocates are treated in the United States of America, the "land of the free and the home of the brave." (It is really the land of the enslaved and the home of the cowards who don't even have the courage to protest in the streets anymore...)

This is how the FDA secretly intimidates the natural products industry: It sends threatening letters to anyone who dares tell the truth about a natural product they sell. While pharmaceuticals can openly and brazenly lie about their supposed benefits, natural product companies aren't even allowed to state obvious truths about their products! (Like "Vitamin C helps prevent colds" or "Omega-3 oils improve moods.")

Note, carefully, that the FDA openly brands the people promoting natural anti-viral products as "criminals." The language from the FDA's own website says it is listing "Web sites that are illegally marketing unapproved, uncleared, or unauthorized products in relation to the 2009 H1N1 Flu Virus."

In reality, this FDA list is a really good list of highly effective natural products that can protect you from Swine Flu. Many of the companies on the list, in fact, offer products that are far more effective than any vaccine or Big Pharma anti-viral drug. And that, by the way, is precisely why the FDA must accuse these companies of being criminals: Products that effectively compete with Big Pharma's drugs simply cannot be allowed to exist in the marketplace!

This is all about destroying the competition, limiting consumer options and censoring truthful health information on the internet.

And it's all paid for by your tax dollars, by the way. This is a government operation taking place under the Obama Administration, which apparently continues in the Bush Administration's footsteps when it comes to destroying the natural products industry and leaving consumers helpless in the next great pandemic.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026473_the_FDA_H1N1_natural_products.html

Hospital of Horrors in UK Killed Hundreds
David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  June 19, 2009 

(NaturalNews) An obsession with financial and administrative concerns over the welfare of patients led to such shoddy care at a U.K. hospital that hundreds of patients died unnecessarily.

"This is a story of appalling standards of care and chaotic systems for looking after patients," said Sir Ian Kennedy, who chaired a Healthcare Commission investigation into the hospital, the Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust. "Those are words I have not previously used in any report. There were inadequacies at almost every stage in the care of emergency patients. There is no doubt that patients will have suffered and some of them will have died as a result."

According to the investigation, 400 more patients died in the accident and emergency (A&E) section of the hospital between March 2005 and March 2008 than expected for hospitals with similar case mixes. The report summed up the hospital's problems as "low staffing levels, inadequate nursing, lack of equipment, lack of leadership, poor training and ineffective systems for identifying when things went wrong." 

Investigators concluded that A&E receptionists were not properly qualified to assess patients' needs; nurses were insufficiently trained in proper use of vital signs monitors; patients failed to get the correct medication; call buttons went unanswered; and delays in operations were common.

In many cases, patients unable to get to the toilet were left for hours in wet bed sheets. Patients were so neglected that 45 percent of patients in one ward developed bed sores. Patients waiting for care were dumped into unstaffed units so that the hospital could claim that no one had waited more than four hours in A&E. In one instance, a patient covered in blood from an open elbow fracture was made to wait more than four hours for pain medication or treatment. 

The report attributed the poor care to the hospital's obsession with meeting government targets to achieve "foundation trust" status, thereby gaining more autonomy. An analysis of trust board meetings found them to be "dominated by finance, targets and achieving foundation trust status."
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026472_hospital_medication_natural_health.html

Green tea may affect prostate cancer progression
American Association for Cancer Research, June 19, 2009
PHILADELPHIA – According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression.
"The investigational agent used in the trial, Polyphenon E (provided by Polyphenon Pharma) may have the potential to lower the incidence and slow the progression of prostate cancer," said James A. Cardelli, Ph.D., professor and director of basic and translational research in the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport.
Green tea is the second most popular drink in the world, and some epidemiological studies have shown health benefits with green tea, including a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, according to Cardelli. However, some human trials have found contradictory results. The few trials conducted to date have evaluated the clinical efficacy of green tea consumption and few studies have evaluated the change in biomarkers, which might predict disease progression.
Cardelli and colleagues conducted this open-label, single-arm, phase II clinical trial to determine the effects of short-term supplementation with green tea's active compounds on serum biomarkers in patients with prostate cancer. The biomarkers include hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). HGF and VEGF are good prognostic indicators of metastatic disease.
The study included 26 men, aged 41 to 72 years, diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled for radical prostatectomy. Patients consumed four capsules containing Polyphenon E until the day before surgery — four capsules are equivalent to about 12 cups of normally brewed concentrated green tea, according to Cardelli. The time of study for 25 of the 26 patients ranged from 12 days to 73 days, with a median time of 34.5 days.
Findings showed a significant reduction in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent, according to the researchers.
Cardelli and colleagues found that other biomarkers were also positively affected. There were only a few reported side effects associated with this study, and liver function remained normal.
Results of a recent year-long clinical trial conduced by researchers in Italy demonstrated that consumption of green tea polyphenols reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer in men with high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN).
"These studies are just the beginning and a lot of work remains to be done, however, we think that the use of tea polyphenols alone or in combination with other compounds currently used for cancer therapy should be explored as an approach to prevent cancer progression and recurrence," Cardelli said.
William G. Nelson, V., M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology, urology and pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, believes the reduced serum biomarkers of prostate cancer may be attributable to some sort of benefit relating to green tea components.
"Unfortunately, this trial was not a randomized trial, which would have been needed to be more sure that the observed changes were truly attributable to the green tea components and not to some other lifestyle change (better diet, taking vitamins, etc.) men undertook in preparation for surgery," added Nelson, who is also a senior editor for Cancer Prevention Research. However, "this trial is provocative enough to consider a more substantial randomized trial."
In collaboration with Columbia University in New York City, the researchers are currently conducting a comparable trial among patients with breast cancer. They also plan to conduct further studies to identify the factors that could explain why some patients responded more dramatically to Polyphenon E than others. Cardelli suggested that additional controlled clinical trials should be done to see if combinations of different plant polyphenols were more effective than Polyphenon E alone.
"There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression," said Cardelli.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/aafc-gtm061509.php

Bill Gates helps fund mass circumcision programme

• Updated 17:53 15 June 2009 by Andy Coghlan
• For similar stories, visit the HIV and AIDS and Love and Sex Topic Guides

Microsoft founder Bill Gates last week injected $50 million into a programme to circumcise up to 650,000 men in Swaziland and Zambia.
The goal of the project is to curb the transmission of HIV in two of the AIDShotspots of the world, as circumcision has been shown to more than halve the risk of men becoming infected.
Funded for five years through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the programme is the first to massively scale up provision of circumcision by fully trained medical practitioners.
Traditional methods of circumcision sometimes harm and even kill boys and young men. The network of 250 teams of providers will be managed byPopulation Services International, a global health organisation based in Washington, DC.
"It's great news, and this is exactly what's needed," says Catherine Hankins, chief scientific adviser at UNAIDS. "We've been working on development ofguidance and technical support, and these development partners are now being funded to take it forward," says Haskins.
Hankins said that Kenya has the most advanced programme, with 20,000 men newly circumcised, and plans are also well-advanced in Botswana and Namibia. But she stressed that circumcision can't alone protect men or women against HIV, and that circumcised men should still take additional precautions, such as wearing condoms and not engaging in risky or promiscuous sex.
"Ensuring they understand how to maintain safe behaviours is key, and the procedure would be 100-per-cent accompanied by education to that end", says a PSI spokesman.

Group threatens suit over vitamins' anti-cancer claims
CNN News, June 18, 2009
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A nonprofit consumer group said Thursday that it will sue Bayer HealthCare, alleging "deceptive and irresponsible" advertising that contends selenium in two of its multivitamins may reduce men's risk of prostate cancer.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said it informed the multinational company of its intent Thursday. David Schardt, the center's senior nutritionist, told reporters during a teleconference that the center already has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
"We are standing behind all the claims we make in support of the products," Trish McKernan, Bayer's global spokeswoman, told CNN.
"The selenium claims are made by a [Food and Drug Administration]-approved qualified health claim. We regularly review the evidence, and we change our claims if necessitated. The emerging science hasn't compelled us to change our claims, and the FDA claim is intact."
Bayer's HealthCare division, based in Leverkusen, Germany, researches, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products.
Bayer promotes One A Day Men's 50+ Advantage and One A Day Men's Health Formula multivitamins on package labels, TV and radio ads and on its Web site. In its promotions, the company says "emerging research" suggests that selenium might reduce the risk of prostate cancer, thecenter said.
"Did you know that there are more new cases of prostate cancer each year than any other cancer?" according to one radio ad. "Now there is something you can do."
Both dietary supplements contain 105 micrograms of the trace mineral selenium per daily dose, or about twice the Recommended Daily Allowance, which is 55 micrograms a day for adults, according to the center. Visit CNNhealth.com, your connection for better living
"It's astounding that a company such as Bayer ... would make such deceptive claims," the center's litigation director, Steve Gardner, told reporters during the same teleconference.
Supporting the center in its letter of complaint to the FTC are nine researchers, who wrote a separate letter to Mary Engle, associate director of advertising practices. Among the signees are medical professionals from the Harvard School of Public Health, American Cancer Society and University of Illinois at Chicago Division of Pathology Research.
All agree there is scant evidence to support Bayer's claim.
A seven-year, $118 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health found last year that selenium does not prevent prostate cancer in healthy men, the center said.
The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial involving 35,000 U.S. and Canadian men was halted in October when researchers determined that selenium was not protecting the men from prostate cancer and may have been causing diabetes in some of them.
According to the researchers in their letter supporting the FTC's complaint, "the federally financed study was the largest individually, randomized cancer prevention trial ever conducted, and, given its high rates of adherence and its statistical power, it is unlikely to have missed detecting a benefit of even a very modest size."
"Bayer Healthcare is doing a disservice to men by misleading them about a protective role for selenium in prostate cancer," they added.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/18/bayer.vitamins.lawsuit.cancer/index.html?eref=rss_health

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400580/Is-Amalaki-Juice-Worthwhile.html