January 8, 2010

Grape juice may boost memory in elderly: Study
Nutraingredients.com, 08-Jan-2010
Daily consumption of Concord grape juice may enhance memory in older people with mild impairment in the brain function, says a new study from the US.
Improved verbal learning and enhanced verbal and spatial recall were observed following a 12 week randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with Concord grape juice.
Scientists from the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and Tufts University report their findings in the British Journal of Nutrition.
Researchers led by Dr Robert Krikorian are careful to note that results from their small study – only 12 older adults with memory decline but not dementia were studied – should “establish a basis for more comprehensive investigations to evaluate potential benefit and assess mechanisms of action”.
Concord grape juice is a rich source of polyphenols, potent antioxidants that 'mop up' harmful reactive oxygen species that have been identified as key to the aging process. Previous research has linked polyphenols, such as catechins, epicatechins, and anthocyanins to protecting against various cancers and heart disease.
A previous study by Tufts researchers reported that Concord grape juice appeared to reverse the course of neuronal and behavioural aging in rats (Nutrition, 2006, Vol. 22, pp. 295-302). The new study reports similar findings in ageing humans.

“We observed significant improvement in a measure of verbal learning and non-significant enhancement of verbal and spatial recall,” reported Krikorian and his co-workers.
No effects on symptoms of depression, or weight or waist circumference were recorded by the researchers.
“These preliminary findings suggest that supplementation with Concord grape juice may enhance cognitive function for older adults with early memory decline,” they concluded.
Source: British Journal of Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, First View Article, doi:10.1017/S0007114509992364
“Concord grape juice supplementation improves memory function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment”
Authors: Robert Krikorian, Tiffany A. Nash, Marcelle D. Shidler, Barbara Shukitt-Hale and James A. Joseph

US should stop mountaintop coal mining: scientists
Last Updated: 2010-01-07 16:23:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
* Study says mountaintop mining hurts health, environment
* Report says no mountaintop coal permits should be issued
* Industry says a ban would cost jobs, raise power prices
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of scientists on Thursday called on the U.S. government to stop issuing new permits for mountaintop coal mining, citing research that finds the practice is damaging to the environment and human health.
An analysis of recent scientific studies showed mountaintop coal mining, which accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. coal production, does irreparable environmental harm, the researchers said in article published in the journal Science.
They said research also shows that mountaintop mining exposes local residents to a higher risk of serious illnesses.
"Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes," said lead author Margaret Palmer of University of Maryland at College Park in a statement.
The scientists said no mountaintop mining permits should be granted "unless new methods can be subjected to rigorous peer-review and shown to remedy these problems."
A mining industry spokeswoman dismissed the report as "an advocacy piece" and said the end of mountaintop coal mining would mean job losses and higher electricity rates.
More than half U.S. electricity is generated from coal.
Mountaintop mining involves scraping the surface of mountains and pushing the crumbled mountaintop debris into adjoining valleys. Major energy companies, such as Arch Coal Inc and Consol Energy, participate in this type of mining, which accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. coal production.
The practice has faced increased federal scrutiny under the Obama administration. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers have pledged to reduce the impact of surface mining, mostly done in the steep mountains of Appalachia across Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Still, this week the EPA supported issuing a permit for a new mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia proposed by Hobet Mining, LLC.
The researchers said their analysis of the latest data found that such mining destroys extensive tracts of deciduous forests while hurting fish and plant life.
Local residents also may be hurt by contact with streams or exposure to airborne toxins and dust, the scientists said. Residents of areas near mountaintop mining show elevated rates of lung cancer, heart disease and other ailments, they said.
Attempts to reverse or lessen the impact of mining on the environment have not been very effective, with many reclaimed areas showing little or no regrowth of woody vegetation even after 15 years, the researchers said.
National Mining Association spokeswoman Carol Raulston said the industry's environmental practices are sound and the study's conclusions are faulty.
"It attempts to draw correlations that should not be made," Raulston said. "It's really an advocacy piece intended to end mountaintop mining, which would put thousands of people out of work and hurt our ability to provide affordable electricity."

CT scans ‘increase cancer risk’
Times of India, 4 January 2010, 11:52am IST

Overexposure to CT scan radiations can increase cancer risk, according to a new study. 

Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, from the University of California in San Francisco, claims that these scans may cause 29,000 new cancers a year and 14,500 deaths. 

Also, previous studies suggest that the average American’s total radiation exposure has almost doubled since 1980, primarily because of CT scans. 

"It is a little scary. Everything we do in medicine has risks and benefits," the New York Daily News quoted Smith-Bindman, the study author, as saying. 

According to experts, a single scan may not be harmful but overexposure can increase the risk of cancer. Smith-Bindman said: "It’s necessary to start keeping track of dosages for individual patients. 

"You have to record the radiation and make it part of the patient record just like you would if a patient has an allergy to certain medicines. 

"If a patient has had 10 CTs that year, that is an important piece of information for the person taking care of you." 

However, Smith-Bindman believes that CT scans can be made safer, as up to one-third of these scans aren’t medically necessary, since even three-dimensional pictures can also diagnose cancers, aneurysms and blood clots. 

She concluded: "Just like we can make the driving experience safer - not to text or talk on the phone - we can make these scans a lot safer and we should. We have the technology and science to do that. Life is risky - so why not do everything possible to make it safer?"

Daily coffee intake cuts diabetes risk
Times of India, 3 January 2010, 
A daily cup of coffee can actually offer you a great deal of health benefits, according to experts. 

Primary care physician Dr. Alanna Levine revealed new research on the health perks of drinking coffee including lowering the risk of heart and depression. 

Studies have shown that it may lower your risk for Type II diabetes and certain types of cancer (colon, mouth and throat), and protect against heart disease and cavities. 

Levine said that while researchers are not sure exactly why coffee has these benefits, they speculated that coffee has antioxidant properties to thank for the plus points. 

"(The benefits are) shown in both decaf and regular coffee. It may not be the caffeine but antioxidants can decrease inflammation and cell damage. You don’t have to feel guilty grabbing that cup of joe in the morning," CBS News quoted her as saying. 

However, Levine added that moderation is the key to maximizing the benefits of coffee. 

"I wouldn’t go chugging coffee all day long to decrease the risks of cancer. There are side effects of drinking coffee. I wouldn’t advocate a constant infusion of coffee," she said. 

Levine also said that certain people, such as diabetics, pregnant women and people who have trouble sleeping, should limit their coffee intake. 

She added that pregnant women should drink only one or two cups a day.

Big Pharma endures big fines and continues business as usual
Paul Louis, NaturalNews.com January 8, 2010

(Natural News) Donna Kendall was awarded a $6.3 million compensation with $28 million added for punitive damages in her suit against Pfizer this past November. The jury in Philadelphia awarded the punitive penalty after determining that the hormone therapy drugs Premarin, Prempro and Provera caused her breast cancer due to reckless action or inaction by the pharmaceutical companies involved.

Premarin and Prempro were manufactured by Wyeth, which Pfizer purchased recently for $67 billion. In 2003, Pfizer purchased the manufacturer of Provera, Pharmacie & Upjohn. With the help of these acquisitions, Pfizer has become the largest drug manufacturer in the world. According to a Reuters report, Pfizer may have inherited hundreds of more pending cases with those three recently purchased companies.

Before the Kendall case, Wyeth was successfully sued for $79 million in total compensatory and punitive damages. Pfizer seems to take these punches in stride. Of course, they will oppose the decisions and appeal to higher courts. But there was a court decision before these that Pfizer cannot oppose or appeal.

In early September 2009, Pfizer agreed to pay out a total of $2.3 billion, considered a record settlement for a drug company. The civil lawsuits and regulatory fines will be distributed throughout most of the country as a result of a years-long Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation.

But the New York Times considers this a sneeze for Pfizer, mentioning that "While the government said the fine was a record sum, the $2.3 billion fine amounts to less than three weeks of Pfizer's sales." 

The DOJ was after Pfizer and its subsidiaries for illegal activities and "off label marketing" -- the marketing of drugs for uses other than what the FDA approved. The illegally marketed drugs were the pain killers Lyrica and Bextra, the antipsychotic Geodon, and the antibiotic Zyvox. Zyvox was actually marketed for illnesses on which it had no effect.

In addition to seminars for physicians to promote drugs outside of their approved use, kickbacks were offered to physicians for prescribing drugs outside of FDA sanctioned uses. This is the fourth time Pfizer has agreed to a large settlement over fraudulent marketing since 2002. (Salon, source below)

Since 1999, other drug makers such as Eli Lilly and Merck have also incurred huge settlements. But this doesn't seem to slow Big Pharma down. They just raise prices and create demands for drugs and vaccines even if they harm more than heal. 

Are AIDS / HIV tests a hoax? Documentary footage features conversations with Drs. Niel Constantine and Robin Weiss
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews.com January 8, 2010 

(NaturalNews) Brent Leung's myth-shattering AIDS documentary, House of Numbers continues to roil conventional AIDS propagandists who cannot tolerate anyone questioning their "scientific" theories. (They're not exactly "scientific" if they can't stand up to a little questioning, are they?)

Adding to the searing-hot debate, Brent Leung has released exclusive interview footage to NaturalNews that calls into question conventional thinking about so-called "AIDS tests" (which don't accurately detect HIV infections in the first place).

You can watch this exclusive, unedited footage here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL1y...

Here's part of the exchange that takes place in this footage, in which Dr. Constantine tells filmmaker Brent Leung that the AIDS test he took is meaningless:

"I'm gonna ask you one last question that pertains to my HIV test that I took in Africa," Brent Leung says.

"And you want this on air?" asks Dr. Constantine.

Brent answers, "Yes. I tested negative. It's okay."

"Now what if I tell you that the test you took was lousy and doesn't mean a thing, does that make any difference for everybody to hear?" replies Dr. Constantine.

Also in this clip, Leung interviews Dr. Robin Weiss who reveals the diagnostic failure of the so-called "Western Blot" test, which remains the mainstay "AIDS test" to this day.

"I don't think the Western Blot is a useful diagnostic test, "says Dr. Weiss. "I don't think it's worth doing. Western Blots have been ... promoted into some sort of Holy Grail."

This exclusive, unedited footage was released to NaturalNews in response to accusations leveled against Brent Leung by both of these scientists who claimed their words were taken out of context. So Leung released this footage which contains the greater context of the conversation, demonstrating these scientists were not taken out of context when shorter cuts were used in the film.

Why AIDS propagandists cannot tolerate scientific questions
The conventional AIDS propagandists are predictably lashing out violently against Brent Leung's myth-shattering documentary. One critic, Jeanne Bergman, went so far as to accuse Leung of propagating "lies" about HIV even while she pressured ScienceDaily.com to retroactively change the headline of a story the website published in 2007. That story originally reported on a study in primates that showed a sudden loss of T cells is not a trigger for AIDS.

The original headline read, "Sudden Loss Of T Cells Is Not Trigger For AIDS, New Study Suggests". But after being pressured by Bergman, ScienceDaily changed the headline (nearly two years after the original publication date) to: "Progression Of SIV Infection In Monkeys Points To Differences Between Human And Simian Forms Of AIDS."

That's a fairly radical title change. It repositions the entire store and takes away credibility from anyone who had quoted the story as a piece of evidence dismantling conventional AIDS theories. That was the whole point of pressuring ScienceDaily to change their story, of course.

ScienceDaily even engaged in some fairly unusual back-pedaling with an editor's note that was added to the story: "The purpose of the story was NOT meant to suggest that the sudden loss of T cells is not the trigger of AIDS in humans, nor was there any intent to support the erroneous belief that HIV somehow does not cause AIDS. We regret any confusion that this may have caused."

Gee, wouldn't want to challenge conventional AIDS theories now, would we?

Answering the critics
In support of the House of Numbers documentary, The Perth Group has published a response to Jeanne Bergman, which you can read here: http://theperthgroup.com/HON/PGBerg...

They've also published a hard-hitting, point-by-point defense of the idea of questioning conventional AIDS theories. Just keep in mind that when you read this, you're not supposed to question anything told to you by conventional doctors and scientists. They already know everything, and the mere act of questioning their theories is blasphemous. So read this link at your own risk: http://theperthgroup.com/HON/PGHONF...

The Perth Group, by the way, was founded by biophysicist Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos, emergency physician Valendar F. Turner and Professor of Pathology John Papadimitriou. The group has published scientific papers on AIDS and two of its members were invited contributors to the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel.

According to The Perth Group, HIV / AIDS experts have NOT proven:

1. The existence of a unique, exogenously acquired retrovirus, HIV.

2. That "HIV" antibody tests are specific for "HIV" infection. (This is a blockbuster realization right here. It means all the so-called "AIDS tests" are basically quackery.)

3. The HIV theory of AIDS, that is, that HIV causes acquired immune deficiency (destruction of T4 lymphocytes=AID) or that AID leads to the development of the clinical syndrome AIDS.

4. That the "HIV genome" (RNA or DNA) originates in a unique, exogenously acquired infectious retroviral particle.

5. That HIV/AIDS is infectious, either by blood, blood products or sexual intercourse.

6. That mother-to-child transmission of a retrovirus HIV or its inhibition with AZT or nevirapine.

The group also believes that AZT (Big Pharma's key AIDS drug) cannot kill "HIV" and is so toxic that, in fact, it may actually cause some cases of AIDS.

AIDS propagandists are like global warming scientists
I've finally put the pieces together on this. It turns out that AIDS propagandists are just like some of the global warming scientists: They've already decided what's true and they viciously attack anyone who even dares to ask an intelligent question about the validity of their so-called science.

We saw this with the leaked emails of the global warming scientists: They were clearly conspiring to manipulate the data to support the outcome they had pre-decided to be "scientific". And yet that entire approach isn't scientific at all. It's dogmatic.

Many conventional AIDS scientists are just as dogmatic. It doesn't even matter whether they're right or wrong -- their unwillingness to even tolerate sensible questions obliterates any credibility they might have previously had. A credible scientist, you see, is happy to answer questions or even critics. Credible scientific study stands up to scrutiny. It can withstand scientific challenges and weather the storm.

But none of the conventional AIDS theories are allowed to be questioned at all. And why not? Because if an intelligent, evidence-based inquiry into conventional AIDS propaganda were to ever be conducted, the whole fraudulent system would collapse like, well, a house of cards. (Hence the name "House of Numbers" for the documentary.)

But that can't be allowed to take place. Much like we see with vaccines and cancer, too much money is riding on conventional AIDS mythology, and it's too late to change their story.

AIDS myths
So the myths about AIDS continue: That a simple blood test can tell you whether you have AIDS, that AIDS is caused by HIV, that HIV is transmitted through blood, that AIDS has no cure, and so on. These are all AIDS myths because they exist in the realm of conventional AIDS dogma that is utterly unwilling to field any questions or stand up to any scientific challenges whatsoever. The mere mention of any intent to question conventional AIDS mythology brands you as an "AIDS denier" -- a vicious, derogatory term thrown about like a linguistic hand grenade in an attempt to instantly halt any intelligent conversation about HIV and AIDS.

You either agree with the conventional AIDS propagandists, or you're a nut, it seems. There is no room for questioning anything. There's no tolerance for those who might think for themselves instead of just swallowing the conventional theories as if they were scientific fact.

But then again, we shouldn't expect anything more than that from conventional medicine, should we? This is an industry steeped in scientific fraud and routine quackery. It is a field of pseudo science that has become extremely proficient at rigging the data in order to fit whatever predetermined outcomes it wishes to support.

The AIDS industry is an outgrowth of this scientific quackery. Fictions about AIDS have given rise to an entire for-profit industry that depends on the continuation of the mythology to keep its cash registers ringing. That's why the attacks against Brent Leung are so vicious: He's the guy who has dared to stand up and say, "The AIDS emperor wears no clothes!"

For daring to point that out, Leung is branded an "AIDS Denier." It's the equivalent of calling him an "Emperor's wardrobe denier" while pretending the emperor is wearing magnificent flowing robes sewn with golden thread.

It all just makes me wonder: What's the point of having a scientific method if the scientists aren't going to follow it?

Doctors Need to Become Healers
Hesh Goldstein, NaturalNews.com January 8, 2010

(NaturalNews) There should be deep concern and appall at the alarmingly poor state of health of the American people. American medical doctors have utterly failed the American people, their trusting patients. Were doctors to become true healers instead of shills for the pharmaceutical industry, maybe then the American people would have a true shot at regaining their health.

Millions of Americans are dying unnecessarily. They are the brutalized and agonized victims of indiscriminate manslaughter, crucified by the premeditated malpractice of a totally misinformed and misguided American medical community. To add insult to injury, this disgraceful and dishonorable malpractice on living human beings is motivated by only money and sheer stupidity, avarice and ruinous medical application.

Most medical doctors should have their licenses revoked at once. This should be done to stop immediately the grossly offensive, shocking and disgraceful malpractice of guesstimation, diagnosing and the mistaken use of poison chemical drug therapy. Promulgated by the physical-chemical scientists and the giant pharmaceutical industry, this chemical drug therapy results in broken lives and untimely deaths.

Why is it so difficult for anyone to understand that "Mother Nature" does not require any outside interference from the medical community to care for or heal the human body? Medical schools are continuously turning out future would-be murderers, butchers, poisoners, electrocuters, zombiemakers and frauds, certainly not healers.

Vibrant health and the elimination of disease are contrary to the basic economic interests of the American medical profession and the medical-drug-hospital industry combined. Why? Because there is no money in healthy people.

The corrupt American medical profession is guilty of irresponsible deception and chicanery in the promiscuous and senseless crimes of manslaughter of millions of Americans. This is due to the use of utterly stupid, archaic and immorally wrong Pasteurian methods of treating the ill, sick and diseased.

Remember this; a medical doctor cannot cure you of any illness, sickness or disease. Your own body is the greatest doctor on Earth. Your body can effectively prevent bodily disturbances and heal itself of any body-chemistry imbalance if given the chance through biological hygiene, proper nutrition, proper elimination and lack of excessive enervation.

Medical doctors have been taught to treat symptoms only, not causes of bodily disturbances. As a result, millions of innocent human beings will continue to die needlessly. Medical doctors cannot effectively treat what they do not or will not understand and seem to know so little of - the natural biological processes of the marvelous human organism. Factually, they have no training in natural methods of bodily care and healing. The American medical community makes no attempt to teach preventative medicine. They are only interested in the economics of treating symptoms.

Food industry is 'too secretive'

Science correspondent, BBC News, January 8, 2010

The food industry has been criticised for being secretive about its use of nanotechnology by the UK's House of Lords Science and Technology Committee.
Lord Krebs, chairman of the inquiry, said the industry "wants to keep a low profile" to avoid controversy.
While there were no clear dangers, he said, there were "gaps in knowledge".
In its report Nanotechnologies and Food, the committee suggests a public register of foods or packaging that make use of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is the use of very small particles - measured in the billionths of a metre. At these sizes, particles have novel properties and there is active investigation into how those properties arise.
While nanotechnology is already widely employed - in applications ranging from odour-free socks to novel cancer therapeutic methods - they have long been regarded as a subject requiring further study to ensure their safety.
In the food sector, nanotechnology can be employed to enhance flavour and even to make processed foods healthier by reducing the amount of fat and salt needed in production.
Open standards
Peers said in the report that they found it "regrettable that the food industry was refusing to talk about its work in the area".
“ We are not clear what is out there in use at the moment ” 
Lord Krebs
They added that it was exactly this behaviour that could prompt public backlash against the use of a technology that could bring many benefits to the public.
Lord Krebs said that the industry was "very reluctant to put its head above the parapet and be open about research on nanotechnology".
"They got their fingers burnt over the use of GM crops and so they want to keep a low profile on this issue. We believe that they should adopt exactly the opposite approach. If you want to build confidence you should be open rather than secretive."
As part of this process, the committee recommends that the Food Standards Agency should have a publicly available register listing food and packaging that use nano-materials.
Julian Hunt, director of communications for the Food and Drink Federation, said he was "surprised" by the criticism.
"Understandably, there are many questions and unknowns about the potential future uses of nanotechnologies in our sector, and there is much work still to be done, by scientists, governments and regulators, as well as the food and drink industry," Mr Hunt said.
"We support the report's recommendation for the formation of an open discussion group to bring more transparency that we know is important to consumers, and indeed we are already engaged in such initiatives, both at UK and EU level."
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, run by the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, has found that there are currently 84 foods or food-related products that use nanotechnology.
The Food and Drink Federation says that none are currently manufactured in the UK.
'No clear danger'
However, Lord Krebs says he and his colleagues are concerned that because of industry secrecy, it is hard to really know the true extent of the use of nanotechnology in food.
"We are not clear what is out there in use at the moment," he said.
The report says that there is likely to be an "explosive growth" in the use of the technology.
Currently the market is valued at $410m (£260m), but the report estimates it will increase more than ten-fold in the next two years.
The report also says insufficient research has been carried out into the safety of the use of nanotechnology in foods. It urges the government to commission more research on the behaviour of nanomaterials, particularly in the gut.
"There is currently no clear and present danger from nanotechnology," according to Lord Krebs.
"But there are significant gaps in our knowledge for regulators to adequately assess the risk of nanomaterials in food."

New approach (with Nutrients) to fighting Alzheimer's shows potential in clinical trial
Nutrient mix shows promise in improving memory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, January 8, 2010
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, patients typically suffer a major loss of the brain connections necessary for memory and information processing. Now, a combination of nutrients that was developed at MIT has shown the potential to improve memory in Alzheimer's patients by stimulating growth of new brain connections.
In a clinical trial of 225 Alzheimer's patients, researchers found that a cocktail of three naturally occurring nutrients believed to promote growth of those connections, known as synapses, plus other ingredients (B vitamins, phosopholipids and antioxidants), improved verbal memory in patients with mild Alzheimer's.
"If you can increase the number of synapses by enhancing their production, you might to some extent avoid that loss of cognitive ability," says Richard Wurtman, the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, who did the basic research that led to the new experimental treatment. He is an author of a paper describing the new results in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease, though some medications can slow the progression of the disease. In particular, many U.S. patients take cholinesterase inhibitors, which increase levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter important for learning and memory.
While those treatments target the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Wurtman hopes to attack what he believes is the root cause of the disease: loss of synapses. The three nutrients in his dietary cocktail — uridine, choline and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (all normally present in breast milk) — are precursors to the fatty molecules that make up brain cell membranes, which form synapses.
In animal studies, Wurtman has shown that these nutrients boost the number of dendritic spines (small outcroppings of neural membranes). When those spines contact another neuron, a synapse is formed.
Three additional clinical studies in Alzheimer's patients are now underway, one in the United States and two in Europe. Results are expected to be available between 2011 and 2013.
The first clinical study was sponsored by the French company Danone, known in the United States as Dannon; the study was conducted primarily in Europe and was led by Philip Scheltens, director of the Alzheimer Center at Vrije Universiteit Medical Center in Amsterdam. Wurtman and MIT have patented the mixture of nutrients used in the study, and Nutricia Advanced Medical Nutrition, a unit of Danone, holds the exclusive license on the patent.
Patients with mild Alzheimer's drank the cocktail (made in the form of a nutrient drink called Souvenaid, with the collaboration of Danone) or a control beverage daily for 12 weeks. Patients who received the nutrients showed a statistically significant level of improvement compared to control subjects: 40 percent of the treated patients improved performance in a test of verbal memory (memory for words, as opposed to memory of locations or experiences) known as the Wechsler Memory Scale, while 24 percent of patients who received the control drink improved their performance. Among those who received the cocktail, patients with the mildest cases of Alzheimer's showed the most improvement.
The drink appeared to have no effect on patients' performance in another commonly used evaluation for Alzheimer's patients, the ADAS-cog test. Wurtman believes that is because ADAS-cog is a more general assessment that tests for orientation and movement/spatial memory as well as cognition. So in subjects with early Alzheimer's who show principally cognitive changes, more than the 225 subjects in the first study will probably be required to yield significant ADAS-cog changes after Souvenaid. The 500 subjects in the ongoing study in the United States may be sufficient.
John Growdon, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says that trying to regrow synapses is an innovative strategy and offers a complementary approach to two other lines of attack in treating Alzheimer's: targeting the amyloid plaques that accumulate in patients' brains, and minimizing the damage done by toxic metabolites that build up in Alzheimer's-affected brains.
"I don't think any one approach has a monopoly, and that's good," Growdon says. "You need to have a lot of different approaches because no one knows what's going to work."
Wurtman believes his approach to Alzheimer's may eventually prove beneficial in treating other diseases. If these nutrients prove to be successful in Alzheimer's patients, "then you can think about other diseases in which there are too few synapses," such as Parkinson's disease, he says. "There are a lot of diseases associated with synapse deficiency."

As an American, I refuse to buy mandatory health insurance that supports corrupt conventional medicine
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews.com January 4, 2010 

(NaturalNews) Even if Obama's health care reform bill becomes law, mandating that all Americans buy health insurance policies for a failed system of "sick care", I will refuse to comply. I've read the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, and nowhere in that document do I find that the federal government has the power to force consumers to purchase for-profit insurance products from private companies.

The very basis of the health care reform bill is, at its core, unconstitutional. If this mandate is allowed to stand, it sets a dangerous precedent for the U.S. government to require us to purchase other products and services from whatever industries it chooses to support. What's next? Will the government pass a law forcing us to buy pharmaceuticals at thousands of dollars a year? Will it force us to purchase U.S.-made automobiles in order to boost the automobile industry? Is our economic free choice now centrally planned by our own government operating like Communist China?

This is a serious question that Constitutional scholars will no doubt be debating in the months ahead. But who am I kidding anyway? The U.S. government has long since abandoned the U.S. Constitution and no has any intention of abiding by it. Want proof? Read just one amendment: the 10th amendment. 

Check out the website www.TenthAmendmentCenter.com which carries a highly relevant article on this matter: Health Care Nullification and Interposition (http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com...). It paraphrases James Madison, saying, "...state governments not only have the right to resist unconstitutional federal acts, but that, in order to protect liberty, they are 'duty bound to interpose' or stand between the federal government and the people of the state."

Our right to choose has been stolen away
In addition to the very serious legal problems with government-mandated private health insurance, this health care reform law strips away my right to choose what type of medicine I wish to be treated with. I don't find any credibility in the drugs-and-surgery approach to health care. The pharmaceutical industry is riddled with scientific fraud, quackery, corruption and criminal behavior -- much of it documented right here on NaturalNews.com. Its drugs are approved by a corrupt, dishonest regulatory agency (the FDA) that has abandoned science in its quest to push more drugs onto the people. Why should I, as a "free" American, be forced to pay money to a system that I know to be largely based on fraud?

If I had a choice, I would prefer to buy into a system of naturopathic care, where doctors respect the healing ability of the human body and try to work with the patient instead of assaulting him with chemicals and surgeries. But Obama's health care reform bill gives me no such choice. I cannot choose to direct my money into a system of medicine that I trust and respect. Instead, I am being forced to pay money into a system that is morally corrupt and scientifically fraudulent. It is a system that will only bring more harm and suffering to the people while enhancing the profits of the greed-driven corporations behind this medical scam.

I find it highly offensive that my own government would threaten me with a financial penalty if I refuse to pay money to such a racket. It's much like being forced to pay a "protection fee" to the mob. With this health care reform decision, our government has now become the enforcement branch of the Big Pharma crime ring, using the powers of the IRS (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washin...) to intimidate people into handing over their money to a gang of dishonest corporations that have found a whole new way to take Americans for a ride.

With this bill, all Americans are essentially being held up at gunpoint. We're being mugged on the streets by our own government, and they're demanding not only our money (to the tune of over $15,000 a year for a typical family) but also our lives -- because conventional health care may very well cost you your life!

Breaking Americans down, one family at a time
The whole thing is pure highway robbery, sanctioned by the government. The arrogant Congressmen and Senators who passed this law are, themselves, guilty of robbing the American people blind in order to redirect money into the pockets of some of the wealthiest corporations in the world: the drug companies. Has anyone bothered to answer the simple question that if tens of millions of Americans can't afford health insurance now, how are they supposed to afford to pay the fine for not buying any?

Forcing people to buy something they already cannot afford is a truly idiotic idea. It's like passing a law that tries to solve the homeless problem by making it against the law to not buy a house. The reason they're homeless is because they can't afford a house in the first place!

Similarly, the reason people don't have health insurance right now is because they cannot afford to buy any. How does forcing people to buy what they cannot afford solve anything?

This is why I'm now convinced that the whole point of the health care reform bill is to destroy American families. It was designed from the start, I believe, to drive more families into bankruptcy and government dependence. It's all part of a package of new initiatives that appear to be created specifically for the purpose of destroying America through debt and disease.

You can reach no other conclusion, really, if you think about it. When you start to realize about what our nation is doing with its fiat currency, how the U.S. government has to rent debt from the private corporation known as the Federal Reserve, and how the drug companies are bankrupting cities, states and federal programs, you really have to question the motives of a new law that would further worsen both the debt and health problems now tearing our country apart.

Why would members of Congress pass a health care "reform" bill that offered no reform and no health? Why would the Obama administration be engaged in under-the-table, behind-closed-doors deals with the drug companies just to make sure they continue to be able to charge monopoly prices for their dangerous medications? Why would the IRS now be invoked to enforce this medical racket? The answer can only be that somewhere at the top of government, someone is diligently working to destroy America. There's no faster way to accomplish that goal than to keep people diseased and indebted, and this new health care reform racket accomplishes both of those goals quite nicely.

That's why I simply refuse to pay into such a system. For me to spend money supporting such a racket goes against every moral fiber in my conscious existence. I would no sooner pay money to this racket than I would donate dollars to murderers or rapists. Every dollar that goes into this system only perpetuates the crimes against humanity currently being committed by the pharmaceutical industry -- especially against our nation's children.

I guess the IRS is just going to have to issue me a fine. If so, I'll pay it under protest, but I'd rather pay a fine to the IRS than hand over my money to the corrupt, failed system of western medicine that pretends to offer "health care" in America today.

The collapse of an empire isn't pretty
I'll have the last laugh, of course, because this whole charade will come tumbling down soon enough. We are watching the last days of the Roman Empire reflected in America now. The closer any empire gets toward collapse, the more insane its legislative initiatives become. Sheer desperation drives its legislators to enact outrageously ill-conceived laws that would normally never even be considered. Such is the nature of the last desperate gasps of a crumbling empire -- an empire that has now turned to looting its own citizens as a last-ditch effort to keep itself afloat.

Of course, every collapsing empire does much the same. The looting of the citizenry is, in fact, one of the more important signs that a collapse is imminent. It has happened repeatedly throughout history, and it usually involves a looting of the treasury and an abandonment (or hyperinflation) of the currency. Punitive taxation of the population -- or a mandate requiring people to part with their money -- is nothing new.

In the big picture, what we're seeing in the United States with this health care reform bill isn't an aberration; it's merely one milestone in the accelerating decline of an empire that has forgotten what freedom really means.

Mark my words, because I will out-live the American empire by a wide margin: After its collapse, historians will look back and they will recognize that it was disease and the broken health care system that was the final straw. No nation that keeps its population diseased and bankrupt can hope to have any real future, and America apparently has no intention whatsoever to even legalize actual healing or medicinal herbs. This nation has made a decision to outlaw healing, to outlaw natural medicine and to pursue a corrupt, broken system of sick care that offers no hope for the future.

It is a fateful decision for a nation that will one day serve as an important history lesson. The title of that lesson, by the way, will be "How America destroyed itself with debt and disease while keeping its powerful corporations filthy rich." In the end, of course, everybody loses. There can be no abundance, no wealth and no hope for any nation in the long term unless it finds a way to keep its people healthy. America is now set on a course to learn this very difficult lesson the hard way.

Life Extensions, January 06, 2010
Vitamin C halts premature aging disease

A report published in the January 2010 issue of FASEB Journal reveals the discovery of Canadian researchers that vitamin C effectively treats a mouse model of Werner syndrome, a disorder caused by a genetic mutation which results in a pro-oxidant status, premature aging and shortened life span. Humans with Werner syndrome begin showing signs of increased aging in their twenties and commonly do not survive to the age of 50. The finding could have implications not only for Werner's syndrome, but for other progeroid syndromes.
Michel Lebel, PhD of the Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie in Quebec and his colleagues tested the effects of the vitamin in normal mice and in mice with a mutation in the WRN gene responsible for Werner syndrome. While animals with the mutation were diabetic and obese, and showed signs of developing heart disease or cancer, treatment with vitamin C resulted in the reversal of several age-related abnormalities in liver and fatty tissue, and normalized life span. Treated mice also had lower oxidative stress, and improved inflammatory status and genomic integrity. The vitamin did not appear to affect the healthy control animals. "These results indicate that vitamin C supplementation could be beneficial for patients with Werner syndrome," the authors write.
"Vitamin C has become one of the most misunderstood substances in our medicine cabinets and food," noted Gerald Weissmann, MD, who is FASEB Journal's Editor-in-Chief. "This study and others like it help explain how and why this chemical can help to defend some, but certainly not all, people from premature senescence."
"An organism or individual with a mutation in the WRN gene or any gene affected by the WRN protein . . . may benefit from a diet with the appropriate amount of vitamin C,” Dr Lebel concluded.

Low selenium tied to throat, stomach cancers
Last Updated: 2010-01-06 15:51:28 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Getting enough selenium in your diet could help protect you from cancer of the esophagus, a large new study suggests.
People with the highest levels of this antioxidant mineral were at the lowest risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, Dr. Jessie Steevens of Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands and her colleagues found.
The amount of selenium in the soil where food is grown determines its selenium content. There's some evidence for a link between selenium levels and stomach and esophageal cancer, and Steevens and colleagues say it's important to look at subtypes of these cancers separately because they are likely to have different causes.
The researchers looked at the relationship between selenium levels and three different types of cancer: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), which arises from the cells lining the upper esophagus; esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), which begins in gland cells located where the esophagus joins the stomach; and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA), which involves the upper part of the stomach.
"EAC and GCA are specifically of interest," the investigators wrote in the journal Gastroenterology, because the incidences of these cancers have risen in the US and Europe during the past decades.
The researchers looked at data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, which followed 120,852 men and women 55 to 69 years old for 16 years. They compared selenium levels in 64 patients who developed ESCC during follow-up; 112 EAC patients; 114 GCA patients; and 2,072 cancer-free controls. All had provided toenail clippings at the study's outset; the selenium content of a person's nails is considered to be an accurate measurement of their levels of the mineral over the previous year.
The higher a person's selenium levels, the researchers found, the lower their likelihood of developing ESCC. GCA also was associated with selenium levels, but the relationship was "borderline significant"; it was stronger for women than for men. Overall there was no relationship between selenium levels and EAC, but when the researchers looked separately at women and people who had never smoked, they did find an association between higher selenium levels and EAC risk. There was also a relationship between selenium intake and EAC risk in people with lower intakes of several antioxidant nutrients.
The findings, conclude the researchers, suggest that low selenium levels may increase risk of ESCC and GCA, as well as EAC in women, never-smokers, and people with low antioxidant intakes. They caution, however, that the findings need to be confirmed by other researchers.
SOURCE: Gastroenterology, online December 14, 2009.

Use of psychiatric drug combos growing in the US
Last Updated: 2010-01-06 13:00:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - US adults being treated for mental illness are more likely to be prescribed two or more drugs today than a decade ago.
Although little is known about whether they work or what the long-term side effects might be, psychiatric drug combinations are increasingly being used to treat a wide range of mental illness including anxiety, depression, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, a report published Monday suggests.
"We have to figure out if these combinations are adding any benefits to patients," Dr. Ramin Mojtabai of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland told Reuters Health.
In the first study of its kind, Mojtabai and colleague Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute examined data collected during 13,000 office visits to U.S. psychiatrists between 1996 and 2006.
They focused on the four major classes of psychotropic (brain or mind affecting) medications: antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and sedatives.
Mojtabai and Olfson found that antidepressants were the most commonly prescribed medications. Prescribing antidepressants with another antidepressant, a sedative or a mood stabilizer were the three most common psychotropic combinations.
During the study period, as more patients were prescribed at least one psychotropic drug, the number of office visits where two or more drugs were prescribed jumped from roughly 43 percent to 60 percent -- a "substantial increase," the authors note in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Insured women, 45 to 64 years old and on a repeat visit to the psychiatrist, were the most likely to get two or more prescriptions.
Most troubling, Mojtabai told Reuters Health, was the increased practice of combining two antipsychotics, a type of drug most often given to people with schizophrenia. The evidence that antipsychotic combinations are effective is "limited," the authors wrote.
Mojtabai said prescribing practice may have moved ahead of the evidence because new psychotropic drugs don't carry the same side effects as earlier generation drugs.
"Maybe physicians have become less vigilant about, and less concerned about combining medications because the immediate side effects are less pronounced," Mojtabai said.
"The new antipsychotics, for example, have fewer side effects like dry mouth and blurred vision. So, as a result, physicians are less concerned about combining them," he added.
But, as the authors point out in their report, there is "growing evidence regarding the increased adverse effects" associated with psychotropic combinations, including the long-term risk of weight gain, diabetes, or heart trouble.
Mojtabai and Olfson urge the mental health profession to reign in the use of psychotropic combinations pending better evidence of safety and efficacy.
"Continued unabated, the cost increases associated with increased use of these medications may bring on administrative mandates and restrictions on coverage to limit this practice," they warn.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, January 2010.

Stomach-Cancer Bug Linked to Cancer-Promoting Factor
ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2010) — Researchers report that Helicobacter pylori, the only bacterium known to survive in the harsh environment of the human stomach, directly activates an enzyme in host cells that has been associated with several types of cancer, including gastric cancer.

Chronic infection with H. pylori is a well-documented risk factor for several forms of gastric cancer, but researchers have not yet determined the mechanisms by which specific bacterial factors contribute to cancer development. Nearly one-half of the world's population is infected with H. pylori, and gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death.
The new study, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show that a factor produced by the bacterium directly activates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), an enzyme found primarily within the nucleus of animal cells. PARP-1 is a regulator of the host's inflammatory response and host cell death, both of which are hallmarks of H. pylori infection.
PARP-1 is best known as a normal part of the cellular machinery that repairs damaged DNA. But in certain types of cancer this enzyme actually enhances tumor survival and undermines chemotherapies designed to damage DNA in cancer cells. A recent human clinical trial found that drugs that inhibited PARP-1 reduced tumor growth in breast-cancer patients with mutations in certain DNA-repair (BRCA-1 and BRCA-2) genes. BRCA-1 mutations also are associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer.
The new study tackled the most urgent health problem associated with H. pylori infection, said Steven Blanke, a University of Illinois professor in the department of microbiology and Institute for Genomic Biology and principal investigator on the study.
"What is it about sustained infection with H. pylori that leads in some cases to the development of stomach cancer?" he said.
Like other disease-causing bacteria, H. pylori have evolved to evade the body's defenses and even modify host proteins to help the bacteria survive.
Blanke and his graduate student Carlos Nossa previously had demonstrated that a protein factor released by H. pylori modifies an unidentified host protein in a manner consistent with an enzymatic reaction known as ADP-ribosylation. Other bacterial toxins, including cholera toxin and diphtheria toxin "ADP-ribosylate" host proteins in ways that enhance the survival or transmission of the bacteria that produce them.
"We were very excited about this finding, which we published in 2006," Blanke said. "We thought we had discovered a new toxin."
ADP-ribosylation can be tracked by incorporating a radio-isotope of phosphorous (32P) into a small molecule that is required for the reaction. During ADP-ribosylation, H. pylori transfers the 32P from the labeled molecule to a host protein, thereby tagging it with a radioactive fingerprint. Further analyses revealed that the radio-labeled host protein was PARP-1.
At this point, the team believed that the bacterium was ADP-ribosylating PARP-1. But when they genetically altered the functional regions of PARP-1, they completely blocked the H. pylori-dependent modification. Since PARP-1 also possesses poly-ADP-ribosylation enzymatic activity, which is necessary for its regulatory and DNA-repair function in cells, the team realized that something in the H. pylori arsenal was directly activating the PARP-1 enzymatic activity, rather than ADP-ribosylating it as they first suspected.
Additional studies validated that H. pylori indeed activates PARP-1 during infection of human gastric cells.
"These studies potentially provide a direct molecular link between H. pylori infection and the activation of a factor known to be involved in the survival of cancerous cells," Blanke said. "Although PARP-1 can potentially be activated indirectly as a host cell response to some infections, this is the first example of a bacterium that can activate PARP-1 directly, perhaps in this case as a mechanism for H. pylori to promote inflammation and/or the death of host cells during long-term infection."
The researchers are working to identify the bacterial factor that activates PARP-1, which would be a promising target for drugs to treat or prevent the problems associated with long-term infection with H. pylori, Blanke said.
The team also included researchers from the University of Houston; Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie Strasbourg, Illkirch, France; and Laval University, Quebec.
This study was supported from a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Tipping Elements in the Earth System: How Stable Is the Contemporary Environment?
ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2010) — A Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the latest scientific insights on so-called tipping elements in the planetary environment. These elements have been identified as the most vulnerable large-scale components of the Earth System that may be profoundly altered by human interference. If one or more of those components is tipped -- especially in the course of global warming -- then the age of remarkably stable environmental conditions on Earth throughout the Holocene may end quickly and irreversibly.

This Special Feature was designed and edited by Hans Joachim Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). It is meant to make a major contribution to the emerging field of sustainability science. The authors involved analyse altogether eight Earth System components. Three of them, the biggest dust source on our planet, oceanic biogeochemical cycles, and marine methane hydrates, are discussed in depth as potential tipping elements for the first time ever.
"It is the cardinal question of Earth System and sustainability science whether global warming actually triggers singular transformations of crucial components of the planetary machinery," says Schellnhuber. Singular transformations -- as opposed to smooth linear and nonlinear ones -- would dramatically alter the environment in which human civilisations have developed and thrived over many millennia. "Currently, the climate system still operates in the Holocene mode, but the research presented here underlines that a rise of the global mean temperature beyond two degrees Celsius might push the world into singular-change terrain and therefore needs to be avoided," Schellnhuber adds.
The PIK scientist has introduced the tipping-elements concept into the research community some ten years ago. It describes components of the Earth System that could be pushed past critical thresholds by anthropogenic forcing, so that they may "tip" into qualitatively different modes of operation. In a recent seminal paper, Tim Lenton from the University of East Anglia, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and an international group of colleagues presented a formal definition and compiled a short-list of the nine tipping elements ranked as the most policy-relevant. The current Special Feature examines five of these in much more depth: the El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon, Arctic sea-ice and the great polar ice sheets, the Amazon rainforest, the major monsoon systems, and the circulation of ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean.
In their article, Matthias Hofmann and Stefan Rahmstorf, also from PIK, discuss the last topic, i.e. the stability properties of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The authors present new model simulations of the AMOC response to increased freshwater inflow into the North Atlantic. These challenge the hypothesis that the resulting circulation weakening and the possibility of abrupt oceanic change are just artefacts arising from model flaws. Rather, improving the physical realism of the model leads to a greater vulnerability of the projected AMOC stability.
A group of PIK scientists led by Anders Levermann show that every monsoon circulation inherently bears the possibility of an abrupt collapse. The reason is the moisture-advection feedback which is the core of any monsoon system and was captured in a conceptual model by the authors. The monsoon rains are essential for agriculture as the source of livelihood for several hundred million people in the pertinent regions, the authors state.
David Archer from the University of Chicago and his co-authors provide evidence that methane hydrates in ocean sediments should be regarded as a "slow tipping element" in the Earth's climate system. Global warming of some three degrees Celsius could lead to the escape of more than half of the relevant methane stocks, estimated 940 billion tons of carbon, on a millennial time-scale. This hydrate leakage could cause an additional rise in planetary temperature by 0.5 degrees Celsius. The authors tie this increase in global mean temperature to the methane, but it would persist through many millennia because methane is oxidised in about a decade to carbon dioxide, which continues to impact climate for many millennia.
Ulf Riebesell and colleagues from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) describe the oceans as a climate-system component which is presently undergoing major changes. The sea is not only warming, it is also becoming more acidic. Unbridled anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases could alter the cycling of carbon and nutrients in the surface ocean and might damage entire marine ecosystems. The authors conclude that the current level of knowledge allows no clear answer on whether tipping points in the marine ecosphere exist, but they regard some of the projected shifts in oceanic biogeochemistry and their impacts as severe.
Mojib Latif and Noel Keenlyside, also of IFM-GEOMAR, present a review of the complicated mechanisms ruling the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. It leads to strong temperature and precipitation fluctuations in the Equatorial Pacific from one year to another and has widespread effects on the global climate system. However, current climate models cannot capture the potential tipping point behaviour of the ENSO phenomenon, the authors resume. Given the potentially huge impacts on biological, chemical and socio-economic systems, the question whether global warming will fundamentally alter the ENSO dynamics in the future has to be investigated further.
A research team led by Richard Washington from the University of Oxford qualifies the biggest dust source on our planet, the Bodélé Depression in Chad, as a potential tipping element. This area in the southern Sahara releases huge plumes, which carry about 700,000 tons of dust towards the Atlantic and the Amazon basin. The authors explain that the so-deployed mineral aerosols play a vital role in transcontinental climatic and biophysical feedbacks. If regional wind patterns or surface erosivities changed due to anthropogenic interference, the dust export from the Bodélé Depression could be substantially modified at time scales as small as one season.
A research team headed by Yadvinder Malhi, also of the University of Oxford, has employed nineteen different global climate models to investigate, whether climate change could cause a large-scale dieback of Amazonian rainforest. The analysis based on a scenario with continuously increasing global emissions of greenhouse gases over the 21st century suggests that dry season water stress is likely to increase in parts of Amazonia. The researchers provide evidence that the Amazonian rainforest could reveal characteristic properties of a tipping element with the tendency to change into a seasonal forest.
In his paper on potential threshold behaviour of sea-ice and continental ice-sheets, Dirk Notz of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology concludes that tipping points more likely exist for the loss of the Greenland ice sheet and the West-Antarctic ice sheet than for the loss of Arctic sea-ice, which could recover rapidly in a cooler climate. Inland ice could be much more vulnerable to regional warming due to the lack of large internal stabilizing feedbacks as existing for the Arctic sea-ice dynamics. Melting of the continental ice-sheets could lead to rapid multi-meter rise in mean sea level over the coming centuries.
Finally, Nobel Laureate Mario Molina and his co-authors demand fast action from political and economic decision makers to avoid activation of tipping elements. They propose to strengthen the Montreal Protocol regarding substances that have high global-warming potentials. In particular, the scientists make strong cases for an accelerated phasing out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons and a massive reduction of the emissions of soot.
"After two decades of failed climate protection since the 1990 IPCC Report it is more doubtful than ever whether society will manage to confine global environmental change to sub-dangerous levels," says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. The tipping-elements field is developing quickly into a broad and relevant research frontier domain, but the issues pose tough challenges for contemporary science. Practically none of the planetary cases studied can be either dismissed now -- by firmly ruling out a possible anthropogenic triggering of irregular dynamics -- or settled by providing reliable estimates for activation temperatures and reaction time scales. "Many of the papers sketch the research way forward, but it seems that we will have to live with at least another decade of tantalising ignorance concerning the most worrying potential impacts of global warming," says Schellnhuber.

Natural Compound (Quercetin) Blocks Hepatitis C Infection
ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2010) — Researchers have identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection, a finding that may result in the approval of new and less toxic treatments for the disease, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

An estimated 270 to 300 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C and the conventional treatments -- interferon and ribavirin -- can have significant side effects. A new drug targeting cellular proteins rather than viral proteins would be a valuable addition to the treatment arsenal, said Samuel French, an assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the study.
French and his team set out to identify the cellular factors involved in hepatitis C replication and, using mass spectrometry, found that heat shock proteins (HSPs) 40 and 70 were important for viral infection. HSP 70 was previously known to be involved, but HSP 40 was linked for the first time to hepatitis C infection, French said. They further showed that the natural compound Quercetin, which inhibits the synthesis of these proteins, significantly inhibits viral infection in tissue culture.
"This is an important finding because we can block these proteins with the idea of reducing the level of the virus in people and, ideally, completely eliminate it," said French, who also is a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study appeared in the most recent issue of the journal Hepatology.
Since Quercetin has been shown to inhibit hepatitis C infection, French said, a Phase I clinical trial will be launched at UCLA to determine if the compound is safe and effective.
Quercetin is a plant-derived bioflavonoid, and is used by some people as a nutritional supplement. Laboratory studies show it may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and it is being investigated for a wide range of potential health benefits. Currently, there are early-stage clinical trials testing quercetin for safety and efficacy against sarcoidosis, asthma and glucose absorption in obesity and diabetes.
"Because Quercetin targets cellular proteins rather than viral proteins, there is less likelihood of developing viral resistance," French said. "Cellular proteins cannot change like viral proteins can."
Many patients in the United States have a type of hepatitis C virus that does not respond to the standard treatments. In these cases, if the virus can't be blocked, end-stage liver disease and, ultimately, death may occur. Once HSP 40 and 70 were identified, French and his team used Quercetin in an attempt to block the proteins and found that the compound "reduced infectious particle production at non-toxic concentrations," according to the study.
"Quercetin may allow for the dissection of the viral life cycle and has potential therapeutic use to reduce virus production with low associated toxicity," the study states.
The UCLA clinical trial will most likely target those with type 1 hepatitis C, which is the non-responsive type prevalent in this country. Only about 50 percent of those with type 1 hepatitis C respond to treatment, French said.
Volunteers with type 1 hepatitis C who opt not to undergo conventional therapies would be recruited for the study. In other studies in other diseases, Quercetin has resulted in no significant side effects, French said.
"A non-toxic treatment for chronic hepatitis C would be great because our current therapies have significant side effects and only a certain percentage of the patient population responds," French said.
The three-year study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Cure Digestive Diseases Research Center and the Stein Oppenheimer Endowment Award.

Carotenoids in veggies and fruits improve eyesight and prevent eye diseases
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com  January 7, 2010 

(NaturalNews) Countless moms have told their children to eat their veggies -- especially carrots -- in order to help their eyesight. It turns out that "old wives' tale" is actually sound science. According to a study just published in the Journal of Food Science, a publication of the Institute of Food Technologists, the phytonutrients known as carotenoids not only may prevent age-related eye diseases but they've also been found to improve vision.

Carotenoids are the yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants and found in many colored vegetables and fruits. Some of the most common carotenoids found in plant-rich diets include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene. 

Scientists from the University of Georgia evaluated data from multiple studies to investigate the effects of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, on visual performance. These particular carotenoids have been shown to play an important role in human vision, including helping to keep the retina healthy. The light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the inner eye, the retina works much like film in a camera and is critical for good eyesight. Images that come through the lens of the eye are focused on the retina which then converts these images to electric signals and sends them along the optic nerve to the brain.

Dr. Billy R. Hammond Jr. and his research team concluded that lutein and zeaxanthin have specific beneficial effects on visual performance. Their study found lutein and zeaxanthin can reduce disability and discomfort from glare, enhance contrast, and increase the visual range. Simply put, the phytonutrients improve vision. In addition, the carotenoids were found to reduce recovery time from photostress (how long it takes the retina to return to normal function after exposure to a flash of light). In a study published last year, Dr. Hammond Jr. also reported that adequate intake of lutein and zeaxanthin early in life could help the development of a healthy, normal visual system in children.

In a statement to the media, Dr. Hammond Jr. noted the effects of lutein and zeazanthin are important because "it is clear that they could potentially improve vision through biological means. For example, a study conducted in 2008 suggests that the pigments protect the retina and lens and perhaps even help prevent age-related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataract." 

As NaturalNews has previously reported, researchers have recently documented that a host of foods and nutrients may protect eye health and vision. For example, fish, nuts and olive oil have been found to prevent help prevent age-related blindness (http://www.naturalnews.com/026369_o...).

Number of UK Children Put on Obesity Drugs Soars 1500 Percent in Seven Years
by David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com  January 7, 2010

(NaturalNews) The number of children in the United Kingdom taking prescription weight loss drugs increased by 15 times between 1999 and 2006, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University College London and published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

"This rise in the use of drugs is a real indictment on society," said Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum. "It seems to me that we are ignoring measures to prevent our children becoming obese and then turning to drugs as a treatment of choice when they should be a last resort. That borders on criminal because it means that all the messages about healthy eating and exercise for reducing weight are just being tossed aside by [doctors]."

As many as 1,300 children under the age of 18 may now be taking the drugs, which are only approved for adults. Adult use exceeds one million.

The study also found that among children who took weight loss drugs, most stopped using them before experiencing any benefit.

"It's possible that the drugs are being given inappropriately, or that they have excessive side-effects that make young people discontinue their use," researcher Russell Viner said. "On the other hand, they could be expecting the drugs to deliver a miracle 'quick fix' and stop using them when sudden, rapid weight-loss does not occur."

Fry said that juvenile use of weight loss drugs will probably increase with the recent approval of Alli, an over-the-counter version of the weight loss drug Xenical, for sale in the United Kingdom. He blamed the childhood obesity crisis on excessive food intake, caused in part by poor regulation of the food industry, combined with a shortage of open spaces where children can exercise and play. Drugs, he said, will not solve the problem.

"It's the failure to regulate the energy in and the energy out," Fry said. "[Children] are failing to exercise enough to maintain the balance."

Study: Antidepressants, Placebos Near Equally Effective
Commonly Prescribed Antidepressants Had 'Negligible' Effect on Patients With Mild, Moderate, Even Severe Depression
ABC NEWS,  Jan. 6, 2010 —

A new analysis found that commonly prescribed antidepressants had little effect on people with cases of mild to severe depression compared to those treated with placebos.
The analysis, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assocation, combined the findings of six different previous studies of two commonly prescribed treatments -- paroxetine, similar to common Paxil, Prosac and Zoloft, and imipramine, an older antidepressant drug.
"The magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo increases with severity of depression symptoms and may be minimal or nonexistent, on average, in patients with mild or moderate symptoms. For patients with very severe depression, the benefit of medications over placebo is substantial," the study concluded.
The findings do not mean that the drugs or the placebos were frivolous for most users, "Good Morning America" chief medical editor Dr. Richard Besser said today. Rather, both the antidepressants and the placebos had a positive effect on the patients.
"You hear that headline and you think, 'Oh, my God, there is nothing out there that works for depression," Besser said. "The study actually found the exact opposite; that both placebo and medications were extremely effective at treating mild to moderate depression. What you can't tell from this study is what else is going on. Were these individuals getting what is most effective, which is talk therapy?"
The analysis included a pool of 434 patients from the antidepressant group and 284 patients in the placebo group.
Dr. Gary Kennedy, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said that analysis seemed logical, but was cautious of its conclusions.
"The finding that more severe depression is more likely to respond to antidepressant medication seems sound," Kennedy said. "But only six studies were used to generate the conclusion, and three of those studies used an antidepressant that few practicing physicians would prescribe nowadays.
"However... This is a major line of enquiry at present and offers the hope that we can prevent severe depression if we could identify the trajectory from minor to major depression," he said.

The Value of Therapy and Social Support
One criticism of the study is that by simply participating in the trial, the patients are getting a secondary form of therapy that is not measured: talk therapy.
"The most effective thing for mild to moderate depression is being in a therapeutic relationship where they can talk through their problems with someone who is really skilled," Besser said. "What they found in [the study], and you can't really tell from this, is that it didn't really matter the drug. You were getting better if you had this and that should give people hope with mild to moderate depression."
Harold Koenig, a professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Duke University Medical Center, said the study coordinators are often extremely kind and encouraging of participants to make sure they comply with the study.
"This is basically providing supportive therapy, and supportive therapy is very effective in mild to moderate depressions," Koenig said.
Several experts told "Good Morning America" that antidepressants are often prescribed to those with mild to moderate depression when proper therapy or interpersonal support is lacking.
"Consumers should understand that with mild or moderate depression, the ideal treatment must include talk therapy, ideally either cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal psychotherapy," said Dr. Ken Robbins, clinical professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "In addition, if antidepressants are to be used, it is best if they are prescribed by someone who has training and experience in the most up-to-date use of these medications."

More Toddlers, Young Children Given Antipsychotics
Researchers question the 'worrisome' trend
NewsWeek, EXECUTIVE HEALTH January 04, 2010, 16:00 EST
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of children aged 2 to 5 who are given antipsychotic medications has doubled in recent years, a new study has found.
Yet little is known about either the effectiveness or the safety of these powerful psychiatric medications in children this age, said researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University, who looked at data on more than 1 million children with private health insurance.
"It is a worrisome trend, partly because very little is known about the short-term, let alone the long-term, safety of these drugs in this age group," said study author Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City.
Prescribing antipsychotics to children in the upper range of that age span -- ages 4 and 5 -- is justifiable only in rare, intractable situations in which all other treatments, including family and psychological therapy, have been tried and are not working, Olfson said.
And it's questionable whether 2- and 3-year-olds should ever be prescribed antipsychotics, Olfson said.
The study is published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Presumably, only children with the most severe mental problems would be given the potent drugs. Yet, less than half of children on antipsychotics had received any mental health services, including a mental health assessment or treatment from a psychotherapist or psychiatrist, the study authors noted.
"You don't see the kinds of mental health services you would expect to see if we were dealing with the most profoundly disturbed toddlers," Olfson said, raising the question of whether doctors had done everything they could to help the child before turning to medications.
The overall numbers of children prescribed antipsychotics remains small, at less than one half of one percent of the national sample. But the numbers are rising. In 1999-2001, about one in 1,300 were being treated with antipsychotics. By 2007, that had risen to one in 630, according to Olfson.
For 5-year-olds, about one in 650 were being treated in 1999-2001. That doubled, to one in 329, in 2007, he noted.
Research published online in December in the journal Health Affairs by the same research team suggested children on Medicaid are even more likely than children with private insurance to be prescribed antipsychotics.
The most common antipsychotic drug prescribed to children was risperidone (Risperdal), which accounted for nearly three-quarters of antipsychotic prescriptions. In adults and teens, risperidone is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Risperidone is also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat unstable mood or irritability in children with autism aged 5 and up.
Children who were most likely to receive risperidone were male and aged 4 or 5, according to the report. The most common diagnosis was pervasive developmental disorder or mental retardation, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or disruptive behavior disorder.
Previous research has shown children on the drugs may experience metabolic and endocrine abnormalities. Little is known about their impact on the developing brain, Olfson added.
"I don't want to minimize the problems children can have at this age, but there are psychological treatments that have been proven to help parents and the kids that emphasize the quality of the parent-child relationship," Olfson said.
One reason for the uptick may be increasing numbers of children diagnosed with autism and some research showing risperidone may help with autism-related irritability, the researchers noted.
Dr. Peter Jensen, co-director of the division of child psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic, agreed that the trend is concerning. "We have no doubt there are prescribing practices out there that are very, very worrisome," Jensen said.
It's imperative that children receive a full mental health assessment before getting these drugs, to understand the family situation and school environment and if there is a family history of psychiatric problems, as well as undergoing a physical exam to rule out other medical problems.
"These agents should not be used as an adjunct to a family stressed to the max," Jensen said. "With kids who are 2 to 5, most can be managed without these medicines. Rarely a 5-year-old goes on them. But a child of 2 or 3, in my experience, I have never had to put them on [an antipsychotic]. There is so much else that can be done."
The stress and difficulty of coping with a child who has significant mental health issues, the need to have a child behave well enough to be permitted to attend school, as well as lack of adequate coverage for family therapy and mental health services, may push doctors and parents into believing they have little choice other than medicating the child, Jensen said.

Benefits of Beet Juice Exceed Expectations
Kim Evans, NaturalNews.com  January 7,2010

(NaturalNews) The health benefits of beet juice aren`t well known, but they are profound. Beet juice is best known as a blood purifier and blood builder that helps in the creation of red blood cells. Russian longevity researcher, Mikhail Tombak, Ph.D., tells us that beet juice improves blood structure and cures diseases of the circulatory system, large intestine, and digestive system. Tombak also shares that beet juice dissolves stones in the liver, kidneys and bladder. Not bad for a common item found in most grocery stores.

Researchers have found that a glass of beet juice each day beats high blood pressure - and according to the American Heart Association, one in three adults has high blood pressure. In the 1950`s, Dr. Ferenczi of Hungary had his cancer patients drink a quart of beet juice each day, which was effectively breaking down and eliminating tumors. Beets have been found to increase the body`s production of glutathione, which helps the body detoxify cancer-causing poisons.

Sherry Rogers, M.D. tells us that glutathione can grab onto hundreds of different kinds of environmental chemicals and pull them into the colon where they can be flushed down the toilet. However, if you`re depleted in glutathione this process won`t work for you. And that means many environmental chemicals will remain inside your body, causing what they so often cause: cancer and other health problems.

In studies, animals with chemically-induced high cholesterol were fed beet fiber. Compared to the control group, the beet fed animals experienced a total cholesterol drop of 30%, while their triglycerides dropped 40%. Essentially, the beets significantly dropped the animals` risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The animals` HDL (beneficial cholesterol) also increased significantly, offering protective benefits.

Beets have also been found to increase the number of CD8 cells in the colon, which are cancer-destroying cells. Colon cancer is the third most diagnosed type of cancer in the U.S. and the third leading type of cancer related death. Sounds like quite a few people could benefit from drinking some more beet juice.