Published on Thursday, February 26, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Organic Farming, Promise in the Face of Global Warming

by Jim Goodman

Farmers dislike unpredictable weather patterns, the weather shapes our
lives and therefore everyone else's. Impending global climate change
worries us, at least those of us who work with natures cycles. The
industrial agriculture crowd are, as usual, ready to fight nature in
hopes of ultimate victory.

As global temperatures increase and carbon dioxide levels rise, crop
yields will rise correspondingly, or so many farmers would like to
think. Perhaps, in Northern Canada and Russia, for a time, but
eventually heat and drought will shrivel crops even in the northern
latitudes..

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA)
recent study on global climate change, plants will grow larger with
higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, but they will also need more
water. Yet, fresh water resources are becoming more scarce.

While higher carbon dioxide levels can increase overall plant growth,
the grain, or seed portion of the plant, will have less time to to
adequately develop due to rising temperatures. Thus high temperatures
will also decrease the plants ability to reproduce.

While some food crops may benefit from the changing climate, weeds will
benefit more. More weeds mean more competition with food crops, so to
compensate, farmers will increase their use of costly herbicides.
Climate change will defeat that strategy as well. The most widely used
herbicide in the US, Roundup, begins to loose its efficacy as carbon
dioxide levels rise.

Insects and crop diseases thrive under warmer conditions. With less
winter freezing to control them, they will move northward.

For livestock farmers, increased temperatures will cause increased heat
stress on livestock. Graizers will see lowered forage quality and
protein content requiring more land to feed increasingly heat and insect
stressed animals.

Particularly troubling are the more frequently occurring global climate
"surprises". My farm has experienced two "100 year" rains in less than a
year. Europe had record heat waves in 2003 and 2007, record cold waves
in 2006 and 2009. Australia suffers under prolonged drought and
devastating wildfires, while more unpredictable late season frosts
threaten fruit, vegetable and winter grain crops in the US.

Still, the most devastating effects of climate change will be seen in
the developing world. As temperatures rise, the tropic and subtropic
regions of the world will see the most drastic temperature increases. As
the worlds glaciers and ice caps continue to melt rising sea levels will
inundate many low lying and densely populated agricultural countries
like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Egypt.

The January 9, 2009 issue of Science stated that "the hottest seasons on
record will represent the future norm in many locations."  I remember my
fathers stories of the hot, dry summers of the Dust Bowl 1930's. While
human activity certainly put the dust in the Dust Bowl, we are now
seeing actual changes to physical systems such as glaciers, permafrost
and oceans.

NASA scientist James Hanson tells us we must seriously consider the
amount of carbon dioxide in the air. He warns that if we wish to
maintain a planet somewhat similar to the one we now inhabit, 350 parts
per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide is the highest level we can
maintain. Considering that current levels are around 390 ppm and
growing, we could be in trouble.

If we think agriculture will thrive in a warming world we are deluding
ourselves. In addition to cutting industrial and transportation
emissions, there are models of sustainable farming systems that can
reduce carbon emissions. A long term study by the Rodale Institute
showed organic farming methods were capable of sequestering nearly 30%
more carbon in the soil than conventional farming methods.

Sustainable agriculture keeps more carbon in the soil and it focuses on
food crops, not environmentally damaging commodity crops. Equally
important, as shown by last years report of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development, sustainable agriculture offers
developing countries a wide range of economic, environmental, social and
cultural benefits.

If we are going to get serious about reducing carbon emissions to the
350 ppm level and if we are going to give the developing world a chance
to feed itself, organic and sustainable agriculture need to become the
norm, not the exception.

Jim Goodman is a dairy farmer and activist from Wonewoc, WI and a WK
Kellogg Food and Society
<http://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=75&CID=19&NID=61&LanguageID=0>
[1] Policy Fellow.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/26-0

Consumers and Healthcare Professionals Agree - Kitchen Cabinet is Home
for My Supplements--- Multivitamin, vitamin C, calcium among most
popular supplements, according to survey -

PR Newswire 02-25-09

WASHINGTON, Feb 24, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- What's in
your kitchen cabinets? Aside from the usual staples of cereal, coffee
filters, and bottles of salad dressing, it appears that the majority of
American adults who take vitamins and other supplements every year are
keeping them in their kitchen cabinet. According to the 2008 CRN
Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements, 52 percent of supplement users
indicated that they store their supplements in a kitchen cabinet.

These findings are consistent with results from the 2007
"Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study, which
surveyed U.S. doctors and nurses on their usage and attitudes of dietary
supplements and found that a similar number -- 59 percent of physicians
and 66 percent of nurses -- are also keeping their vitamins and other
supplements in the kitchen cabinet. This same survey also found that 72
percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses personally use dietary
supplements, and that 79 percent of physicians and 82 percent of nurses
recommend dietary supplements to their patients.

Like healthcare professionals, supplement consumers are using their
bathroom cabinet as the second most popular place to store their
supplements. Twenty-three percent of consumers (as well as 25 percent of
doctors and 27 percent of nurses) reported housing their supplements
there. Supplement consumers also report storing their supplements in
other locations, including: kitchen counter (15%), night table (11%),
refrigerator (7%), desk at home (5%), bathroom counter (5%), closet
(4%), purse or briefcase (4%), and desk in office (3%).

So which supplements might consumers be storing in these various
locations? The following supplements ranked the highest when supplement
users were asked in the 2008 CRN Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements
what supplements they had taken in the past twelve months:

-- Multivitamin (taken by 82% of supplement consumers)

-- Vitamin C (taken by 32% of supplement consumers)

-- Calcium (taken by 32% of supplement consumers)

-- Omega 3/Fish Oil (taken by 28% of supplement consumers)

-- Vitamin B/B Complex (taken by 23% of supplement consumers)

-- Vitamin E (taken by 20% of supplement consumers)

-- Vitamin D (taken by 16% of supplement consumers)

-- Green Tea (taken by 16% of supplement consumers)

-- Glucosamine and/or Chondroitin (taken by 15% of supplement consumers)
-- Flax Seed (taken by 11% of supplement consumers)

Whether you are taking multivitamins, calcium, vitamin E or other types
of supplements, remember to store them in a cool, dry place, out of the
reach of children, and in a location that is convenient so that you will
remember to take them everyday. And be sure to check the labels on a
regular basis. If any are past the expiration date, discard the product
and get new ones.

The 2008 CRN Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements was conducted August
20-25, 2008 by Ipsos Public Affairs and funded by the Council for
Responsible Nutrition (CRN). The survey was conducted on-line and
included a national sample of 2,013 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos'
U.S. on-line panel. The survey has been conducted annually since 2000,
with a migration from telephone to the internet beginning in 2005. The
survey was weighted to reflect the actual U.S. adult population with an
estimated margin of error of +/-2.2 percentage points.

Note to Editor: Ipsos Public Affairs is part of Ipsos, a leading global
survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research
professionals that helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs
and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens. Ipsos offers a full
line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and on-line research
products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by
advanced analytics and methodologies.

Note to Editor: The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in
1973, is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing dietary
supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. In addition to
complying with a host of federal and state regulations governing dietary
supplements, CRN members also agree to adhere to voluntary guidelines
for manufacturing, marketing and CRN's Code of Ethics. Visit
www.crnusa.org.

SOURCE Council for Responsible Nutrition

 http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=7938&Section=Vitamins

Life Extensions, February 25, 2009

B vitamins decrease macular degeneration risk

In the February 23 issue of the American Medical Association journal
Archives of Internal Medicine <http://archinte.ama-assn.org/> , Harvard
researchers report the results of a clinical trial which found that
women who received the B vitamins folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12
have a reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared
with women who received a placebo. Age-related macular degeneration is a
major cause of vision loss in older men and women, and has been linked
in recent studies with elevated levels of homocysteine, which can be
lowered with specific B vitamins.

For the current trial, William G. Christen, ScD of Harvard Medical
School and his associates enrolled 5,442 participants in the Women's
Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study of women at high risk
for cardiovascular disease. The majority of the subjects did not have
macular degeneration at the beginning of the study. The women were
assigned a placebo or 2.5 milligrams folic acid, 50 milligrams vitamin
B6 and 1 milligram vitamin B12 daily from April, 1998 through July,
2005.

One hundred thirty-seven new diagnoses of macular degeneration were
documented during an average 7.3 years of treatment and follow-up.
Seventy of these cases were considered visually significant. Women who
received the B vitamins were found to have a 34 percent lower risk of
developing age related macular degeneration and a 41 percent lower risk
of visually significant disease compared with those who received a
placebo.

In addition to reducing homocysteine, the authors suggest that
antioxidant effects and improved blood vessel function may be
responsible for the benefits observed in association with the B vitamins
used in this study. They announce that "The trial findings reported
herein are the strongest evidence to date in support of a possible
beneficial effect of folic acid and B vitamin supplements in AMD
prevention.”

Acrylamide in food not linked to breast cancer

Last Updated: 2009-02-25 13:25:08 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A potentially cancer-causing chemical found
in some carbohydrate-rich foods appears to not raise the risk of breast
cancer, the results of a large study suggest.

The chemical, acrylamide, gained notoriety several years ago when
researchers discovered that the suspected human carcinogen is present in
high levels in some popular snack foods, like potato chips, French fries
and crackers. Other sources include teething biscuits, sweet potatoes,
peanut butter, fast-food chicken nuggets, bottled prune juice and black
olives.

Acrylamide appears to form when certain carbohydrate-rich foods are
heated to high temperatures, through frying, baking or broiling.

Whether people's diets typically contain enough acrylamide to promote
cancer remains debatable. A number of studies have found no link between
people's acrylamide intake and their risk of cancer, but some have
detected a relationship. Specifically, a significant association between
acrylamide and the risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer was
detected by Danish researchers in 450 middle-age and older women.

In the latest study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology,
the investigators found no connection between long-term acrylamide
intake and the risk of breast cancer.

The findings suggest that acrylamide from foods does not promote breast
cancer -- at least within the range that women in this study consumed,
report Dr. Susanna C. Larsson and her colleagues at the Karolinska
Institute in Stockholm.

The study included 61,433 women born before 1949 who were cancer-free at
the outset. At the start of the study and again 10 years later, the
women completed dietary questionnaires that asked them how often they
usually ate specific foods.

The researchers used that information to estimate the women's overall
acrylamide intake.

During the study period, 2,952 women were newly diagnosed with breast
cancer. Those with the highest acrylamide intake were no more likely to
develop the disease than women with the lowest intake, Larsson's team
found.

"These findings for Swedish women do not support the hypothesis that
dietary acrylamide is positively associated with risk of breast cancer,
at least not within the ranges of acrylamide consumed by this
population," the researchers conclude.

They note, however, that acrylamide intake was fairly low in the study
group as a whole. So, it's not clear whether the findings apply to other
groups of women as well.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2009.

Exercise boosts breast cancer patients' well-being

Last Updated: 2009-02-25 13:01:01 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exercise can help women going through any
stage of breast cancer treatment to feel better both physically and
emotionally, a new research review shows.

"It helps enhance mood and emotions during all phases of cancer
treatment," lead investigator Dr. Susan R. Harris, an emeritus professor
at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, told Reuters Health.
Recent studies showing that active breast cancer survivors reduce their
risk of disease occurrence -- and are less likely to die from the
disease -- make the case for exercise even more compelling, added
Harris, herself a two-time breast cancer survivor.

She also noted that being active can help ward off weight gain, which is
known to increase breast cancer mortality, especially for women who gain
weight after undergoing treatment.

Harris and her team reviewed nine controlled trials, in which similar
patients were randomly assigned to the exercise group or to a "control"
group. The studies evaluated a wide range of physical activity, from
aerobic exercise and resistance training to Tai Chi, dance and movement
therapy, and gentle exercises done in a seated position.

Overall, the researchers say, the findings provide "strong evidence that
exercise positively influences quality of life in women living with
breast cancer." But it still isn't clear what type of exercise is best
for a woman according to the stage of her treatment, they add.

Certain questions about safety also remain, Harris noted in an
interview. For example, advanced breast cancer may spread to the bones
and make them more fragile, so it's not clear that resistance exercise
is safe for these patients. However, according to the researcher,
aerobic exercise is "completely safe."

While some experts have raised concerns that exercise could worsen
lymphedema, the swelling of the upper limb experienced by some breast
cancer patients after surgery or radiation treatment, those fears have
not been borne out, she added.

Breast cancer patients should understand that they don't need to
exercise every single day to benefit from physical activity, Harris
advised. There are times in the middle of treatment when a woman may
simply feel too exhausted, she said, and on those days, it's perfectly
OK to stay in bed.

Despite the clear benefits of exercise during breast cancer treatment,
the researcher noted, doctors often don't give these patients
recommendations on physical activity. "It's been kind of a black hole
because oncologists don't know what to recommend, although they're
getting better at it," Harris said.

Awareness is on the rise, she added; for example, the American College
of Sports Medicine and the American Cancer Society now have a training
program that certifies fitness professionals in working with cancer
patients and survivors.

SOURCE: The Breast Journal, January/February 2009.

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/02/25/eline/links/20090225elin
006.html

U.S. health insurance gap to widen without action

Last Updated: 2009-02-25 16:58:10 -0400 (Reuters Health)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans without health insurance
could rise by almost 10 million to 54 million in a decade if lawmakers
fail to quickly enact policies that rein in costs and expand coverage,
Congress' top budget analyst said on Wednesday.

Douglas Elmendorf, director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget
Office, told the Senate Finance Committee it may be decades before costs
savings are realized from any overhaul of the $2.3 trillion U.S.
healthcare industry.

If lawmakers fail to act, the number of Americans under the age of 65
without health insurance could rise to 54 million in 2019 from about 45
million now, he warned.

President Barack Obama has vowed to push this year for a revamp of the
$2.3 trillion U.S. healthcare system to rein in soaring costs and
provide more insurance coverage despite a deep economic recession and an
exploding budget deficit.

Administration officials say the path to controlling those deficits and
improving the United States' global economic performance lies through
overhauling the healthcare system.

Elmendorf told the Finance Committee, which will play a crucial role in
developing healthcare legislation, that it may be a long time before any
costs savings are realized.

"While coverage could be substantially expanded in a few years, it could
take many years or even decades for the ... changes needed to improve
the system's efficiency to come fully to fruition," Elmendorf told the
committee. He said lawmakers need to act now because of long lead times
needed to make changes.

That will make it difficult for Obama to honor his pledge to both expand
health coverage and cut an anticipated $1.2 trillion budget deficit in
half by the end of 2013.

Elmendorf said a number of studies have shown that the bulk of
healthcare cost growth is from new treatments and technologies, but he
also suggested a lot of spending may be wasted.

"The available evidence also suggests that a substantial share of
spending on health care contributes little if anything to the overall
health of the nation," Elemendorf said in testimony.

Elmendorf suggested a number of ways to help control costs and improve
care, including establishing a payment system that creates incentives to
control costs while rewarding a better quality of care.

The CBO director suggested policy-makers set up demonstration programs
to help determine the best approach.

Drug Industry Pushing New Treatment for Prostate Cancer While Ignoring
Far Safer and Less Costly Pomegranate Seeds

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) The drug industry is pushing a new "treatment" for
prostate cancer, which they claim is the first drug that's ever been
proven to reduce the risk of the disease. The drug, called finasteride,
costs over $1,000 per year, and it should be used by lots of men to
chemically "prevent" prostate cancer, says the American Society of
Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Association.

As usual, the benefits of the drug are being wildly hyped by its
promoters. In reality, a statistical analysis of the study reveals that
you would have to treat 71 men with the drug for seven years just to
prevent a single case of prostate cancer
<http://www.naturalnews.com/prostate_cancer.html> . That means society
would have to spend about half a million dollars while exposing 71 men
to this non-natural chemical in order to prevent just one case of the
disease <http://www.naturalnews.com/disease.html> ! This startling fact
is admitted by the very author of the study. (Barnett Kramer of the
National Institutes of Health).

Meanwhile, the drug -- sold under brand names Proscar and Propecia --
has side effects <http://www.naturalnews.com/side_effects.html>  that
include low libido, breast tenderness (in men!) and impotence. And those
are only the side effects they know about so far.

What the drug industry <http://www.naturalnews.com/drug_industry.html>
refuses to mention, of course, are all the natural remedies
<http://www.naturalnews.com/natural_remedies.html>  that can either
prevent or even help reverse prostate cancer
<http://www.naturalnews.com/cancer.html> . Among those natural remedies,
pomegranate <http://www.naturalnews.com/pomegranate.html>  is one of the
best-known nutritional remedies for prostate cancer. Pomegranate seeds
<http://www.naturalnews.com/seeds.html> , it turns out, contain a wealth
of anti-cancer nutrients that haven't even begun to be truly understood
by western medical scientists.

When it comes to prostate cancer, the best medicine
<http://www.naturalnews.com/medicine.html>  in the world comes straight
from Mother Nature.

Authors' Quotes on Prostate and Pomegranate

Below, you'll find selected quotes from noted authors on the subject of
Prostate and Pomegranate. Feel free to quote these in your own work
provided you give proper credit to both the original author quoted here
and this NaturalNews <http://www.naturalnews.com/NaturalNews.html>
page.

Investigators are also excited about the possibility that pomegranate
compounds might prevent prostate cancer or slow its growth. Other
preliminary research suggests that pomegranate juice might help protect
against skin and breast cancer
<http://www.naturalnews.com/breast_cancer.html> . Even arthritis may
yield to the power of pomegranates
<http://www.naturalnews.com/pomegranates.html> . Scientists at Case
Western Reserve University have reported that tissue cultures of human
cartilage cells respond to pomegranate extract. Inflammation is reduced
and the enzymes <http://www.naturalnews.com/enzymes.html>  that break
down cartilage become less active.
- Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_Best_Choices_From_The_Peoples_Pharmacy.
html>  by Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/1594864071/104-5522801-4645555>
In addition to being good for your heart and blood vessels
<http://www.naturalnews.com/blood_vessels.html> , pomegranates have been
shown to inhibit breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer
<http://www.naturalnews.com/colon_cancer.html> , and leukemia and to
prevent vascular changes that promote tumor growth
<http://www.naturalnews.com/tumor_growth.html>  in lab animals.
Pomegranates' potent antioxidant
<http://www.naturalnews.com/antioxidant.html>  compounds also have been
shown to reduce platelet <http://www.naturalnews.com/platelet.html>
aggregation and naturally lower blood pressure
<http://www.naturalnews.com/blood_pressure.html> , factors that prevent
both heart attacks and strokes.
- Cholesterol Protection for Life, New Expanded Edition
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_Cholesterol_Protection_for_Life.html>
by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0974463329/103-7056402-2016609>
Journal Nutritional Biochemistry 16: 360-67, 2005] Numerous reports
extol pomegranate for prostate, colon and skin cancer. Its one drawback
is that ellagic acid, a primary antioxidant in pomegranate, is poorly
absorbed. However, it still has potency against colon cancer. [Clinical
Chim Acta 348: 63-68, 2004] Ellagic acid, found in pomegranate and red
raspberries <http://www.naturalnews.com/raspberries.html> , inhibits an
enzyme, topoisomerase, that breaks DNA strands that can produce cancer.
Ellagic acid mimics the cancer drug etoposide (Etopophos, vepesid).
- You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_You_Dont_Have_to_be_Afraid_of_Cancer_An
ymore.html>  by Bill Sardi
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0977427218/104-6745254-8710355>
In addition to being good for your heart and blood vessels, pomegranates
have been shown to inhibit breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer,
and leukemia <http://www.naturalnews.com/leukemia.html>  and to prevent
vascular changes that promote tumor growth in lab animals
<http://www.naturalnews.com/lab_animals.html> . Pomegranates' potent
antioxidant compounds also have been shown to reduce platelet
aggregation and naturally lower blood pressure, factors that prevent
both heart attacks and strokes.
- Cholesterol Protection for Life, New Expanded Edition
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_Cholesterol_Protection_for_Life.html>
by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0974463329/103-7056402-2016609>
Preliminary research in animals suggests that pomegranate juice may help
prevent prostate cancer.
Most important to this discussion, pomegranates may be valuable in
combating arthritis <http://www.naturalnews.com/arthritis.html> .
Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have reported in the
Journal of Nutrition that tissue cultures of human cartilage cells
respond to pomegranate extract.131 Inflammation is reduced and the
enzymes that break down cartilage become less active.
Tariq Haqqi, PhD, is professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve
University and the lead investigator in this research.
- Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_Best_Choices_From_The_Peoples_Pharmacy.
html>  by Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/1594864071/104-5522801-4645555>
Studies have shown the anti-cancer activity on cancer cells of the
breast, esophagus, skin, colon, prostate and pancreas. It can bind with
cancer causing molecules, making them inactive and is chemoprotective
against various chemically induced cancers
<http://www.naturalnews.com/cancers.html> . Ellagic acid helps eliminate
excess nickel from the body. Plants produce ellagic acid to protect
themselves from microbiological infection and pests. It's present in
many red fruits and berries <http://www.naturalnews.com/berries.html> ,
including raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, apples
<http://www.naturalnews.com/apples.html>  and pomegranate and some nuts
<http://www.naturalnews.com/nuts.html>  including pecans and walnuts.
- Get Balanced-the Natural Way to Better Health with Superfoods
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_Get_Balanced.html>  by Jan Lovejoy
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0979180309>

Prostate problems have the same risk factors as so many other health
<http://www.naturalnews.com/health.html>  problems, like a diet high in
saturated fats and being overweight. But a number of nutrients have been
shown to improve prostate health, such as green tea (because of the
polyphenols) and pomegranates.
- You: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_YOU_Staying_Young.html>  by Mehmet C.
Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0743292561/105-8338622-4040425>
Antioxidants have been proven protective against many cancers, including
lung, colon, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer. In general, the more
colorful the food <http://www.naturalnews.com/food.html>  you eat, the
higher its antioxidant content will be. Cooking and microwaving lower
the amount of antioxidants
<http://www.naturalnews.com/antioxidants.html>  in your foods, so fresh
is always best. Berries, pomegranates, sunflower seeds, and walnuts
<http://www.naturalnews.com/walnuts.html>  are foods with some of the
highest antioxidant content. All citrus fruits
<http://www.naturalnews.com/fruits.html> , including oranges,
pineapples, kiwi fruits, prunes, and dates, are also very good sources.
- The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and
Rediscover Your Inner Glow
<http://www.naturalnews.com/book_The_Natural_Hormone_Makeover.html>  by
Phuli Cohan
- Available on Amazon.com
<http://astore.amazon.com/wsdm-20/detail/0471744840/103-7056402-2016609>
http://www.naturalnews.com/025725.html

Newer Antipsychotic Drugs Raise Fatal Heart Attack Risk

by David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) The highly popular class of drugs known as atypical
antipsychotics may significantly increase a patient's risk of suffering
from a fatal heart attack, according to a new study conducted by
researchers from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Antipsychotic drugs are designed to treat schizophrenia, but are often
prescribed (sometimes off-label) for other conditions such as bipolar
disorder, depression and even hyperactivity. The so-called atypical
antipsychotics became popular in the 1990s and rapidly outstripped the
older ("typical") antipsychotics
<http://www.naturalnews.com/antipsychotics.html>  in usage, largely due
to the perception that they were safer. According to the current study,
however, the newer drugs boost heart attack risk
<http://www.naturalnews.com/heart_attack_risk.html>  even more than the
old ones.

"Many people thought the 'atypicals' would be much, much safer,"
researcher Wayne Ray said. "Our study suggests that they are not at all
safer in regards to this serious end point."

The researchers reviewed medical records on 277,000 users of the
Tennessee Medicaid program, looking at fatal heart attack
<http://www.naturalnews.com/heart_attack.html>  risk among both users
and nonusers of atypical antipsychotics.

Prior research has found that users of the older antipsychotics have a
significantly higher risk of death than non-users, which led the FDA
<http://www.naturalnews.com/the_FDA.html>  to update those drugs'
warning labels in June.

"A similar increased risk was seen for current users of atypical
antipsychotic drugs
<http://www.naturalnews.com/antipsychotic_drugs.html> , who had a rate
of sudden cardiac death that was more than twice that for non-users,"
the researchers in the current study wrote.

The researchers also found that the risk of fatal heart attack
correlated directly with the dosage of antipsychotic being taken. The
risk of heart death dropped quickly once patients stopped taking the
drugs.

For years, the FDA has recognized that taking atypical antipsychotics
significantly increases a person's risk of early death. This is
attributed in part to the fact that the drugs interfere with the flow of
potassium, an essential nutrient for regulating nerve and muscle
(including heart) function.

Salad Is Even Healthier Than You Thought

Kellen Communications
<http://www.newswise.com/institutions/view/?id=7774> 

Newswise — Eating just one salad a day provides even greater health
benefits than previously thought, according to a study that examined
salad consumption by more than 17,000 adults. The study, conducted by
the UCLA School of Public Health and Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center, supported by The Association for Dressings & Sauces,
revealed that those who eat salads and raw vegetables with salad
dressing have considerably higher levels of vitamins C, E, B6, and folic
acid—key nutrients in promoting a healthy immune system and reducing the
risk of obesity, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

“Eating a salad a day is a convenient way to easily improve your
nutritional status,” said Dr. Lenore Arab, professor of epidemiology at
UCLA School of Public Health and lead researcher of the study, titled
“Salad and Raw Vegetable Consumption and Nutritional Status in the Adult
US Population". “Just one salad daily helps to satisfy the 2005 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, which recommends eating two and a half cups of
vegetables each day for a 2000-calorie diet.”

According to the study, less than 50% of the US population meets the
daily recommendation for vegetables necessary for healthy living.
Americans do not get enough of the water-soluble vitamins of which
salads are a rich source. The raw vegetables in salads also offer the
added benefits of fiber for better digestion and antioxidants for
boosting immunity.

Interestingly, clinical trials have shown that adding salad dressing to
a salad not only adds a delicious flavor, but also increases the
absorption of certain nutrients being consumed. “It’s not just the leafy
greens and vegetables that are doing a body good,” said Arab. “Some fat
can also enhance the absorption of nutrients such as lycopene and alpha-
and beta-carotene.”

The findings of this study are consistent with the government’s new push
for more fruit and vegetable consumption. Though it’s already known that
salad was a healthy meal option, the bottom line, according to the UCLA
study - eating one salad a day is a simple way to live a healthier
lifestyle. The study has been published in the September issue of the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. For more information,
visit http://www.saladaday.org.

The Association for Dressings and Sauces is an international trade
association representing the manufacturers of salad dressings and
condiment sauces and the suppliers to the industry. For more
information, visit our website at http://www.dressings-sauces.org.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/523785/

FDA Halts New Applications From Indian Drug Maker's Plant

Agency says Ranbaxy Laboratories facility falsified scientific data

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Posted February 25, 2009

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials have halted
the review of any new drug applications from a Ranbaxy Laboratories
plant in India after determining the facility was falsifying scientific
data.

Ranbaxy, based in India, is one of the largest suppliers of generic
drugs to the United States.

"We took this action after it became apparent that this facility was
submitting falsified scientific data in applications for FDA approval of
marketed drugs in the United States," Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy
director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said during a
Wednesday teleconference.

Falsifying data in drug applications is a "serious breach of integrity
-- a breach that must be quickly addressed and corrected," Throckmorton
added.

Throckmorton noted this is the second action against the Paonta Sahib
facility in less than six months. "No other Ranbaxy facilities are
directly affected by this action," he said.

Until these problems are resolved, the FDA will stop review of drug
applications from the Paonta Sahib plant and the agency will not accept
any new applications from this plant, Throckmorton said.

These applications fall into three categories, drugs made in the plant
for the U.S. market, drugs not marketed in the United States pending FDA
approval, and drugs made in the United States that relied on data from
the Paonta Sahib plant.

Last September, the FDA denied U.S. entry of 30 generic drugs made at
the Paonta Sahib plant and a sister facility in Dewas, India, for
problems related to the manufacturing process. At that time, FDA
officials also recommended denying any new drug applications from those
two plants.

Some of the false data supplied from the Paonta Sahib plant involved the
shelf life of products, Deborah Autor, director of the FDA's Office of
Compliance at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said during
the teleconference. In addition, the company falsified data about
production practices, she said.

The agency will begin reviewing applications only after Ranbaxy is able
to prove to the agency that all of its data are correct and the FDA no
longer has a concern about the data in the applications, Autor said.

While most products made by the company in the United States are not
part of the FDA action, Autor added, there are some U.S. products that
are affected.

Two of them are cholesterol-lowering drugs, pravastatin (Pravachol) and
imvastatin (simvastatin), andan antihistamine known as pheniramine
(Avil), Autor said.

The FDA is asking Ranbaxy for assurance that none of the data on these
drug applications are from the Paonta Sahib facility, she explained.

Throckmorton was careful to say that the FDA has received no reports of
harm caused by Ranbaxy products made in the United States or in the
Paonta Sahib plant.

In addition, the agency is advising patients not to stop taking any
medications without talking with their doctors first, he said.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/02/25/fda-halts-
new-applications-from-indian-drug.html

BBC NEWS

Rapid HIV evolution avoids attack

HIV is evolving rapidly to escape the human immune system, an
international study has shown.

The Nature study highlights just how tough it could be to develop a
vaccine that keeps pace with the changing nature of the virus. The
researchers showed HIV was able to adapt rapidly to counter human genes
controlling immune system molecules that can target it for destruction.
However, they stressed this would not affect the impact of anti-HIV
drugs.

“ The implication is that once we have found an effective vaccine, it
would need to be changed on a frequent basis to catch up with the
evolving virus ”
Professor Philip Goulder
University of Oxford

HIV has already killed 25 million people, and an estimated 33 million
are currently infected. However, HIV does not kill all people at the
same rate. On average, without treatment it takes 10 years for the
infection to progress to Aids, but some people develop the disease
within 12 months, while others do not do so for more than 20 years. The
rate of progress is tied to genes which control production of key immune
system molecules called human leucocyte antigens (HLAs). Humans differ
in the exact HLA genes they have, and even small differences can have a
big impact on how quickly Aids develops. The researchers examined HIV
genetic sequences and HLA genes in over 2,800 people in countries,
including the UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada and Japan.

'Escape' mutations

They found mutations that enabled HIV effectively to neutralise the
effect of a particular HLA gene were more frequent in populations with a
high prevalence of that specific gene. For example, a HLA gene called
B*51 is particularly effective at controlling HIV - unless the virus is
carrying an "escape" mutation in its genetic make-up.

The researchers found that in Japan, where the B*51 gene is common,
two-thirds HIV-positive people without the gene carry HIV armed with the
"escape" mutation. In contrast, in the UK, where the gene is much less
common, just 15%-25% of this group of patients are infected with HIV
which carries the same key mutation.

Lead researcher Professor Philip Goulder, of the University of Oxford,
said similar effects were seen for every HLA gene examined. He said:
"This shows that HIV is extremely adept at adapting to the immune
responses in human populations that are most effective at containing the
virus. This is high speed evolution that we're seeing in the space of
just a couple of decades. The temptation is to see this as bad news,
that these results mean the virus is winning the battle. That's not
necessarily the case. It could equally be that as the virus changes,
different immune responses come into play and are actually more
effective. The implication is that once we have found an effective
vaccine, it would need to be changed on a frequent basis to catch up
with the evolving virus, much like we do today with the flu vaccine."

Big challenge

Jo Robinson, of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "HIV is a
complex virus which is constantly changing. "This kind of research
suggests that if we're able to create a vaccine that works against HIV,
the virus will always be one step ahead. In that case we'd be in a
situation where we need to constantly update the HIV vaccine, a bit like
we see with a different flu vaccine each year."

Keith Alcorn, of the HIV information service NAM, said: "These findings
indicate the enormous challenge involved in developing a vaccine against
HIV. "People need to be aware that the research required to develop a
successful vaccine may take decades, during which the virus will
continue to evolve, as this research shows."

BBC NEWS

Clean living way to beat cancer

Over 40% of breast and bowel cancer cases in rich countries are
preventable through diet, physical activity and weight control alone,
experts say.

Simple measures like cycling to work and swapping fatty foods for fruit
can make all the difference for these and many other cancers, they say.

Globally, each year there are millions of these preventable cancer
cases, the World Cancer Research Fund estimates.

Its report makes recommendations for "clean living" policies.

“ After not smoking, it is clear that diet, physical activity and weight
are the most important things people can do to reduce their cancer risk
”
Professor Mike Richards
National Clinical Director for Cancer

According to the report, about a third of the 12 most common cancers in
high-income countries and about a quarter in lower income countries
could be prevented through diet, exercise and weight control.

This include cancers of the throat, lung and bowel.

The figures do not take into account the impact of smoking, which alone
accounts for about a third of cancers.

The panel of 23 experts who compiled the report say urgent action is
needed to avert a crisis, with cancer rates set to increase.

Not inevitable

Professor Martin Wiseman, project director, said: "We are expecting a
substantial increase in cancer rates with the ageing population, obesity
rates soaring, and with people becoming less active and increasingly
consuming highly processed and energy dense foods and drinks. The good
news is that this is not inevitable."

Panel chair Professor Sir Michael Marmot said: "This report shows that
by making relatively straightforward changes, we could significantly
reduce the number of cancer cases around the world."

The report says all sections of society "from governments to households"
should make public health, and cancer prevention in particular, a higher
priority.

Among the 48 recommendations is the advice for schools and workplaces to
actively encourage physical activity and ban unhealthy food.

Governments should require widespread walking and cycling routes to
encourage physical activity.

And the people who do the weekly food shopping for their family should
check food labels to make sure the food they buy is healthy.

Professor Mike Richards, National Clinical Director for Cancer, said:
"The evidence linking diet, physical activity, obesity and cancer has
become stronger over the last decade and this report can play a part in
people adopting healthier lifestyles.

"After not smoking, it is clear that diet, physical activity and weight
are the most important things people can do to reduce their cancer
risk."

Major step forward

Dr Francesco Branca, Head of Nutrition at the World Health Organization,
called the report a major step forward in understanding how policies and
actions can help prevent cancer and other chronic diseases.

He said: "The recommendations will inspire policy-makers and
decision-takers to act in a way that will play an important role in the
fight against cancer."

Richard Davidson, of the charity Cancer Research UK said around 13,000
cancer cases in the UK were linked to being overweight or obese, and
even more were linked to poor diet, drinking too much alcohol and not
doing enough exercise.

He said: "Doing nothing could be disastrous.

"There is no magic bullet, no one single fix to the problem. If we are
to tackle the situation we need individuals, business and government to
work together to encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting things like
cycle lanes and food labelling."

Estimated percentage of cancers that could be prevented

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7908675.stm

Additional Evidence That Potato Chips Should Be Eaten Only In Moderation

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — A new study published in the March 2009
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Marek Naruszewicz and
colleagues from Poland suggests that acrylamide from foods may increase
the risk of heart disease. Acrylamide has been linked previously to
nervous system disorders and possibly to cancer.

After ingesting large amounts of potato chips providing about 157
micrograms of acrylamide daily for four weeks, the participants had
adverse changes in oxidized LDL, inflammatory markers and antioxidants
that help the body eliminate acrylamide—all of which may increase the
risk of heart disease.

Additional research is needed in long-term studies of people consuming
typical amounts of acrylamide (averaging about 20 to 30 micrograms).

It is recommended that FDA and the food industry continue to decrease
acrylamide in foods by improving food processing technologies. FDA
reports that acrylamide is particularly high in potato chips and French
fries.

According to American Society for Nutrition Spokesperson Mary Ann
Johnson, PhD: "Consumers can reduce their exposure to acrylamide by
limiting their intake of potato chips and French fries, choosing a
variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat meat and dairy
products, and quitting smoking, which is a major source of acrylamide."

Naruszewicz et al. Chronic intake of potato chips in humans increases
the production of reactive oxygen radicals by leukocytes and increases
plasma C-reactive protein: a pilot study. American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 2009; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26647
<http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2008.26647>

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090213161040.htm

Cholesterol-reducing Drugs May Lessen Brain Function, Says Researcher

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — Research by an Iowa State University
scientist suggests that cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins may
lessen brain function.

Yeon-Kyun Shin, a biophysics professor in the department of
biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, says the results of his
study show that drugs that inhibit the liver from making cholesterol may
also keep the brain from making cholesterol, which is vital to efficient
brain function.

"If you deprive cholesterol from the brain, then you directly affect the
machinery that triggers the release of neurotransmitters," said Shin.
"Neurotransmitters affect the data-processing and memory functions. In
other words -- how smart you are and how well you remember things."

Shin's findings will be published in this month's edition of the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cholesterol is one of the building blocks of cells and is made in the
liver. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) -- often referred to as bad
cholesterol -- is cholesterol in the bloodstream from the liver on the
way to cells in the body. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) -- so-called
good cholesterol -- is cholesterol being removed from cells. Too much
LDL going to cells and not enough being removed can lead to cholesterol
deposits and hardening of the cells.

"If you have too much cholesterol, your internal machinery is not going
to be able to take away enough cholesterol from the cells," said Shin.
"Then cells harden and you can get these deposits."

Cholesterol-reducing statin drugs are helpful because they keep the
liver from synthesizing cholesterol so less of the substance is carried
to the cells. This lowers LDL cholesterol.

It is the function of reducing the synthesis of cholesterol that Shin's
study shows may also harm brain function.

"If you try to lower the cholesterol by taking medicine that is
attacking the machinery of cholesterol synthesis in the liver, that
medicine goes to the brain too. And then it reduces the synthesis of
cholesterol which is necessary in the brain," said Shin.

In his experiments, Shin tested the activity of the
neurotransmitter-release machinery from brain cells without cholesterol
present and measured how well the machinery functioned. He then included
cholesterol in the system and again measured the protein function.
Cholesterol increased protein function by five times.

"Our study shows there is a direct link between cholesterol and the
neurotransmitter release," said Shin. "And we know exactly the molecular
mechanics of what happens in the cells. Cholesterol changes the shape of
the protein to stimulate thinking and memory."

While reducing the cholesterol in the brain may make you have less
memory and cognitive skills, more cholesterol in the blood does not make
people smarter. Because cholesterol in the blood cannot get across the
blood brain barrier, there is no connection to the amount of cholesterol
a person eats and brain function.

Shin says that for many people taking cholesterol-lower statins can be
very healthful and they should listen to their doctor when taking
medication.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223221430.htm

Mediterranean Diet Helps Women Preserve Their Bone Mass, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — A study from the Harokopio University of
Athens (Greece) suggests that adherence to a dietary pattern close to
the Mediterranean diet, with high consumption of fish and olive oil and
low red meat intake, has a significant impact in women skeletal health.

Results suggest that this eating pattern could have bone-preserving
properties throughout adult life.

Diet is one of the modifiable factors for the development and
maintenance of bone mass. The nutrients of most obvious relevance to
bone health are calcium and phosphorus because they compose roughly 80%
to 90% of the mineral content of bone; protein, other minerals and
vitamins are also essential in bone preservation.

Traditional analysis has focused on the relation between a specific
nutrient (e.g. calcium) and bone health. But, researchers of the
Harokopio University of Athens, Greece, carried out a study in two
hundred twenty adult Greek women, which is valuable for the
understanding of the effect of meals, consisting of several food items,
in skeletal mass.

Scientists examined whether adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, rich in
plant foods and olive oil, low in meat and dairy products, and with
moderate intake of alcohol, or other dietary patterns, have any
significant impact on bone mass maintenance in adult Greek women. They
determined that adherence to a dietary pattern with some of the features
of the Mediterranean diet, i.e., rich in fish and olive oil and low in
red meat and products, is positively associated with the indices of bone
mass.

These results suggest that this eating pattern could have
bone-preserving properties throughout adult life.

Kontogianni et al. Association between dietary patterns and indices of
bone mass in a sample of Mediterranean women. Nutrition, 2009; 25 (2):
165 DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2008.07.019
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2008.07.019>

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218081747.htm

Frequency Of T-cells Determines Severity Of Asthma, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — According to a new study, the frequency
of regulatory T-cells (Treg) correlates to the severity of inflammation
in allergic asthma, suggesting that Treg may play an important role in
asthma pathogenesis.

A study in Respirology, published by Wiley-Blackwell, used mouse models
and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from subjects with allergic
asthma to assess the association of the Treg cells with asthma
phenotypes.

Researchers found that the frequency of Treg cells in the peripheral
blood of allergic asthmatics were lower when compared to healthy
subjects. Lung Treg were also found to be associated with the severity
of eosinophillic airway inflammation in the mice.

"The correlation of Treg with asthma pathogenesis indicates that it is
important to evaluate Tregs in allergic asthmatic patients - especially
in relation to clinical severity and the degree of airway inflammation",
said author Professor Hiromasa Inoue from the Research Institute for
Diseases of the Chest, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyushu
University.

Matsumoto et al. Frequency of Foxp3+CD4+CD25+T cells is associated with
the phenotypes of allergic asthma. Respirology, 2009; 14 (2): 187 DOI:
10.1111/j.1440-1843.2008.01472.x
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1843.2008.01472.x>

Treating diseases through grapho-yoga

TIMES OF INDIA, 26 Feb 2009, 0921 hrs IST, PTI

PATNA: Ever heard of diseases being cured through 'grapho-yoga'?

You can approach Dr Sachidanand Pandey in Patna who claims to have cured
at least 2000 patients through the art of grapho-yoga, a combination of
hand-writing and yoga.

Pandey said he had invented the system after putting in 18 long years in
research and established his own 'Grapho Yoga Peeth' in Bihar's capital.
Explaining the method, Pandey said it was based on a combination of yoga
and the science of hand-writing analysis i.e. graphology. It is simple,
does not cost much and requires nothing except pen, paper and oxygen.

"I got inspiration from western researches which say that letters give
an insight into the psyche of persons like why many people are
quarrelsome or why many turn into criminals. So I thought that the
letters and the way one writes them can also have a positive effect on
their personality," Pandey explained.

There are 26 letters in Roman alphabet and 50 in Devnagri which have
been invented as per the need of human being, he said. All these 50
characters were linked to glands in the human body which secrete 50
vital hormones controlling 50 propensities or qualities of a person

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Science/Treating-dise
ases-through-grapho-yoga/articleshow/4193200.cms