PF Louis - Financial strain may help curb prescription drug use

The economy's decline into an ever widening abyss may have one silver lining: less can be spent on pharmaceutical drugs. With unemployment increasing while menial jobs that are available don't offer insurance, more people will be depending on government insurance programs.

Now some of those programs are looking into increasing or tightening restrictions on what they'll pay out for medical expenses and pharmaceutical drug costs. One proposal not yet put into effect is the undergoing study at Penn State College of Medicine along with Dr. Robert Rosenheck of the Yale School of Medicine.

The ongoing study has thus far made one report regarding off label use of anti-psychotic drugs for patients of less serious psychological or behavioral symptoms. Off label simply means using an FDA approved drug for a purpose other than for what it was approved.

Read More:

http://www.naturalnews.com/036036_prescription_drugs_purchases_money.html

Ethan A. Huff - 'Label It Yourself' campaign urges the People to begin labeling GMOs now

 Rather than continue to put up with endless stonewalling and excuse-making by federal and state governments that refuse to require mandatory labeling of genetically-modified organisms, a massive, grassroots effort is currently underway to spur individuals across the country to begin labeling GMOs right now.

The Label It Yourself (LIY) campaign, which describes itself as a "decentralized, autonomous grassroots campaign born out of our broken food system," is cultivating a nationwide network of concerned individuals that are willing and able to take it to the grocery stores in pursuit of full transparency in food labeling.

The campaign is urging the "99 percent," which of course represents the common man, to download and print labels that say, "Warning, May Contain GMOs," and affix them on various processed and non-organic food products that likely contain GMOs. The 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch stickers, which feature a skull head and two ears of corn, draw attention to the presence of GMOs, and direct consumers to the LIY website.

You can access these GMO warning stickers here: http://labelityourself.org/liy/

Read More:

http://www.naturalnews.com/036051_GMOs_label_it_yourself_activism.html

Douglas LaBier - America's Continuing Empathy Deficit Disorder

It's possible for an entire culture to develop shared forms of mental disturbance. As socially shared pathologies increase, they can be difficult to recognize; they become the norm. Such is the case today, and a prime example is what I call our national Empathy Deficit Disorder, or EDD.

I made the name up, so don't go looking for it in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Actually, I'm hesitant to suggest a new disorder, given that our mental health professions increasingly define normal variations of mood and temperament as new "disorders" (for which Big Pharma is ready to supply "treatments"). But this one's real. It's become pervasive throughout our increasingly polarized social and political culture of the past several years.

EDD has profound consequences for the mental health of individuals and society. Yet it's ignored as a psychological disturbance by most of my colleagues in the mental health professions, largely because it's become the norm throughout our emotional attitudes, public policies and behavior.

Read More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-labier/americas-continuing-empat_b_637718.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

Drew Armstrong - Drugmakers Vowed To Campaign For Health Law, Memos Show

Drugmakers led by Pfizer (PFE) Inc. agreed to run a “very significant public campaign” bankrolling political support for the 2010 health-care law, including TV ads, while the Obama administration promised to block provisions opposed by drugmakers, documents released by Republicans show.

The internal memos and e-mails for the first time unveil the industry's plan to finance positive TV ads and supportive groups, along with providing $80 billion in discounts and taxes that were included in the law. The administration has previously denied the existence of a deal involving political support.

The documents were released today by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. They identify price controls under Medicare and drug importation as the key industry concerns, and show that former Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Kindler and his top aides were involved in drawing it up and getting support from other company executives.

“As part of our agreement, PhRMA needs to undertake a very significant public campaign in order to support policies of mutual interest to the industry and the Administration,” according to a July 14, 2009, memo from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “We have included a significant amount for advertising to express appreciation for lawmakers’ positions on health care reform issues.”

Read More:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-31/drugmakers-vowed-to-campaign-for-health-law-memos-show.html

Michael A. Smith, MD - Is Processed Fructose Stealing Your Smarts?

A new study from UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) shows that what you eat can influence how you think.

Specifically, the researchers were worried about all of the fructose in the American diet. They reported that eating a diet heavy in processed fructose over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information.

Let’s start by looking at fructose itself. What is it, and is it ever okay to eat it?

Fructose is a Natural Fruit Sugar

Fructose in its natural form is called fruit sugar. It’s a simple sugar found in many plants and is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose. These simple sugars are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion and can be used for immediate cellular energy.

From plant sources, fructose is found naturally in honey, tree and vine fruits, flowers, berries and most root vegetables. In plants, fructose may be present naturally as the monosaccharide or as a component of sucrose.

Here’s the point we’re trying to make: Fructose in its natural form is not the problem. In nature, sugars can be found in foods that are also rich in antioxidants and fiber. And those accompanying nutrients can help minimize the impact of natural sugar. 

Read More:

http://blog.lef.org/2012/05/processed-fructose-brain-power.html

Exercise and a Healthy Diet of Fruits and Vegetables Extends Life Expectancy in Women in Their 70s

Women in their seventies who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University studied 713 women aged 70 to 79 years who took part in the Women's Health and Aging Studies. This study was designed to evaluate the causes and course of physical disability in older women living in the community.

"A number of studies have measured the positive impact of exercise and healthy eating on life expectancy, but what makes this study unique is that we looked at these two factors together," explains lead author, Dr. Emily J Nicklett, from the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Researchers found that the women who were most physically active and had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption were eight times more likely to survive the five-year follow-up period than the women with the lowest rates.

Read More:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530100512.htm

One in six cancers 'caused by treatable infections'

Bacteria, viruses and parasites cause around 2m cases of cancer in the world each year, experts believe.

Of the 7.5m global deaths from cancer in 2008, an estimated 1.5m may have been due to potentially preventable or treatable infections.

Scientists carried out a statistical analysis of cancer incidence to calculate that around 16% of all cancers diagnosed in 2008 were infection-related. The proportion of cancers linked to infection was three times higher in developing countries than in developed ones.

Key cancer-causing infectious agents include human papillomavirus (HPV), the gastric bug Helicobacter pylori and the hepatitis B (HBV) and C viruses.

These four were together believed to be responsible for 1.9m cases of cancer, mostly gastric, liver and cervical cancers.

Cervical cancer accounted for around half of infection-related women's cancers. In men, more than 80% of infection-related cancers affected the liver, stomach and colon.

Dr Catherine de Martel and Dr Martyn Plummer, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, wrote in the Lancet Oncology journal: "Infections with certain viruses, bacteria, and parasites are one of the biggest and preventable causes of cancer worldwide  … Application of existing public-health methods for infection prevention, such as vaccination, safer injection practice, or antimicrobial treatments, could have a substantial effect on future burden of cancer worldwide."

Read More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/09/cancers-treatable-infections/print

Blogger: State Agency Censored Online Health Food Advice Column

Steven Cooksey says all he wanted to do was help other diabetics get healthy, but a North Carolina agency tried to censor his online healthy food advice column, saying he was not a licensed dietitian.

Cooksey filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, saying the state violated his free speech rights.

“When did it become illegal to tell people to eat meats and vegetables?” Cooksey said in an interview with The Associated Press. “How is it illegal to tell people not to eat grains? We’re talking about healthy eating. This is wrong.”

Read More:

http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2012/05/30/blogger-state-agency-censored-online-health-food-advice-column/

Press release: Childhood Cancer 2012 - mobile phones

Childhood Cancer 2012: International Scientific Conference on Early Exposures and Childhood Cancer

New theory on how mobile phones could cause brain cancer

A new theory about how radiation from mobile phones might induce brain cancer will be presented for the first time today (Wednesday 25th April) at the Childhood Cancer 2012 conference in London.

A landmark report by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency last year concluded that there is a possible link between mobile phone use and brain cancer, but how that might happen has remained unclear (1). Explaining the mechanism of how mobile phone radiation might cause cancer is vital for avoiding and ultimately preventing the disease.

The conference will hear that one explanation could be that the radiation produced from mobile phones could activate signaling pathways within brain cells and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Professor Dariusz Leszczynski, of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, has gathered together the findings from several studies published thus far, taken the common denominators and compared them to how gliomas, the most common form of brain tumour (2), develop (3).

Read More:

http://www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk/News/press-release-childhood-cancer-2012-mobile-phones

Paul Fassa - CDC wants to go after all baby boomers with vaccines for a phantom virus

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is predicting an epidemic of hepatitis C (Hep-C) among baby boomers. So in order to preempt this epidemic, they have drafted a proposition to have everyone born between 1945 and 1965 tested for Hep-C in order to receive treatments and vaccinations (after diagnosis) with Hep-A and B vaccines.

That seems like a nasty proposition: two vaccinations that pretend to be designed for Hep-C. The Hep-B vaccine has an impressive track record of reported serious adverse reactions and deaths. They don't have a Hep-C vaccination. Could it be because there is no virus?

Dr. Michael Tierra and Sepp Hasslberger report how Chiron, a diagnostic department of Novartis Vaccines, spent years struggling to find a Hep-C virus. After lots of manipulation the came up with footprint of a shadow, or a phantom virus, that enabled them to create a blood screening test for Hep-C that has made them a lot of money.

Normally, when high liver enzyme counts are discovered in a blood test, a Hep-C test is ordered. The experts who debunk this test argue that the phantom virus does not pass the full criteria of an actual infectious virus.

Read More:

http://www.naturalnews.com/036021_CDC_hepatitis_baby_boomers.html