Researchers at the University of Melbourne, Australia, have shown that continued use of marijuana and/or its derivations (e.g. hashish) reduces the size of the brain by 12%, which suggests that the commonly accepted myth that smoking marijuana is innocuous is a fallacy. Following is an article taken and translated from El País. Read the rest of this entry »
I saw a while ago that the Canadian government had banned the sale of baby bottles containing the chemical Bisphenol A. Good for them, I thought. Since this chemical has been found to cause lethargy, obeisity, hyperactivity (in a weird contrast...) not to mention breast and prostrate cancers and infertility. However, I didn't pay too much attention because, after all, I live in Switzerland. The Swiss are always so strict about the use of chemicals and especially strict where babies and children are concerned. Surely, I thought, the use of that chemical is not allowed here, and that I had nothing to worry about...
Danielle
Then, I highly respected consumer information show here picked up on the Bisphenol A story, and tested different bottles available on the market here. Result? Bisphenol A. In just about every plastic bottle on the market. Including Avent, normally highly respected, being one of the worst offenders, and being my bottles of choice for our last two kids. I usually don't freak out about these kinds of things. But being a mother of four kids, all bottle fed, and having a mother that died of breast cancer in her forties, I worried. And I bought all glass bottles the next day. And threw away every plastic bottle in the house. I had to go to 10 different stores to find glass bottles. And only one pharmacy that I went to had seen the show, and ordered more glass as well as Bisphenol A-free plastic bottles. No one else knew why I was even looking for them. They looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for glass ones.
All these years I have been feeding my kids with something that could potentially harm them down the road. And all these companies KNEW of the risks, but said that, "just a little won't hurt them". But what really gets me, is that it's totally possible to make these bottles out of plastic without Bisphenol A, and they did it anyway. Bisphenol A is also found in the microwaveable containers that my husband usually takes his lunch to work in. You'll find them at the local landfill in the same bag as my plastic bottles.
I am a food. I love food so much I can watch the Lifestyle Network Channel for hours. I can even watch a Food show episode over and over again and still find it interesting. I LOVE FOOD!
But my quest for a better wardrobe and boy(S) is now forcing me to diet. Week one was quite a success, mostly because I kept my wallet in a poor state and I stayed away from my cousin who also loves food. Week 2, however, was one big monumental legendary epic fail. I pigged out! A LOT! :(
I am now on week 3 and day one, yesterday was quite a success. Today is day 2, and I have been good in eating much less rice. I'm now down to a quarter cup of rice per meal. I only eat two full meals per day. And I don't snack as much anymore.
I have a new best friend. Her name is Tiffabee. We've never actually met. We've never shared an email or chatted on line. In fact, Tiffabee doesn't even know I exist. But that doesn't make me love her any less. You see, I found her blog, How to Eat a Cheeseburger, and I'm hooked. This blog is devoted to helping women realize that skinny does NOT equal healthy and fat does NOT equal unhealthy. That women need to embrace beauty of all shapes, that curves are beautiful, to throw your scale out the window, to stop worrying what size jeans you wear, and just eat a cheeseburger! (Or a turkeyburger, or a veggieburger... you get the idea)
Striving to be thin and a constant obsession with thinness does not help one's self-esteem. Yes, I would LOVE to be thinner. Alyson and I were just talking about that on the phone. I don't pay much attention to the number on the scale anymore. I pay attention to what I look like in the mirror and how my clothes fit. I would love to wear those cute little t-shirts I got after I had Dallin, but who knows if I'll get thin again. My goals should have less to do with being thin than with being healthy. Working out is good, as long as I'm striving for health. I want to be able to walk my 60 miles for The 3 Day. I want to be able to play with my boys without getting winded in the first 2 minutes. I want to fully realize that my husband loves me no matter what size I am.
This is not going to be easy for me. Growing up and being so skinny was hard. I always heard about how I needed to gain a few pounds. In college I once went to the health center because I was really sick (turned out I had strep and bronchitis). The doctor looked at my throat for literally 2 seconds, then asked me if I was anorexic. It sucked that I could never fit the hand-me-downs given to me, or that I could rarely borrow clothes from friends or roommates because I would drown in them without belts (which I hate to wear) or pins and things holding the clothes in place in weird areas. I hated being teased about my nearly flat chest by my friends.
However, I loved that my aunt would go shopping and see this cute little dress and send it to me and it was a perfect fit. I loved that I looked really good in it. I loved that my wrists were actually really bony looking. I loved that my guy friends in high school told me I had the best butt of all the girls we knew (while I pretended to be offended that they even looked!). I loved that I could eat a large pizza or the Big Jud's Special all by myself and seriously not gain an ounce. I loved that as a senior in high school, I could fit into my 1st grade sister's Catholic school skirt. Yeah, it was short, but it was funny to me. I loved that when I was trying on wedding dresses they had to pull in the sample dress SO much to give me an idea of how the real dress would fit. I loved being skinny (even though I hated being called skinny. So derogatory to me at a young age. I preferred to be called thin).
I really need to get over this obsession that being thin or skinny or whatever will make me happy! If I lose a ton of weight, will I really be happy?? Sure, I might be more comfortable (having all this extra weight is really not fun... especially in this Arizona heat!), but when will I say, "Okay, I'm good. I'm thin enough."?? Or will I constantly think I need to be thinner? And what if I can lose a lot of weight, but I still have a flabby tummy after having three c-sections? And stretch marks on my stomach, thighs, and under arms?? When will I feel good enough?
I want to feel good enough regardless of what size jeans I wear. I want to feel good enough regardless if I will ever even fit an arm into my wedding dress again. I want to feel good enough regardless if I can wear that cute t-shirt that Ches bought for me that has Princess Leia on it and that I've never actually worn because he bought it while I was in this last pregnancy and then I never lost any of the weight.
I know deep down that my body shape doesn't matter to anyone who actually cares about me. I know deep down that it's my personality and the things that I do that attracts friends. But I often have a hard time reaching deep down and keeping that as a priority rather than getting thin. Thinner. Because seriously, what IS thin? There will always be thinner.
So now I'm an avid Cheeseburger fan*. Check it out. You may like it, too!! This isn't a site promoting fat girls. It's a site promoting body acceptance, true beauty acceptance. Everyone is different. Some women are supposed to weigh 110, and some women are supposed to weigh 160. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. So... no skinny girl bashing, and no fat girl bashing. Just total acceptance. Anyone else feel like a Cheeseburger?
*Okay, so actually I don't like cheeseburgers because I can't stand the cheese, but I'll take a yummy hamburger almost any day of the week. But obviously, that's not the point. Please ignore my idiocy.
In few years time that is LOL.......
Hi there here is another research article that may be of interest to some of you.
By Julie SteenhuysenCHICAGO (Reuters) - Enhancing a natural pain-filtering mechanism in the spine helped relieve chronic pain in mice without the unwanted side effects of current pain relievers, Swiss researchers said on Wednesday.
They honed in on a specific molecule that helps prevent chronic pain signals from reaching the brain, without blocking normal pain messages that alert people to danger.
And they said their experiments in mice may point the way to better drugs in humans.
"Our approach addresses primarily chronic pain," said Hanns Zeilhofer of the University of Zurich in an e-mail.
He said analgesics such as aspirin can cause stomach ulcers, while opioids such as morphine make patients sleepy and are addictive.
Zielhofer's idea was to find a way to trick the body into intercepting pain signals before they cause havoc in the brain.
"We know that normally the spinal cord acts as filter for pain signals. It prevents most of the pain signals from reaching the brain, where pain becomes conscious," said Zeilhofer, whose study appears in the journal Nature.
Zeilhofer's team focused on a molecule called GABA that that can inhibit pain signals.
A class of drugs called benzodiazepines, which include diazepam -- better known as Valium -- bolsters the action of this GABA molecule in the central nervous system. The drugs are used to treat things like anxiety and insomnia, but when injected near the spine, these drugs also relieve pain.
"Problem is, they must not be used in chronic pain patients because of undesired effects that they have in the brain," Zeilhofer said in an e-mail. "They make patients sleepy, they impair memory and can cause addiction."
But benzodiazepines target at least four different GABA receptors that mediate pain control.
"These receptors turned out to be predominately present in the spinal cord and occur in the brain at much less density," he said. By targeting just two of the GABA spinal receptors, they might be able to make a drug that could be used for chronic pain without losing potency or making people sleepy.
To test this, the researchers used genetically engineered mice to target only the GABA receptors in the spine. Then they irritated nerves in the paws of mice, making them more sensitive to touch and measured how fast the mice pulled away when gently touched.
"When we treated the mice with the right drugs, their sensitivity to this touch became normal again," Zeilhofer said. And it worked without unwanted sedation or impaired motor function.
"Normal pain, however, was retained. This is important because normal pain has a protective function as it warns us of tissue damage," he said.
They also used brain scans on rats to see how the drugs worked in certain pain centers that control both the sensation of pain and the feelings of anxiety that pain can produce. The scans showed the drugs reduced pain in these brain regions.
Zeilhofer said the study showed that targeting specific GABA receptors may provide a promising new target for drug development. "The next big challenge will be to develop drugs which work in humans," he said.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Cynthia Osterman)
http://www.rsds.org/electronic%20alert%20archive/Reuters_01312008.html
January 16, 2008
http://www.rsds.org/electronic%20alert%20archive/Reuters_01312008.html
As long as they work for more than a year........................
love & light
Mel xx
Hundreds of workers from a footwear factory in Vietnam have been hospitalised after showing symptoms of food poisoning, an employee of the firm and state media said.
A staff member from the Taiwanese-owned VMC Hoang Gia factory in southern Vietnam said "several hundred" had been hospitalised, but the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper said the number was "almost 1,000".
"Most of them became dizzy and several others suffered from stomach ache and headache after having dinner of rice with tofu, cabbage and fish on Monday," in the factory canteen, the staff member said.
Many workers had been discharged but others were still in local hospitals for treatment, the staff member said, asking not to be named.
Provincial health officials in Tay Ninh, where the factory is located, are investigating the case, the employee added.
Food poisoning outbreaks, especially in factory canteens, have become more common in Vietnam with bad hygiene often blamed as the key culprit.
- AFP
Pernah enggak sih Anda merasakan yang namanya CLBK alias cinta lama bersemi kembali? Saya pernah mengalaminya beberapa tahun yang lalu. Ketika itu tiba-tiba muncul perasaan CLBK dengan seorang mantan pacar di SMU dulu. Tapi karena gengsi untuk menelepon duluan, saya memaksa seorang sahabat untuk menelepon mantan pacar saya dengan handphonenya. Ternyata mantan saya tidak menjawab telepon tersebut, namun malam harinya dia menelepon kembali ke nomor telepon sahabat saya.
Mantan saya itu menanyakan siapa pemilik nomor telepon yang masuk ke handphonenya tadi siang, bla bla bla. Sampai akhirnya mereka jadi sering melakukan pembicaraan lewat telepon. Saya pun jadi sering mencuri-curi informasi tentang perkembangan kehidupan mantan saya itu dari sahabat saya. Awalnya saya merasa senang, karena mendapatkan banyak informasi dari sahabat saya itu. Tapi lama kelamaan saya jadi agak sedikit curiga, karena sahabat saya jadi 'pelit' informasi soal mantan saya itu.
The patients were followed for about eight years. During that time, 737 of them died, including 463 from cardiovascular problems.
Researchers found that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood had the highest chances of dying. Although chances of dying due to heart disease rose with decreasing levels of vitamin D, dying from other causes was more likely, too. Patients with little coronary artery disease were still much more likely to die during follow-up if they had low vitamin D levels.
It's not yet known whether low levels of vitamin D can trigger death from heart disease. Researchers say intervention trials using vitamin D could help establish if there is a casual relationship.
Global Low Vitamin D
In an article accompanying the research, the researchers report that on average both older and younger people around the world may not be getting enough vitamin D.
They speculate that it may be due to air pollution, a lack of outdoor activities, and increased urbanization, with more people staying and working indoors.
Vitamin D is naturally produced by your body when it is exposed to the sun, although sunscreens interfere with this process. As we age, vitamin D production slows down as well.
Lowdown on Low Vitamin D
Studies have shown that low levels of vitamin D are related to, among other things, heart disease, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. In this study, researchers speculated that the vitamin may have anti-inflammatory effects that protect heart health.
They also believe it may affect how plaque is produced and builds up in the artery walls. The vitamin's anti-inflammatory properties may also be protective against a host of other diseases, including immune disorders and cancer.
Adequate levels of vitamin D are also essential for bone health, and low levels are associated with osteoporosis and fractures. - webmd
In one of the biggest ever Community and Matching Grant Projects, Manipal Hospital Bangalore and Rotary International (RI) have come together to facilitate the heart surgery of 40 underprivileged children suffering from Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). So far the hospital has already conducted 16 operations successfully.
Through this noble venture, children whose parents would have been hard pressed to seek medical attention on their own now have wide smiles on their faces as their children get back to a normal life. Among the 17 children are Mithun, (7) from Mangalore who was constantly racked by weakness and fever. He came to know of the scheme that helped children like him through a local Rotary representative. Today, he is a happy kid who has started playing his favorite game, cricket.
The parents of Jaipratap (2), from Salem, were worried that their son was always sick. “He was always having cold and fever, little did we know that he had a problem with his hear,” said his father Jaikumar. He is now back at home, looking forward to a fulfilling life. Mohammed Shahid (5) came to know of his heart condition from a check up done at school. Now after his operation he is eager to get back to playing marbles with his friends.
In another case Manjesh (10), son of farm laborers from Shimoga came to know about his ailment 5 years ago and went through myriad hospitals to no avail. Says his mother, Nagamma, “God has gifted him back to us through Manipal Hospital.”
Hemant (10) from Mandya was born with a hole in his heart and remained perennially weak, turning breathless and blue constantly, his parents Manjesh and Shobha had little to look forward to. Doctors recommended surgery but that was beyond their means. Help finally came in the form Manipal Hospital and RI. Shantakumar, also from Mandya, suffered from a heart disease that left him tired very quickly, affecting his normal life, more importantly his studies. After his surgery, he is back home leading a normal healthy life.
Announcing the successful completion of the surgery on the 17 children, Manipal Hospital & Rotary International briefed the media on the various ailments that these children suffered from and how the surgeries would now infuse new life and change their destiny forever. “It gives us untold joy to see these children back on their feet, and we are happy that a total of 40 children will benefit from the Matching Grant Project,” said Mr. OP Khanna, who spearheaded the project.
“More than 1,50,000 children are born with congenital heart disease, every year in India. The sad state of affairs is that only about 5,000 manage to get treated mostly with sponsorships and government aid. There are a large number of children with serious heart diseases in India who can be given a new lease of life with timely heart surgery,” said Dr. Prasad Krishnan, of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery at Manipal Hospital. Dr. Krishnan, along with paediatric cardiologists – Dr. Sreekanth Raghavan and Dr. Ravi Narayan – treated the patients. “We are happy that the Paediatric Cardiology team has been able to bring smiles back to the faces of the children and their parents,” said Dr. Krishnan.
Mr. Rajendra Rai, Rotary Governor District 3190 informed the gathering, “India is now in the middle of a CHD epidemic with over 10% of urban Indians having CHD. About 50% of all heart attacks among Asian Indian men occur under the age of 55 and 25% under the age of 40, unheard of in any other population,”
Thanks to the efforts of RI and Manipal Hospital, and the medical talents of the Paediatric Cardiac team of doctors, these 40 children will now have a new lease of life.
