Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 12 March 2007
CategoriesSepp Hasslberger's News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information ...
In this issue:
HSIS on Antioxidant Vitamins -
CRN on Antioxidant Meta-Analysis -
IADSA Experts dispute Antioxidant Review -
Sparkling Beverages - Obesity, Diabetes -
Junk food 'makes teens depressed' -
Russian Vaccine Tests on Children -
UK Vaccine officials knew about MMR risks -
Global ADHD drug use triples -
UK: Child medicine additives -
Colloidal Silver To Be Removed From Market -
70 % of Antibiotics Given to Healthy Livestock -
Mathematical Modeling of HIV Infection -
Gravitational Waves for Telecom -
- - -
HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS INFORMATION SERVICE (HSIS) COMMENTS ON THE BENEFITS OF ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS
META-ANALYSIS ON ANTIOXIDANTS PROVIDES MUDDLED CONCLUSIONS
— Body of Scientific Research Shows Antioxidants Provide Benefits for Maintaining Good Health —
(US Council for Responsible Nutrition)
IADSA: INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS DISPUTE CONCLUSIONS OF ANTIOXIDANT REVIEW
Preventative Potassium
By Alan R. Gaby, MD
Scientists have long known that eating a diet high in potassium is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. The potassium–stroke connection has now been strengthened by a study showing that potassium inhibits the function of blood platelets (Hypertension 2004;44:969–73), an effect that would be expected to protect against stroke.
Strong Evidence Links Sparkling Beverage Consumption to Obesity, Diabetes
The case against swigging soda just got stronger. A large systematic review reveals clear associations between consumption of nondiet soft drinks and increased calorie intake and body weight. Full-calorie soft drinks are also linked with reduced intake of milk and fruit and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. "Recommendations to reduce population soft drink consumption are strongly supported by the available science," concludes the review of 88 studies.
This is not to say that diet soft drinks are any better. Indeed there are strong reasons to avoid aspartame, the major artificial sweetener, and its close cousins just as much as you should avoid the sugary variety of these drinks.
Junk food 'makes teens depressed'
Dr Bamber told a British Nutrition Foundation Conference in London that several trials had successfully used supplements of Omega 3, which is found in oily fish, to relieve the symptoms of depressed patients. Levels of folic acid, selenium, zinc and thiamine were also found to be linked to depression and supplements had benefited patients. In one study more than 200 young offenders were given multi-vitamin pills and fish oil supplements, which brought a significant reduction in anti-social behaviour.
Russian Prosecutors Launch Probe Into Vaccine Tests on Children
Glaxo vaccines were tested on more than 100 children between one and two years of age at the hospital in Volgograd after Russian health authorities approved the trials in 2005. But prosecutors claim parents were not properly informed and they thought these were routine vaccinations. According to the prosecutors, Glaxo paid the clinic in southwestern Russia $50,000 to conduct the trials, which made some children ill. “According to the contract, only healthy children can take part in this experiment,” said a spokeswoman for the Volgograd region prosecutors, Lydia Sergeyeva.
Vaccine officials knew about MMR risks
Previously confidential documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show how officials gradually learned of the dangers of the Urabe strain MMR which caused encephalitis-type conditions, including meningitis. Involving swelling of the brain or of the lining of the brain or spinal chord, they can lead to brain damage, deafness or even death. The papers show that many months before the Urabe MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK, officials were made aware of problems in America, Sweden and Canada.
Study shows near-tripling of global ADHD drug use
The use of drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has more than tripled worldwide since 1993, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. And spending on such drugs rose nine-fold between 1993 and 2003, the team at the University of California, Berkeley reported. "ADHD could become the leading childhood disorder treated with medications across the globe," Richard Scheffler, an expert in health economics and public policy who led the study, said in a statement.
What is interesting is not so much that the use of drugs for ADHD tripled in 13 years but that over 80 percent of the increase is in the USA. There are a lot of youngsters on speed.
FDA issues strong warning on three top-selling drugs
In a public health advisory, the FDA warned that high doses of Procrit, Aranesp and Epogen may increase the risk of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks and deaths in patients with chronic kidney failure. Recent studies suggest that the drugs, which are commonly prescribed to cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, may actually make tumors grow faster and increase the risk of death, if given in high doses, says the FDA's Richard Pazdur, who announced the new "black box" warning. The drugs are synthetic versions of a natural protein called erythropoietin, which raises the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Without erythropoietin, patients may become anemic, making them feel weak and exhausted.
Child medicine additive concern
The Food Magazine examined 41 medicines aimed at the under-threes, and found only one was free of the additives. The survey found four azo dye colourings, eight benzoate and two sulphite preservatives, and six sweeteners contained in the products examined. Preservatives were present in all but 10, and sweeteners in all but four of the medicines surveyed.
Almost All Colloidal Silver To Be Removed From Market In Near Future Through Stealth Federal Mandates
Nanosilver is used to kill harmful bacteria in food storage containers, shoe liners, washing machines and even bandages. Particles of nanosilver and other nanomaterials can be as small as one-millionth the size of a pinhead. However, the EPA, citing pressure from silver industry workers and environmental groups such as Natural Resources Defense Council, is investigating whether silver ions could pose an environmental threat by killing beneficial bacteria in the environment, or even harming humans.Under the regulations, any silver product that claims it has antibacterial properties must prove the product is safe to be released into the environment. Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate and proponent of colloidal silver, suggested the regulations might work better were they aimed at antibiotics and pharmaceuticals.
70 Percent of All Antibiotics Given to Healthy Livestock
Every year in the United States 25 million pounds of valuable antibiotics -- roughly 70 percent of total US antibiotic production -- are fed to chickens, pigs, and cows for nontherapeutic purposes like growth promotion, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Thi
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