More Aspartame, Vanishing Bees and a Killer Cocktail - NewsGrabs 29 April 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information ... a window on emerging trends.
In this issue:
Latest on US Senate bill S 1082 - How plants make vitamin C - GM Foods Unsafe? - Philippines Forbids Aspartame - Sainsbury's: no aspartame - Aspartame Cancer Risk - Aspartame Safety Questioned - Aspartame: Letter to FDA - Consumers back drug reforms - FDA Fails - Pharma Business Of Health - Petition to investigate Statins - Michael Moore Flick 'Sicko' - Doctors get money from industry - US FDA: The Hercules Solution - Zyprexa-Diabetes Data - Meds to blame for Cho's rampage? - A Killer Cocktail - Protecting Bees From Radiation - Mobile Phones and Vanishing Bees - Mystery of Disappearing Honeybees - Risk Of Autism In Children Using Cell Phones? - Establishment Rethinks Globalization - How to kill pests without killing yourself - H2CAR could fuel transportation - Economic Armageddon - Panama - No Central Bank
- - -
Addition: Latest news on US Senate bill S 1082 - Prescription Drug User Fee Act
After the bill was to be voted on Monday, 30 April in the Senate, it seems now that there is a bit more time to contact your senators to make sure the vote does not go in the wrong direction.
Scientists find missing link to understand how plants make vitamin C
“We uncovered the last unknown enzyme in the synthesis of vitamin C in plants,” said Dr. Charles Brenner of Dartmouth Medical School’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center and Department of Genetics. An essential vitamin for people, vitamin C is well known as an antioxidant and enzyme cofactor. Humans lost the ability to make vitamin C and need to take it up from dietary sources, particularly from plants. Only in 1998 was a biosynthetic pathway proposed to explain how plants make vitamin C. Research since then has confirmed much of the pathway, although the gene responsible for the seventh step of the proposed 10-step pathway from glucose to vitamin C remained unknown.
Are Genetically Modified Foods Inherently Unsafe?
“The fact that one gene can give rise to multiple proteins . . . destroys the theoretical foundation of a multibillion-dollar industry, the genetic engineering of food crops.” Dr. Barry Commoner, senior scientist at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College
Philippines Forbids Import And Use Of Aspartame
A law promulgated by the Philippine Congress has forbidden the importing and use, in the country, of aspartame, a sweetener that is between 180 to 200 times more potent than sugar, as well as banning distribution of four makes of saccharine, the most important brand names in the country known as: Equal, NutraSweet, Equal-Measure and Spoonful. According to the said Law aspartame gives rise to a total of 75% of the negative effects reflected in consumers and other users according to the north American administration of food and alimentation, among others, brain tumours, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and diabetes among others. The ban affects all use of this product in any type of consumable...
This seems a welcome development in view of emerging scientific evidence of aspartame's carcinogenic potential. However, checking the Spanish original of the report, it appears that this dates back to August 2004. Current status of regulation in the Philippines is unknown. Perhaps one of you readers knows whether this ban is still in effect or has been repealed.
Sainsbury's takes the chemicals out of cola
Artificial colours and flavours including the controversial sweetener aspartame are being banned by Sainsbury's. Other supermarkets and manufacturers are expected to bring in similar bans following studies linking the additives to allergies and hyperactivity. Sainsbury's is replacing aspartame with sucralose, a low-calorie sweetener made from sugar.
A smart move on the part of Sainsbury's to get out of aspartame, although the replacement, sucralose, appears to have its own problems...
Does Aspartame Raise Cancer Risk?
Aspartame was given to pregnant rats and baby rats 5-weeks after their birth. "After the dose was adjusted for the smaller body weights of the rats," stated Dr. Mallika Marshall, the Italian researchers say there was a slightly increased risk of cancer among those rats who were given about 40 percent of what the FDA has deemed a maximum accepted daily dose of aspartame. Among those rats who got twice that dose, they say the risk of cancer was significantly higher."
Aspartame's Safety Questioned Again
Marshall said the researchers gave aspartame to pregnant rats, and to the baby rats beginning five weeks after birth. "After the dose was adjusted for the smaller body weights of the rats," Marshall continued, "(the researchers) say there was a slightly increased risk of cancer among those rats who were given about 40 percent of what the FDA has deemed a maximum accepted daily dose of aspartame. Among those rats who got twice that dose, they say the risk of cancer was significantly higher."
Letter to FDA: Why are you lying about aspartame?
Betty Martini has written an open letter to the Laura Tarantino of the FDA regarding the press release that negates cancer-causing effects of aspartame, an artificial sweetener also known as nutra sweet, equal, canderal and spoonful. The FDA's release, placed just before news of a second italian study that seems to confirm aspartame toxicity was to be published in New York, reads...
Consumer Reports survey finds strong backing for drug reforms
More than 60 percent of Americans also agree that the Food and Drug Administration and Congress have failed to adequately protect consumers from harmful prescription drugs. "The message we're hearing from consumers couldn't be clearer--they want strong laws to ensure our prescription drugs are as safe and effective as possible," said Jim Guest, president and CEO of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.
FDA Fails to Protect Humans & Animals
The Washington Post reports that FDA officials have known "for years" about contaminated food that sickened hundreds of people and killed at least three. But FDA officials who are entrusted with safeguarding the public health, did nothing to prevent illness and death from contaminated peanut butter and spinach. "Congressional critics and consumer advocates said both episodes show that the agency is incapable of adequately protecting the safety of the food supply. FDA officials conceded that the agency's system needs to be overhauled to meet today's demands, but contended that the agency could not have done anything to prevent either contamination episode."
The Pharmaceutical Industry And The Business Of Health
The health and lives of hundreds of millions of people and the economies of all countries are held hostage by the pharmaceutical investment "business with disease." Pharmaceutical companies spend twice the amount of money on marketing drugs than they do on actual research. Until now, the pharmaceutical industry has presented itself as a benefactor to mankind without which no modern society could exist. A simple analysis of the nature of the pharmaceutical industry, however, reveals a realistic picture, which can be summarized as follows...
Petition calls on World Health Organization to investigate Statin Drug Use
Statin therapies are being prescribed to people around the globe. Evidence has emerged that statins can be hazardous to health. The prime rationale for their use is the notion that raised cholesterol is harmful. However, much evidence suggests that a low serum cholesterol is associated with depression, suicide, muscle damage, memory loss and general ill-health. The petition calls on the World Health Organisation to initiate a full and impartial, global investigation into the damage caused by therapeutic doses of all available statins, for the treatment of all forms of hypercholesterolaemia. There are far too many casualties of statin therapy for them all to be statistically insignificant.
Controversial Michael Moore Flick 'Sicko' Will Compare U.S. Health Care with Cuba's
Sicko, which will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is a comic broadside against the state of American health care, including the mental health system. The film targets drug companies and the HMOS in the richest country in the world -- where the most money is spent on health care, but where the U.S. ranks 21st in life expectancy among the 30 most developed nations...
Most doctors get money, gifts from industry
Virtually all doctors in a national survey of six specialties reported some sort of relationship — from free lunches to payments for consulting and lecturing — with medically related industries such as those for drugs or medical devices.Doctors tell him they can't be bought with a free pizza, Campbell says, but social science research shows that even inexpensive gifts can influence behavior.
US FDA: Maybe It's Time for the Hercules Solution...
There is no better simple example of FDA corruption than that illustrated by the FDA division assigned the task of regulating US dentistry issues. The situation is so bad there that, recently, the legal team for an activist group put FDA legal counsel on "Official Notice," threatening to file "Fraud on the Court" briefs if, and when, FDA dental division employees reversed themselves once again. The intent was to force the dental division to stop obfuscating the "mercury amalgam" tooth filling issue. The FDA dental division sees, as its mission, the preservation, at any cost, of the current dental system - one based on "image" rather than "health." Official dentistry wants no part of "what happens in your mouth affects your whole body."
Belatedly, FDA Examines Lilly's Zyprexa-Diabetes Data
"The F.D.A. has questions about a Lilly document from February 2000 in which the company found that patients taking Zyprexa in clinical trials were three and a half times as likely to develop high blood sugar as those who did not take the drug." In that document "Lilly scientists discussed whether Zyprexa's label should be changed to alert doctors of the risk of hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, associated with the drug. The paper showed that 154 of 4,234 patients, or 3.6 percent, who took Zyprexa in clinical trials developed high blood sugar. Only 1.1 percent of patients who took a placebo developed the condition." Eli Lilly failed to disclose this life-threatening risk to physicians and consumers.
Are meds to blame for Cho's rampage?
Experts say psychiatric drugs linked to long list of school shooting sprees
Cho Seung-Hui's murderous rampage – during which he killed 32 students and faculty members at Virginia Tech – is prompting research into gun laws, resident aliens and graphically violent writings. Investigators also may want to check his medicine cabinet, because psychiatric drugs have been linked to hundreds of violent episodes, including most of the school shootings in the last two decades. They range as far back as 1985, when Atlanta postal worker Steven W. Brownlee, who had been getting psychotropic drugs, pulled a gun and shot and killed a supervisor and a clerk.
A Killer Cocktail - Prozac Madness
On the very day after the shootings at Virginia Tech, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study challenging the "black box" warning that the Food and Drug Administration had finally attached to Prozac in October, 2004. "Antidepressants Get a Boost For Use in Teens" read the Wall St. Journal headline. "Despite Warnings on Labels, Study says Benefits Outweigh Risk of Suicidal Tendencies." The New York Times ran its account of the new pro-Prozac study on the page facing the obituaries of students and faculty members killed at Virginia Tech! "Scales Said to Tip in Favor of Antidepressant Use in Children - A risk of suicidal thoughts is found to be more than offset." You'd think that 33 deaths would more than offset it back.
Protecting Bees From Mobile Phone Radiation
Siegfried Vogel from the Selbitz area of Hüttung believes the radiation emitted from the multitude of surrounding mobile phone masts is responsible for the loss of his four bee colonies during the past year. Mr. Vogel is not alone in his assessment. The loss of birds has also been suspected as being caused by the mobile phone radiation. Recently, there have been numerous reports on the Internet concerning the impairment and loss of bees and messenger pigeons. The authors of these articles are attributing this loss to mobile phone mast radiation.
Mobile Phones and Vanishing Bees
But mobile phones have been around for close to 20 years, so why now? There has been a recent change in cell phone technology that coincides with the current crisis. At the beginning of the present century, 3G (third generation) mobile phone systems became publicly available, leading to a surge in popularity of mobile phones, and many more phone towers. Bees are disappearing in North America, Europe and also Australia, wherever mobile phones are greatly in use. Stay tuned.
Mystery of Disappearing Honeybees
A good summary by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins of ISIS, detailing the various hypotheses why the bees may be disappearing, although there is no agreement on the cause yet.
Is There A Higher Risk Of Autism And Other Behavior Disorders In Children Using Cell Phones?
"Since we know that electrical currents at microvolt levels in the body are of vital importance, it makes a world of sense to research the potential of electromagnetic pollution in the etiology of disease. There is no doubt that we are seeing a severe epidemic rise of autism in children and the widespread use of electronics and wireless devices may well be a factor that has been ignored”.
The Establishment Rethinks Globalization
The US predicament is vividly reflected in the nation's swollen trade deficits, now running at nearly 7 percent of GDP every year. The country consumes more than it produces. It borrows heavily from trading partners, led by China, to pay for its "excess" consumption. This allows America to dodge--temporarily--a reckoning with its weakened condition, that is, falling living standards. But that will eventually occur, when Americans are compelled to reduce their consumption and pay off the overdue bills. Postponement will deepen the ultimate injury because, meanwhile, the trading partners will gain greater industrial capabilities, while US productive strength weakens further.
How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth
There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to "man's footprint". But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to "keep up"! Even with all of this expensive pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year.
H2CAR could fuel entire U.S. transportation sector
A new process which combines carbon from biomass and hydrogen from wind or other renewable energy sources could supply the liquid hydrocarbons needed for transportation without over-use of land area to grow biomass instead of food - until we come upon a better idea that is.
Economic Armageddon Is Coming
Consider the wisdom of economist John Maynard Keynes: The rich are tolerable only so long as their gains appear to bear some relation to roughly what they have contributed to society. Think of it as proportional and justified economic success. This can be tolerated by poor and middle class people if they believe the economic system is fair and properly rewards those who work harder or have better capabilities. But truly obscene economic rewards angers people. When most prosperity and wealth is unfairly channeled to relatively few Upper Class people, it is only a matter of time until fuming, resentful people in the Lower Class decide enough is enough and revolt.
Panama Has No Central Bank
An interesting counter-point to the "economic armageddon" article just preceding this one. The article explains how an economy can run very well without intervention by the state, indeed even without a central bank. The Panamanians haven't had a central bank for a hundred years, nor have they had a currency imposed by government edict. Their constitution gives the right to every Panamanian to reject any banknote he/she does not trust. The US dollar is used for many transactions in Panama, but inflation is lower than in the US.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday April 29 2007
updated on Thursday December 2 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/04/29/more_aspartame_vanishing_bees_and_a_killer_cocktail_newsgrabs_29_april_2007.htm
Related ArticlesAspartame, the FDA, Bees and Mobile Phones - NewsGrabs 22 April 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information ... a window on emerging trends. In this issue: Australia: Pan Pharmaceuticals Witch Hunt - Antoine Béchamp Vs. Louis Pasteur - New aspartame study - Effect of aspartame on oncogene - AIDS Vaccine Trials - Video: AIDS: DAVID CROWE SPEAKS OUT - Arcoxia - Drug industry influence, FDA corruption - FDA ON LABELING IRRADIATED... [read more]
April 22, 2007 - Sepp HasslbergerQuackbusters, FDA and Food as Fuel - NewsGrabs 14 April 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information ... a window on emerging trends. In this issue: Toronto Health Show - Food Regulatory Summit - Diet cola - FDA: energy drink illegal - FDA: Herbs and Juices as "Drugs" - History of FDA Raids - Fat and vitamin C benefits - 'Rebuilt' immune system - Quackbuster Assaults - Pet Food Recall A... [read more]
April 14, 2007 - Sepp HasslbergerCodex, Nutrients, Pets and Big Pharma - NewsGrabs 8 April 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information. Your window on emerging trends ... In this issue: Codex - Nutrients - Age management - Food supplements in NAFTA - FDA on food irradiation - PETS, FOOD SAFETY, CHINA - Monsanto's milk hormones - Wheat Blight - NIH Conflicts of Interest - Drug lobby - Under The Influence - Video: Pharmaceutical Fraud? -... [read more]
April 08, 2007 - Sepp HasslbergerHormones, Vaccines and the Terror of War - NewsGrabs 2 April 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information. Your window on emerging trends ... In this issue: Vitamin meta-analysis Methodology poor - Truth in Labeling - Ribena false vitamin claims - EFSA 'surprised' - ANH responds to EFSA accusation - EU Challenge to Spanish herbal ban - Organic is healthier - Beef hormones 'damage sperm' - Dairy co-op to stop use of... [read more]
April 02, 2007 - Sepp HasslbergerADHD, AIDS, Mercury Amalgams, Chemical Contrails - NewsGrabs 26 March 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information. A window on emerging trends ... In this issue: B-12 Vitamin puzzle - Vitamins and Good Sense - Court Reviews Ephedra Ban - Celebrex Heart Attacks - ADHD Drug Warnings Too Late - Children drugged - Feeding kills the frenzy - Hyperactive kids misdiagnosed - Normal Children Diagnosed With Mental Disorders - Statin-Parkinson's Link... [read more]
March 26, 2007 - Sepp HasslbergerMonsanto, Merck and Pill Pushing Doctors - NewsGrabs - 19 March 2007
Health Supreme News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of information. Your window on emerging health trends ... In this issue: BMJournal to pay Dr Rath £100,000 - Cocoa benefits - Beta Carotene - Mental Patients' Alternative - Cancer: Whose life is it anyway? - Vanishing bees - Injunction against Monsanto seed - Monsanto GM Corn Toxicity - GMO - What's the Harm? - Fraudulent... [read more]
March 19, 2007 - Sepp Hasslberger
