The Aids Epidemic That Never Was - NewsGrabs 25 November 2007

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NewsGrabs

Health Supreme's NewsGrabs are a selection of alternative health and other underprivileged news. Find what you may have missed in your everyday reading - watch out for these NewsGrabs on weekends.

Here is another week's worth of interesting stories and links collected for you:

High Percentage of Physicians, Nurses Take Supplements -

Black cohosh stops breast cancer -

Autism can be treated -

Garlic Extract Powder Capsules Are Not Medicinal Products - Says EU Court of Justice -

Cannabis may halt breast cancer -

Aristolochia: Manna from Hell - A health science detective story -

Africans as Guinea Pigs: Nigeria vs Pfizer -

Video: Sicko - Michael Moore on the American Health Care System -

Seroxat: Sufferers sue 'happy pill' firm for £30million -

Ritalin: The scandal of kiddy coke -

Atypical Antipsychotics for the Elderly: A Booming Business -

Houston TX - Drug Makers Accused Of Misleading Health Department -

Get kids vaccinated or go to jail -

Children herded like cattle into Maryland courthouse for forced vaccinations -

Colorado Pandemic Drill Offers Drive-In Flu Shot -

"We Did a Beautiful Experiment, But..." AIDS Vaccine Increased Risk -

THERE WILL NEVER BE A VACCINE FOR HIV-AIDS (by Beldeu Singh - PDF) -

Virus used in experimental HIV vaccines impairs immune response -

HIV TESTS: DANGER TO LIFE AND LIBERTY -

The Aids epidemic has been overstated, UN experts admit -

The Aids epidemic that never was and why political correctness influences too much medical spending -

HIV NONSENSE: TODAY AND EVERY DAY -

Psychiatry: Human Rights Group Accuses Serbia of Torture & Abuse of Disabled Children & Adults

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Higher Percentage of Physicians, Nurses Take Supplements than Consumers
The landmark "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study found that more than three quarters of U.S. physicians (79 percent) and nurses (82 percent) recommend dietary supplements to their patients. The study also shows that an almost equal number -- 72 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses -- personally use vitamin, mineral, herbal and other supplements either regularly, occasionally or seasonally, which is a higher percentage than the 68 percent (1) of adults who report they take nutritional or dietary supplements.

Black cohosh stops breast cancer
The in vitro study, published in Phytomedicine, looked at extracts and compounds from black cohosh and related Cimicifuga species and found that the potential anti-cancer benefits were related to the triterpene glycoside content. The study adds to a small but growing body of research suggesting breast cancer prevention for a herb most commonly used by women to reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes.

Autism can be treated
The other mom is Jenny McCarthy, who has just released a book about her experiences with bringing her son Evan back from autism . The book, entitled, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, was featured on the cover of People in the October 1, 2007, issue. She is spokeswoman for an organization called Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), which provides detailed information on what parents can do to help their children recover.

During their interview on Larry King Live, Jenny pointed out that while vaccines might not be the sole cause of autism, she believes they are a trigger, much like obesity is a trigger for diabetes. She also pointed out that her son had candida, a yeast infection, and as soon as this was cleaned up with an antifungal diet and an antifungal drug, Max started speaking complete sentences and his social development was back on track. Jenny said Evan’s experience is common among kids with autism.

Garlic Extract Powder Capsules Are Not Medicinal Products - EU Court of Justice
German health authorities have long held that garlic in capsules - although normally available as food supplements in other countries - may be sold in Germany only if registered as a medicine. The European Court of Justice has now decided a legal case initiated in 2005 by the European Commission against Germany over this restrictive view on garlic capsules. The outcome of the case: The German classification of garlic capsules as a medicine is excessive and violates the provision of free movement of goods inside the European Community.

'Cannabis' may halt breast cancer
The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team are hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy. Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports. The authors stressed that they were not suggesting patients smoke marijuana.

Aristolochia: Manna from Hell - A health science detective story
A long but well written article about aristolochic acid nephropathy, a kidney disease endemic to a certain area in Serbia that was thought to be caused by poisoned water. The cause of the disease was eventually found to be wheat contaminated with Aristolochia, a rather common weed and a medicinal herb that has been used in Chinese traditional medicine.

Africans as Guinea Pigs: Nigeria vs Pfizer
Pfizer has maintained it conducted the trials for humanitarian reasons. However, as Der Spiegel reports, "When they arrived in Kano, the Americans revealed that they were not on a humanitarian aid mission, but had been sent to administer medical tests. Physicians selected 200 sick children to test Pfizer's new antibiotic, Trovan. They had to be at least three months old and younger than 18, and they could not be HIV-positive or malnourished."

The central questions: Who should assume the risks and whose life should be put on the line to test new drugs and vaccines? How do you justify exposing impoverished people to the risks in the knowledge that they will not benefit even if the drugs prove safe and effective?

These questions are conspicuously avoided by the American medical research community--all of who have financial stakes in the business of clinical trials--either as shareholders or grant recipients, or their wages are dependent on industry.

Was this the template for John Le Carre's novel later made into an award winning film - "The Constant Gardener"?

Video: Sicko - Michael Moore on the American Health Care System
I just had an opportunity to see Sicko - the film Michael Moore made to document some of the hardships the American health care system visits on those who have to rely on it. I highly recommend you see it. A really is worthwhile film - for you Americans to find out what's going on and for you outside the US to appreciate how well off you are!

Here is a trailer to whet the appetite: