Why Mobile Phone Masts are more dangerous than Phones - NewsGrabs 30 March 2008

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NewsGrabs

Health Supreme's NewsGrabs - a selection of contrary and underprivileged news in health and a wide range of (mostly) related sectors. Find what trends you may have missed - watch out for the weekly News Grabs.

Here is this week's selection for you:

Why mobile phone masts can be more dangerous than the phones
So how does this form of biological feedback relate to mobile phones and their masts? Put very simply, because of the extreme sensitivity of at least some living cells to weak non-ionising radiation, the question is not why the weak radiation from a distant mast does so much damage, it is why a handset next to the ear doesn’t do very much more.

The answer lies in our own negative feedback systems. The body is well able to detect the radiation and the resulting damage. It then puts into action a range of negative feedback measures to mitigate the effects. One of the most damaging effects of this form of radiation is the loss of some of the calcium that normally strengthens cell membranes...

Brief, high doses of B vitamin (folic acid) blunt damage from heart attack
In a new study, an international team of heart experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report that rats fed 10 milligrams daily of folate, also known as folic acid or vitamin B9, for a week prior to heart attack had smaller infarcts than rats who took no supplements. On average, researchers say, the amount of muscle tissue exposed to damage and scarred by the arterial blockage was shrunk to less than a tenth.

It's an animal study, but interesting nevertheless.

Rectal artemisinins rapidly eliminate malarial parasites
Derived from sweet wormwood, artemisinin has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. In the 1990s, researchers recognised its antimalarial activity and since then a number of safe and effective artemisinin derivatives have been developed. These drugs, given by mouth, as a rectal suppository or injected into a vein or muscle have been shown to rapidly reduce heavy parasite infection. Oral artemisinin-based combination treatments now form the basis of antimalarial treatment policies in most malaria endemic countries.

Suppositories are easy to administer and the World Health Organization Malaria Treatment Guidelines currently recommends rectal artemisinins as a pre-referral treatment for severe malaria.

FDA Quietly Acknowledges Medical Benefits of Honey
Using honey to treat wounds is nothing new; even ancient civilizations used it in this manner. However, this is the sort of thing that usually gets relegated to "folk healing". It seems scientifically obvious: honey is very acidic (antibacterial), and it produces its own hydrogen peroxide when combined with the fluid which drains from a wound! The extremely high sugar content of honey means it contains very little water. So, it draws the pus and fluid from the wound, thereby speeding the healing process. Furthermore, the honey contains powerful germ-fighting phytochemicals from the plants that produced the pollen harvested by the honeybees. Having already been accepted by the overseas mainstream medical community for some time, North America finally caught on.

Action: California Targeting Safe Supplements - Don't Let Them Succeed
The National Health Federation has consulted with outside legal counsel specialized in this area of law for the express purpose of stopping this idea from proceeding beyond its conceptual stage. NHF will be in attendance at the April 18th meeting and will be submitting cogent written comments, assisted by scientific and legal experts, opposing this regulatory "concept." The Federation is also exploring legal action against the Agency should it proceed in any way with implementing its concept. This is critical and will affect individuals, supplement manufacturers, and vitamin retailers. This is not just a California issue. Anyone who depends on supplements for their health or livelihood must voice their opposition.

In the meantime, the NHF asks all interested parties to sign our on-line petition opposing this ridiculous concept, which the Federation will then personally submit to OEHHA. (Go to http://thenhf.com/press_releases/prop65_petition.htm) The NHF also asks all interested parties to provide us with any scientific and legal data that they might have supporting our position that vitamins and minerals are not carcinogenic and therefore do not belong on the Proposition 65 list, so that all pertinent information may be included into the Federation's comments and possible lawsuit.

EU rejects plea to outlaw 'dangerous' food colours that lead to hyperactive children
The study was funded and designed by scientists from Britain's Food Standards Agency. However, the European Food Safety Authority has decided flaws in the way the research was drawn up mean it does not offer definitive evidence of a risk to the general population.

Evidently for the EU bureaucracy, the dangers of additives need to be proven beyond doubt, while the dangers of nutrients (vitamins and minerals) are assumed to exist, to the point where it is up to manufacturers of supplements to "prove" that these nutrients are safe. Go figure.

Doctor Questions Safety of Aspartame for Diabetics
H J Roberts, M.D. talks about the role of the pancreas, the chemical aspartame, and how sweeteners containing aspartame affect the pancreas, in support of the Senate Concurrent Resolution 191, by Hawaii Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, asking FDA Commissioner to Rescind Approval for Aspartame.

New drugs approved for EU Market - unethical trials
The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and the Wemos Foundation present new evidence that 'unfair' drugs, medicines which have been unethically tested in low-income and middle-income countries, are being given approval for use on the European market. They call upon the European Parliament to take urgent action.

Video: Barroso says European Union is 'empire'
In response to a question on where the new constitution will bring the European Union, what kind of entity it will be, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission - the executive body of the EU - likens the union to an empire.

New Movie Damns Monsanto's Criminal Behavior
The gospel according to Monsanto is that their patented GM seeds and their bovine growth hormone (BGH) will increase worldwide production of agricultural, dairy and meat products and Bt cotton to the extent that worldwide hunger and poverty will be eradicated.

The actual truth is rather the opposite. GMOs are creating serious damage all over the world and artificial BGH injection in cows cause numerous health problems, and even death.

Monsanto: Percy Schmeiser wins moral victory
Although the Schmeisers eventually wound up losing their court battle with the St. Louis-based company in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2004, the couple have now earned a moral victory that they hope will encourage others to carry on their cause.

Yesterday, Monsanto agreed to pay the Schmeisers $660 to settle a small-claims court case they brought against the company for costs associated with removing the patented Roundup Ready canola from their field in 2005.

Transgenic Cotton Offers No Advantage
The use of transgenic cotton does not provide increased returns to the farmer. This is the conclusion of a 4-year study reported in Agronomy Journal by researchers at the University of Georgia and the US Department of Agriculture. The researchers grew a number of different cultivars of cotton at two locations in the state of Georgia. The transgenic varieties consisted of two main traits, herbicide tolerance and Bt biopesticides, alone and variously combined.

Pesticide blunders: How not to kill a raccoon
Not only do pesticides stay around in the environment, slowly poisoning wildlife and insects, they also kill (as thousands of dead farmers in India can confirm) or seriously injure people. California's Department of Pesticide Regulation has documented some of the injuries Californians inflicted on themselves with pesticides - Steve has an article on his blog...

The pills that make us fat
WALK down any street in America and you'll see the effects of the "obesity epidemic". Two-thirds of adults, more than 130 million people, are now considered overweight, and nearly half of these are classified as obese. Those who are overweight by 45 kilograms or more are the fastest-growing group of the overweight in the US.

Yet one culprit is rarely mentioned: the broad ran